Leftovers -- best left alone
Those concocting exotic meals from post T-Day food are turkeys, plain and simple
Does the world really need another turkey samosa recipe?
Come to think of it, does the world need a turkey samosa recipe at all?
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
I'm not speaking hypothetically. The recipe is right there on the Rachael Ray magazine Web site under the link, "Thanksgiving Leftover Party," next to recipes for stuffing-stuffed mushrooms and cranberry poached pear splits.
The samosa recipe involves grinding up leftover turkey, mixing in leftover mashed potatoes, leftover pumpkin pie filling and spices, and sealing dollops of the mixture in puff pastry rounds.
The whole process is supposed to take 45 minutes. About the time it takes for the kids or the spouse to pop a plate of leftovers in the microwave, chow down in front of the TV, go back for seconds -- and then fall asleep.
Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine offers more homespun fare such as turkey spaghetti casserole, made with a can of cream of mushroom soup (because it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without at least one can of condensed soup).
Even Gourmet magazine offers a page of leftover recipes, including an elegant-sounding spiced couscous and turkey pilaf that would probably do just as well without the turkey.
Over on the Food Network, Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray (she's everywhere!) and Giada De Laurentiis all have entire episodes devoted to leftover ideas. Boy, do they have ideas:
Sausage kale cranberry pasta.
Turkey croquettes.
Turkey bolognese.
The intriguingly named Eggs in Purgatory.
Don't get the wrong impression. I have nothing against leftovers. I embrace leftovers. I happen to think lasagna, chili, beef stew and pork adobo taste superior on the third day.
But Thanksgiving leftovers -- you just don't mess with those.
Who would want to, anyway?
After all the planning and cooking and fretting and sweating over the perfect meal, do you really want to turn the burners back on for curried turkey chilaquiles?
A sandwich made with leftover turkey might be cliche, but man, is it tasty. A soup or stew made with the bird's bones is judicious and delicious. Turkey tetrazzini, I understand. Beyond that, you're treading in turkey samosa territory. Stop right there.
A colleague of mine, Delia O'Hara, an enthusiastic cook, told me she always feels guilty for not attempting some of the creative leftover recipes trotted out year after year in the glossy food magazines.
To Delia, and to those of you like her, I say: Relax. Put away the recipes. Relish the remnants.
Each element of the Thanksgiving meal is itself a thing of beauty, a memory in the making, and should be treated as such, even after the plates have been cleared and the food is, by definition, left over.
Dare I say it? The best thing about Thanksgiving is not the meal, but the leftovers.
It appears I'm not the only leftover purist around.
"I reuse leftovers the way God, i.e. the chef, intended them," says chef Graham Elliot Bowles. "Nothing wrong with microwaved turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes eaten in peace, several days after the family and relatives have departed."
Here are more thoughts on leftovers from foodie friends. Maybe you'll get a fresh idea or two. You'll just have to get your samosas elsewhere.