OK, nobody loved turkey more than Ben Franklin, who tried to convince Congress to make it our national bird!
On Thanksgiving, of course, it is... and I think we can all agree that there's nothing quite like that first turkey sandwich...
Great homemade bread, mayo, the disgraced and delicious iceberg lettuce, and thin slices of white meat...
Sigh.
However, there are a lot of other possibilities, and not just Dump-Everything-in-a-Pot Turkey Soup!
So take a look through the following reposts...
Curries, hashes, risottos...
And think of that huge pile of turkey as a great blessing!!!
Turkey and Sage Risotto
I love risotto. Period.
From my first taste YEARS ago, right up until today. But... I don't like the idea of risotto as a dumping ground. If you want to add things... there's a method. Therefore...
I had great turkey stock... I had beautifully cooked turkey breast... I had chopped onions... So...
I started as I would any risotto (for everything you need to know about the basics of making perfect risotto... Perfect Risotto at Home): I sautéed the onions in EVOO... added the Arborio rice and some chopped sage... added some white wine... and then began the gradual additions of hot turkey stock (augmented with a bit of hot water because the stock was VERY strong), and, at the last moment, I added diced turkey... then a large (2 T) piece of unsalted butter... turned off the heat and added Grana Padano.
This is comfort food to the Nth degree... and it in no way tasted like...
The dreaded... L WORD!!!
Turkey Curry with White Rice
This is Charlie's favorite use for "repurposed" turkey... curry!
Brown-fry some onions, add lots of garlic and ginger, then add a bit of the stock you made from the carcass. Add your favorite curry powder (homemade REALLY is the best) and a can of coconut milk. I also add some dressing (stuffing) and a few tablespoons of gravy. A shot of your favorite hot sauce (I use my homemade habañero sauce) helps. At the last minute, add some diced dark meat, and a cup or so of diced fried potatoes and serve over rice.
You'll never know it was Turkey "THE L WORD"!
Thai Turkey
(This is a post from The Summer in Boise... Since you'll be using cooked turkey, just add pieces during the last minute of simmering to reheat!)
So... A burning desire for Thai green curry... and I already had brown rice cooked and ready...
I took a look in the fridge... I had some turkey tenderloin that I'd thawed. I always have frozen peas and pesto... and I'd come to Boise prepared with my favorite green curry paste and my favorite soy sauce...
...And a few cans of light coconut milk (it's just as flavorful as full fat, and a fraction of the fat... So why not?). So I poached the turkey cubes in coconut milk and curry paste, added soy sauce, peas and pesto... Reheated some brown rice et voilà...
Craving totally satisfied!!!
PS. The turkey was more tender and more flavorful than the usual chicken.
Turkey, Duxelles & Sage Risotto with White Truffle Oil
Risotto... always one of my favorite dishes...
Though I am NOT a believer in the "just dump anything in" school of risotto making!
Having said that, the idea of a turkey risotto with some sage and duxelles sounded pretty good, especially since I had some wonderful turkey stock on hand. (Check out the link below for a refresher course on cooking perfect risotto!)
The duxelles should go in early, after the second or third addition of simmering stock. The sage can go in early as well... It's a hardy, hearty herb and it can withstand long cooking. But I have a little trick: I add some chopped sage early, and reserve some to toss in during the last few minutes. Try it... you'll see.
The turkey should go in only long enough to reheat... It is sooooo cooked already.
And because I have wonderful friends who give me amazing gifts, I finished this risotto off with a very, very tiny drizzle of white truffle oil. This is one case where less is indeed more.
Did it work? You bet! When the ingredients are good, and gently handled, the offerings after Thanksgiving can be "better than the original"!!!
(For everything you need to know about the basics of making perfect risotto... Perfect Risotto at Home)
Turkey Crêpes
(These chicken crêpes can easily accommodate the Thanksgiving Bird - just substitute the turkey for the chicken!)
I can't really explain it...
OK... I could say that some of the roast chicken was sitting in the fridge waiting to be... repurposed.
I could say that it was the week before Christmas and I wanted to cook everything I could think of that is the antithesis of new/fast/low-fat/fusion, etc.
I could say that, knowing we'll be working in L.A. on Christmas day, I felt the need to pamper us now... in preparation.
Whatever the reason, I stepped into a time machine yesterday. I made a batch of crêpes... and yes, it's true, the first one never works!
For a basic crêpe recipe, one need look no further than Julia... No surprise there...
Combine 1 C AP flour, 2/3 C water, 2/3 C milk, 3 eggs, a pinch of salt, and 3 T melted butter. A blender works well, but whisking is fine. Let it sit for at least an hour. Heat a bit of butter in a non-stick pan. Pour in 1/4 cup batter, swirl it around the pan, pour any excess back into the batter... cook for about 30 seconds... flip it over... cook a few seconds... and remove to a plate.
Then I made a velouté... essentially a béchamel using my roast chicken stock in place of most of the milk. Then I sautéed some finely minced onions in - wait for it - schmaltz... which I had scraped off of the roast chicken stock.
I deglazed with a shot of Sherry and added some frozen (no need to thaw) tiny peas. These were combined with about three-quarters of the velouté, to which I added a generous helping of cubed roast chicken and a few scrapings of nutmeg, along with some salt and pepper.
I rolled up crêpes with about 2 tablespoons of the filling, put them snugly in a buttered baking dish, topped with a bit of the remaining velouté and a dusting of microplaned Parmesan, then off they went to spend 15 to 20 minutes in a 350° oven.
All I can say is, do this right, and you bypass The Magic Pan and head straight for Paris... ooo la la!!!
Turkey Hash
THE use... THE comfort food... using the remains of the turkey... probably my personal fave... because when all is said and done, I'm a Midwesterner who's Irish on all sides (and I do mean ALL sides).
Hash.
So this version was sautéed cubes of potato, sautéed onions and celery, the last of the white meat, cubed, some dried sage from the garden, LOTS of pepper, a bit of smoked salt, and the last few spoonsful of gravy. Topped it with some sour cream and a scattering of chopped scallions.
Delicious. And a fitting way to say goodbye to the Thanksgiving feast... here shown in all its glory.
And now it's full steam ahead into DECEMBER!!!