Turkey Any Time

So many people relegate turkey to the holidays. I like to eat it throughout the year. Sometimes I cook a whole turkey a few times during the fall and winter so I can have leftovers for the freezer. At other times of the year, I like to roast a whole turkey breast and freeze whatever I don’t plan to eat within a few days. It adds variety to my diet and I like the convenience of ready to eat meat in the freezer.

What do I like to do with turkey leftovers?
    * Add to a green salad with colorful sliced, diced, or grated veggies
    * Make a turkey taco salad with guacamole and salsa, minus the tortilla
    * Add to an omelet; top with Cranberry Apricot Chutney or Better Barbecue Sauce
    * Scramble with eggs and herbs
    * Turn into Curried Turkey Salad or Turkey Waldorf
    * Make turkey-vegetable soup
    * Make Quick Smoky Turkey (below)
    * Serve with fried or poached eggs and vegetables
    * Top with homemade barbecue sauce
    * Top turkey with guacamole
    * Top turkey with Mango-Ginger Chutney (see The Garden of Eating for recipe)
    * Toss turkey with blanched vegetables and vinaigrette
    * Coat with mayo and mustard and roll in lettuce leaves; secure with a tooth pick

Beyond Thanksgiving
This year, like last year, I had a turkey-less Thanksgiving dinner (see my previous post for our menu), then cooked a turkey at home the next day. I kept a few days worth of turkey in the fridge and froze the leftovers for future meals. 

This year I brined a turkey for the first time. I’ve read it about doing it, heard people talk about it, just never did it. This year, I did it. I used one of Mary’s Air Chilled Turkeys from Whole Foods Market, a recipe from The Grain and Salt Society, a turkey baking bag (for marinating only), and a stock pot a managed to stuff into the bottom of the refrigerator. The results were good and I really liked the flavor of Mary’s Air Chilled Turkey. If you haven’t tried her chicken, turkey, or duck, check your local natural foods meat market to see if they carry it. It’s worth paying extra for this delicious, humanely raised, air-chilled meat. Next year I plan to allow enough time to brine the turkey for at least 24 hours (8 hours didn’t make the flavors pop the way I’ve heard it can).

I served the brined turkey without gravy (I didn’t feel like making it). I topped it with my reduced carb Cranberry, Apricot Chutney (you can flavor it with chipotle or ginger; I used ginger this year), and served it with a side cooked collard greens one day and a green salad the next. I like the juicy flavor of turkey backs, so I actually made a meal of them on one day and had the wings the next.

The leftover bones went into the crock pot for and all day simmer with a few special ingredients to make my money-saving, Bone Building Broth. Once that chilled, I froze what I didn’t plan to use within the next week or two.

What do you like to do with leftover turkey? I welcome your ideas.

Quick Smoky Turkey 

Prep: 5 minutes/ Cooking: 6 minutes/ Yield: 3 servings       
               
Don Matesz, my co-author for The Garden of Eating, devised this recipe about 10 years ago, to enhance Thanksgiving leftovers. It’s delicious with sautéed greens, steamed broccoli, parboiled vegetables, or a tossed green salad. For a substantial side dish, I serve Basic Baked Sweet Potatoes, Silver Dollar Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Sweet Potato with Lime, or Basic Baked Squash Consider topping the turkey withCranberry Apricot Chutney or Better Barbecue Sauce.

Note: Double recipe if you want leftovers for main dish salads, scrambles, omelets, or a bacon alternative for breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (about 12 ounces) cooked, skinless turkey, shredded or diced
1/3 cup poultry Bone-Building Broth (see The Garden of Eating) or preservative-free chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon Wright’s Natural Liquid Hickory Smoke Seasoning
1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon ground chipotle or black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1/2 cup Better Barbecue Sauce, optional

1. Combine broth or stock, liquid smoke, pepper, and mustard in 10-inch skillet. Stir to dissolve; Add turkey. Cover and bring to low boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer 5 to 6 minutes, until warm, and juicy.
2. Remove lid and cook away excess. Pass Better Barbecue Sauce at the table or sprinkle with toasted and crumbled dulse, if desired.
3. Refrigerate leftovers and use within 2 days

4-ounces skinless breast: 198 calories, 35 g protein, 6 g fat, 23 mg calcium, 75 mg sodium
4-ounces skinless dark meat: 217 calories, 34 g protein, 9 g fat, 38 mg calcium, 94 mg sodium

Variation:

• Quick Smoky Chicken: Replace turkey with leftover poached or roasted chicken.

Source: The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook by Rachel Albert-Matesz & Don Matesz (Planetary Press, 2004). Click here for more info, to view more sample recipes, and to order and receive prompt delivery and a FREE shopping list to accompany the Sample Month of Menus found in the book.