Wednesday, November 28, 2012

LEFTOVER TURKEY

 

We visited our daughter in Florida for Thanksgiving and her spouses' mom put on a big spread. All the traditional foods were on the table and there was plenty of it. So when we left that beautiful home on the water, we brought back a huge bag of turkey including the carcass.

The next day my BW picked through the bag and separated all the meat. We decided to prepare a casserole using items already on hand. Everyone raved about the casserole so I thought I'd mention it here. It is not difficult to prepare and is a taste sensation. I know because we all finished the casserole that night. My daughter had these cans of soup in her cupboard and they became the flavour base.

Turkey Pasta Casserole           serves 8 normal people

Ingredients:

4-5 cups chopped cooked leftover turkey
1-pound of macaroni, I used Ziti
¼ pound of butter
½ cup flour
1-teaspoon of seasoning salt, such as Lawry's. I used Tony Chacherie's Creole Seasoning
2-cups milk
 
2-18.5 ounce cans of soup, I used Progresso brand Bacon, Potato Soup but there is a wide variety of these prepared soups to choose from.

1-2 cups grated cheese, I used mostly Asiago with Parmesan directly on top but Mozzarella, Monterrey Jack and Provolone would also be good.

Method:
Put on a pot of water to boil the macaroni. When boiling, add a little salt and macaroni
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350F/175C
  2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat
  3. Heat the milk almost to boiling in microwave or stove-top saucepan
  4. Add the flour and seasoning to the butter, stir to combine, cook a minute or two
  5. Pour the hot milk into the flour/fat roux and stir to make a white sauce
  6. Drain the cooked macaroni
  7. Grease or spray non-stick on a 13inch by 9 inch baking pan
  8. Spread the macaroni in the pan
  9. Add most of the cheese to the white sauce and stir thoroughly. Reserve some cheese.
  10. Add the cans of soup to the cheese sauce and combine
  11. Pour into the macaroni and combine
  12. Place in middle of oven and bake 20-30 minutes
  13. Shut oven, turn on broiler
  14. Spread some grated cheese atop the casserole. Optionally, shake black pepper all over.
  15. Place under broiler a minute or so to make top golden.
And that is a wonderful way to deal with leftover turkey. Quite frankly, if it wasn't for tradition, I would serve turkey this way on Thanksgiving day, but of course it wouldn't be the same, would it? But the next day? Oy, what a treat. Deja vu never tasted so good.

36 comments:

http://www.samposey.com/ said...

Thank you, Anthony. I was going to boil the meat off my bird and freeze it with the stock. Your casserole sounds much more appealing.

Joyce said...

I'll save this one for my next turkey. I just cooked a turkey breast this year and we ate leftovers a couple of times and made soup with the rest. It was delicious!

I cannot remember if I ever mentioned it, but wanted to thank you for the very nice Thanksgiving comment you left on my blog last week. Hope you had a wonderful holiday!

anthony stemke said...

SAM POSEY: Poaching the bird remnants and carcass is a good idea too. My daughter had all these soups in her pantry so I picked that one kind. My spouse loves macaroni and the turkey casserole and the rest is history. Thanks for calling and best wishes.

JOYCE: You did good using the turkey breast. There were nine of us so my daughter's mom-in-law roasted a whole bird. She also gave us (in plastic zip-top bags) cheese grits, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes with pecans, etc etc, - so it was a real feast.

Kind of you to thank me, but unnecessary. I know the love you and your spouse have for those lovely ladies. And I know you are thankful. Take care Joyce.

Eat To Live said...

I wish I would have seen this recipe before I tossed the turkey. We have a three day rule. If we can't eat the leftovers in 3 days, I toss them. The birds got a great treat that day.

anthony stemke said...

MY JOURNEY WITH CANDIDA: Well, if you had three days there probably wasn't much left. We considered the take-home turkey as an added benefit. It was a good eight meals the dish I made even though there were only four of us. I suppose a three day rule is good though, it prevents clutter.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Sounds wonderful, but I have one question: How many abnormal people will it feed...? HA!

I have a smallish turkey thawing in the fridge now, and hope to prepare it tomorrow or Saturday. We didn't bring any leftovers home from our son's, so I'm just gonna have to prepare my own! Might have to give your casserole a whirl. And turkey noodle soup with the carcass.

Lynn Proctor said...

i should have checked your blog yesterday anthony---i made a very tasteless casserole tonight, with extra thanksgiving purchases---it was mainly stove-top stuffing with chunky soups and eggs--yours sounds really good!!!

Theresa Milstein said...

Sounds like a good comfort food dish.

Swathi said...

I like your idea of converting left overs into delicious meal.

Dawn@Lighten Up! said...

Oooh! I have been craving tuna casserole, of all things, that my Mom made back in the 70s, and this looks very much like what she did! Thank you, Anthony!! Very do-able.
(And thank you, always, for the sweet comments on my blog. Happy Upcoming Holidays!)

anthony stemke said...

