Thanksgiving Leftovers
Ah Black Friday, one of the most feared and anticipated days of the year. Of course I am referring to the Friday after Thanksgiving – the annual quest to figure out what to do with all of those Turkey Day leftovers. I’ve never understood why people get so worked up about it. Seriously, all that media coverage just because of a few leftovers? Madness!
I watched some of the innovative ideas that the TV chefs offered this past week during the barrage of Thanksgiving food shows that permeated cable. Some were pretty good. I especially liked Sunny Anderson’s idea for taking leftover dressing and deep frying it. Perhaps it is because I am from the 
South where we fry everything and I mean everything – alligators, dill pickles, chicken gizzards.
The problem with most left-over recipes is that they still taste like Thanksgiving dinner. However, soups can offer an escape from that trap. Do you have a leftover can of pumpkin pie filling? Make pumpkin soup. Do you have leftover potatoes? Make loaded potato soup. Leftover turkey? I have got a soup for that as well. It was an improvised soup of the day I did at a restaurant once that people liked so much it went on the permanent menu. It’s called Turkey Queso Soup and it’s easy.
| Turkey Queso Soup |
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 8 ounces pepper Jack cheese, shredded or diced
- 1 TBL Cumin
- 1 tsp smoked parika
- 1 tsp Chipotle chili powder
- 1 cup leftover turkey meat, pulled or diced
- In a large sauce pan over medium heat, combine the cream of chicken soup, evaporated milk and cheese. Bring slowly to a simmer.
- Once the cheese has melted into the soup stir in the cumin, then smoked paprika and finally the chili powder. Let simmer for a few minutes then stir in the turkey.
- Allow to simmer a few minutes more and then serve with tortilla chips on the side.
Or you could do what I do with leftover Thanksgiving dinner, reheat and eat. Come on we wait 365 days for Thanksgiving dinner because we love the meal. Why not enjoy it another time or two before moth-balling it for another year? Now that I have helped you to put your leftover fears to rest you can spend Black Friday doing something fun like going shopping. I bet you’ll have the stores to yourself.
Recipe: Turkey Queso Soup
This was an improvised soup of the day I did at a restaurant once and our customers liked it so much it went on the permanent menu. It’s called Turkey Queso Soup and it’s easy. It’s perfect for watching the Iron Bowl.
Turkey Queso Soup
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 8 ounces pepper Jack cheese, shredded or diced
- 1 TBL Cumin
- 1 tsp smoked parika
- 1 tsp Chipotle chili powder
- 1 cup leftover chicken meat, pulled or diced
In a large sauce pan over medium heat, combine the cream of chicken soup, evaporated milk and cheese. Bring slowly to a simmer. Once the cheese has melted into the soup stir in the cumin, then smoked paprika and finally the chili powder. Let simmer for a few minutes then stir in the turkey. Allow to simmer a few minutes more and then serve with tortilla chips on the side. This soup toes the line between chowder and the cheese dip you get at Tex-Mex restaurant. You can bumb up the heat by adding diced chilies or tone it down by using regular chili powder instead of the hotter chipotle powder. You can add as much or as little turkey as you want. Be careful not to let this soup come to a full bowl as it can break.
