Ryan Cooks: Thanksgiving Leftovers

Entertaining  //  

It’s Thanksgiving eve!!! Ok, we know it’s not an official holiday but it totally should be!  To everyone that is traveling near or far today or tomorrow we wish you save travels!  We are hurriedly trying to cross off our remaining items on our to do list so we can enjoy time with family and friends once they arrive.

So how many of you are cooking Thanksgiving this year?  This will now be our fourth year in a row that Liz and I will be hosting dinner with our family.  Tony the turkey is resting calmly in the refrigerator awaiting his brine bath later tonight.  Tony is a 22 pound bird and should do nicely for lots of tasty leftovers this year.  Leftovers usually consist Turkey sandwiches accompanied by macaroni and cheese that Liz’s Dad brings from ironically enough Tony’s Delicatessen, no relation to Tony the Turkey I’m sure. :)

This year we wanted to think of something a little different to do with all the leftovers.  We always have so much turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie that it usually last for weeks and getting creative is a must.  We also wanted to provide a little inspiration for your own leftovers and a way to share the fun with friends.  If you haven’t seen our Thankful for Leftovers and Game Night Party post yet, be sure to check it out.  For the party we came up with a unique twist on the Leftover Turkey Sandwich, made an AMAZING Pumpkin Pie Milkshake, and stuffed the stuffing inside some red bell peppers.  Enjoy the recipes below!

RECIPE: Leftover Turkey Sandwiches with Blue Cheese Crumbles

Normally our leftover turkey sandwiches consist of Turkey, Mayo, Salt and Pepper and a maybe slice of tomato.  If you are tired of the standard turkey sandwich spice things up a little bit with a hearty loaf of bread, a few blue cheese crumbles, and leftover cranberry relish.  The tangy sweetness of the relish and savory taste of the blue cheese combines for the perfect flavor in this leftover turkey sandwich.

Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe Ideas (1) INGREDIENTS:

 PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

    • Spread mayonnaise on one side of bread and add 3-4 leaves of Arugula.
    • Add turkey, and cranberry relish.  Sprinkle blue cheese crumbles on top and close sandwich with second slice of bread.
    • In a toaster oven or conventional oven, toast sandwiches for 5-8 minutes, or until cheese melts and bread just begins to brown.

RECIPE: Stuffing Stuffed Peppers

Ahh stuffing.  We love stuffing!!  Just add a little butter, celery, and onions to cubed bread and cook in the oven. Fortunately for our waistline, we usually only indulge in this carbohydrate heaven around Thanksgiving.  But when we do, we always have a ton of leftovers and stuffing by itself, although amazing, can get a little boring after the first few days of leftovers.  So the perfect solution is to stuff it in something else besides the turkey.  It’s called stuffing for a reason right!?  For a perfect side dish to your Blue Cheese Turkey Sandwiches, stuff some stuffing in a few bell peppers, sprinkle with cheese and roast in the oven.  Hmm, what else could we stuff with stuffing??

Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe Ideas (2)

INGREDIENTS:

    • 4 Red Bell Peppers, stem and seeds removed
    •  2-3 Cups Leftover Stuffing
    • Chicken stock or vegetable broth
    • Olive Oil
    • Grated Parmesan Cheese

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

    • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
    • In a bowl, add vegetable broth to stuffing until moist, about 1 cup depending on how moist your stuffing is already.
    • Place peppers open side up in a square baking pan and stuff peppers with stuffing.  Drizzle with olive oil and place in oven and roast for 20-30 minutes until peppers begin to slightly darken.  If stuffing begins to burn, cover with foil until peppers finish roasting.
    • Remove from oven and sprinkle on Parmesan Cheese

RECIPE: Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes

My favorite thing about thanksgiving has to be enjoying a tasty slice of pumpkin pie.  Thanksgiving would not be complete with out this tasty treat.  Especially a pumpkin pie made by Liz’s MeMe.  In fact, nearly 200 pies made by MeMe will be enjoyed this year at Thanksgiving!  Crazy!  So if you are lucky enough to enjoy one of MeMe’s pies this year and have a few slices leftover after the big day, then you definitely need to try this recipe. Trust us, you’ll thanks us later.

Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe Ideas (3)

INGREDIENTS (makes one milkshake):

    • 1 slice of leftover pumpkin pie, preferably MeMe’s but if you don’t live in Montoursville, PA any type of pumpkin pie will do the trick
    • 2-3 Cups of vanilla ice cream (add more as necessary for desired thickness)
    • 1 Cup whole milk
    • Cinnamon stick for garnish

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

    • Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.  Add more milk and ice cream as necessary to reach desired thickness.
    • Pour into glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And we just wanted to share one quick picture of MeMe in action! She is a pie machine! :) Apple, Pumpkin, Blueberry, Minced Meat, you name it, she can make it!