Like me you probably have a fridge overflowing with bits, pieces and chunks of everything. And since the holiday baking and making season is upon us, everything must go. So before we get into holiday baking and making, this post has a few great ideas for using up what's still left from turkey time. Or what may be left during the month of feasting ahead. (Advance apologies: no photos)
Club Sandwich Salad
This should get those last bits of turkey out of the way.
serves 6
1 lb cooked turkey meat, chunked into large bite-size pieces
2 medium rip tomatoes, cored and sliced into thin wedges, wedges cut into half moons
1/2 lb (8 0z) bacon, cooked to a crisp and drained and broken into bits
10 inner leaves of romaine lettuce, washed and dried**
1/2 sm red onion, minced
1 1/2 c croutons
** If the romaine scare is still happening, use cylindrical leaf lettuce instead. Some of it is red tipped.
for the dressing
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c Greek yogurt (low fat is fine)
1/4 c olive oil
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
5 garlic cloves, minced
Whisk together all the dressing ingredients.
In your serving bowl, break the lettuce into salad pieces. Top with the remaining salad ingredients. Add the dressing and stir to blend. Serve proudly, maybe with a cup of soup.
Apple Bread Pudding
This is an apple fan's delight: apples, applesauce, apple jelly. Plus raisins to delight the kids. Presented in a glass bowl with caramelize apples on top nobody would ever suspect bread pudding. So get out the leftover raisin bread and those untouched apples.
serves 4-6
5 thin slices raisin bread (if you don't have raisin bread, use a buttery bread and add 1/4 c raisins plumped in water with a pinch of cinnamon.
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 extra lg eggs
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 c whipping cream OR evaporated whole milk nonsweetened
1/4 cup smooth applesauce
1/4 c apple jelly
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Granny smith or large Cortland or 2 Macintosh apples, peeled
1 tbsp light brown sugar
Preheat oven to 325º. With 1 tsp butter, grease a 6" round souffle or other small, deep baking dish.
Cut the crusts off the bread.With 1 tbsp butter one side of each slice, then cut each slice into quarters.
Peel the apple and cut it into wafer thin uniform wedges, discarding all seeds.
On the bottom of the buttered dish, make a layer of bread, then top that with a layer of apples in a pinwheel formation. Sprinkle half the nutmeg over the apples. Divide the remaining butter in half, then cut each half into tiny pieces and spread 1/2 of them over the apples. Make a layer of bread on top. Top this with another layer using all the apples, in a pinwheel formation. Sprinkle with the remaining nutmeg and butter bits. (NOTE: If you are adding raisins separately, spread them between the bread and apple layers.)
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and cinnamon to blend thoroughy.
In a medium saucepan combine cream, pple jelly and apple sauce. Over med/hi heat, bring to a simmer. Cut heat immediately and gradually in a steady stream whisk in the egg mixture. Pour this custard over the bread/apple layers. It should just reach the top apple layer. Let it stand 10 minutes to saturate the bread.
Place a 9 x 13" baking pan (with sides) in the center of the oven. Put the pudding dish in the middle and fill the pan with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the souffle pan. Bake 45 minutes or until the custard looks firm. Remove from the oven.
Raise oven temp to 500º. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top apple layer and return the souffle pan to the oven. The pre-heat red light should still be on when you start. As soon as it goes off and the oven temp is actually 500º the sugar should've melted over the apples and browned them. Remove immediately! Serve warm or at room temp as is or topped with fresh ginger spiced whipped cream.
Turkey Stuffed Potatoes (or Chicken)
This is another way to clean out the leftover turkey bits without being so obvious. Or you can use chicken.
serves 6
6 oval shaped baking potatoes
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/4 c minced turkey or chicken meat
6 oz fresh mushrooms (button or shiitake)
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, minced
3/4-1 c Half n' Half or low fat yogurt
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
1/2 tsp dried rosemary leaves
2 tbsp chopped pimiento
1 c frozen peas
1 c low fat plain yogurt (Greek for thickness)
Bake potatoes until tender enough to eat. Cool. Slice a very thin piece off one end of each potato so it will stand upright. Cut 1 1/2" piece off what will be the top end and carefully scoop out the inside, leaving a shall 1/2" thick.
Heat oven to 450º. Butter an 8-9" square baking pan.
Put the potato insides in a large mixing bowl, add all other ingredients except the peas and 1 c low fat yogurt. Mash/blend. Use as much half n half as you need to make this smooth and creamy. Taste to adjust salt level. Fill each potato skin with this mixture carefully packing it in. Put a small piece of butter on top of each. Stand them up in the baking dish. Bake at 450º 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile steam the peas until just tender.
To serve, spoon some yogurt over each potato, then some peas and optionally a bit of minced flat leaf parsley.
Harvest Casserole
How to use up all those vegetable stragglers in the bins. A special for the vegetarians. Don't be put off by the long ingredient list: it's just bits of everything.
serves 4
1 c long grain/Basmati rice
1/3 c brown lentils
2 c veg broth
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 c pine nuts
1/2 c canned kidney or cannellini beans, drained
1/4 med red or green cabbage, shredded
1 lg onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 med green bell pepper, in thin strips
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin disks
1 parsnip, peeled and sliced into thin disks
any bits of rutabaga, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/4 c canned corn or frozen peas
2 stalks celery, cleaned and diced
1 c any fresh vegetable, chopped
1 tbsp cilantro or flat parsley leaves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 lb mozzarella, gruyere or cheddar cheese, grated
Heat oven to 350º.
Put rice and lentils in a saucepan with the veg broth and 1/2 c water. Cover and cook over medium heat until liquid is gone. Remove cover. If you prefer, you can now flavor the rice with a bit of soy sauce or curry powder or just salt and pepper--your taste preference here!
In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add garlic ,onion and pine nuts. Sauté until onion is soft and translucent, 3-5 min. Add dried herbs (thyme, oregano). Add parsnip, carrots, cabbage and celery plus 2 tbsp water. Cover the pot and cook 5 min. Add peas, remaining vegetables and beans. Cover and cook 5 more minutes. Uncover and stir in the fresh green herb (cilantro or parsley), salt and pepper.
Put the rice/lentil mix into a medium size oven casserole, souffle dish or deep dish pie pan and flatten it into a layer. Put the vegetable mix on top and flatten into a layer. Cover this with the grated cheese.
Heat at 350º 20-30 minutes. If you have this in a proper container you can also microwave it.
Serve with a green salad and your leftover cranberry sauce.
Cilantro or Parsley Pesto
Here's how to get rid of the green herbs wilting away by now: convert them instantly into a "pesto" sauce for spaghetti or squash ravioli. It's very simple:
in the bowl of a food processor or chopped put the herbs you have with 2 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese, lots of freshly ground black pepper, sea salt to your taste and process to a paste. Pour in and process or stir in as much olive oil as it takes to make this a sauce.
You can store this in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days or you could freeze it forlater when on a cold winter night you can enjoy all the good of those greens.
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