leftover remix: ham eggs benedict!

Thankfully, our ham this year was considerably smaller than last year's, so that made ham leftovers manageable. Last year, we had to throw out about a third of the ham before it went bad. Besides sandwiches and snack meat, I had a hard time finding ways to use up one of our thanksgiving favorites.

Surprisingly, I found out that we didn't really eat ham outside of the sandwich realm. We went through the turkey a whole lot faster than we did the ham! So, to reduce the inevitable waste we were going to have with a twenty pound ham (for TWO people!!), I got creative with adding it into soups, casseroles, pasta, sides, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When all was said and done, we threw away about a third of the ham.

With all that experimenting, I forgot to make something that should have been a no-brainer for breakfast: eggs benedict! So this year, I made sure to whip up my favorite breakfast and make it a little fancy. For this thanksgiving remix, I topped english muffins with a generous schmearing of smokey chipotle mustard, a couple slices of farm fresh tomatoes, some creamy avocado, a few pieces of ham, a couple of perfectly poached eggs, and topped it off with my favorite mock hollandaise sauce.

Best. Breakfast. EVER.

leftover remix: asian turkey noodle soup!

I wanted to do something interesting with our leftover turkey but I'm torn. We're getting down to the last of it and I'm undecided whether or not to make it into some kind of casserole. It'll be easy to do and I'm sure there are billions of casserole recipes out there to try. Heck, even I've got a casserole recipe in my repertoire!

But I want to make something interesting out of it!

Call it vanity, but I kind of wanted to make something that was totally opposite of what the thanksgiving turkey originally tasted like. I wanted to change it's taste profile so that it would turn into some kind of wonderful. Lo, and behold, I got my inspiration!

Enter "Year of the Fish". I was in the mood for a fairytale and this movie intrigued me. So I settled in and watched it on Amazon (besides, who doesn't love a Cinderella story?). Well, there was a scene in the movie where they were eating soup and suddenly it hit me . . . let's make a turkey ramen!!

That got my juices flowing so right after the movie, I got to searching for a basic asian soup. I didn't want it to be too complicated; just simple and classic ingredients. I ended up using a recipe from Martha Stewart, of all people. I'm not really a big fan of hers, but I found that this was exactly the kind of soup I was looking for.

This turned out exactly how I wanted it to. It was your basic broth, heavy on the ginger, and with the unmistakable hint of turkey. I wanted this to primarily be a ramen-esque type of soup so there's more noodle than meat. Why rice noodles? Because that's what I had on hand. Next time, I would probably go with an egg noodle since i prefer that to the taste of the rice ones. Other than that, I thought this experiment turned out pretty good!

---- o o o o ---- 

Scallion-Ginger Broth with Turkey and Rice Noodles
(slightly adapted from Martha Stewart)

1 tsp vegetable oil
4 scallions, chopped with white and green parts divided
1-inch piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minched
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 (4.5oz) ramen-size block of rice noodles
1/4 cup matchstick carrots
1/4 cup lightly shredded turkey

 
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add scallion whites, ginger, and garlic; cook, stirring, until scallions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add broth and fish sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until flavors are blended, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, rice noodles, and turkey then continue simmering until noodles are done. Garnish with additional carrots and scallion greens.

turkey part deux: wine-ing it up!

This year's Thanksgiving turned out waaaaaay less stressful than last year's over-achievement. I had written just a little blurb of what happened, but in reality, I was freaking out about how much to feed six people. Although that's really not something to panic about, I was really unsure of how much food to prepare since I had a skewed sense of portioning: during Thanksgiving, my parents make at LEAST seven dishes to feed their moderate family of SIX.

Turkey, bourbon ham, lumpia, rice, stuffing, meatballs . . . it was a labor of love that my mom and dad always looked forward to indulging during this time of year. What did that translate to? Feasting for days, of course! But when I applied that to last years cooking, I found people hardly ate at all. To my disappointment, my guests were too drunk to even enjoy (or appreciate) the veggie and cracker platter I put together for them to snack on.

On times like these, I miss my friends in San Diego. *sigh* I could always count on them to not only imbibe, but also to feast!

So this year, I decided that MY turkey day was going to focus on AFTER entertainment was over. I made food that me and the hubby were going to enjoy afterwards and didn't really care who was coming to dinner. . .

And wouldn't you know it . . . if the people from last year were too drunk to eat, these people were too full to eat! What the HECK!?! I never really understood why people eat before going to someone else's house to EAT. Isn't that the point of going to dinner? To EAT?! I was irked when the people we invited finally left . . . The point of making so much food was in order for them to enjoy it and they didn't even eat at all.

Ugh . . . Maybe it's a cultural thing.

My mother always taught me that if you went to someone's house, you had a plateful of food to satisfy hunger, but not gluttony. In other words, enjoy what was being served to you but not to the point where you were eating the whole banquet table. Even the parties that my aunties or uncles used to throw when I was younger had people enjoying food throughout the night until only a few dishes remained. People nibbled because food was prepared to be nibbled on. Isn't that what people are supposed to do if there's food set out for you to eat?

But enough of me whining. I'm just glad we didn't make anything else!

Speaking of whining, I decided to use wine for this year's turkey. I was tempted to use the apple-citrus brine from before, but I like the idea of having an ever-changing Thanksgiving turkey each year. So for this one, I decided to go with a white wine brine. I like that it's different from the orange and apple infused flavors that's popular around this time of year and instead uses plain ol' lemon for the citrus.

