Thanksgiving, The Day After: Leftovers!

[Special K]

We've had the usual turkey sandwiches on white bread for lunches (the only time we eat plain white bread, with mayo for DH and Miracle Whip for me). We've also had full turkey dinners with all the sides the last four nights - but we're ready for lasagna tonight! I made a couple of turkey pot pies for the freezer, and since I still have leftovers, I think I'll do the casserole thing and freeze that, too.

Now it's time to start planning for Christmas dinner!

[Katie Meadow]

Yesterday I threw the carcass (with some leftover meat still on it, much to my husband's chagrin) into a pot, roasted some marrow bones and veggies and added that to produce five or six quarts of stock. About a third of it gets frozen. I will probably make two different soups out of the balance. One will be the plainest turkey noodle soup on earth, so the taste is nothin' but turkey. The other will become a bit more dynamic; I'm thinking barley and vegetables. I don't even care much about eating the turkey on Thanksgiving, I just want the carcass to take home. I don't know what it is about the flavor of turkey soup; it makes me high.

Using leftover turkey meat in sandwiches or in anything that doesn't cook it further is fine, but here's what I don't get: putting it in pot pie or any dish where the meat continues to cook makes it so tough and dry. How do you deal with that? I don't eat any of the turkey meat in my soups since it cooks for three or four hours and makes its contribution that way.

I make ersatz turkey pot pie a couple of weeks after the big day by using chicken and lots of strong-tasting veggies, getting lots extra flavor from a little turkey stock and leftover gravy. That way the whole thing sort of has a turkey flavor but the meat is tender. How do you make turkey pot pie and still have succulent turkey meat in it?

[Special K]

How do you make turkey pot pie and still have succulent turkey meat in it?

You know, I've never had a problem with already-cooked turkey or chicken being tough and dry. After all, the meat is suspended in the gravy, and I pre-roast the vegetables and pre-bake the crust, so all I'm really doing with the pot pie is just reheating.

If you made a pot pie using raw turkey or chicken, you'd cook the meat before you put the pie together anyway, wouldn't you?

[scubadoo97]

Made stock with the back,neck and giblets the made turkey soup with the stock and neck meat. Turkey soup and matzo balls was the first meal. Lots of turkey sandwiches and salads and turkey pot pie so far.

[Katie Meadow]

Special K, yes I would, but I would just cook the meat until barely done, so it remains tender and juicy. And I do pre-roast the veggies. It never ocurred to me to prebake the crust for a pot pie. Often my pot pie is deep dish with only a top crust.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Katie Meadow (log)

[pastameshugana]

Thanksgiving Sandwiches - turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, a little dash of gravy and swiss on rye. I like that meal more than the actual dinner.

The sandwich is tradition on the day of and day after.

-Then we did Turkey quesadillas

-A pot of turkey posole

-Turkey Alfredo for dinner (basic alfredo sauce, rehead the chopped turkey w/garlic & onion & chilli, serve over fettuccine)

-Today (since I've been sick) Mrs. Meshugana made a pot of Turkey Noodle Soup

Forgot to save the carcass for stock - but I've got a spare turkey we may cook up next month and I'll try my hand at making my first pot of stock.

[Kouign Aman]

-Turkey Alfredo for dinner (basic alfredo sauce, rehead the chopped turkey w/garlic & onion & chilli

This deserves its own name. Its worthy of one.

[DTBarton]

My standard use for the leftover turkey is to make Brunswick stew with turkey replacing the usual chicken. Use the carcass for stock and add onions, celery, corn, lima beans, tomatoes and a couple bay leaves. Simmer for a while and add in chopped turkey meat. Let sit for a day or two. I find the turkey adds a bigger flavor than the chicken version has.

I serve it with country ham biscuits for a southern Thanksgiving redo.

[suzilightning]

did the turkey sandwiches with miracle whip and cranberry sauce on portugese sweet bread.

after dinner stripped the breast carcass and put the bones into broth with some aromatics. let it drip overnight. skimmed the fat and made turkey vegetable soup the next day.

since we only do a breast we don't have a lot of extra meat or bones though i do have a pheasant carcass to deal with tomorrow from sunday's dinner.

