Thanksgiving's luscious leftovers

If I wasn't such a Thanksgiving Day gorger, I might just fast-forward through the feast and start with the leftovers.

I love Thanksgiving leftovers almost as much as the big meal itself. And I don't mean fancy leftovers, either. I mean sliced turkey from the fridge tucked into hearty bread slices with a slather of mayo. I mean leftover cranberries warmed with ginger in pancake syrup, leftover greens whisked into omelets, and second-day sweet potatoes served hot as dessert. (Yes, we're big fans of the mini marshmallow-topped rendition.)

That's not to say I'd snub a meal of fanci-fied leftovers, as long as they were whipped up by someone else. My cooking plans don't involve fancy on the day after the most elaborate cooking day of the year.

I'm not alone in this preference for simply repurposed leftovers. West Palm Beach Chef Michael Hackman's thoughts race to one thing when asked about leftovers.

"The first idea that always comes up is sandwiches," says the chef and co-owner of Aioli, a daylight cafe in a South Dixie Highway strip plaza.

Not just ordinary sandwiches. Hackman, who operates the eatery with his wife, Melanie, has a few chef tricks to elevate those next-day turkey stacks.

Use bodacious bread. He suggests a fresh loaf, baked specifically for that second-day meal. (He's baking cranberry-walnut bread this year.)

Rev up the mayo with spices and aromatics. Or, better yet, use aioli as does Hackman's so-named shop. That turkey on cranberry-walnut bread will get a tangy-creamy lift from cranberry aioli, he says.

Add a delectable side dish. A mug of hot soup, fortified with turkey bone broth, completes this next-day meal. Or reinvent the stuffing as an individual souffle, he says.

Hackman, in fact, is offering a "Day After" take-out box at his cafe for home cooks who want to maximize their leftovers. The box, which sells for $15, is packed with that cranberry-walnut bread and a container of cranberry aioli.

For those cooks who want to turn their leftover turkey bones into soups or stews, Hackman is offering herb sachets and mirepoix (chopped veggies) to help build flavor.

Those who crave something a little more sumptuous might consider a Kentucky Hot Brown, the hot, bubbly sandwich with Louisville roots. The new book "Southern Heat" (The Taunton Press, $35), by James Beard Best Chef nominee Anthony Lamas and food writer Gwen Pratesi, offers a kicky version that's topped with a rich manchego-jalapeno mornay sauce.

More ambitious home cooks may want to journey beyond the well-traveled sandwich route and create a robust, savory pie. Cookbook author Ken Haedrich includes two turkey pie recipes in his newly released "Dinner Pies" book (Harvard Common Press, $24.95).

His Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd's Pie combines chopped, gravy-moistened turkey, mashed potatoes

and leftover vegetables with chopped fresh herbs in a pie that's topped with a layer of buttered mashed potatoes.

"I love to turn Thanksgiving leftovers into shepherd's pie, partly because it's so easy with all those ingredients just sitting there in the fridge, and partly because it tastes so darn good," writes the North Carolina-based Haedrich in his book. "It's so easy, in fact, that you scarcely need a recipe."

A recipe worth noting, however, is the one for his Turkey Crumb Pot Pie. Such a pie is where "those crispy onions we all love on our green bean casserole" can find a delicious, post-Thanksgiving purpose.

TURKEY CRUMB POT PIE

This post-Thanksgiving turkey pot pie is sprinkled with crumbs made from packaged stuffing mix, "and those crispy onions we all love on our green bean casserole," writes Haedrich. "For the veggies, use most anything you have left in the fridge; in a pinch, even thawed frozen vegetables are fine. We make up the sauce as we go, but I'll often enrich the filling with1/4 cup or so of leftover gravy, stirring it in just before the filling comes off the heat. The gravy makes the mixture saucier, but that's seldom a bad thing when you're talking about pot pies."

