Tips for your leftover Thanksgiving feast – CullmanSense
All the work and preparation that goes into shopping, baking, roasting and cleaning up after your Thanksgiving meal results in leftovers. What to do with them? First, if you have a foodbank or a church or local mission that feeds needy families in your area, they would surely appreciate anything you have to offer. Check with them before ever tossing good food into the wastebasket. Next, if you’ve seen the movie, “The Christmas Story” in which the family dinner gets eaten by a pack of neighborhood dogs, then you will remember the list of things that Ralphie’s family looked forward to after Thanksgiving; turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey gravy, turkey hash, Turkey a la King and gallons of turkey soup! Well, those are dishes that we can all have with a little ingenuity and effort, and leftover turkey, of course! First order of importance at our house – turkey sandwiches. Using really good bread, like the Monk’s Bread available in Cullman, or if you don’t have access to that, you might try Lewis Deli Sesame Rolls, or other good quality rolls, which have been lightly buttered on both sides, and toasted in the oven until golden brown, then layer the following: mayo and/or mustard as desired, lettuce, tomato, cheese slices and turkey. Salt/pepper optional. Or serve open-faced chopped turkey on toasted rolls with warm turkey gravy, topped with shredded cheese if desired. Turkey soups vary from family to family and region to region. Most call for, of course, leftover turkey, to which any drippings or gravy can be added. Use any leftover raw veggies, like carrots, English peas, bell peppers, tomatoes, celery and onions, even your creamed potatoes can go in your soup for added heartiness. If you have saved your turkey skeleton, cover with water (about 2 quarts). Boil it for a while to get out all of the flavor, then discard, making sure to remove all bones. If you didn’t save the turkey carcass or your chicken broth, you can use a couple of chicken bouillon cubes to add more flavor to your soup, just remember that you won’t need to add additional salt because bouillon cubes are heavy on sodium. You can also add spices to your taste, including poultry seasoning, thyme, garlic and pepper. Boil until veggies are tender and soup has thickened. Serve with leftover rolls or crackers. Turkey and Roasted Red Pepper Corn Chowder is another way to utilize leftover turkey and will warm you up if the weather turns cold! Here’s the recipe: Barbecued Turkey Shred leftover turkey into small pieces. Place in a Dutch oven with the following ingredients: Turkey Pot Pie Even a novice cook can prepare this dish with success! Roll out two Pillsbury pie crusts on a floured surface. Copyright 2016 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
In a saucepan with your turkey pieces (approximately 2 cups), add the following: