Holiday Leftover Ideas

Here are some ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers. We skipped the traditional turkey sandwiches this year, which my kids really don't like anyway, and ate really well for days!

Turkey Hash
The morning after Thanksgiving, I made this easy turkey hash for a hardy breakfast before we went skiing. The hash, made from diced potatoes, red onion, grated carrots, and leftover dark meat, made a tasty side dish to scrambled eggs.

Rustic Oven-Baked Apple Pancake
Leftover apples that didn't fit into the tart on Thanksgiving were the main ingredient in this simple rustic oven-baked apple pancake for breakfast another morning. Use your favorite recipe. I found this recipe in a cookbook I have in New Hampshire.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie
For dinner one night, we had this delicious turkey shepherd's pie with some of the leftover turkey, green beans with leeks, and mashed potatoes. I added hamburg and corn to make my kids happy! There wasn't enough mashed potatoes leftover to complete the pie, so I just made another batch and blended them together. To keep the turkey from drying out, I added a little chicken broth to the bottom of the casserole dish.

 

Four-Grain Pancakes
For another breakfast, we had these four-grain pancakes (whole-wheat flour, rye flour, oat flour, and cornmeal) made with extra pumpkin puree.

Sausage, Broccoli, And Stuffing
The leftover stuffing made a nice addition to this simple sausage and broccoli dinner one night. The sausage also came from the farm where I bought our fresh turkey.

Turkey Soup
I immediately made a lovely stock on Thanksgiving eve from the bones and meat of the turkey. From that stock, I made this comforting turkey soup with bok choy, one of the fresh greens I purchased at the local farm when I picked up my turkey. I kept it simple by cooking the chopped vegetables right in the stock. The turkey was added last, once the vegetables were tender. The pasta was cooked separately and added to each individual bowl just before serving.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Turkey Hash
Leftover turkey hash was made with the leftover turkey. We ate it with leftover brussels sprouts from another meal. It made a very nice light lunch one day.

Cranberry Salsa

A great snack that my family really loves this time of year is this festive cranberry corn salsa. I make it every year and sometimes from the leftover cranberry sauce. When I started my blog last December, I posted the basic recipe here. I'll be posting my new fresh version of the recipe this weekend.

Garlicky Cauliflower Parsnip Mashed Potatoes And Leftover Patties

One plan.

Two vegetables.

Three meals.

Four happy stomachs.

And a happy mom.

Our three days of cauliflower and parsnips started when I saw gorgeous cauliflower being set up at the market the other day. The cauliflower had just come in from a local grower! I don't remember where the parsnips were from but they were gorgeous as well (pictured here). I just had to have them.

The Plan: How many meals can I get this week from these two vegetables. The ideas developed each day and we ended up with a lunch, a dinner, and a breakfast.

Lunch

On Monday, with everyone home for the holiday, we had Rustic Cauliflower And Parsnip Soup for lunch which is posted here.

Dinner

On Wednesday, dinner was Garlicky Cauliflower Parsnip Mashed Potatoes along side baked salmon topped with basil pesto I had in the freezer, made from our garden at the end of summer. 

Breakfast

For breakfast, Garlicky Cauliflower Parsnip Mashed Potato Patties, made with the leftovers, along side over-easy eggs. 

Garlicky Cauliflower Parsnip Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

4 medium-large red potatoes

3-4 cups roasted cauliflower, loosely packed chunks, see here

1 cup roasted parsnips, see here

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or olive oil

4-6 roasted garlic cloves, depending on size and taste

About 1 1/2 - 2 cups milk, depending on desired consistency

About 1/4 cup butter, or favorite spread, to taste

1/2 teaspoon whole-grain mustard

Pepper to taste

For ease and efficiency, I roasted the garlic while salmon baked so I'll give that method. To find out how to otherwise roast garlic, check out sources on the internet. I was surprised that the garlic was ready in the time it took to bake the salmon.   

