Post by Mamaduck on Dec 26, 2016 22:20:57 GMT -5
]This is a fantastic way to use leftover Thanksgiving or holiday turkey and it is both easy and versatile..... I am assuming it came through the mill of Military wives club cookbooks, because I had been served it in Colorado, in Hawaii, in the UK and in Illinois through the years, and I have served it myself in several places...... It is a great way to take care of the leftover dishes that are clogging the fridge and there are enough things that can be added and there are enough ways to change things around that I am sure that you will find something that works for you.......
We roasted one of the turkeys that Linda and Hoss got for Xmas at work with an onion and a couple of stalks of celery in the cavity..... If you want to add dressing or stuffing to the mix, you can make it in a separate casserole dish or even stove top will do in a pinch..... After the turkey is roasted, allow it to cool a bit and then shred the meat or even carve it into chunks of sorts.... Make sure to make plenty of gravy from the drippings and the broth that you have made from the neck, giblets and the bone ends of the wings and even the drumsticks - - and add boxed or canned broth if you don't seem to have enough.....
You can add the shredded meat to the hot gravy if you want, but we have found that keeping the meat separate and having a crock of hot, hot gravy at the end of the line seems to work best and it is easier to still have some turkey if someone wants to make a turkey sandwich on a bisquit or something while going through the line - - less sloppy and drippy....
You can use all of the pretty serving dishes that you have accumulated through the years, but good old Tupperware and Rubbermaid works, too.... Start the line with the turkey and have a cooker of white rice and another of mashed potatoes and then you have all of the add ons to stack on top of the bed of starch and turkey.... Veggies - I like to have canned or frozen corn; carrots, green peas, sliced/diced celery, sweet onions, diced; I like to add sliced water chestnuts and bean sprouts (for the 'oriental' theme) raisins, drained chopped pineapple; apple wedges; grated coconut; chopped pecans; seedless grapes; sliced scallions with the green tops, and anything else that you can think about - - the mixture of textures, flavors, colors, sweetness and all that is intriguing.... Also have a big bowl of chow mein crispy noodles - -- and we found that the crispy fried onions that you use in the green bean casserole are good, too..... The sky is the limit and at the end of the line, you have the hot gravy that you slather over the pile...... There is an interesting mix of temperatures, too - - and the gravy brings it all together.... I usually add a bowl of cranberry sauce and a pickle/olive platter at the end of the line, and even a raw veggie and dip thing and cheese and crackers, that can be out of the stack so to speak.... In Colorado, there were always a few salsas to try, too, and in New Mexico, corn chips and dorito type chips were added, too....
It is one of those things that the first time you have it, you thin, "Why didn't I think of this earlier?" and the 10th time you have it you think, "Why do I keep forgetting to do this - - it is so easy and so good???" I think you will enjoy this..... I always have and always will.... The kids like it because they can skip what they don't like and load up on what they do like - - and they like the crescent rolls or bisquits that I make with it lots of times, but bread is kind of an after thought - - but even a loaf of white store bought bread makes a nice open faced turkey / gravy sandwich for the purist in the group.....
Enjoy.....
We roasted one of the turkeys that Linda and Hoss got for Xmas at work with an onion and a couple of stalks of celery in the cavity..... If you want to add dressing or stuffing to the mix, you can make it in a separate casserole dish or even stove top will do in a pinch..... After the turkey is roasted, allow it to cool a bit and then shred the meat or even carve it into chunks of sorts.... Make sure to make plenty of gravy from the drippings and the broth that you have made from the neck, giblets and the bone ends of the wings and even the drumsticks - - and add boxed or canned broth if you don't seem to have enough.....
You can add the shredded meat to the hot gravy if you want, but we have found that keeping the meat separate and having a crock of hot, hot gravy at the end of the line seems to work best and it is easier to still have some turkey if someone wants to make a turkey sandwich on a bisquit or something while going through the line - - less sloppy and drippy....
You can use all of the pretty serving dishes that you have accumulated through the years, but good old Tupperware and Rubbermaid works, too.... Start the line with the turkey and have a cooker of white rice and another of mashed potatoes and then you have all of the add ons to stack on top of the bed of starch and turkey.... Veggies - I like to have canned or frozen corn; carrots, green peas, sliced/diced celery, sweet onions, diced; I like to add sliced water chestnuts and bean sprouts (for the 'oriental' theme) raisins, drained chopped pineapple; apple wedges; grated coconut; chopped pecans; seedless grapes; sliced scallions with the green tops, and anything else that you can think about - - the mixture of textures, flavors, colors, sweetness and all that is intriguing.... Also have a big bowl of chow mein crispy noodles - -- and we found that the crispy fried onions that you use in the green bean casserole are good, too..... The sky is the limit and at the end of the line, you have the hot gravy that you slather over the pile...... There is an interesting mix of temperatures, too - - and the gravy brings it all together.... I usually add a bowl of cranberry sauce and a pickle/olive platter at the end of the line, and even a raw veggie and dip thing and cheese and crackers, that can be out of the stack so to speak.... In Colorado, there were always a few salsas to try, too, and in New Mexico, corn chips and dorito type chips were added, too....
It is one of those things that the first time you have it, you thin, "Why didn't I think of this earlier?" and the 10th time you have it you think, "Why do I keep forgetting to do this - - it is so easy and so good???" I think you will enjoy this..... I always have and always will.... The kids like it because they can skip what they don't like and load up on what they do like - - and they like the crescent rolls or bisquits that I make with it lots of times, but bread is kind of an after thought - - but even a loaf of white store bought bread makes a nice open faced turkey / gravy sandwich for the purist in the group.....
Enjoy.....