Turkey Times
Carefree… by Joyce McCombs

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.

Here’s the numbers:
Butterball Turkey Talk-Line: 1-800-288-8372, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Reynolds Turkey Tips hotline: 1-800-745-4000
Shady Brook Farms Turkey Line: 1-888-723-4468

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.
  

Index to Carefree Gourmet Articles

Sourdough Sensations June 29, 2007

Kitty Treats June 29, 2007

Dog Treats April 20, 2007

Sandwich Plan March 23, 2007

Carefree Wacky Ingredients March 8, 2007

Homestead Hearth January 25, 2007

Carefree Cooking 101 January 11, 2007

Holiday Punch December 23, 2006

Holiday Treats December 12, 2006

Thanksgiving II November 20, 2006

Standby Favorites October 16, 2006

Cabbage October 11, 2006

Apples September 22, 2006

Kids Cook July 6, 2006

Wacky Tips June 8, 2006

Graduation May 11, 2006

African Cuisine April 13, 2006

A Bit of Irish March 23, 2006

Crazy for Carrots March 9, 2006

February Vacation February 23, 2006

Easy Budget January 12, 2006

Christmas Treats December 22, 2005

Sweet Surprises December 8, 2005

Turkey Times  November 22, 2005

Grand Champions - Part 2 - October 13, 2005

Janet Boyer September 22, 2005

Grand Champions September 5, 2005

Blueberries  August 12, 2005

Halibut and Zukes July 28, 2005

Orange Juice July 14, 2005

Happy Birthday June 30, 2005

Honey June 9, 2005

Picnic Dishes May 26, 2005

Celebration Salads May 12, 2005

Kraft Foods April 21, 2005

Shrimp April 7, 2005

Carry on Airline snacks March 25, 2005

Sandwiches March 10, 2005

Back from Vacation February 24, 2005

Super Bowl Snack Attack  January 14, 2005

Ginger Snaps December 29, 2004

Christmas Memories - December 12, 2004

Thanksgiving November 23, 2004

Glen and Meat  October 29, 2004

Blueberry Pie Champion  September 30, 2004

Fair Winners  September 2, 2004

Glen's Knives June 11, 2004

Aunt Aggie Tells All... May 13, 2004

Crazy About Catsup April 29, 2004

Carefree Clearance Special April 8, 2004

Seattle Adventure March 26, 2004

Vegas, part 2 March 12, 2004

Vegas Wind February 12, 2004

Casserole Bonanza January 11, 2004

No Fuss Dishes  December 19, 2003

Fake and Bake Christmas  December 11, 2003