Your favorite pie dough, enough for 1 (9 1/2 -inch) pie shell, divided

Filling:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

1 celery rib or 1 cup sliced white mushroom caps

2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2-1/4 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

2- 1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey

2 cups cooked vegetables (such as corn, peas, carrots, broccoli, and/ or Brussels sprouts), preferably in combination (see Recipe for Success)

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Topping:

1 cup packaged stuffing mix

1 cup crispy French fried onions

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Prepare your favorite pie dough, or choose store-bought dough. Divide dough into 4 equal balls. Flatten each ball into a 1/2-inch-thick disk. Wrap the disks individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1- 1/2 hours. While the dough chills, get out four individual pot pie dishes, each with a capacity of 1 to 1-1/4 cups, and set them aside.

2. Melt the butter in a large stovetop casserole over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and sauté for 8 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for another minute. Whisk in the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, allowing the liquid to thicken a bit, then stir in the cream, turkey, vegetables, sage, thyme,1/4 teaspoon salt, and ground black pepper to taste. Return to a simmer and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Taste, adding more salt as needed. Set aside to cool thoroughly.

3. Working with one piece of dough at a time (and leaving the others in the refrigerator), roll it into a circle about 8 inches in diameter and line one of the pot pie dishes with it. Pinch the edge into an upstanding ridge and flute, if desired. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat for the rest of the dough. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees while they are chilling.

4. Divide the filling evenly among the pot pie shells. Make sure there's about 1/2 inch of room between the filling and the top edge of the pastry. Bake on the center oven rack for 30 minutes. (If you have a large enough baking sheet, line the sheet with parchment paper or foil and bake the pies on it, in case of spillovers.)

5. While the pot pies bake, make the topping. Put the stuffing mix and onions in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the machine repeatedly, until the mixture is well chopped but still somewhat coarse. Transfer the crumbs to a mixing bowl and add the melted butter. Mix well, and set aside.

6. After the pies have baked for 30 minutes, slide out the oven rack and carefully divide the crumb topping among the pies. Using a fork, spread it around and then press it down gently. Slide the rack back in and continue to bake until the topping browns and the filling is bubbly, 10 to 15 minutes more. Transfer to a rack and cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

-- This recipe is adapted from the book, "Dinner Pies," by Ken Haedrich and is used by permission of The Harvard Common Press.

KENTUCKY HOT BROWN WITH MANCHEGO-JALAPENO MORNAY SAUCE

This recipe appears in the book "Southern Heat: New Southern Cooking Latin Style" (The Taunton Press), by Anthony Lamas, who writes:

"Many restaurants in the Bluegrass State serve their version of the Hot Brown. My recipe adds a little twist in that I use Manchego cheese in the sauce, and spice it up with some jalapenos."

For the Manchego-Jalapeno Mornay Sauce:

4 cups heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 jalapenos, seeds and membranes removed, 1 cut into1/4-inch dice and the other sliced, for garnish

2 cups grated Manchego cheese

For the Hot Browns:

Nonstick cooking spray, for the dishes

12 slices French bread or Texas Toast, toasted and crusts removed

1- 1/2 pounds roasted and sliced turkey breast

12 strips Benton's bacon or applewood-smoked bacon, cooked

12 to 18 slices heirloom tomatoes, lightly salted

Grated Manchego cheese, for topping

Position a rack in the center of a convection oven and heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Make the sauce:

In a medium saucepan, warm the heavy cream with the nutmeg, white pepper, and salt over medium heat just until the mixture has bubbles around the edges of the pan but it is not boiling. Meanwhile, in another medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the flour, stirring or whisking constantly to make a blonde roux; cook for 2 minutes to cook out the flour taste. Slowly add the warm cream to the roux, whisking constantly to prevent lumps and until the mixture is slightly thickened. Add the diced jalapenos and cheese and whisk until the cheese has melted and everything is blended. Adjust the seasonings. Keep warm.

Assemble the Hot Browns:

Each Hot Brown will be assembled and cooked in an individual greased oval casserole dish. Assembling one serving at a time, place 2 slices of toast on the bottom of the dish. Top each with sliced turkey and then 3/4 cup manchego-jalapeno mornay sauce. Place the bacon slices on top, add the tomatoes, and top with grated manchego. Place the dish in the oven and cook until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.

Serves 6.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Thanksgiving's luscious leftovers ."