Thanksgiving Left-Overs: ...if you actually have any

Currently our little family is only two people... and two dogs.  SO, we can only handle so many left-overs.  Consequently, we don't make quite as much as some other folks when we have holiday meals.

Still, what we make is not subtle and quite hearty, so we STILL have left-overs around the holidays, namely that turkey.

What to do?  Well we take some steps to make life later more awesome.

1.  Save all drippings from cooking turkey
     -stick in fridge to separate the fat
     -freeze, if you're not going to use in a few days

2.  Save all bones and meat scraps (neck, and the stuff in that bag)
     -freeze and save for turkey stock later

     (there may have been veggie scraps, but I wasn't conscious for them)

3.  Save extra rolls... even if they didn't rise and got kind of messed up
     (oops, we forgot them on top of the fridge)
     -pulverize for bread crumbs
     -freeze and save for later


-Our second eating of the turkey was basically the same as our second eating of chicken.  Braise

Okay, so we don't do the exact same thing.  Rather than having the whole carcass sit partly submerged, we pick the meat of the bones and braise it in the drippings, some chicken stock (if you have other plans for the drippings), or a combination of the two. 

This was delicious on its own, but was awesome for sandwiches.  I put a little creole mustard on mine.


-For the drippings, we like to use it in potato soup.  If the fat freaks you out, stick it in the fridge and the fat will solidify on top, just take it off and/or strain it through a tea strainer/cheese cloth.

A little goes a long way, but add to your own taste.  Oh, and this will also make it take longer to finish the soup since the drippings add heft.


-After your done with the turkey carcass, freeze it until you're ready to make a stock.  You can simply prepare it as you would for a regular chicken stock.

Use it as you would chicken stock, and it will also carry over some of the Creole garlic Cajun injector (or whatever flavorings you use).


-As for the rolls, yeah, this hasn't happened before, so we're entering new territory.  I'll let you know what actually happens, but they'll either end up adding some body to meatballs/burger patties or breading some chunks of chicken that will either be fried or baked (but can be frozen for future use). 

Yay!  We still have turkey stock in the freezer, along with drippings, and the roll-bread-crumbs.

I'm not gonna lie; I love having one meal stretch and contribute to other meals, and whole chicken or, in this case, turkey does this beautifully.