All these leftovers....

[VeraBlue]

Okay, surely mine isn't the only refrigerator that is still bursting at the seams with food..? I sent my family back to Florida with pans of food, but I'm still chock full here.

I'm going to make turkey gumbo today with the leftover carcass. The sliced meat will go for a few sandwiches and probably a turkey pot pie.

The ham bone is destined for red beans and rice. The sliced ham was served with eggs yesterday morning, and will make a few sandwiches.

The leftover sweet potatoes will become a soup.

The leftover grilled greenbeans with roasted onions will become a salad.

The leftover mashed potatoes (those I can pry from my son's lips...) will be blended with raw eggs and made into patties. Then, dredged in flour and sauteed in butter.

The antipasto became sandwiches.

The sauteed mushrooms usually go onto the turkey sandwiches, or just get reheated. I like them served over rice.

There is only a couple of slices of pie left...and I make 12 inch pies! There are a few slices of the chocolate cake with chocolate panna cotta..

The cornbread is gone, the cranberry walnut braid is gone.

I still have some italian wedding soup...but that will be gone today!


I try to make the leftovers into something else... What are you doing with yours?

 

[Michelemarie]

Wow Vera! Amazing! Other than mashed potatoes (MIL did not do such a good job on them this year) we have eaten all our leftovers. I do like your idea of egg - flour - saute though - I may try that at dinner tomorrow night. Good luck!

 

[mikki]

Ours are almost gone too, but doing our 2nd T-dinner today with a 20lb bird, so now i get to start all over getting rid of them

 

[VeraBlue]

Ours are almost gone too, but doing our 2nd T-dinner today with a 20lb bird, so now i get to start all over getting rid of them

Why 2? New company?

 

[kitchenelf]

Vera - I will have to take your lead and use my left-over sweet potato hash for soup. That will be PERFECT! It's seasoned with thyme, caramelized onion, and bacon so that should be pretty good.

Doing panini today - goat cheese, cranberry relish, turkey, arugula - and for those that really want some dressing on there, that too.

Ham salad out of the ham - save ham bone for pintos and cornbread.

Have carcass in freezer for future soup.

I hope everything else (peas/rosemary/pine nuts, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, dressing, oyster dressing, escalloped oysters, ham, turkey, brussels sprouts w/balsamic) is eaten this afternoon - having a little Christmas tree trimming gathering and have demanded everyone eat something

 

[licia]

We have a ham bone with enough meat for a pot of beans and two turkey carcasses (and I mean that) that I will cook for soup, about 1/2 of a pumpkin pie, 1 slice each of apple raisin walnut pie and blueberry pie. That is it!

 

[VeraBlue]

Vera - I will have to take your lead and use my left-over sweet potato hash for soup. That will be PERFECT! It's seasoned with thyme, caramelized onion, and bacon so that should be pretty good.

It's the best way to eat those leftovers....float a toasted slice of ciabatta bread in the soup bowls...

I did the inside of the house today with decorations. I'd love to see your tree. I don't do the tree till the week before christmas.

 

[merstar]

For leftover cranberry sauce,

Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake is delicious. I've made it many times, and have posted it for lots of people - everyone loves it. Will post if anyone here is interested.

 

[kitchenelf]

It's the best way to eat those leftovers....float a toasted slice of ciabatta bread in the soup bowls...

I did the inside of the house today with decorations. I'd love to see your tree. I don't do the tree till the week before christmas.

I'll post a pic when it's done. I'm one of those "old fashioned" tree decorators - no theme, just things that mean something to me. Would you mind sharing your ideas on how to make the soup? That sure can't hurt the final results, now can it?

 

[Katie H]

Not much left here. I made up 2 meal plates with sage stuffing, cornbread dressing, bourbon mashed potatoes, sliced turkey and a small bowl of gravy. I'll freeze them for a time when Buck and I don't give a flip about making dinner.

There's a bunch of meat I picked off the bones for chopped turkey to be used in a couple of recipes. Tomorrow I'll take the carcass and make turkey soup. This birdie served us well.

 

[GotGarlic]

Tonight we're having sliced turkey simmered in gravy served over toast with green beans on the side. I'm planning on having a turkey/sandwich with stuffing on the side for lunch tomorrow. I still need to cut up the rest of the leftover turkey and freeze; I love having turkey meat in the freezer, because turkey a la king is one of my favorite kinda-quickie meals when it's cold. I'll also freeze the carcass to make stock later.

 

[VeraBlue]

Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake is delicious. I've made it many times, and have posted it for lots of people - everyone loves it. Will post if anyone here is interested.

Post away....and please tell me that my homemade cranberry sauce will be appropriate for the recipe.

 

[merstar]

Post away....and please tell me that my homemade cranberry sauce will be appropriate for the recipe.

