Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers (and those non-American readers who like an excuse to fix a delicious, gluttonous turkey feast).  Tomorrow is the big day:  turkeys will be roasted, potatoes mashed, cranberries simmered, and gravy whisked.  Then Friday comes and you’re faced with a stockpile of leftovers, particularly if you are anything like me and order a turkey that could feed a small village.  I do enjoy straight-up turkey leftovers – the meat, stuffing, mash, cranberry sauce and gravy.  But honestly, after one day of that – and still a lot of turkey leftover – I’m a bit over it.

So here are two ideas for what to do with all that turkey leftover from your Thanksgiving feast…or Christmas dinner (I haven’t forgotten the Brits!):

Grandma’s Turkey Noodle Soup – In my haste to make this, I forgot to take photos, so I apologize but you will have to envision it for yourself.  This soup is essentially chicken noodle soup but with turkey.  It’s one of those Grandma-type recipes….doesn’t need to be officially written down, rather just a series of general instructions – a little bit of this, a pinch of that.  Save your turkey carcass, put it in a large pot along with an onion cut into quarters, two carrots and two celery stalks chopped in 1-2″ pieces, handfuls of any herbs leftover from Thanksgiving cooking (thyme, sage, parsley, etc.), 5-10 peppercorns, and 2-3 bay leaves.  Add enough water so that carcass is covered and water nearly fills the pot.  Put on high heat until water is at a rolling boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 2-3 hours, until a few inches of water has evaporated and the liquid has good flavor.  Remove from heat, strain solids and pour stock into a large bowl.  Save the turkey meat (pick it off the carcass) and discard all other solids (bones, onion, carrots, etc).  Chop up one onion, two carrots and two celery stalks and saute in the large pot along with a bit of vegetable oil until softened slightly, about 5 minutes.  Pour stock into the pot along with diced/shredded turkey meat and gently simmer until vegetables are softened.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add in noodles or rice, if desired.  Amazing!!

Turkey Tettrazini – Now this one I did properly.  There are pictures and a real recipe to follow.  This is delicious any time of year with chicken (or you can use turkey – just that turkey is quite difficult to find year-round in the UK).  Enjoy and have a safe, peaceful and happy Thanksgiving!!!

1 year ago:  Pear Ginger Toddies

Turkey Tettrazini (serves 4-6)

Note:  Use thicker egg noodles, if you can find them (I could only find the thinner type at my market when I did the photos, but prefer it with the thicker type).

2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter

10 ounces (300 grams) mushrooms, sliced thin

1 onion, minced

Salt

8 ounces (225 grams) egg noodles

2 cups (475 ml) chicken broth

1 cup (225 ml) half-and-half / single cream

1 cup (120 grams) frozen peas

1 1/2 cups (150 grams) shredded cooked turkey

1 tablespoon dry sherry

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

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Melt the butter in a 12″ skillet over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms, onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Cook until the mushrooms are browned, about 15 minutes.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

Sprinkle the noodles into the skillet.  Pour the broth and cream over the noodles.  Cover and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the peas, turkey, sherry, parsley and mushroom mixture and allow to heat through, about 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from “America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook”