Today’s the big day, and tomorrow you’ll be dealing with that age-old quandary, what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers. Fortunately there are lots of things you can try, and it doesn’t necessarily mean repeating the dinner dish by dish. So along with Chef Jerry Pellegrino, let’s break down some of the elements we can work with.
“You have the turkey meat itself for sure, then you’re likely to have some mashed potatoes, and finally some veggies. Plus odds and ends like corn bread, stuffing and gravy. And if you’ve cooked a traditional Baltimore dinner, there will be sauerkraut as well.”
First of all, let us be clear: you don’t need two guys on the radio to tell you to make hot turkey sandwiches and turkey rice soup. But we do have some ideas that may not have come to mind.
With already cooked turkey and veggies on hand you’re in a perfect position to make a turkey pot pie. Use store-bought crust, and cook the leftovers in some chicken broth, then thicken it all with cornstarch and you’re good to go. Now, let’s take this idea a step further. We’ll make a turkey casserole. Take the turkey/veg mixture from you pot pie and put it in the bottom of a baking dish. Add a layer of mashed potatoes, a layer of stuffing, then crumble the cornbread for a topping. Bake and serve with a garnish of cranberry sauce dotting the crispy top.
And along those lines, how about turkey à la king? Using your basic turkey pot pie mixture, add a basic white sauce of milk, flour, salt and pepper and stir it in. Heat that up, then lay out any left-over cornbread or dinner rolls and ladle the mixture over it. Another variation is to make potato dumplings. To your mashed potatoes you mix in some flour and milk, and create the dumpling batter. Drop spoonfuls into simmering broth and serve with your turkey à la king.
Still thinking back to stuffing, try making little stuffing croquettes. Mix your left-over stuffing with eggs and a little milk, roll heaping spoonfuls into balls, and then fry ‘em up.T ake that left-over cranberry sauce, mix it with a little honey and mustard and you’ve got a tasty dipping sauce.
Since there is a lot of football watching going on all weekend long, how about Thanksgiving-based nachos? Just spread a layer of tortilla chips across the bottom of a large baking dish. Add a layer of shredded turkey, then a layer of mashed potatoes (or sweet potatoes in you’ve got them) a little stuffing, some more chips and finally sprinkle on some cheese of your choice. Bake it a while in a moderate oven, and you know what to do next.
Another staple for football watching would be humus and chips. But in this case it will be sweet potato humus. In a food processor mix your left-over sweet potatoes, a can of chick peas, a half cup of tahini, apple cider vinegar and olive oil, and any tasty spices you can think of. Blitz it and tear up some pita bread for a tangy treat.
And for all you Baltimoreans who had sauerkraut for dinner, use turkey, sauerkraut, stuffing, along with swiss cheese and thousand island dressing and whip up a turkey Rueben sandwich.T hat is going to be hard to beat!
Now how about Friday morning breakfast? Jerry suggests grabbing some eggs and making a frittata! Shred some turkey, toss in your veggies, pour in your beaten eggs, and cook. 30 minutes later, voila! A delicious breakfast served with a little cranberry sauce on the side.
So there you are! A handful of creative ideas for using your delicious T’giving left-overs. Enjoy!