[sassybat]

I've been on my own for the past few days with a fridge full of turkey but no sides. So I've been keeping it simple. I got to keep the turkey carcass since I hosted and I made the turkey (in fact, I had to fight off my dad who wanted to bring it home to make congee!), so threw that into a pot and made stock with it. For meals, I've been heating up some of that stock and cooking rice noodles and chopped greens with diced turkey meat thrown in at the end for a comfortingly simple noodle soup.

Turkey gumbo or jambalaya sounds like an incredible idea! Maybe I'll make that with the remains of my turkey stock.

[percyn]

Obligatory Open faced sandwich w/Turkey and trimmings

Leftover Ham w/Scrambled Eggs

Also not pictured are Turkey Butter Masala (like a chicken tikka), Turkey mole, collard greens with Ham and smoked turkey.

[heidih]

I scored the carcass. The look of relief on my friend's face was priceless; no way she was gonna deal with it. Of course this morning the medium stock pot had gone into hiding so Big Boy was pressed into service. Smells so good. Sh did a traditional bread stuffing (yes stuffed in bird) so the celery, onion, poultry seasoning are subtley present.  I pulled off enough meat for a little bowl of mayo based salad but I won't pain your eyes with the image as I added some of the cranberry sauce - my plate with pickled beets alongside is a magenta fiesta. I love turkey and this was just a 16lb mass produced one. Sorry bout image - new software changes have robbed me of my skills

[cakewalk]

Best leftover: apple pie and coffee for breakfast while the dishwasher runs in the background.  The crust was made with Earth Balance margarine and some shortening. It was very good, better than some all- butter crusts I've made.

Not down to the carcass yet, but I'm looking forward to making turkey stock.

 

[kayb]

I may be late to the party, and people may have been doing this forever, but I have found the BEST use for leftover sweet potatoes.

 

I had my standard mashed sweet potatoes with pecan praline topping. I stirred up about a cup and a half of those with a beaten egg, a half-cup of brown sugar, a cup and a half of flour, 3/4 tsp each of baking soda and baking powder, a half-teaspoon of cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon each of nutmeg and ground cloves. Spooned it out into greased muffin tins, and then put MORE praline pecan topping (a half-cup each of flour and brown sugar, a half-cup of pecans, a half-stick of melted butter, stirred up until crumbly) on top.

 

 

These things are GOOD. Could be easily enough recreated with the flesh of a baked sweet potato or two, but they surely are a FINE use for leftover ones.

 

 

[suzilightning]

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 1:20 PM, heidih said:

I scored the carcass. The look of relief on my friend's face was priceless; no way she was gonna deal with it. Of course this morning the medium stock pot had gone into hiding so Big Boy was pressed into service. Smells so good. Sh did a traditional bread stuffing (yes stuffed in bird) so the celery, onion, poultry seasoning are subtley present.  I pulled off enough meat for a little bowl of mayo based salad but I won't pain your eyes with the image as I added some of the cranberry sauce - my plate with pickled beets alongside is a magenta fiesta. I love turkey and this was just a 16lb mass produced one. Sorry bout image - new software changes have robbed me of my skills

WHERE is the thumbs up for this!!!!

[suzilightning]

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 1:28 PM, cakewalk said:

Best leftover: apple pie and coffee for breakfast while the dishwasher runs in the background.  The crust was made with Earth Balance margarine and some shortening. It was very good, better than some all- butter crusts I've made.

Not down to the carcass yet, but I'm looking forward to making turkey stock.

 

better have some cheddar cheese with that apple pie!!!!!

[FeChef]

made buffalo turkey quesadilla's the other night.

[Katie Meadow]

We typically don't have a lot of turkey meat left over, and to tell the truth it doesn't appeal much to me. We save some for sandwiches and give a sizable hunk of breast meat away to my nephews to take home. I care about two things: the carcass and leftover gravy. Happily for me almost half of the 15 people at the table most years are vegetarians, and my husband makes abundant gravy. The carcass has been put to its highest use.The gravy has been frozen into two portions, both destined to be part of the mix for chicken pot pies that taste like turkey pot pies.

 

Tell me something. Even if your turkey meat is moist when served on the day-of, how do you keep it from getting dry or tough when you re-purpose it in enchiladas or pies or whatever? 

[rustwood]

I'll be working on leftovers for quite a while as I cooked 42 lbs of turkey last week -  for 8 meat eating family members.  I had planned 1 bone-in breast (lightly smoked) and 1 whole  (legs and boneless breast cooked sous vide) as my family expects to leave with leftovers.  The last turkey was due to my inability to resist the $10 off special at Costco on Friday.  I split it into a bone-in breast (heavily smoked) and legs (20 hour sous vide - came out great). 

 

I completely processed all 3 carcasses for stock, gravy and dog treats (using carefully picked meat bits from the cooked down carcasses).  I did the first carcass on Wed in a big pot and then made gravy with some of the stock, neck, wings and giblets.  I did the other two carcasses in a slow cooker.  It was easy - except that I had to break up the carcasses into small pieces to fit it all in.  It went into the pot on low before bed and in the morning I had beautiful broth.  Due to space constraints, the only veggie was a single onion.  I will just keep that in mind when I use it though.  I imagine it would be even easier to do a single carcass in a slow cooker.

 

As for leftover meat getting dry, I usually don't have issues with dark meat and it is less of an issue when white meat has been cooked sous vide.  Still, I tend to use leftover turkey in wet or very moist applications.  I'll be making soup today.  Enchiladas can be made with enough sauce to keep the turkey from drying out - right?

[dividend]

As usual, I overdid it for Thanksgiving.  A 20 lb roasted turkey.  Another 13 lb smoked turkey.  15 lbs of mashed potatoes, 10 pounds of roasted mashed sweet potatoes, 2 pounds of brussel sprouts cooked with bacon,  50 bacon wrapped boursin-stuffed jalapenos, $100 worth of fancy cheeses, a Costco "charcuterie" pack, a 3 lb olive spread from the Whole Foods olive bar, washed down with 4 quarts of local eggnog with spiked with almond tequila.  There were 8 guests including me.  To say I had leftovers is an understatement.

 

Besides the standard leftover dinner plate, I've made :

• Sandwiches made with turkey, mayo, jellied cranberry sauce, and thin slices of Mom's excellent stuffing, on soft white bread.
• Paninis made with turkey, mayo, thin salami, and Boursin on sourdough bread.
• 2 batches of turkey stock, from the roasted and smoked birds.
• A copycat recipe for Amy's lentil soup with turkey stock and chopped turkey (super good with the last of the cranberry goat cheese log).
• I froze and vacuum sealed 1 cup portions of mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.  These make super easy side dishes on lazy nights.  
• Used the last of the homemade spinach artichoke dip to make Veggie Patch Pizza, which is a copycat of the only thing I ever liked at Applebees.
• I host a monthly potluck game night and November's theme is always "Turkey Hangover."  For this I make Sara Moulton's turkey nacho recipe, and it's always a huge hit.
• I invited some friends over to finish off the cheeses and olives with some really tasty scotch.
• Oh, and I've been making homemade eggnog lattes for breakfast to use up the eggnog - I love how when you steam it, it tastes like butterscotch.

It's been lovely, but I'm making my husband take me out for a burger tomorrow.  

[rustwood]

@Katie Meadow's Turkey pot pies inspired me to make turkey calzone tonight.  A little gravy, shredded 20 hr sous vide turkey legs, and a few random leftover cheese cubes turned into a surprisingly tasty treat.  My original craving/motivation was for pepperoni (which I also made), but I stuck with the turkey.  I should have tried this while I still had other leftovers in the fridge.  Of course it is hard to go too far wrong with hot turkey and good gravy in fresh baked dough.