Thanksgiving Leftovers

[porcupine]

at my place it'll be turkey burritos, with beans, cheese, and a really kick-ass tomato-chili sauce. And more cheese. You?

[Heather]

"Chicken Divan" slices of turkey , broccoli, bechamel enriched with parmesan, egg yolk and sherry, and sprinkled with more parm-reg. Bake until lightly browned. We also like the variation with asparagus instead of broccoli.

[FunnyJohn]

Tetrazzini!

And soup (of course).

Edited November 25, 2005 by FunnyJohn

[Jonathan]

i like turkey sandwiches on rye bread with a little stuffing, a little cranberry sauce, salt, pepper, tabasco and spread heavily with the congealed gravy. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[LizH]

It may be too late for ideas, but here is what I do every year... my version of Turkey pot pie! In a baking dish I use the extra gravy (or get some from Whole foods, which is really good)... cut up pieces of turkey... add a bag (or so) of frozen peas and stir... top with Mashed Potatoes, Iadd some butter on top to help crisp the top of the potatoes... Bake until hot. Add other veggies if you have them. Cheers.

[mdt]

It may be too late for ideas, but here is what I do every year... my version of Turkey pot pie! In a baking dish I use the extra gravy (or get some from Whole foods, which is really good)... cut up pieces of turkey... add a bag (or so) of frozen peas and stir... top with Mashed Potatoes, Iadd some butter on top to help crisp the top of the potatoes...  Bake until hot.  Add other veggies if you have them.  Cheers.

Sounds pretty close to what I am doing, but I used drop biscuits to top mine.

[nyani]

My family always makes "Hot Browns"- inspired by the Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY.

Toast some good bread, top with turkey and then a basic cheese sauce. Slices of tomato and crisp bacon are optional (but encouraged)- then pop the whole thing under the broiler until the cheese sauce browns.

[Hannah]

Tonight's leftover creation: turkey curry.

[babka]

we somehow wound up with just enough leftovers for one dinner for two, so we'll be redoing the original. made slkinsey's turkey two ways from eG and it was devoured....specifically, several guests pointed out that it tasted nothing at all like turkey, which was the primary goal.

[hillvalley]

Take it with you to snack on while seeing a movie

[JPW]

After a bunch of turkey sandwiches...

Turkey quesadillas.

Turkey and lentil soup.

[MelGold]

Take it with you to snack on while seeing a movie

Only if it's the best turkey ever created!

[shogun]

Have a fair-sized bag (edited: not 'back'. That would be gross unless we're talking stock here) of shredded turkey in the freezer. Figure I can use it for tacos or something on a rainy day. I've also got a good chunk of roast pork loin in the fridge. Don't plan on using it all soon....what should I do with it? Slice and freeze? Will it be ok?

Edited December 2, 2005 by shogun

[AlliK]

Have a fair-sized bag (edited: not 'back'. That would be gross unless we're talking stock here) of shredded turkey in the freezer. Figure I can use it for tacos or something on a rainy day.  I've also got a good chunk of roast pork loin in the fridge.  Don't plan on using it all soon....what should I do with it? Slice and freeze? Will it be ok?

I shred it and mix with BBQ sauce and freeze that - easy to pull out for a sandwich dinner sometime, and freezes/thaws just fine.

[zoramargolis]

The swan song of the heritage turkey-- mushroom barley soup. The turkey bones rendered their slightly smoky flavor into a rich stock with white wine, aromatic vegetables and herbs. The next day, strained and degreased, reduced a bit and then brunoise of carrot, parsnip, onion, leek, celery and delicata squash simmered in it. Final step was adding barley, fresh crimini, and dried porcini, shiitake and oyster mushroms and their soaking liquid. Served with chopped fresh herbs- parsley, rosemary, thyme and chives. Perfect on a cold, windy night.

[Pete]

Thanksgiving leftovers left us with tons of turkey stock that we bagged and tagged in the freezer. Leftover turkey meat was reincarnated as turkey enchiladas, turkey salad, and a darn tasty asian noodle soup.

[Scott Johnston]

At this point...if you have turkey in the frig...i say THROW IT OUT!

Food Police

[plunk]

What are some good ways to enjoy turkey leftovers without getting tired of turkey and without having it spoil? I'm planning on Hot Browns and turkey reuben sandwiches. Also gonna make a batch of turkey rice soup to freeze.

[mktye]

What are some good ways to enjoy turkey leftovers without getting tired of turkey and without having it spoil? I'm planning on Hot Browns and turkey reuben sandwiches. Also gonna make a batch of turkey rice soup to freeze.

