The Virtual Gourmand: Column No. 6e

November 23, 2006

CW Contributing Editor and Executive Chef Jason Clabaugh offers a series of solutions to the most pressing of after-Thanksgiving questions: what to do with all that leftover turkey?

Epilogue: What about the leftovers?

After you wake up from a tryptophan-induced coma Thanksgiving evening, you are going to be faced with a mountain of leftover turkey meat and no idea what to do with it all. Let's be realistic about it...you are only going to want a couple of turkey sandwiches and maybe a warmed over reprise of Thanksgiving dinner before you're sick of the stuff. Let me offer a number of new ways to use up all of that meat that won't leave you bored or dreading another turkey meal.

After Thanksgiving dinner, I reserve enough white meat for a few sandwiches and maybe another meal like Thanksgiving's. The carcass and the rest of the turkey meat gets skinned and dropped into my stock pot. I cover the carcass with water and boil it for about 30 minutes. From here you have several options. The stock you have created is as versatile as chicken stock and has an even deeper, richer flavor than traditional chicken stock. It's great in soups or even frozen and used later in a variety of other dishes. You can also pick the meat from the bones (much easier now that it has been boiled) and create several hearty and tasty dishes your family will look forward to rather than dread as warmed-over turkey.

If you want just stock, remove the turkey from the pot, cool the stock and strain it into a bowl. Place a paper towel on the surface of the stock and place it in the fridge for an hour or two. The fat will rise to the top, congeal and stick to the paper towel. Remove the paper towel and use a soup spoon to remove any remaining fat from the surface. Reheat the stock in the microwave and then either pour it into zipper bags or freeze it in ice cube trays and place the frozen cubes in a zipper bag for use in dishes that need a spike of flavor to them. You can also pick the meat from the bones and either add it back to the stock for a later batch of soup or reserve it and make something like turkey salad from it.

Turkey Salad

2 cups diced turkey meat
2 shallots, finely diced (½ cup finely diced red onion may be substituted)
1 rub of celery, finely diced
¼ cup sweet pickle relish
1 cup Miracle Whip (or mayonnaise if you prefer)
1 Tbl yellow mustard

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to meld. Serve on toasted sandwich bread.

You can also use it to make a totally new dish. In my house, the most popular dishes to be made from leftover turkey are Turkey and Noodles and Brunswick Stew. In fact, it is a tradition at my in-laws' house now that we'll have Turkey and Noodles the day after Thanksgiving.

Turkey and Noodles

Meat and stock from boiled turkey carcass
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
2 onions, diced
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 Tbl minced garlic
1 can petite peas, juice included
salt and pepper to taste
1 bag extra-wide egg noodles.

Add all veggies to meat and stock and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes and then add noodles. Simmer until noodles are tender. If there isn't enough moisture to cook noodles through, water or low-sodium chicken stock may be added to finish the job. Serve with crusty bread and butter.

Variation: Turkey and Dumplings: Instead of egg noodles, mix up a batch of spoon bread (such as the biscuit recipe on a box of Bisquick mix). Using 2 tablespoons, drop batter in small lumps into the boiling broth and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Another dish that is a perennial hit with my wife and kids is Brunswick Stew. It isn't clear to me whether this is from Brunswick, Maine or Brunswick, Georgia (both claim it as their own). What I do know is that it is simple to make and a very hearty meal on a chilly November day. I have no idea how authentic this recipe is, but it is my mom's take on it and a dish I grew up on.

Brunswick Stew

A bowl of hearty Brunswick Stew on a chilly November day will warm you up properly.

Meat and stock from boiled turkey carcass (you can add other leftover meats to it as well), fat removed
1 large can of diced tomatoes, juice included
2 cans white corn, juice included
1/4 cup vinegar
2 beef boullion cubes
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
5 dashes Louisiana hot sauce
3 Tbl Kitchen Bouquet (a gravy enhancer sold in the aisle with either the barbecue sauces or gravy mixes)
¼ cup tomato ketchup
¼ cup sweet white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and heat slowly to a boil. Serve with crusty bread and butter. This dish gets better with age and freezes extremely well if you have too much after a couple of meals.

With any luck, you have gleaned some insight as to what to do with that 20 pound Birdzilla you roasted for the family feast and had mountains of turkey meat left over. Just because it is left over doesn't mean it has to be just 'leftovers'.

Contributing Editor and CW Executive Chef Jason Clabaugh (BigO) hailed from New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and has settled in a suburb of Atlanta. With the addition of a new baby to his family he's refocused his energies on fatherhood and a new project bringing his famous mango-habanero salsa and unique barbecue sauces into commercial production.