Absolutely! I only use homemade!
Here ya go:

CRANBERRY SWIRL COFFEECAKE

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream (I use nonfat plain yogurt)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup of fresh cranberry sauce (recommended) - to make the sauce, follow the directions on any package of fresh cranberries), OR one 8-ounce can of whole cranberry sauce (I use fresh)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). (*Decrease the temperature by 25 degrees if using dark pan.). Grease and flour one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs just until well blended.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Lower the mixer speed, and add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream or yogurt until just blended. Do not overmix! Stir in the almond extract and mix only until just combined. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Swirl 1/2 of the cranberry sauce into the batter. Repeat, ending with the batter on top.
4. Bake about 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Let cool in pan on wire rack about 10 minutes. Cut around edge of the cake to loosen, then turn out and let cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 1 - 9 or 10 inch tube pan (12 servings).

Note: Some people dust the cake with confectioner's sugar (one person made a lattice pattern); others make a glaze of confectioner's sugar, hot water (or milk), and a touch of almond extract; while others, like myself, prefer it unadorned.

(Can be stored overnight on counter, double wrapped in cling (plastic) wrap or wrapped in cling wrap, then in foil. Make sure it's airtight. If dusting with confectioner's sugar, dust just before serving).

Adapted from Allrecipes

 

[bullseye]

Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake is delicious. I've made it many times, and have posted it for lots of people - everyone loves it. Will post if anyone here is interested.

Please post!

Edit: I see you did. Thanks!

 

[VeraBlue]

I'll post a pic when it's done. I'm one of those "old fashioned" tree decorators - no theme, just things that mean something to me. Would you mind sharing your ideas on how to make the soup? That sure can't hurt the final results, now can it?

Sweat onions, carrots, celery, diced garlic and shallots in a stockpot till they caramelize. If you like thyme, and have dried, add it now. If you like fresh, save it till the end. When the vegetables are caramelized, deglaze the pot with sauternes, or even whiskey for a bolder flavour. Depending on how much soup you care to make, add about 2 cups of chicken stock for each cup of sweet potatoes you have. Also, add about 2-3 cups of heavy cream. Bring everything to simmer and let it cook for an hour, being sure all your vegetables are tender.
Remove from the heat. If you have an immersion blender, use it now to puree everything. If not, remove all the solids and put them through a processor, returning it to the soup. S&P to taste.

When you are ready to serve, place a slice of ciabatta bread (toasted and rubbed with a fresh garlic clove) into the bowl. Ladle the soup on top. Sprinkle fresh chopped parsley around...and if you really want a nice addition, sprinkle some chopped candied walnuts on top of the bread. You could even spoon and swirl a T of whatever booze you added in the beginning to the soupbowl..

 

[VeraBlue]

Thanks merstar, this sounds like saturday morning breakfast in bed to me!


To everyone who drops the carcass into the stock pot...is it just me or do you spend an hour getting all the tiny bones out when the thing finally falls apart in the soup? I've stopped dropping the carcass in, and making a stock that I can strain, instead. I made gumbo today with the legs and wings. I dropped them into the gumbo, making sure to pull them out before they fell apart. The wings aren't so much a problem with tiny bones...but the legs (drumsticks) have these long toothpick like bones that literally are next to impossible to detect.

 

[Katie H]

Thanks merstar, this sounds like saturday morning breakfast in bed to me!


To everyone who drops the carcass into the stock pot...is it just me or do you spend an hour getting all the tiny bones out when the thing finally falls apart in the soup? I've stopped dropping the carcass in, and making a stock that I can strain, instead. I made gumbo today with the legs and wings. I dropped them into the gumbo, making sure to pull them out before they fell apart. The wings aren't so much a problem with tiny bones...but the legs (drumsticks) have these long toothpick like bones that literally are next to impossible to detect.

No problems with tiny bones in the soup for me, Vera. I'm a huge "leg" girl and those are MINE, so those little built-in toothpicks are long gone before I even think about soup.

 

[VeraBlue]

See...and I cannot get anyone to eat the drumsticks any longer. My kids, especially my daughter, always loved the drumstick. Now, while she still prefers the dark meat, she opts to have the thigh cut and sliced rather than be so unladylike as to do a King Henry VIII impersonation. Personally, I live to eat off the bone, which is why I only had one wing to make the gumbo with. Those babies are MINE! I even have a tiny collection of lamb chop bones taken from restaurants, but that is an entire other thread, yes?

 

[kitchenelf]

I always drop in the carcass and then strain - no problem with bones then. I hadn't thought of a sauternes. I'll have to order one as I don't think we have one at work - oh wait - I think we have a Chateau Doisy Vedrines.

Thanks VB, I appreciate the input on the soup!

 

[bullseye]

No problems with tiny bones in the soup for me, Vera. I'm a huge "leg" girl and those are MINE, so those little built-in toothpicks are long gone before I even think about soup.

Me, too, Katie! If I could persuade everyone the leg is not desirable, I could have two just for me!