Another winning thing about the recipe was the fact that it didn't have a bajillion things to make the flavor profile. It was simple and sweet, and almost a no-brainer. :) I changed a few things based on what I had on hand and scaled down the recipe to fit my dinky nine pound turkey. Also, in order to speed up the process, I used ice instead of water courtesy of the automatic ice machine in my fridge (win!).

Oh, and did I mention that this was a pre-brined turkey? I made the mistake of brining one last year and it turned a tad bit salty (like ALMOST too salty). This year, I learned from my mistake and cut the salt called for in half. It still resulted in a slightly salty turkey, but then again, it might be due to the fact that it was sitting in brine for three to four days. It was still edible, but not like last year. As a precaution, I've halved the salt even further in the recipe below . . . just in case.

Despite that fact, this turkey turned out lovely. I paired it with a compound butter that mimicked the flavor profile to boost all the lovely flavors going on in the recipe. It was awesome. It was tasty. And there were so much leftovers for me to play with afterwords! Ha ha, suckers! Stupid guests . . . That's your loss!

---- o o o o ---- 

White Wine Turkey Brine (for pre-brined turkeys)
(adapted from Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen)

2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup kosher salt
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole black peppercorn
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 bunch poultry bouquet (sage, rosemary, thyme)
2 cups white wine
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed but left in skins
1 large lemon, sliced
1 tbsp white vinegar
4 to 5 cups ice
8.5 to 9 lbs turkey, giblets and neck removed

 
Bring the stock, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard seeds, and poultry bouquet to boil. Stir until salt is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour in the wine, then add the onion, garlic, lemon, and vinegar. Stir in enough ice to cool mixture.

Place turkey in a large enough container to allow for bird to be fully submerged. Ladle some of the brine into container. Slowly lower in the turkey and continue to add brine until turkey is covered, making sure to stuff the cavity with a handful of herbs, onion, and lemon.

Close container and refrigerate for at least 24 hours up to 3 days. Remove turkey from the brine the night before cooking, pat dry, and place on a baking sheet in the refrigerator uncovered overnight. Bring turkey to room temperature before using a compound butter for roasting, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

---- o o o o ---- 

Herbed Compound Butter with Lemon and Garlic
(makes enough for a 10.lbs turkey)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large sprig sage
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp onion powder
zest of half a lemon
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of fresh ground pepper

 
Rough chop sage and mince together rosemary and thyme. Add to butter. Add garlic, onion powder, zest, salt, and pepper. Mix until well combined then refrigerate for at least overnight before use. Bring to room temperature before applying to turkey.

To use compound butter:
When compound butter is at room temperature, position turkey on roasting rack. Carefully separate the skin from the breasts of the turkey. Spread butter over breast meat under skin until a thin layer forms. Slather additional butter onto the remaining areas of the turkey, as well as the inside cavity. Discard any leftover butter.

Loosely place some celery, carrot, and onion in the cavity of the turkey. Roast at 475F degrees for the first 30 minutes then at 325F for the remainder of the cooking time (fyi: an almost 9.lbs turkey takes around 3 hours to cook at this temperature). If skin starts to brown too quickly, cover problem areas with foil to prevent burning.

Cook to 155F degrees then let rest for at least 30 minutes. Bird will continue to cook and should reach a safe internal temperature of 165F degrees.

touche, souffle.

since getting married and moving to guam, i've been a little apprehensive about making the turkey for thanksgiving this year. it's just one of those things that new wives always worry about, i think...making sure that the turkey isn't dry like hell. so, i did a little research and decided to brine the damn thing for a few days. and not only that, i decided to also do my mother's bourbon ham. over-achiever much? lol.

to be fair though, we had a few people coming over and i was worried that i wasn't going to have enough turkey. it doesn't look like it, but that turkey is just a little bit bigger than a large chicken. being over ambitious, i also did a cool little appetizer plate that sadly did not get the attention it deserved...i guess it was just a little too fancy for this crowd. *sigh* oh, to be an entertainer.... :'( (oh, and of course, guess who forgot to take the gizzard bag out? urgh...damn you, gizzard bag!!!)

seriously though, after the thanksgiving ordeal, we had plenty of leftovers. the following days have been consisting of ham sandwiches, turkey enchiladas (yum!), and some creative cooking. as the leftovers started dwindling down, one thing that i really wanted to try was my mother's turkey casserole.

i remember when she first started making it about ten years ago that there would never be anything left on the plates. she's the kind of gal that collects recipes as a hobby and she pulled this little gem from a magazine clip from 1979. it's homey and a little bit classy, and definitely hails from old school that was delicious back then as it is still now. and what an awesome way of finishing off the turkey in the fridge!

Souffle-Topped Turkey Casserole
(from Family Circle Magazine, November 20, 1979)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
Dash cayenne
2½ cups milk
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, separated

Make the Sauce:
Melt the 1/4 cup butter in a medium-size saucepan; stir in flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook 1 minute. Pour in 2 cups of the milk; heat, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and bubbles. Continue cooking and stirring 3 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Measure 1/2 cup sauce into a medium-size bowl; reserve.

Make the Filling:
Add turkey and remaining 1/2 cup milk to sauce in pan. Melt the 1 tbsp butter in skillet; saute onion, celery, and mushrooms just until soft, about 5 minutes. Combine with turkey. Spoon into bottom of 6- to 8-cup shallow baking dish. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees) for 5 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.

Make the Souffle and Finish the Casserole::
Stir Parmesan cheese into reserved sauce. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer until stiff but not dry; fold into yolk mixture. Remove baking dish from oven; spread souffle mixture over turkey. Return to oven and bake 30 minutes longer or until puffed and brown. Serve at once. Makes 6 servings.