Roast Turkey Breast

Have you ever seen those turkey breast in bags, just like you would a whole turkey, only smaller?  They can be deceiving giving out the appearance that you will have leftovers for weeks, but trust me it’s mostly bone.  I assure you that you will also have plenty of meat, just not as much as it appears.  My grocer always has a couple defrosted next to the chicken allowing me to achieve an easy fresh roasted turkey fix anytime of the year.

"Jook " Chinese Rice Porridge

T

his soup is my family’s version of chicken noodle soup.  In Hawaii it’s known as “jook” but outside of Hawaii its better known as congee. Jook is Chinese rice porridge that has a thick creamy consistency simply flavored with chicken and ginger.

• Whole chicken jook makes the best jook and as a bonus it also makes the broth for the soup. The back bone, wings and legs add a lot of flavor to the soup.

• Jook made with parts also makes delicious jook, but you will need the assistance from canned chicken broth.

Turkey Salad

Now that Thanksgiving is history and we have repeated our 2^nd, and some of us 3^rd serving of Thanksgiving leftovers it’s time to change it up a bit.

Last night I mixed together a batch of turkey salad (the same recipe as chicken salad) and placed it on a slab of lightly toasted French bread that was crunchy on the outside and chewy in the center served open face with a smear of fresh cranberry sauce. Mmmmm sweet and savory.

I cooked up a pot of Zuppa Toscana soup to go along with the turkey salad.  What a wonderful way to lighten up the heavy feeling of Thanksgiving.

Turkey Gravy

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I hate messing with the roasting pan over the stove just before you are supposed to be getting all the Thanksgiving goodies to the table.  Scraping and whisking with no choice but to leave that mess of a pan in your sink to be dealt with later.

So I skip that step

Brined & Butterflied Turkey

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches it’s time to prep the bird.  My bird is not a display piece and will need to be carved in the kitchen.  But if you want a turkey that will cook up evenly in about an hour and a half with juice dripping out of the breast meat as you cut into it, this is the recipe for you.  On the other hand if you are looking for a display turkey to carve at the table, move on to another recipe, this one’s not for you.

Turkey Pot Pie Casserole

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It’s leftover night again. I had about 2 pounds of turkey that I had leftover from a turkey I roasted and I was planning to turn it into turkey salad but it was so cold outside that I decided to make a pot pie casserole instead. I dug out a couple of quarts of leftover turkey gravy from my freezer that I had left over from Christmas and put it in the microwave on defrost (yes, I said Christmas and yes, it is still perfectly delicious) while I started prepping the rest of the dish.