Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

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And Now With The Leftovers [Hope You Like You Some Turkey]

Posted Nov 27, 2009 by Jeff Houck

Updated Nov 27, 2009 at 05:29 PM

I talked with my grandfather, Dale, in Baltimore last night for Thanksgiving. He’s 93, but you’d never know it. He sounds like a man at least 40 years younger.

Eventually we got around to talking about food. His wife, Ethel, who was on the speaker phone mentions that he likes “all that weird stuff.”

Like what, I asked. Like turkey gravy on waffles the day after Thanksgiving.

Apparently, it was a tradition when he was a boy for his mother to make gravy out of the turkey leftovers and pour them over waffles.

I’ve had chicken and waffles. I like that a lot. But not turkey gravy.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” he said. “It’s just bread.”

Which, of course, got me thinking about about leftovers in general.

AllRecipes.com estimates that we downed an average of 2,225 calories yesterday. There’s no information on what kind of a dent the day after puts on our wasteband.

(If you’re at all concerned, the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club has just the right event: The Thanksgiving Leftovers Bike Ride at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. It will be an easy 4-mile ride from 1203 E. Powhatan Ave. in Seminole Heights to the 22nd Street Park, where Club cyclists will dine on leftovers and share belly laughs over lunch. The ride will be very easy with a slow pace. The only thing you need to bring are bicycle helmets and an appetite. Contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information.)

But I digress.

For a starting point on the Road to Leftovers, take this dish from AllRecipes. The author calls it “a tasty and exciting way to use all of your thanksgiving leftovers.”

BLACK FRIDAY PIE

1 cup mashed potatoes

1/2 cup cubed cooked turkey

1/2 cup cooked cut green beans 1/2 cup turkey gravy

1 cup prepared stuffing

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ready In: 55 minutes

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F. Thoroughly grease a 9-inch glass pie plate.

Spread mashed potatoes onto the bottom and up the sides of the greased pie plate. Fill potato crust with the turkey, green beans, and gravy. Smooth stuffing on top of the turkey and gravy to create a top crust.

Brush top of pie with melted butter. Bake pie until stuffing is golden and crispy, about 40 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

The National Turkey Federation also has some suggestions on dishes, not the least of which is rolling the bird into enchiladas:

GREEN CHILE TURKEY ENCHILADAS

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

2-4 ounce cans of chopped green chiles

¼ teaspoon cumin

1/3 teaspoon oregano

1/3 teaspoon coriander powder

1½ cups shredded turkey

2 cups cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses

1 pack corn tortillas

1 pint sour cream

2 green onions, chopped

Salsa

Add the butter to a warm sauté pan. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and cook until it becomes aromatic.  Add flour and cook for 1 minute.

Pour both cans of green chiles into pan. Add cumin, oregano, coriander, chicken broth and a little salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes at low heat.

Place turkey in a mixing bowl. Add 1/3 cup of the green chile mix, 1/3 cup of sour cream, 1/3 of the cheese mixture and salt and pepper. Mix well. Grease a 13x9 baking dish.

Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of filling in each tortilla and roll up. Place the rolled tortillas in the baking dish seam-side down. Continue to add rolled tortillas until the top layer is filled.

Pour the rest of the green chile on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Serve with sour cream, green onions and salsa.

For my friends who need to stay gluten-free, dairy-free and meat-free, here’s a recipe from cookbook author Cybele Pascal:

CREAMY HARVEST SOUP

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced (1 cup)

1 tablespoon minced ginger

2 cups cooked sweet potatoes, yams, or winter squash (mashed, diced, roasted, etc, or a 10 oz. package if using frozen)

2 Fuji apples, peeled, cored, diced (or Gala, Braeburn or Jonagold apples)

4 scallions, chopped

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups pumpkin (15 oz. can)

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup apple juice

roasted pumpkin seeds, or chopped scallions for garnish (optional)

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a heavy pot. Add onions and ginger and cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes. 

Add sweet potatoes/yams/squash, apples, scallions and curry powder. Cook a couple minutes, stirring often, until apples soften slightly.

Add salt, pumpkin, broth and apple juice. Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover loosely, and cook at a simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring every so often. 

In batches, puree soup in blender, (or use a hand blender), until smooth and creamy. Return to pot, warm through, and serve piping hot, topped with a sprinkling of roasted pumpkin seeds, or chopped scallions. This soup is even better day two.

And, for something equally as delicious and far more humorous, here’s a suggest from Food Network’s Alton Brown: