By Margaret Malsam
You’ve spent hours preparing great food for a holiday dinner, and the next day you are faced with what seems like a mountain of leftovers. This problem of what to do with leftovers has plagued cooks ever since cooking began.
One of the easiest ways to tackle the leftover problem is to send some food home with your family and guests. Better still, maybe an elderly neighbor would appreciate getting some leftovers. This year one of our shut-in neighbors will be 100 years old, and we are making up individual TV dinners for her, her husband, and their caregiver daughter from our leftovers.
Even if you give most of your leftovers away, you may still have a few remaining, and you don’t want to throw good food away. It offends one’s sense of thrift in these tight economic times to toss food. Your mother most likely warned you to “waste not, want not”. Not using leftovers also robs you of the opportunity to try delicious new ways with the great food remaining from a big holiday meal. I’ve gathered together some recipes and ideas on how to creatively transform holiday leftovers into delectable next-day fare.
Tips for using leftovers
• Freeze items that can be used to create another dish later. Ham and turkey bones can be saved and boiled for stocks for delicious soups.
• Cool and store leftovers properly. This will assure that they are flavorful and safe for consumption for several days.
• Turn leftover holiday dishes into something else entirely. For example, puree leftover sweet potatoes, fold in egg whites and bake to make a sweet potato soufflé.
• Try giving turkey an ethnic twist, such as putting chopped cooked turkey in your favorite Italian lasagna or tetrazzini recipe. Use turkey for tacos, burritos or turkey enchilada soup. For something really different, try fixing a Cajun-flavored platter of turkey with red beans and rice (see recipe).
• Reheat mashed potatoes in the oven topped with grated cheddar cheese. Use the potatoes as a topping for meat loaf or mix potatoes with beaten eggs and fry up some potato cakes.
• Mix leftover cranberry sauce with chopped celery, apples, nuts and a tablespoon or two of orange juice. Stir into warn red gelatin to make a delicious molded Waldorf salad.
• Marinate cooked vegetables in French dressing and use in salads.
• Fill omelets with cooked vegetables and leftover ham or turkey.
• In a blender, make a ham or turkey salad filling by mixing turkey or ham pieces with mayonnaise and pickle juice. Blend to spreading consistency. Spread filling on mini buns to make slider sandwiches.
• Got fresh vegetables left from your relish tray? Sauté small amounts of fresh vegetables with leftover meats in a stir ‘n fry entrée.
• Use leftover wine to jazz up a creamy ham topping for waffles (see recipe).
• Make a stuffed cornbread pie, using leftover meat, potatoes, vegetables and gravy (see recipe).
