If you haven’t already, run right now and get your turkey out of
the freezer and plop it in a sink full of cold water to start
thawing for the big roast off that’s looming this Thursday. I make
a note every year on my calendar to take my bird out on Monday of
Thanksgiving week, and every year I manage to ignore my own advice
and I panic, so go NOW and get yours out. I’ll wait while you do.
Don’t forget your big picnic cooler makes a dandy place to thaw a
bird to, if you don’t want to tie up your sink for three days.
For years now I’ve said the same thing about turkey, how great it
is the first, second, and third time around and the only real
reason to make a bird is so you can have a leftover turkey
sandwich with bread and butter pickles the next day. And yes,
again I have some pretty tasty leftover turkey recipes coming your
way, but before we get there, let’s pause and remember that as
simple as it is to cook a bird, stuffed or unstuffed, every once
in a while things are bound to hit a snag. I only cooked a turkey
with the giblets and neck left inside just once, a pretty grim
experience, not to mention less than fragrant. I’ve burned a
turkey in a woodstove (let us pause to remember the great turkey
disaster of 1975) and I’ve purchased a bird too large to go in the
oven. (You don’t want to know how hard it is to surgically divide
a partially frozen bird, trust me on this.)
However, I’ve got a few years under my holiday belt and I’ve
learned to just thaw, rinse well, remove any spare parts lurking
inside, place in a cooking bag, set it in the oven and forget it.
I don’t cook my dressing inside the bird, since we like ours a bit
drier and crunchier, and I don’t get up at the crack of dawn and
baste away in my bathrobe since I don’t want Thanksgiving dinner
at ten in the morning. (Why do all those old movies of housewives
in the forties show them putting the turkey in the oven at 6 in
the morning? I’ve never figured it out.) I don’t worry about
placing herbs under the skin a la Martha Steward for a picture
perfect presentation, since we’ve always carved in the kitchen and
bring the heaping platter to the table. Most of the time things go
well, but every year there is the distinct possibility that I will
forget one of these important worry free steps and goof up big
time.
That’s when you get to call in the big guns,
and happily enough all the numbers listed below are toll free,
even from Alaska. Perfectly nice and very patient people are on
the other end of these magic numbers and will dispense advice and
tips to make your holiday bird a success, and hopefully not a
flaming one. I talked to one of these kind hearted folks a couple
years ago and she told me she had cooked her way through more than
40 Thanksgivings, often managing three turkeys, all the trimmings,
and a dozen pies herself, and not counting all the groceries her
extended family brought along to help. I had to go lay down after
that, and I felt better right away that I only had one bird to
cook, and that our dearest Delta family friends were bringing
things, too. Talk about THANKFUL, I was then, and am now, for just
having them in our lives, living here in the best town in Alaska,
and of course, for turkey leftovers.
And here’s two great websites full of helpful tips and interesting
ideas:
Cook's Illustrated magazine:
www.turkeyhelp.com
National Turkey Federation:
www.eatturkey.com
And here’s this week’s recipes, which are perfectly legal to use
for Christmas turkey too, since that holiday is barely a month
away. Excuse me while I go lie down again and ponder what I have
to get organized for December and in the meantime, please have a
very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!
Easy Turkey Almandine
If you have time to make rice ahead of time this is even speedier.
I have it on good authority this can be nuked a million times
without any significant damage, and only gets better each time.
Isn’t it a good feeling knowing you can lay around and sort
through your Christmas catalogs because dinner is already made?
2 cups cooked white rice
3 cups cooked turkey, cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup real mayonnaise
2 cups diced celery
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups crushed corn flakes
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup melted butter
Get the oven going to 350 and find your glass 9 x 13 inch baking
dish and give it a light coating of olive oil, and set aside. In
your big mixing bowl, combine the rice, turkey, soup, mayonnaise,
celery, onion, salt and pepper and mix well. Toss it into the
baking dish, sprinkle with cornflakes and almonds, and mash the
whole works with the back of a spatula until it’s even. Then just
drizzle the melted butter evenly over the whole works and bake
about 30 minutes until bubbly.
