Thanksgiving ReMix - Turkey Cranberry and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

My fab hubs came up with this one night and it sounded so good we used up the last remains of our turkey to make this. It was delicious. Creamy, meaty, savory, sweet, spiced. Yum!

Ingredients:

4 oz. roasted turkey breast, shredded or sliced very thin
1/2 c. cranberry sauce
1 1/2 c. Ricotta cheese (we used Ricotta Salata rehydrated to have the traditional Ricotta consistency)
18 Jumbo Shells
salt and pepper
nutmeg

Mix the turkey with the cranberry sauce and Ricotta cheese. Add a pinch of nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste.

Boil the pasta shells in a pot of salted water until al dente.

Fill the shells with the filling and place in a shallow oven-safe pan lined with gravy.

Top with the gravy (recipe below) and pecorio romano, bake in a 350 F oven until the cheese browns and bubbles - about 30 minutes.

Gravy

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 shallot or 1/8 sweet onion, diced fine
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 c. turkey stock
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp heavy cream
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until the onions are transparent. Stir in the all purpose flour and mix to combine with the butter. Gradually add in the stock. Whisk to combine the stock with the rue. Add in the parsley and cream, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Cook over low heat until desired consistency.

Thanksgiving ReMix - Turkey Cranberry Ravioli

I actually started this blog with a link to this recipe, but I feel like it's good enough to post twice, and my first blog post ever kinda sucked. This year I made a few changes to the original recipe, mainly adding more cranberry and making six times the quantity. To freeze of course, so we can enjoy the Thanksgiving day flavor these provide into the New Year.

Ingredients (makes 100 ravioli):

1 1/2 pound roasted turkey, shredded, preferably dark meat

16 tablespoons cranberry sauce

16 tablespoons grated Romano

6 tablespoon bread crumbs

6 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

4 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 recipes pasta dough (as listed here)

Start by mixing the turkey, cranberry, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, egg, salt and pepper together in a large bowl.

Next, make the pasta dough. Cut the larger dough ball into about 6 - 8 smaller balls so that it is easier to roll out sheets of pasta.

Fill each ravioli with 1 tbsp of the filling.

Pinch each ravioli shut, making sure to release any air bubbles, and cut.

You can make fresh by boiling in a salted pot of water, or freeze individually on a cookie sheet (and later place in a zip top bag) for an easy, tasty meal later.

Serve with this gravy or a traditional turkey gravy.

Thanksgiving ReMix - Turkey Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

We had leftover salad and turkey. So, turkey salad was an obvious choice. The cranberry dressing makes it wonderful of course, and is another favorite that I found during that college dinner party (on Allrecipes.com).

Ingredients:
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/3 c. olive oil
1/3 c. fresh cranberries (mine was heaping!)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 tbsp water

Blend the vinegar, cranberries, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper and water in the blender or food processor. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend to combine.Our salad consisted of turkey, red onion, avocado, tomato, sliced & toasted almonds, and cucumber. Delish. We served this with the stuffing stuffed mushrooms. :)

Cranberry Muffins

Before Thanksgiving, cranberries were a BOGO at the grocery store, so I stocked up with four bags. Love me some cranberry. I've been shoving it in everything from french toast, raviolis, vinaigrette, stuffed shells to these muffins.

I needed a quick and tasty breakfast and these fit the bill. I had printed the recipe these were based on years ago, so I'm not really sure where it came from. Over the years I've tweaked it a bit and added some things, but they are still mightily delicious. This recipe makes a baker's dozen.

Ingredients:
2 c. fresh cranberries
2 tbsp sugar
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon
2 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cold butter
1 c. orange juice
1 egg, beaten
sugar, for dusting

Start by placing the cranberries in a food processor and chop so that they are still a bit chunky. You don't want them too fine. 1/4" pieces should be good.

Mix the 2 tablespoons of sugar with the cranberries and add the nutmeg and cinnamon. Toss to combine.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mash in the cold butter until crumbly.

Add the orange juice and the egg until the dough is moist.

Gently stir in the cranberry mixture and fill muffin tins.

Sprinkle the tops with sugar and place in a 400 F oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with a hot spiced apple cider. 

Thanksgiving ReMix - Open Faced Turkey Sandwich Bites

A Turkey Sandwich.

A post-Thanksgiving staple. We decided to switch it up from the typical cold turkey sandwich and use some of the ciabatta bread we had from Thanksgiving dinner. We spread it with some creamy peppercorn mayonaise and topped with turkey.

We toasted that in the microwave and then topped it with gravy and cranberry sauce.

Thanksgiving ReMix - Pumpkin Spice French Toast with Cranberry Sauce

How was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was wonderful and delicious.

How is your leftover situation? Of course, we have plenty. We had a neighbor over for dinner, but the three of us barely put a dent in our 15 pound turkey. We also had extra of the our side dishes - green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and my favorite, cranberry sauce. Really, after the three of us went back for seconds it still looked as though we hadn't sat down to eat.

This week (and maybe next) I'll be posting some of the ways we used up some of our leftovers. The first leftover meal we had was breakfast. We made these french toast with the leftover french bread that we had made for the stuffing, so it was sufficiently stale - not so great for leftover turkey sandwiches, but perfect for next-day french toast. It tastes sort of like a spicy jelly donut. Yum. 

Pumpkin Spice French Toast with Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
3 eggs, well beaten
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp water
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg)
1/2 loaf leftover bread
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp leftover cranberry sauce (recipe below)

To make the custard mixture, mix the eggs, milk and water together in a wide, shallow bowl. Add about 1/4 tsp of the pumpkin pie spice. I usually find that it floats on the top of the custard, so I add it in batches after each group of bread is soaked so that each piece gets a bit.

Soak each side of the bread in the sauce for a few minutes so that it has time to absorb the custard. If using fresh bread, it will absorb quickly, so leave in the mixture for a few seconds.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Remove the bread from the custard mixture and hold above the bowl with a slotted spatula or fork for a few seconds to allow the non-absorbed custard to drain off. Add a pat of butter to the pan and spread around the pan. Place the bread in the pan and allow to get brown and crispy. Flip to the other side when the first side has good color.

Place the cooked toasts in a 350 F oven for 15 minutes. This allows the outside to get crispy while the inside stays nice and custardy. Serve with maple syrup, a dollop of cranberry sauce and powdered sugar.

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup water
1 orange, zested
1/2 orange, juiced
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of ground allspice
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp grated gingeroot

Mix the cranberries, sugar and water in a saucepot over medium heat. Stir to mix the sugar and water and wait for the cranberries to pop. Continue to heat, stirring occasionally, until all the berries pop. Add the orange zest, orange juice and spices. Continue to simmer until the mixture forms a syrup like consistency. Remove from the heat and chill.