It is not just the Christmas decorations in Orchard Road which herald the impending arrival of Christmas.
The availability of frozen turkeys and whole legs of ham in the supermarkets, brochures for Christmas dinners which will include one or the other, thrust into our mailboxes, physical and virtual, as well as upon us when we shop, are all part of the spirit of the season.
The big bird looks impressive on the table, but that just means a lot of it finds its way into the fridge, where it will dominate the meals until New Year’s!
It is so wrong to just keep it in some lost section of the fridge till it turns bad.
Can turkey meat be upcycled into something really enjoyable, and glamorous, even?
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Our family tradition has always been to have a whole roast turkey at Christmas, and to serve it largely deboned, laying juicy slices on a large platter, to be eaten with lots of gravy and cranberry or lingonberry jam on the side.
The morning after
But we also enjoy the days after the turkey feast, as we would all look forward to turkey congee the next morning.
Even before Christmas dinner is over, Mum would gather all the bones, carcass and skin and put them into a large pot with a couple of onions and carrots to make a strong turkey stock.
At the same time, she would soak 2 cups of rice in another pot with enough water to cover.
The next morning, she would put the turkey stock on the boil, adding 1 can of turkey broth or at a pinch, one chicken stock cube.
While the stock comes to a boil, the rice grains would be strained, returned to the pot and then broken by hand into small bits.
The strained stock would be poured into the pot, brought to a boil and then left to simmer until the congee is of the desired consistency, with more strained turkey stock added if necessary.
Any leftover turkey meat would be shredded by hand, to be strewn onto the porridge generously with chopped spring onions and fried shallots.
This has always been my boxing day breakfast, lunch and dinner till today. I even serve this to visitors, together with cubed ham and other turkey dishes.
Often, especially when we cook two or more turkeys, there will be too much turkey meat left over just for congee.
Rather than fretting over endless turkey sandwiches, we make a baked pasta dish which everyone loves.
Quantities are not cast in stone, and I just estimate or add more or less of each ingredient to use up the leftovers.
Turkey Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 450 to 550g of cooked turkey meat, cut into 1 cm wide strips.
- 225 to 250g spaghetti, boiled till just al dente and drain.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp butter
- 225g fresh button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tbsp flour
- 425ml turkey stock ( made from boiling turkey bones and carcass ) or canned turkey broth
- 250ml thick cream ( preferably, President )
- 1 tbsp or more butter to coat the base and sides of a large ovenproof baking or casserole dish
- 2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Coat the bottom and sides of a deep baking dish with butter
- Heat the olive oil and one tablespoon of butter to melt.
- Fry the sliced mushrooms until limp and remove the mushrooms, setting them aside.
- In the same pan, make a roux, adding the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and then whisking in the flour, using a whisk or a fork, for about 3 minutes, making sure that the roux does not scorch.
- Add in the stock slowly, stirring vigorously while bringing it to a boil, and then simmering for about 5 minutes, still stirring.
- Pour in the cream, and mix well, adding salt to taste.
- In a large bowl add the spaghetti, mushrooms and turkey strips and mix them evenly.
- Pour over the creamy stock and toss through, and transfer to the buttered dish.
- Scatter parmesan evenly over the pasta.
- Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until light brown.
- Serve hot with salad.
And to wrap it up
If these two substantial meals do not use up all the leftover turkey, bones and all, I would just shred the rest of the turkey meat and use them to make a savoury fruit salad.
Wash romaine or iceberg lettuce and peel orange sections, mandarin or navel placing them in a large bowl together with the meat.
As sliced bananas surprisingly pair very well with turkey, giving a fruity creaminess even to breast meat which can be a tad dry, I would add some on top of the salad.
Often I would not add any dressing but sour cream, mayonnaise or even vinaigrette works if some moistness is required.
Soup of the day
If all these recipes sound too challenging, make a turkey soup, using half of the leftover meat to make stock together with the bones and carcass and a couple of carrots and onions.
Boil some potatoes, peel and cube to add to the strained stock, topping with the leftover meat, and you will have a comforting turkey minestrone of sorts.
Hopefully, these suggestions will make you look forward to experimenting with leftover turkey and assuage any guilt from leftover turkey meat in the fridge.
