Anyone can make a day-after-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich. Take two pieces of bread, add some turkey, top it with whatever leftovers you’ve got — mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing — and liberally smother the whole thing with gravy and call it a day. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not maligning your efforts to feed yourself while letting nothing go to waste — that’s totally good eating there — I’m simply suggesting that with a bit of time and effort you can create something that nobody would ever know was simply slapped together from yesterday’s remains.
Turkey Time
First off, while it might be a bit bigger, that T-Day turkey is exactly like having one of those grocery-store roasted chickens, only better, because it’s homemade. Use it for chili, soups or salads or go pro with this super-easy meatball recipe from chef Jason Louda of Corryville’s Meatball Kitchen (which has since closed).
Chef Jason Louda’s Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients: • 2 lb. cooked turkey • 1 cup breadcrumbs• 1-2 eggs• ¼ cup diced celery• ¼ cup diced onion• ¼ cup dried cranberries• 1 tsp. each, salt and pepper• ¼ cup chopped parsleyInstructions: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Coarsely chop the turkey and place in a medium bowl. Add the other ingredients and form the mixture into meatballs. Bake the meatballs on a parchment-lined baking sheet, or coat the meatballs with additional breadcrumbs and fry them. Serve them with your leftover gravy on mashed potatoes.
Play with Your Potatoes
While it’s cool to own a fancy pasta machine, there’s no need for one when you’ve got the Play-doh of leftovers in your very own fridge. Gnocchi, everyone’s favorite Italian dumplings, are easy to make and shape by hand, and the ingredient list is so simple that you’ll find yourself making more mashed potatoes than you need on a regular basis.
Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients: • 1 ½ lbs. mashed potatoes• 1 cup (or more) all-purpose flour• 1 large egg yolk, beaten to blend• 1 tsp. coarse kosher salt• large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg• 1 tbsp. olive oil
Instructions: Put mashed potatoes in a large bowl. Add 1 cup of flour and toss to coat. Form a well in the center of the potato mixture. Add the egg yolk, coarse salt and nutmeg; stir with a fork until the mixture is evenly moistened (mixture will look shaggy).
Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until the dough comes together, sprinkling the dough with flour very lightly only if dough is very sticky. Form the dough into ball; divide into 4 pieces. Roll each piece between hands and work surface into 3/4-inch-thick rope. Cut each rope into 3/4-inch pieces. Place the gnocchi on a prepared baking sheet.
Working in batches, cook the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling, salted water until the gnocchi rise to the surface of the water. Continue to simmer until cooked through and tender, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer gnocchi to bowl. Drizzle gnocchi with olive oil and toss to coat. Serve immediately with your favorite sauce.
Pumpkin-Spice Everything
Now wait a second — you thought I was going to say leftover pumpkin pie, right? Everyone knows that there is never any leftover pie, but just stay with me for a second. I said pumpkin, as in the stuff in the can that you used to make the pie, because for some reason it always comes in a can that’s way too big for your pie recipe and you need to know what to do with the rest of it, right?
Well, first blend yourself a milkshake of ½ cup pumpkin purée, 1 cup vanilla ice cream, ½ cup milk, a pinch of cinnamon and, if you’re so inclined, a shot of good Kentucky bourbon, and consume while baking some pumpkin-chocolate-chip biscotti for the cookie-swapping parties that will be inevitably pop up on your holiday social schedule.
Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip Biscotti Ingredients: • 2 ½ cups flour• 1 cup sugar• 1 tsp. baking powder• 1 tsp. cinnamon• ½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg• pinch ginger• pinch cloves• pinch salt• ½ cup chocolate chips• 2 eggs• ½ cup pumpkin purée• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extractInstructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and spices in a large bowl. Add the chocolate chips.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée and vanilla extract. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Stir to incorporate the ingredients; the dough will be crumbly.
Flour your hands and a clean kitchen surface and lightly knead the dough. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Form the dough into a large log, roughly about 15-20 inches by 6-7 inches.
The loaves should be relatively flat, only about ½-inch high. Bake for 22-30 minutes until the center is firm to the touch. The loaves will not be brown.
Let biscotti cool for 15 minutes and then, using a serrated knife, cut into 1-inch-wide pieces. Turn the oven to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cool completely. Let the biscotti sit overnight uncovered to crisp. Serve or freeze.
CONTACT ILENE ROSS: [email protected]
