Food: Leftover Purgatory

With a large amount of leftover turkey, ham, and dressing, and a small amount of potatoes, cranberry, and other sides, there are only so many plates of leftovers you can make before things start looking sad. Then comes sandwiches... you can use an entire loaf of bread in one weekend if you do sandwiches. Especially if you start doing club sandwiches with three slices of bread... the middle slice is especially good on a warm sandwich if it's been soaked in gravy.

Then when everyone is sick of sandwiches, it's time to break out the recipes.

I am particularily fond of two recipes after Thanksgiving, as it uses up the main meat leftovers but still leaves enough to stash in the freezer.

Turkey Chow Mein

2 C. Chopped cooked turkey
1 whole onion
2 Tb. Soy sauce
1 Tb. Sherry (optional)
2 Tb. Oil
1 C turkey or chicken broth
3 Tb. corn starch
1 Tb. molasses
1-15 oz can Chop Suey vegetables (more variety than chow mein veggies and the bonus of crunchy water chestnuts)

Saute onion and turkey in a mixture of the oil, sherry and soy sauce until onion is tender. Mix together cold broth, molasses, and cornstarch, set aside. Add chop suey vegetables. Push pan contents to the edges of the pan, leaving a well in the middle. Give the broth mixture a stir, then add all at once to the pan, making sure to get it all in there. Stir constantly and heat over high heat until cornstarch thickens and is bubbly. Stir the ingredients pushed to the edge back into the middle. Let bubble over medium heat for another minute or two. Serve over hot rice or chow mein noodles.

You may want to create some extra rice so you can make the following:

Ham and Egg Fried rice

2 C chopped cooked ham
2 eggs
3 C cooked rice
2-3 green onions with tops, chopped
2 Tb. soy sauce
2-4 Tb. oil

Heat oil in a deep skillet. Beat the eggs, and add to the pan. Cook until set, but do not let them brown. Remove from pan and break them apart in a small bowl. Set them aside.

Add ham and soy sauce to the oil left in the pan, adding more oil if needed. Cook and stir for a minute, then add the rice. When the rice is warmed through, add the eggs back to the pan, then add the green onion. In a few minutes, everything should be heated through and fragrant. Serve immediately.