Thanksgiving: The Holy Grail of Leftovers

We'd be a big fat failure if we didn't blog about the no.1 holiday that results in leftovers: Thanksgiving. This year we had five people over and cooked for around 10. Whoops! Instead of painstakingly listing out every single thing we cooked (although it was delicious, and if you want to know, just ask) we'll only list the things we reused in a creative way. And reusing in a creative way doesn't count mixing everything together in a bowl and microwaving it at midnight. (Check.)

13.5 lb. Turkey brined in water, 3 cups sugar, 6 bay leafs, peppercorns, sprigs of thyme, 1 cup honey, 2 tbsp. allspice. Soak for 4 days. Cook at 375 for 3 hours, basting with chicken broth and pan drippings the whole time. If it looks like it's getting burned, cover it with foil. (Cook to 160. When you take the turkey out of the oven, it continues to cook. By the time it stops cooking, it should be at 165. The secret to a non-dry bird!)

Mashed potatoes with white balsamic caramelized shallots:

Six medium yukon gold potatoes - peel and boil, then whip.

Sautee 2 large shallots

3 Tbsp fresh sage

Add 1/4 cup balsamic (white or brown)

Melt 1/4 cup butter and 2 cups half and half, add to potatoes with shallot mixture, salt and pepper

Roasted acorn squash:

Peel and half the acorn squash, and sprinkle with the following to coat:

Cinnamon

Thyme

Nutmeg

Butter - melt and drizzle

Cook at 375 for 30 minutes or until tender.

Now for the good stuff, the leftover ideas. First, let me confess something. I HATE THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS. There, I said it. I unloaded most of them on John's parents and prayed I wouldn't be eating the stuff for days to come. While I'm confessing deep, dark secrets, here's another one. I HATE TURKEY! How un-American! I know! I will say that John's turkey was the best I've ever eaten. [My grandfather used to make Thanksgiving lasagna. I'm bringing that tradition back next year.] Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programming:

Leftover idea 1: Mashed Potato Pancakes

The potato pancake (or latke) purist will have to take a chill pill when reading this. Heat up some oil in a skillet, make pancake-shaped discs out of the mashed potatoes, and just fry it until there's a nice crust. Serve with eggs for breakfast the day after.

Leftover idea 2: Turkey Stock

Take the carcass of the turkey (eew) and submerge it in water in a stock pot. Chop up and add to the pot 1 onion, 1 carrot and 3 stalks celery. Add thyme springs, peppercorns, bay leafs, whole peeled garlic. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for a few hours. Strain and discard all the gross stuff, but make sure to take the good meat off of the bone and set it aside.

Leftover idea 3: Turkey Soup

Depending on how much turkey you have left over, and stock you have, you can add more or less of the following ingredients, all diced up:

1 onion

2 medium carrots

3 stalks celery

1 celery root

2 potatoes

1 summer squash

(You can interchange whatever vegetables you may have laying around, and add the following)

Leftover turkey

Turkey stock

2 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tbsp sage

Salt and pepper to taste

Leftover idea 4: Turkey hash

Dice the following:

1/4 onion (sweet vidalia)

Leftover acorn squash

Small potato

The last of the turkey

Sautee potato and onion together until onion is translucent and potato is cooked through. Add squash and turkey with some fresh thyme, cracked black pepper, and bacon fat. Serve with poached eggs.