Comments on: Unconventional Thanksgiving leftovers

By: Postdoc

Postdoc — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 08:05:52 +0000

I like the idea of stuffing/mashed potato waffles: http://magazine.foxnews.com/food-wellness/turn-your-thanksgiving-leftovers-stuffing-or-mashed-potato-waffles (not that I ever read Fox News)

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 22:31:27 +0000

In reply to Calee.

@Calee – problem solved! Very helpful readers around here 🙂

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 22:31:05 +0000

In reply to Gwen Thompson.

@Gwen – thanks for the recipe – this does look tasty!

By: Calee

Calee — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:50:37 +0000

In reply to Gwen Thompson. I now know what I'm making for dinner tonight! Vegan shepherd's pie!

By: Gwen Thompson

Gwen Thompson — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:47:49 +0000

Here is my recipe for vegan shepherd’s pie:

VEGAN SHEPHERD’S PIE

1 c. uncooked barley
6 lg. white potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
3 lg. leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 lg. clove garlic, crushed
2 packets sliced mushrooms, very finely chopped
hearty red wine or madeira
olive oil
freshly ground pepper and/or freshly grated nutmeg
salt to taste

1) Bring 3 c. water & 1 c. barley to boil; cover & simmer 50-60 min. or till water is absorbed & barley is al dente. Fluff with fork, cover, & set aside.
2) Boil potatoes till soft enough to mash with water, olive oil, salt & pepper (or nutmeg) to taste.
3) Saute leeks, parsnip, & garlic in olive oil till translucent/tender.
4) Add mushrooms & stir 15-20 min. till all liquid gone & mushrooms are dark & dry (not browned).
5) Combine mushroom mixture & cooked barley in bottom of greased casserole dish with red wine (to taste & to moisten mixture thoroughly).
6) Layer mashed potatoes on top and press into pattern with tines of fork.
7) Broil till browned on top.
8) Serve with Worcestershire sauce and/or harissa. Serves 6-8.

By: Gwen Thompson

Gwen Thompson — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:43:27 +0000

Haha–we’ve always eaten plain yoghurt with cranberry sauce for breakfast in my family! You can also fry small cakes of leftover mashed potatoes to make hashbrowns for breakfast (tastes best fried in bacon grease–I always keep an empty soup can in the fridge to fill with grease I pour off the pan after frying bacon, so I can flavor anything with bacon even if I don’t have or don’t want to use any actual bacon). You can also make vegetarian shepherd’s pie by combining mushroom duxelles (chop ordinary mushrooms very finely and saute in olive oil till all or most of the moisture cooks out of them) with cooked barley (rather than using lentils) for the “meat”, which I much prefer, as mushroom duxelles have a meatier flavor than lentils, and cooked barley is closer to the texture of ground meat than lentils are. You can use leftover turkey for anything you’d normally do with leftover chicken: turkey soup (turkey vegetable soup, turkey noodle soup, turkey rice soup); turkey curry (leftover cranberry sauce can go with it instead of chutney); turkey tacos/enchiladas/burritos; turkey pot pie; turkey (as opposed to chicken) salad (also delicious if you add some curry powder or chipotle powder to the mayo to vary the flavor profile) sandwiches (no doubt you’re already making turkey and cranberry sauce sandwiches or just plain sliced turkey sandwiches, either cold or hot and open-faced if you also have leftover gray). You can also thin out/add to leftover gravy as needed to make a stew of leftover turkey with carrots and pearl onions served over egg noodles or with dumplings on top. If you have leftover stuffing too, you can fry it up with some leftover turkey and an onion to make turkey hash, which goes great with leftover cranberry sauce.

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 15:57:27 +0000

In reply to Twin Mom.

@Twin Mom – gumbo! Another idea I hadn’t thought of. I’ll check it out. We have a *lot* of turkey…

By: Twin Mom

Twin Mom — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 15:45:35 +0000

I like this chicken/sausage gumbo made with turkey instead of chicken. I use turkey kielbasa for the sausage and frozen okra. It takes longer to really cook down than the directions say. I choose it in part because it’s not “carb-y”. http://www.bhg.com/recipe/stews/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo/

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 12:28:19 +0000

In reply to Jamie.

@Jamie – ah yes, Shepherd’s pie. I’d forgotten about that as an option. We may get there soon…

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 03:36:14 +0000

I always try to make extra mashed potatoes so I can make shepherd’s pie with the leftovers. (I sometimes make a vegetarian version that’s lentil-based. It’s the source of a family joke: “What do you put in a vegetarian shepherd’s pie?” “Why, vegetarian shepherds, of course.”) Colcannon is another easy and tasty option.

Tomorrow I think I am going to make Nigella Lawson’s Bang Bang Turkey with some of our turkey leftovers: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/121-bang-bang-turkey. Will the kids eat it? Who can say?