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3 Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes to Try

Thanksgiving Benedict

THANKSGIVING BENEDICT
Makes 4 Benedicts

Ingredients:
3 cups leftover stuffing
1 tablespoon oil 
1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces leftover cooked turkey 
4 poached large eggs (recipe follows)
¾ cup leftover turkey gravy (if stuck, go with chicken or even beef gravy)
Finely chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Shape the stuffing into four ½-​inch-​thick patties

  1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-​high heat, add the oil and butter, and when they melt, spread evenly over the bottom of the pan.
  2. Place the patties in the pan and cook for about 4 minutes per side, or until getting crispy. Remove from the heat but keep warm. 
  3. Heat the turkey (a microwave is perfectly acceptable here).
  4. To serve, put a stuffing patty on a plate, top with turkey and a poached egg, and finally add some gravy.
  5. Garnish with parsley and serve.

How to Make Poached Eggs
Once you get this down, you’ll be poaching eggs all the damn time.

Ingredients:
Egg(s)*
2 tablespoons white vinegar

  1. Pour at least 5 to 6 inches of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to just a simmer over medium-​high heat—​not boiling, but just before (180° to 190°F).
  2. Add the vinegar and stir to mix—​the vinegar will help pull the egg whites together.
  3. Crack an egg into a small cup.
  4. Using a large spoon, swirl the simmering water (to create a mini vortex), lower the cup with its egg almost to the top of the simmering, swirling water, then gently slip the egg out of the cup and into the center of the swirl—​the egg white will slowly come together.
  5. Using a slotted spoon, check the egg after about 3 minutes—​the white should be set and the yolk soft.
  6. Remove from the pot, let water drain off, and use. Cook any remaining eggs the same way, one at a time.

*And btw, if not using right away, put the just-​poached egg(s) into ice water. Once cooled down, poached eggs will keep for a couple of days in water in the fridge. When you want to use them, just bring a small pot of water to a simmer. Slip in the egg(s) for about a minute, then simply remove and use.


PUMPKIN BOURBON SHAKE
Makes 1 Shake

Ingredients:
1 slice pumpkin pie
1 cup vanilla ice cream
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons bourbon, plus more to float (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped pecans

  1. Put the pie, ice cream, milk, and bourbon in a blender.
  2. Blend until your desired thickness is reached, adding more milk if you like it thinner.
  3. Stop, add the pecans, give it one more quick blitz, and serve.
  4. Fine, a float of a little more bourbon wouldn’t be the worst thing you could do.

STUFFING BALLS
Makes about a dozen stuffing balls  

Ingredients:
2 large eggs, beaten
½ cup panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan 
Oil for hands
1 cup leftover stuffing, slightly warmed in a microwave
1/3 cup sour cream
1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha—​I just don’t know how spicy you like it

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Put the eggs in one bowl and the panko and Parm in another.
  3. Very lightly oil your hands.
  4. Take about 1 ½ tablespoons of warmed stuffing and roll it into a tight little ball. Repeat until all the balls are formed.
  5. Roll the balls through the beaten egg, then through the panko mixture, coating well, and place on an ungreased baking sheet. 
  6. Bake until golden and crispy, 20 to 25 minutes.
  7. Combine the sour cream and sriracha in a small bowl. Mix well and serve alongside the balls.

Excerpted from Sam the Cooking Guy: Recipes with Intentional Leftovers.
Copyright 2020 by Sam Zien. Photography by Lucas Barbieri Reproduced by permission of The Countryman Press, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company. All rights reserved.

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