Americans use Thanksgiving leftovers to make sandwiches, casseroles, and other dishes. Mashed potatoes can be used for potato pancakes, and cranberry sauce can be mixed with cream cheese for a bagel spread. Creative chefs can turn leftovers into memorable meals.
For most Americans, the Friday after Thanksgiving promises at least two certainties: shopping and Thanksgiving leftovers. No matter how hard the cook tries to tailor the meal to just the right portions for all the guests, there’s always turkey leftovers, along with mashed potatoes, buns, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. No one wants to see the remains of their Thanksgiving turkey go bad, so every year hundreds of people flock to the internet and their favorite cookbooks in search of recipes with which to reincarnate their Thanksgiving feast.
Perhaps one of the easiest recipes using Thanksgiving leftovers is what some refer to as the Over the Sink sandwich. It is typically eaten on Thanksgiving night, as no one feels like cooking. It requires piling all your Thanksgiving leftovers between two slices of bread or a leftover roll. This sandwich becomes such a mess to eat, that many find themselves leaning over the sink to consume it. While not appropriate in this form, a sandwich is an effective means of using up Thanksgiving dinner leftovers. Cranberry sauce can be used as a spread on bread with the turkey placed between the slices. Another option would be a hot open-faced sandwich with a scoop of leftover filling on a slice of bread topped with minced turkey and gravy drizzled all over.
Many people find that they get tired of sandwiches and are the ones to look for alternative uses for their Thanksgiving leftovers. A casserole is a good way to combine many Thanksgiving dinner dishes into one new and tasty meal. A turkey couch can be made by combining leftover broccoli, turkey, and gravy in a saucepan and topping it with leftover stuffing and Parmesan cheese. Another popular casserole is shepherd’s pie. It is traditionally filled with lamb, but any leftover meat will work. The hallmark is the mashed potato seasoning.
While many seek out turkey recipes, there are still side dishes that need to be addressed. Thanksgiving leftovers are often more side dishes than turkey, but there are many recipes that can reinvent these dishes to become the stars of a meal. The mashed potatoes can easily be used the following morning for potato pancakes. Cranberry sauce mixed with cream cheese makes a delicious spread on a bagel instead of jam, and leftover wraps and pumpkin pie, crust and all can be snapped up and placed in a saucepan with egg mixture and milk and made into a bread pudding.
While anyone can whip up a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, a truly creative chef transforms Thanksgiving leftovers into memorable meals. With a little effort and a dose of imagination, Thanksgiving leftovers will be remembered almost as fondly as the actual Thanksgiving feast.
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