SUSAN FLETT SWIDERSKI: It fed us four people; my spouse, daughter, son-in-law and myself. We scarfed it down like gavones. Thanksgiving is over and you have a turkey in the ice-box? You guys must really like turkey, eh?
But seriously, leftover turkey can be a great creative exercise and turkey noodle soup is always welcome.

LYNN PROCTER: I can't believe anything you do would ever be tasteless. My spouse doesn't like stuffing so I only get it when we visit. But there is a lot of ways to jazz up stuffing.

THERESA MILSTEIN: Yeah, we all really loved it.

SWATHI IYER: Thank You Swathi, food should never be boring.

DAWN@LIGHTEN UP: I used to make tuna noodle caserole back in the '70's. Every now and then it's good to revisit those old favourites.
Stay cool and enjoy upcomingholidays.

Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine said...


My boys would go crazy for this... neve thought to mix it up like this! GREAT Idea I just wished I had leftovers. I actually made a 23lb turkey no leftovers with 6 people.. so I went out and bought a Turkey breast for just the two of us on the weekend since I worked Thanksgiving into Black Friday 28 hours. This would have been a plate of heaven for me.. nice job!

anthony stemke said...

CLAUDIA LAMASCOLO: I've seen your recipes Miss Claudia; it is no wonder that you had no leftovers. I sympathize with your 28 hour shift, that is a trying time. I would love to make your Veal Scallopine dish but veal is so rare nowadays, at least in my neck of the woods. I suppose I could substitute chicken (pounded into medallions).
Thanks for your lovely compliments; you and yours have a great yuletide.

Monet said...

Ah! What a great way to use leftovers! I'll be sure to save this for xmas. We're doing turkey again! It is so good to visit your blog again. I've been quite sick the past month...and with moving on the near horizon, my blog-reading has gone to the wayside. But I am very glad to be back! I hope you have a beautiful week!

Missed Periods said...

It looks delicious. I love left over turkey.

anthony stemke said...

MONET: Hi, sorry to hear you've been ill, hope you fully recover soon. You and your friend have good sweets recipes.
Best wishes to you and your family.

anthony stemke said...

MISSED PERIODS: You will absolutely love this leftover recipe. Thank you for calling.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I love left-over recipes. I use them often ;)

Magia da Inês said...

¸♫°✿✿╮

Parece tão delicioso!
Bom fim de semana!
Beijinhos.
Brasil.

¸♫°✿¸.•°✿✿°♫¸

anthony stemke said...

LUNDA R YOUNG: Sometimes we make more than we need just to have leftovers. It seems to me that many foods taste better when left over and than heated. And of course the economy of using everything.

anthony stemke said...

MAGIA DA INES: It is very delicious. You please have a great fin de semana.
Best to you.

Magia da Inês said...

Os pratos brasileiros mais populares são: feijão com arroz e feijoada.

anthony stemke said...

MAGIA DA INES: Obrigado Magia, eu aprecio isso.

Eat To Live said...

Hi Anthony,
Just stopping over to say hello. I can't believe Thanksgiving is over and we are almost to Christmas. Where in the world does the time go.

subhashini said...

Hi First time here . I liked your all soup recipes and made my mind try every day one of this.Happy to follow you.

Anonymous said...

I'll soon be cooking our third turkey of the season and have tired of our usual leftovers. This recipe looks too good to pass up.

Misha Gerrick said...

Oh wow that does look stunning.

We had turkey for Christmas last year and I swear we ate it for months afterwards.

anthony stemke said...

MY JOURNEY WITH CANDIDA: Yeah, the older I get the faster the time flies. Did that Y2K thing work out all right? cm

anthony stemke said...

SUBHASHINI: Many thanks for your kind words, I appreciate them. Thank yoiu for calling.


KELLY LOUISE: Third turkey. Wow! That's a good way to have plenty leftovers (which is a good thing).
I can honestly say that this recipe is tops.

MISHA GERICKE: Sometimes turkey can be like a ham or a fruitcake, it just lasts and lasts.
Hope you are well, good luck with your ms.

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

looks so good...will try it out & let you know..
Tasty Appetite

anthony stemke said...

JAY: It really is good, you will surely enjoy it.
Thank You.

Unknown said...

I believe this is the best way to do leftovers. It's a great opportunity to get creative in the kitchen! I've tried to use "leftover" recipes, but seriously... It's LEFTOVERS. I want to get rid of the extra stuff in my fridge, not go out and buy a bunch of new ingredients which will then be leftovers from the leftovers :-P Your approach seems good though. Pick out a general direction you want it to go (soup, casserole, dip, etc.) and then modify as necessary.

anthony stemke said...

FA LAMERICANA: You got the right idea. No sense creating new leftovers while trying to get rid of leftovers. This casserole was so good we finished it off right away.

Alexis AKA MOM said...

I love left over Turkey meals. Perfect

anthony stemke said...

ALEXIS AKA MOM: This one was really wonderful.

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