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The Meal That Keeps on Giving
Written By Catherine Newman

Thanksgiving dinner is over in hours, but the leftovers linger for days ...

Recipes

We are filled with gratitude, we really are, but Thanksgiving leftovers are a blessing and a curse, and everyone's an expert.

"You know what you should do with leftover creamed onions?" my dad offers. "Throw them in the trash, that's what." When I try calling Brussels sprouts Cabbage Patch Babies, my kids express a similar sentiment since A) it's a joke they don't get and B) they don't like cabbage. But they do like turkey and gravy and mashed potatoes. In fact, they love them, and for a day, life is a stroll down easy street: We eat variations on the original meal — microwaved or layered into sandwiches — and lie around in a gorged stupor.

But then there are the leftover leftovers. By Saturday, things are going awry in the fridge: All the nice turkey slices are gone, but, eerily, there's as much mysterious foil-wrapped everything as there was the day before. Nothing quite looks like dinner (the turkey's shaggy carcass is giving everyone the willies), but the children expect to be fed. That's where these recipes come in. You've already done all the hard work, now you need something easy. Plus, your children might like to help, and you might feel relaxed enough to let them, now that there are no longer two dozen hungry people in your dining room. That alone is something to feel thankful for.

Next page: A classic Thanksgiving menu

Everyone's family has its own preferences and must-haves when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, but this is what we start with in my house:

  • Our turkey is heavily rubbed all over and under its skin with kosher salt, then sits in the fridge for a few hours. Into its cavity and scattered around the pan: 1 wedged onion, 1 sliced carrot, 1 sliced celery stalk, celery leaves, thyme, and parsley. Smear all over with butter, then roast at 450 degrees for an hour. Then pour in a cup of water and finish at 375 degrees until done.
  • Mashed potatoes are 5 pounds of Yukon golds, peeled and boiled for around 30 minutes in salted water until tender. Mash through a food mill before lubing up with a stick of butter melted in a cup of gently warmed buttermilk. Plenty of salt.
  • Sweet potatoes are 5 pounds of large jewel yams, pricked all over and baked at 350 degrees for nearly 2 hours until they collapse. Then they're scraped out of their skins and mashed with an electric mixer and half a stick of butter.
  • Gravy is 4 tablespoons of fat from turkey drippings, whisked with 1/4 cup of flour in a small pot. When it's bubbling and thick, I whisk in 4 cups of hot, defatted juice from the pan (I add a bit of canned stock to make the full quart).
  • Cranberry is canned, whole-berry sauce, of course.
  • Green beans are boiled until tender, then buttered.
  • Our salt is always kosher, our butter always lightly salted.

Next page: Don't Toss Those Bones — Make Soup!

Suit-Yourself Soup

Here's my unorthodox suggestion: Deal with the turkey's remains directly after your holiday meal. You're already staying up to wash dishes and drink the odds and ends of leftover wine — why not get some soup made in the process?

Begin by removing all remaining joints and meat from the turkey and reserving these for another use. Place the carcass in a large pot, along with the wing tips and any bones that accumulated during the meal. Add water just to cover, then bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat, and simmer. If your mother-in-law will be eating the soup, spend the next half hour skimming any foam that rises to the surface, since this will "cloud the broth," God forbid. Otherwise, you can go ahead and add the following now: 1 onion, peeled and quartered; 1 large carrot and 1 large celery stalk, both sliced; a sprig of parsley and some celery leaves; 2 teaspoons kosher salt. (I also add the veggies that roasted inside the bird.)

Gently simmer soup, covered, adding water as needed to keep the turkey submerged, for 3 hours. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pot, and serve, refrigerate, or freeze as you wish. When you're ready to eat the soup, season with more salt to taste, and add one or more of the following, depending on your children's preferences:

  • Matzoh balls
  • Dumplings
  • Cooked rice or noodles
  • Wontons or tortellini
  • Small pasta, such as orzo, alphabets, or pastina
  • Shapes cut with an aspic cutter from steamed carrot slices (a good job for a child)
  • Bite-size pieces of turkey

Still have leftovers? Click here for more ideas.

 
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