Digital News Report– Thanksgiving is over, and now there are turkey leftovers. What can be done to make the turkey disappear? There are a few different ways to make the turkey into new recipes. Moreover, you can freeze to have it on another day, when you are not so burned out on turkey.
Freezing turkey already cooked can work, however, there is a possibility of drying out the meat even more. In serving reheated frozen pre-cooked turkey, make sure to immerse in gravy. This will work to cover up any dryness that happened when it was frozen. If you decide to freeze the roast turkey, make sure it is in a freezer proof packaging and the air is removed as much as possible to avoid freezer burn.
Turkey Casserole Ideas
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Another strategy is to make a casserole using leftover turkey. What kind of casseroles can be made? The easiest one is Turkey casserole using the leftover stuffing and green beans; just add a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. Another combination is to sauté some finely chopped onions in some oil, cook some pasta, and add chopped turkey and a white sauce or the condensed cream of mushroom soup. If you use the condensed soup, you might want to add about 1/3 of the can filled with milk. This will help break up the soup and cover all the ingredients. Top the casseroles with shredded cheese and cook in the oven.
Turkey Soup
Making soup can be time consuming, if you want to make a full broth. However, if you do not mind simplifying the process, soup can still be delicious and it will be a lot easier to make. Here is how to make turkey noodle soup without working endlessly on making broth from all the bones.
Turkey soup is a good way to use up the leftovers. Here is how to make Turkey Noodle Soup. Start by chopping up a medium sized onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and 4 stalks of celery. In a tall soup pot, sauté in some oil, the onion, garlic, and celery at low temperature. Once the onions are transparent, it is time to add water and the turkey stock, (if you do not have stock from the roasting pan, then use chicken bouillon to add flavor.) The water should be make the pot about 2/3 full. Next, add peeled and chopped carrots (add as many as you like, but around 4 medium carrots usually do well.) Next, add around 2 cups of chopped up turkey pieces. This is a great time to use up dark meat because the soup will have better flavor. If you have the neck bone you can put in the soup to provide enhanced stock flavoring, but you have to take out before serving. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
Then bring the water to a boil, then reduce to the lowest temperature that you can and let simmer for at least a half-an-hour. The longer the soup simmers the better the flavor usually, so if you can simmer for an hour do it. Then add the uncooked pasta or spaghetti. Do not overdo how much pasta you add, because it soaks up the liquid and you could be left with more noodles than soup! Making homemade pasta is also a great addition instead of dried pasta. Cook the pasta until soft. If desired, chop up fresh parsley to add at this time as well. At the end taste to see if more salt and pepper is needed.
When putting in the refrigerator divide into several containers so that it can cool quicker. After the soup has cooled, you can put into the freezer to have for another day.
Turkey Pot Pie
This is a great way to use up turkey leftovers. You can make your own pie crust, but the easy way is to buy pre-made pie crusts to use. If you don’t want to do the pie crust method you could make a biscuit topped mock-pie. Either way the concept is the same.
You can use the left over mashed potatoes on the bottom of the pie filling. It should be no more than 1 inch deep with mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes will make the potpie have less liquid in the end. If you do not like this idea, you can boil peeled and cubed potatoes and drain to add to the rest of the gravy mix.
You can use the left over gravy for the sauce for the filling. Chop up turkey, and add defrosted frozen mixed vegetables that have corn, carrots, and green beans. Be careful how much filling you use to gravy ratio. Because a super dry pot pie is not usually the goal. The mashed potatoes will soak up some of the gravy, but this will make a regular sized pie that can be sliced and served to each person. You can add some gravy in a server to be able to pour on top at the table.
Turkey Tacos and Burritos
Turkey Tacos and Burritos a simple way to watch the leftovers disappear. All you need are a few ingredients and you will have the Mexican inspired food in no time.
First, chop up a medium sized onion in small pieces almost mincing them. Mince 2 cloves of garlic. Chop up a spicy but not overly hot pepper, if you do not have this use a green pepper. Next, you need to take the turkey meat and chop up into small bite sized pieces. Take olive oil in a frying pan and cook over low-medium heat. First, sauté the onions, garlic, and peppers. Then add the turkey after the vegetables are slightly browned. Then add two tablespoons of ground chili powder. (The chili powder is not hot and spicy, but will add tons of flavors without a lot of salt.) You can sprinkle with some salt and black pepper, but you should not need much. Turn to low and cover with a lid. Stir from time to time to prevent burning on the bottom.
While the turkey meat is warming you will prepare the taco toppings. Chop up romaine lettuce in small slices. Coarsely chop up another onion and some fresh tomatoes. Have shredded cheese, your choice (use Monterey Jack if you like to be more Mexican inspired). You need to have hot sauce to top it off with more spice, but if you can have a green sauce, it would go so well.
Warm taco shells, flour tortillas, or corn tortillas. You can make the burrito inspired version by using the flour tortilla. You can use the soft corn tortillas for a more Mexican inspired flavors. The hard-shell taco shells still would be good with this combination.
Other Ideas
There are also turkey crouqettes that are delicious, but take more time to make. If you make these, plan to make a bunch and freeze them for another day. They take a long time and make a lot of dirty dishes.
Turkey sandwiches are always a hit. I like to use a toaster over to warm the turkey, bread and some cheese. Then finish off the sandwich with onion, tomato, lettuce, and mustard or mayonnaise. Sourdough bread is especially delicious with turkey sandwiches, but can get really chewy when cooked. For a softer easier to chew bread opt for and Italian white bread.
Just remember that leftovers are best if they are eaten within four days after they are made. If you do not think that you can finish the turkey in that period, it is best to freeze as soon as possible. That way you can have the meat saved for several months in the freezer.
By: Victoria Brown