Creamy Turkey
Chowder
This sounds like a good candidate for the crock pot, though I’d
make it on the stove top first, then transfer it and keep it on
the lowest heat. Serve some hard rolls and scare up the rest of
your fruit salad and even football watchers can fend for
themselves while you take a well deserved break!
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
Half an 8 ounce package cream cheese, cubed
1 can cream-style corn
2 cups turkey (or chicken) broth
3/4 cup milk
2 cups shredded leftover cooked turkey
Sauté onion in olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat until
tender, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese
cubes and cook until melted, stirring constantly. Add corn, broth,
milk and turkey; mix well and cook until soup is heated through,
stirring occasionally. Top with slivered almonds or croutons.
Turkey Tetrazzini
Easy to make, easy to double and freezes very well - just make
sure the pasta is well coated with sauce.
2 cups turkey, diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing
2 tablespoon green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 pound angel hair spaghetti
Mix soup, water, cheese and salad dressing in a saucepan and heat
to boiling, stirring often until creamy and smooth. Reduce heat,
add turkey, green onion, and parsley and simmer for fifteen
minutes, stirring occasionally while you get the spaghetti going.
Toss the well drained pasta in a large bowl with the turkey
mixture. Serve each portion with additional Parmesan and cracked
black pepper.
Favorite Turkey Salad
Leftover turkey takes on a new twist when it’s served ice cold in
this tangy salad. Keep some French rolls handy to toast for
sandwiches and don’t forget to pass the lettuce and maybe some
thinly sliced Swiss cheese for a perfect lunch or light supper.
2 cups diced leftover turkey
1 tart apple, chopped
1 rib celery, diced
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon honey mustard OR
2 teaspoons mustard combined with one teaspoon honey
2 tablespoon orange juice
Mix well and let sit at least an hour or overnight before serving
to let flavors blend.
Gobbler Cobbler
Not your ordinary dessert cobbler, but a wonderful combination of
flavors that takes care of all that leftover gravy lurking in the
back of your fridge.
2 1/2 cups turkey (or chicken) gravy
3 cups chopped cooked turkey
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
2/3 cup sun dried tomato bits OR
2 small fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons parsley -- divided
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning -- divided
2 1/4 cups Bisquick
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In 3-quart saucepan combine gravy, turkey, peas, mushrooms, tomato
bits, water, 1 tablespoon of the parsley and 1/2 teaspoon of the
poultry seasoning. Stir occasionally over medium-low heat until
mixture comes to a boil.
Meanwhile, in bowl combine the baking mix, the remaining parsley
and poultry seasoning, the pepper and milk; mix just to blend
thoroughly.
Pour turkey mixture into greased 9-inch square baking dish. Top
with Bisquick mixture, dropping with spoon in six equal mounds.
Place dish on baking sheet and bake about 20 minutes until cobbler
topping is golden brown.
Three Crock pot Sanity Savers
Each of these tastes great, requires no precooking and will keep
hot for hours will very little minding. It’s a safe bet the people
you feed will like at least one of them and think you’re brilliant
for whipping up something so tasty from the leftover bird. All you
need to do, besides soak up the compliments, is have some hoagie
buns or sturdy rolls handy for sandwiches. Don’t forget to spray
the crock pot, or oil it lightly before adding the ingredients so
cleanup is easy.
Miraculous Turkey
6 cups shredded turkey
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Mix everything together and cook in crock pot for 4 hours,
stirring twice. If the mixture is too thick, just add a bit of hot
water as needed.
Turkey Magnifique
This may seem familiar, as it’s the classic CG summer barbecue
sauce masquerading as a winter taste bud thrill.
One envelope French onion soup mix
One bottle French dressing
One can jellied cranberry sauce
Half a can of water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 to 6 cups chopped, mixed turkey
Add ingredients in order given, mixing well after each addition.
Heat in crock pot 4 to 6 hours until bubbly.
Triple Treat Turkey Chili
4 cups diced cooked turkey
1 envelope taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 small can sliced olives
1 small can diced green chilies
1 cup chunky salsa
1/2 cup peach or apricot preserves
Mix all ingredients in crock pot, stirring until well combined.
Heat 4 hours on low, adding more water as needed if mixture seems
too dry. Serve over toasted rolls topped with shredded Monterey
Jack cheese and diced tomatoes.