To roast garlic while baking salmon or other fish, place a little olive oil in a small baking sheet, cut a little off the top of the entire garlic bulb, place bulb upside down onto baking sheet (it's okay if some cloves separate). Preheat oven and roast for about 15 minutes or until the fish is done. Garlic is done when a clove is soft and mushy when squeezed, if not, leave garlic to roast a little longer. The garlic can also be roasted in aluminum foil in the same pan as the fish if there's room.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until fork tender. I quartered them to save time.

Squeeze 4 to 6 garlic cloves from the roasted garlic bulb into drained potatoes. Store and refrigerate the remaining garlic for something else (use within a week). Roasted garlic tastes great just spread over good crusty bread with sliced apples . . . some cheese . . . maybe?

Add roasted cauliflower and parsnips to the potatoes. Chop them up a little more first to make it easier to mash.

Mash with milk and butter (I use lactose-free milk and Earth Balance buttery spread). Start with about 1/4 cup of milk adding more until it looks right. Add butter to taste. Sprinkle on a little pepper to taste. When all combined, add mustard. Taste and add more if you want. I thought 1/4 teaspoon was perfect.

I kept the potatoes and vegetables rustic by leaving them thick and chunky.

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Leftover Garlicky Cauliflower Parsnip Mashed Potato Patties

Ingredients
This recipe will work well if potatoes are chunky like above 

2 cups of leftover potatoes from above recipe
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, I used Gillian's again - wheat, gluten, dairy free
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or olive oil
I didn't have chives or shallots, but they would be a nice addition

Mix all ingredients together and let sit about 15-20 minutes so breadcrumbs absorb the moisture. If potatoes and egg are cold, it's okay to let it sit out. Otherwise, cover and refrigerate until ready. Form patties from mixture, about 1/4 cup each. Add oil to a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add patties. My pan fit four nicely. This recipe made 7 patties. 8 or 6 patties could easily be made by adjusting the patty size. Cook until a nice brown crust forms, flip and finish cooking.

The patties went well with eggs. I think it would also taste great with some horseradish or mustard, or both, with a slice of roast beef.

Pork Bulgogi, A Family Dinner

Are you thinking . . . hmm . . . this sounds familiar?

Well if you know Lizzy, who writes "That Skinny Chick Can Bake", then, yes, you probably read about this recently. And when I saw it I knew my family would love it.

Pork Bulgogi
A recipe by Lizzy, that she adapted from her friend, Norm Matthews

1 pound pork tenderloin, sliced wafer thin (easier to achieve when pork is slightly frozen)
Peanut oil

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons dry sherry or saki
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (she reduced it to 1/2 teaspoon, and so did I)
1 large onion, cut into 12ths

Garnish:
Toasted sesame seeds, optional

Method: mix all the marinade ingredients together. Add sliced pork and set aside at least 10 minutes. (I let the pork marinate about 30-40 minutes while I got the rice going.) Heat peanut oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or wok. Working in batches, cook pork and onions until pork is no longer pink.

After I cooked all the pork, I added the remaining marinade to the skillet and cooked over high heat until reduced a little. Then I used it as a sauce over the pork. (It looks like a lot because I doubled the recipe.)

Pork Bulgogi, brown rice, and blanched asparagus, which were leftovers from the other night, made a great sit down family meal.

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Dessert was charred fresh pineapple slices topped with Tahitian vanilla ice cream and lemon sorbet for my daughter, her favorite.

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Bulgogi is a historical Korean dish dating back to around 37 BC-668 AD. The name means fire meat, the word fire coming from the way the dish is usually prepared over hot heat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgogi, http://www.mct.go.kr/html/symbolImg/eng/bulgogi/sec01.html.
Here's an interesting article I found with variations of the dish and different ways to serve it:
http://ezinearticles.com/?All-About-Bulgogi---Korean-Beef&id=5505977

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