I've taken to putting leftover turkey in my food processor to shred it, then freezing it in a muffin tray. Once it's frozen I move it to ziploc bags and keep in the freezer. If I ever want a real (not deli meat) turkey sandwich each 'muffin' is enough for a turkey salad sandwich. I've done the same with stuffing, because sometimes you just need to have some!
Mom Living Articles
New Ways with Holiday Leftovers
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- Category: entertaining
- Published on Saturday, 19 December 2009 20:46
- Written by Kathy
- Hits: 2570
The holidays are great for foodies. However, most people get tired of the leftover monotony every night after a great dinner party. That is if you don't throw them out before you actually finish!
I'm a big believer in using leftovers. I take the stance that they can be re-invented into something no one will realize came from a holiday dinner. Traditions can make it a little harder to think out of the box. But if you do, you can make your re-dos a little healthier too. Below I'm using turkey as an example (my family's favorite), but they would work as well with ham, roast beef, goose - even tofurky! Every family has it's December's favorites.Take some filo dough (or puff pastry) and wrap some leftovers together for a hand pie that's great as a meal or a snack. Try using green bean casserole with shredded turkey, sweet potato and cranberry, or turkey and mixed vegetables. Invent new combos by trying out a mixed bite until you find one you like. If you need a wetter mixture, try adding a touch of leftover gravy or milk into your mix.
If you had mashed potatoes, try making a turkey Shepard's pie. Grease a Pyrex container, put a layer of turkey, another of veggies, and top with gravy. I like to add a little goat cheese or fresh herbs to the leftover potatoes. Spread the potatoes in an even layer on top of the casserole. Cover it and cook, or and go ahead and pop it into the freezer for a ready made dinner for another night. You can also make mini ones that you can pack in lunches over the next few weeks. Try making a Shepard's pie variation using mashed sweet potatoes as a topping. It's a great vegetarian dish if you leave out the turkey and use mushroom gravy instead of the turkey gravy.
Stock up on a few pre-made pie crusts and you can easily make a few full size quiches, or tons of single serving ones. Quiche is a perfect way to use up bits and pieces. Add fresh herbs if you can. Bake the quiche about 15 minutes less and then freeze them to heat up for a brunch party later in December. It makes a perfect no-work way to have friends over during the busiest time of the year. A few interesting combos are turkey and leftover spinach artichoke dip, leftover cheese cubes and roasted veggies, or leftover greens with sweet potato. Make sure to serve up these leftover remixes on your best Noritake Colorwave dishes. The beautiful plates will dress up your leftovers so much people are even less likely to notice.
Try making a mashed potato crust for your quiche. It needs to be fairly thick and cooked for about 20 minutes before you add the quiche filling. This year I want to try out using leftover stuffing to make a crust. I'll probably need to add an egg to bind it, and cook it before as well. It is experimental at this point, so try at you own risk!
If you are super ambitious, you could make a few of the things above as you clean up and put away food on the night of your party. You could send all your guests home with dinner for the next day. The only problem will be that you'll become the designated host for years to come!
