My November column originally intended on highlighting
possible side dishes to serve with Thanksgiving. But there was a small problem.
I thought my column would go to press the last week of November when it went to
press during the 3rd week. So I missed the boat and the next issue
isn’t until December totally by-passing Thanksgiving… But maybe not. What are
most people stuck with after Thanksgiving? Copious amounts of leftovers! I’ll
just change the column from pre-Thanksgiving to post-Thanksgiving!
What to do with the
Leftover Bird?
For starters, not everyone’s roast turkey comes out of
the oven tender and juicy. Because we’ve all been educated on the horrors of
that unwanted Italian visitor, Sal Monella who resides on raw turkey, we tend
to over versus under cook our bird usually leading to dry breast meat. Simply
add moisture back in the form shoyu
and vinegar and add a bit more flavoring with fresh garlic and coarse cracked
black peppercorns. Just like that classic poultry dish in the islands, chicken adobo! But why just stop at turkey adobo? Use it as the protein in a garlic
fried rice which is adobo’s
traditional partner.
About 2 cups roughly chopped leftover turkey
¼ cup shoyu
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 clove minced fresh garlic
½ tsp coarse, cracked black peppercorns
5 to 6 cups of leftover rice (refrigerated overnight or
up to 3 days produces a better fried rice)
Vegetable oil
3 to 4 cloves minced fresh garlic
1 small carrot, peeled and roughly grated
About 2 cups leafy greens, roughly chopped (kale,
spinach, chard, etc.)
Shoyu to taste
Mix the shoyu, vinegar, garlic and black pepper
with the chopped turkey and marinate for several hours. In a wok or large
frying pan, heat the oil then sauté the garlic until light brown then add the
marinated turkey for 1 to 2 minutes then add the carrots and greens. Once the
greens are wilted, add the rice the constantly toss breaking up the clumps of
rice until the rice and other ingredients are uniformly mixed. Add shoyu
to taste.
If making a large batch of adobo garlic fried rice
is too laborious, then simply re-spice your roasted turkey with a classic
Alabama staple, white sauce. I’m not sure if he created it, but “Big” Bob
Gibson gets credit for the mayonnaise and vinegar based white sauce that coats
the whole smoked chickens at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q’s restaurants in Alabama
and current executive chef, pit-master and vice president (also founder Big
Bob’s great grandson-in-law), Chris Lilly popularized the white sauce on the
multiple cable food shows. It also brings dried turkey breast back to life.
Alabama White
Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp Creole mustard
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
Whisk together everything then refrigerate for 1 to 2
hours, overnight if possible.
Stuffing or
Dressing?
I’m in the dressing camp as I learned in my food science
class that stuffing simply increases the chances of propagating our buddy, Sal Monella.
Stuffing the cavity of the bird also creates a wetter product and I prefer the
fluffier consistency of either oven or stove top created dressing. Of course,
since most Asian Thanksgiving tables offer an abundance of starches including
noodle dishes and rice, you’re usually left with an abundance of dressing (or
stuffing).
I can’t take credit for this creation as I viewed it on
an episode of Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives from a diner called Funk ‘n Waffles
in New York. The owner placed dressing in a waffle iron to create a dressing
waffle! Brilliant! After viewing the episode, I purchased a Cuisinart Panini
Press with the waffle plates. Nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the
inside. I daresay that these dressing waffles may be better than the original
dish!
Leftover dressing also makes a great binder for meatloaf.
One of my Mom’s standby recipes called for a pound of ground beef, turkey or
chicken mixed with a box of prepared Stove-Top stuffing, one large beaten egg
and a packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix dissolved in ¼ cup of water. Baked
freeform in an oven bag for about 45 minutes, it was the meatloaf that I was
raised on and still make to this day.
Recycled Cranberry
Sauce
This applies primarily to those who make their own
cranberry sauce. I don’t think there’s much to do with the canned variety
either as the primary vehicle or as a repurposed vehicle. But if you create
your own cranberry sauce, they can be added to cocktails adding both sweet and
tart flavors to any clear alcohol whether it’s vodka, gin or even tequila.
Fresh sauce can also be mixed into cream cheese for a great sandwich condiment
whether it’s slathered between two slices of bread or to enhance a hye-roller
or lavosh sandwich.
Mashed Potatoes
Galore
For starters, mashed potatoes can be used as is to top
any savory stew ala Shepherd’s Pie. You can also freeze smaller portions of
mashed potatoes to use as thickeners for stews and curries. Or you can use it
as a binder for various after Thanksgiving patties by adding some type of
protein, an egg and perhaps some cracker crumbs. Like chopped turkey and
dressing patties. Or tuna, cream of mushroom and chive patties. Or simply mixed
with canned corned beef and green onions for corned beef hash patties.
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