Saturday, December 7, 2013

Weekend Cooking: Turkey Leftovers


Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.


I've finally recovered from Thanksgiving, but before I gear up for Christmas baking I want to share a couple of new recipes using turkey leftovers. Usually, my mother comes to the rescue with her famous Turkey Cranberry Wreath and there is always a pot pie or two involved, but this year we wanted to try something new, too. (I love that the girls and my husband heartily support all this experimentation.) We had eighteen at out table on Thanksgiving Day and a 24 pound bird allowed for plenty of leftovers. Pinterest has become a great source for new recipes and my feed was flooded with uses for leftover turkey.


Thanksgiving Leftover Nachos caught my eye. Turkey nachos may not sound all that unusual, but cranberry-jalapeno salsa on the side?  Really? The recipe was created by Girl versus Dough for an Old El Paso holiday contest and, while I don't know if she won, it certainly wowed our crowd. My dish was empty moments after coming out of the oven, so the above photo is from her blog. We loved the sweet-tart taste of the cranberry sauce/lime/cilantro/jalapeno mix and it was really nice to use up all the leftover homemade cranberry sauce, too.


A couple of nights later, I decided to try King Arthur Flour's recipe for Turkey and Dumplings. We all love pot pies, and this recipe appeared to be a delicious variation of the traditional comfort-food classic. I've had nothing but success with King Arthur recipes and this one was no exception, BUT it was more work than I was expecting - mostly due to extra steps in preparing the roux and filling. It ended up being enough food for two meals, so I'm not complaining. The photo is from King Arthur.

What did you do with turkey leftovers this year?



28 comments:

  1. Those both look like recipes I'm going to have to try. I do have some leftover turkey I finally stuck in the freezer that I could pull back out.

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    1. Lisa - I always seem to forget about freezing leftovers and end up in a turkey frenzy. Next year I'll try and remember to spread it out a little!

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  2. Looks yummy! Thanksgiving wasn't at our house so we only had a small baggy of turkey leftovers that my husband turned into sandwiches over the next few days. Love turkey sandwiches!

    Joy's Book Blog

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    1. Joy - Leftovers are certainly a reward for hosting Thanksgiving dinner!

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  3. I made Turkey Ala Delhi, an old recipe of my husband from his college days. Your nachos look good too, I am pinning that one.

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  4. Froze our leftover turkey. These recipes are definitely helpful for when we're craving some comfort food. :)

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    1. Jama - Freezing is such a good idea, but it's become part of the sport around here to see how many ways we can eat turkey over the long weekend!

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  5. Always love good uses for leftovers. Am making a stock now in the crockpot. Cheers

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  6. I didn't have any!! I feel like I need to roast a turkey just to have leftovers. :)

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    1. Audrey - Believe it or not, I bought another small turkey breast yesterday!

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  7. I love the idea of Turkey nachos - often turkey leftovers can just be a poor second to the original but this is so different from traditional turkey that I am sure it felt nothing like leftovers!

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    1. Colleen - The nachos were such a fun, fresh idea… cranberry salsa was the only hint that it came from leftovers.

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  8. Those nachos sound awesome! I always make turkey and split pea soup at the very end. Yum. And you can't go wrong with any King Aurthur recipe.

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    1. Beth F - This is the first year I haven't made soup, but the nachos were a fun alternative.

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  9. We didn't have much left so I just made soup but those nachos and that salsa sound fantastic!

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    1. Kathy - I missed the turkey soup this year, but the nachos were a huge hit!

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  10. That cranberry salsa does sound wonderful. I adore fruit salsas, what a nice touch for an after-Thanksgiving meal.

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    1. Janel - This is the first time I've made a fruit salsa, but it won't be the last!

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  11. Oh how I wish we had turkey leftovers but it was all at the in-laws this year so..... I do love turkey.
    Thanks for your visit to my blog, which Maggie O'Farrell book do you have waiting? I didn't care for her first book as much as these other two I reviewed.
    Cheers!

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    1. Tina - I have The Hand that First Held Mine on my shelf. My mother wasn't wild about it, but I'm still looking forward to reading O'Farrell.

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  12. I travel up to family for the holiday, so I didn't have any leftovers. But usually we do a cheesy turkey pasta casserole the day after, or I also like turkey chili. Your recipes look great!

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    1. Cecelia - Leftovers are definitely the reward for hosting Thanksgiving dinner!

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  13. Nachos. Great idea. I have every intention of making enchiladas but I was so sick of food (still am) that even the thought of cooking anything turns my stomach. Even the soup I made yesterday. Sounded so good, was good and then by the time it came for me to eat it I was not hungry.

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    1. Ti - That sick of food feeling usually hits me that day after Christmas.

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  14. Those nachos are a GREAT idea! I do a lot of quesadillas around my house, too, because my kiddo loves them. I bet I could do that yummy-looking salsa on quesadillas too with great success! Yum!

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    1. ANdi - Not sure why making turkey nachos never dawned on me before… so simple and yummy!

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