Scroll up for previous answers to this yearly question.

[Biotech]

The current issue of Cooking Light has an article dedicated to using up Thanksgiving leftovers. There is an article for homemade turkey stock using the bones and using this as a base for turkey pho utilizing the leftover meat as well. It's interesting enough that I'm going to give it a try as turkey is one of my least favorite leftovers (actually one of my least favorite birds).

[southdenverhoo]

turkey and white bean chili is nice, if you've got some green chiles and your basic Flay-esque melange of SW spices around....

[pax]

*timidly raises hand* May I just put in a plug here for your local shelter? When it gets cold they often have extra tummies to fill. If you don't know where your local shelter is, try any house of worship/faith, they would be able to tell you.

[Anna Blume]

"Chicken Divan" slices of turkey , broccoli, bechamel enriched with parmesan, egg yolk and sherry, and sprinkled with more parm-reg. Bake until lightly browned. We also like the variation with asparagus instead of broccoli.

Broken record, I know, but sounds like cardoons might be a perfect substitution, too!

[agm]

(Bump)

[DameEdna]

Not worrying about turkey ... I have leftover chicken liver pate with Port and figs to consider.

[Soup]

Had the best turkey this year. Organic bird from WF, brined and smoked. I've never had such juicy breast meat. Yum. However it did its TDay duties and now the carcass is giving it "last measure of devotion" to quote lincoln as is slowly cooks in a large stockpot.

I was thinking gumbo but the thought of a mushroom barley also sounds great.

The only things left is the stuffing. I think we will shoot for more left overs next year.

[agm]

I also have some stock simmering away. I'm not sure how the smokiness of the carcass will translate to stock, but I'm thinking there may be a pot of bean soup or some kind of casserole in my future.

[saf]

Stock has been made. Not decided yet what to do with the roasted vegetables or the last of the asparagus/mushroom stuff.

And the turkey has become a pan of (frozen) enchiladas, a small tub of cold shredded turkey for sandwich making for tomorrow (small sandwiches, as we have small rolls left over) with some stuffing and cranberry sauce. Oh, and the last bit of turkey is frying, in the form of taquitos, right now for tonight's dinner.

The last of the pies will be tonight's dessert.

There were fewer leftovers this year than in past years. I think this is good.

[porcupine]

Not a great year for creative leftovers, but leftovers from Wednesday night's mushroom duxelles (on puff pastry fingers, for a cocktail party) made Thursday's brussels sprouts that much tastier (big spoonful thrown in a the last minute, on a whim), and Friday their final appearance was at lunchtime, on thick toast with melted Gruyere. Somehow I'd forgotten just how delicious and verstile duxelles are.

[Choirgirl21]

Lunch today is a turkey reuben, or rachel, whichever you prefer (with coleslaw instead of kraut - I prefer it that way with turkey). Don't worry, my T-day dinner was on Saturday, not Thursday, so they're still safe to eat.

[agm]

The turkey stock turned out well. I soaked some beans (flageolet) for a few hours, tossed some mirepoix and a bit of garlic in a pot with olive oil, cooked that down for a few minutes, then added the beans and a large quantity of stock. 2 - 3 hours at a low simmer, and the beans were approaching tender. I added in the last of the turkey, some still on the bone, quickly browned some smoked beef sausage I found in the fridge and tossed it in. After an hour I pulled the turkey bones out (the meat fell off) and the beans were tender enough to season. There was enough flavor in the stock that all I added was salt, pepper and a bit of thyme. That was Sunday; yesterday our first meal from that batch was basically a mound of beans with turkey and sausage; tonight after I thaw the remaining stock I'll thin it out, puree half the beans and have a thick and chunky bean soup. It was actually tasty enough that I'll plan ahead next time and make a batch of pork & garlic sausage to go in it.

Other than that, we got one meal the next day with turkey and the various trimmings, and we got two extra sandwiches out of the bird, but that was it for leftovers.

[Pat]

We got sent home with 1/3 of the leftover turkey and a container of whole berry cranberry relish. We've had turkey BLTs and curried turkey salad (with cranberry relish mixed in--very good). We've still got some turkey left, and I'm contemplating a soup.

My big discovery this year, though, is that cranberry relish is good with curried turkey salad.

[Pool Boy]

My wife and I made a recipe she found online last night. It’s basically a baked pie crust shell, then dump in a bunch of the following all mixed up (I might be missing something) – crumbled blue cheese, pears, some dried fruit (ideally something tart), pan-warmed pecan pieces, some heavy cream, some sour cream, salt, pepper and thyme. Bake for 20 min and rest for 20.

It was good!