Favorite Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe

Now that the stupor from yesterday's feasting has worn off, it's time to start considering what to do with all the leftovers. What it everyone's favorite way of dealing with them?

This year, I decided to do some turkey/sausage/okra gumbo. We had some meat left on the leg bones and wings of a smoked turkey (and it was yummy!!), so today I took a bell pepper, 2 stalks of celery and a small onion, sauteed them for a couple of minutes, then dumped in about a cup of roux and stirred it around for about 3 minutes. I added 6 cups of water, brought to a boil and let that simmer for about 1/2 hour, tasting and seasoning as needed with salt, pepper, garlic powder, 3 bay leaves, and Lea & Perrins. While that was going, I took about a pound of my pure pork, Cajun style sausage (Thanks, tacmo for the recipe!!), fried it up and dumped it into the pot. I always leave out a few pieces to eat by themselves with rice and gravy. Let that simmer for 30 minutes and dumped in the legs and wings....broke the wings into 3 pieces. Thelegs and wings almost won't fit in the pot, but I will simmer for about an hour, then debone the meat and put it back into the pot along with 3/4 lb of sauteed okra. Take some turkey roast and put in, let that simmer for about 30 minutes, then turn off fire and let it meld until the rest is ready.

The rest is going to be heating up the rice dressing, turning some chunky mashed 'taters into potato salad, heating up the leftover rolls and bringing out the truffle-topped deviled eggs. Then it'll be feast, rev. 2. Yummy!

Anyone else??

Kajun

 

For many years now, we have traditionally served a breakfast with what we have called "Turkey Balls". We take leftover mashed potatoes, mix in chopped up leftover turkey, dressing, veggies, cranberries and and anything else that looks good and will fit...it's best to mix in a whipped egg or 2 depending on quantity to help it all stick together. Roll the mixture into balls slightly larger than a golf ball and deep fry it for the most delicious nuggets...

You can also make them into patties and pan fry...but the deep fried has a nicer crunchy exterior and the kids get a good giggle from the name...

 

Now y'all got me hungry. Again.

 

I make turkey soup. Fill a large pot with 16 oz of corn, 16 oz of pinto beans, 28 oz of la palmas green enchilada sauce (brand matters on this), 16 oz of chopped onion, 16 oz leftover turkey, 2 chopped potatoes, and any other leftover veggies I toss in, no brassicas. Fill the pot the rest of the way with broth or water and cook until the potatoes are tender. This makes a delicious soup that tastes nothing like leftovers. Freeze whatever is left in dinner sized portions. I give this recipe to anyone who is going to have limited time (babies, sick kids, sick parents, etc...) during the holidays because you can use cans to replace any of it and it's fine with leftover chicken, too.