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Community Corner

Making Leftovers Work

Creative ways to use the last of the bird and what went with it

For some, the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers.

Count me as one of those people — making regular trips to the refrigerator for a spot of turkey, chicken or duck, some stuffing and a cupful of gravy.

What's not to like? The prep work is done. The oven has cooled. Now the creativity begins.

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Savories

Curry with Orange Rice
Add sliced turkey and a handful of raisons to curry sauce or gravy plus curry powder. Serve on rice tossed with orange zest or peanuts.

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Chili on Pasta
Add cutup turkey to chili.  Serve on rice or pasta tossed with cheese — preferably shredded cheddar or Swiss. Don't forget the tortilla chips.

Ratatouille
Add slivered turkey to ratatouille — that glorious stewed onion, eggplant, zucchini, tomato mélange.

Fennel Italia
Add turkey, cubed or sliced to cooked, seasoned sliced fennel or celery. Polenta is a great plate mate.

Patties

Sweet Potato Patties
Form mashed sweet potatoes plus turkey bits, into patties then sauté in butter or drippings. Serve with sausages or crisp bacon and cranberry jelly.

Pie in a Dish
Bake turkey bits and veggies (brussels sprouts, halved, onions and peas perhaps) in a 10 x 6 or 12 x 8 baking dish topped with a lattice pie crust or mashed potato (sweet or white) or biscuits.

Savory Pinwheels
Pat a recipe of biscuit dough into a rectangle 3/4 inch thick. Spread with combined sautéed onion, minced turkey and chopped veggies. Roll like a jellyroll. Slice 1" thick. Bake at 425 F. Serve with tomato or spaghetti sauce.

Flapjacks
Pour ½-cup pancake batter onto skillet. Dot with blueberry sized turkey bits. Sauté as per usual. Serve with cranberries or tomato or cheese sauce or maple syrup.

Soups & Chowders

Dem Bones
Simmer for 30 minutes, turkey carcass broken in large sections — celery, onion, parsley (stems too) in water to cover plus one or two chicken bouillon cubes. Shake in pepper. Add veggies and a big handful or two of pasta. Cook al dente. Nice with hot garlic bread or knobs.

Corn Chowder
Add turkey bits, snipped parsley, dill or watercress to corn chowder and heat. Crackers or toasted English muffins, with this one.

Sandwiches and Salads

Quesadillas
Spread refried beans on a tortilla. Top sliced turkey or turkey bits with cheese grated or sliced.  Cover with another tortilla. Sauté in butter or oil until browned on both sides. Nice with sliced tomatoes topped with sliced onions or scallions.

Barbecued Buns
Spoon turkey — bits or sliced — heated in barbecue sauce on to a toasted bun with or without crisp bacon and sliced raw onion. Pass raw relishes, celery, etc.

Panini

Croque Monsieur
With turkey and blue cheese dressing, stuffing and cranberry. Do the French sautéed ham and cheese sandwich with sliced turkey instead of ham. And try rye bread instead of white.

A Douglaston resident, published author Carol Brock is the founder of Les Dames d'Escoffier, a group dedicated to gender equality in the culinary world.

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