If you cooked a turkey yesterday chances are you were happy to tuck into turkey sandwiches today. But what about tomorrow? Or, if your turkey was a big one, the day after? And the day after that?
Turkey fatigue can set in pretty quickly so if you don’t want to end up with your nearest and dearest groaning ‘not turkey again’ you need to think of some different uses for it. And that depends on the type of meat you have left.
White meat
Tends to lose its flavour and texture when reheated so best served cold. You can shred it and serve it with a spicy mayo, Coronation chicken-style (just mix the mayo with a bit of curry paste and sweeten with apricot jam) or with a spicy peanut dressing (peanut butter mixed with a bit of cooled stock, some lime or lemon juice, a little soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce) You can find recipes in Beyond Baked Beans Budget but at this time of year it’s more a question of seeing what you’ve got to hand and improvising
Dark (brown meat)
Makes a good basis for a pie or pilau. For a quick pie filling trim, wash and slice a couple of leeks and cook in butter until soft. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of flour then gradually add about 300ml (1/2 pint) of milk and stir until thick. Season with salt and pepper and a little parmesan cheese if you have some then fold in some diced turkey. Cool, transfer to a pie or flan dish, cover with puff pastry, brush over a little beaten egg then bake in a hot oven for about 30-40 minutes. (Or mix some cooked pasta into your sauce for an even quicker dish)
For a tasty pilau simply fork some fried-up brown turkey meat into Vicky Bhogal’s easy Spicy Mushroom and Cashew Rice (you don’t need the cashews if you’re using turkey)
The carcass
The bit you may be most inclined to throw away but don’t! Turkey carcasses make fantastic stock which make a great base for a soup, risotto or a pilau. See how to make a really tasty home-made stock here.
