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Thanksgiving leftovers go gourmet
Chef and restaurateur John des Rosiers creates a Modern Shepherd's Pie and a Sweet, Hot and Sour Soup and that can be made with leftover Thanksgiving Day ingredients. | Michelle LaVigne ~ Sun-Times Media
Modern Shepherd’s Pie
(Adapted from Chef John des Rosiers)
Stuffing mixture:
2 cups leftover stuffing
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
Dry stuffing in oven for 2-3 hours at 270 degrees (long enough to dry out the stuffing to make bread crumbs); grind in food processor until fine. Combine with egg, butter and thyme to make a crumb mixture. Set aside.
Pie:
1 ½ cups stuffing mixture
2 cups pumpkin puree, or sweet potato puree
1 teaspoon garam masala spice
½ cup onion, sliced and sautéed
2 cups turkey breast meat, julienned
1 cup sauce or gravy
1 cup celery, chopped into ½-inch pieces
½ cup stuffing mixture
5-6 slices Carr Valley (Bessie’s Blend) cheese
Sea salt and Tellicherry black pepper, to taste
Place stuffing mixture in bottom of pot, packing firmly and evenly on bottom. Layer remaining ingredients in order listed. Season each layer with a touch of salt and pepper. Bake at 325 degrees until center is hot (approximately 35-45 minutes). If the top crumble and cheese is not slightly browned, broil for just a minute to get color.
Hot Sweet & Sour Soup
(Adapted from Chef John des Rosiers)
Turkey stock:
All turkey bones, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 stalks of celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups sake (or white wine, but sake is best)
Combine all into large pot. Bring to simmer and cook sake until there is no aroma of alcohol, about 10 minutes.
Fill pot with 1½ gallons of water.
Simmer for three hours, strain and set aside stock. Throw away bones and vegetables.
Soup:
1 gallon turkey stock
3-4 cups turkey meat, from legs preferably, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 cups onion, sliced into ¼-inch pieces
2 cups celery, sliced into ¼-inch pieces
¼ cup fresh ginger, chopped finely
1 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1/8 cup Thai chile paste
1/8 cup soy sauce
2 cups cranberry puree
Combine all ingredients except for cranberry puree in large pot. Bring soup to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Ladle soup into bowls and garnish each with tablespoon of cranberry puree.
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Updated: November 21, 2012 10:22AM
Come Thanksgiving weekend, we’ll be tripped out on tryptophan. But somehow it won’t be a challenge to muster enthusiasm for hauling out the remains of the bird for yet another meal.
Turkey — and all the trimmings — just seems better the second time around. And chefs everywhere have caught onto Black Friday gourmet fare. While their recipes might not compare to that perennial midnight tip-toe into the kitchen for a refrigerator-lit pull off the cold turkey bone, they are no sloppy seconds.
“I actually like turkey cold,” said Big Bowl Executive Chef Marc Bernard. “Turkey picks up a funny flavor when it’s reheated.”
Bernard’s favorite remains-of-the-day sandwich is cold turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce layered on toasted ciabatta bread. He likes to add unsalted Kerrygold butter to the bread. Sometimes, he makes cranberry butter, using a paddle attachment on a mixer to soften the butter and adding cranberries that have soaked in hot water for 10-15 minutes. “You’ll have a beautiful, pink color,” he said. A bit of orange zest adds a zip of flavor.
They’ll be sticking to tradition at the Bernard house this Thanksgiving. “We’ll have turkey and stuffing for Thanksgiving this year — with lots of leftover turkey,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chef John des Rosiers — chef/proprietor of Moderno in Highland Park; Inovasi in Lake Bluff; and Wisma outposts in Lake Bluff, Libertyville and Chicago’s West Loop — will be taking a break from the kitchen while on holiday in Holland this Thanksgiving. But he has supplied relatives with a few ideas for repurposing leftovers. His recipe for Hot Sweet & Sour Soup, made with turkey meat, is a Thanksgiving nod to Asia, while his Modern Shepherd’s Pie recipe tips a pilgrim’s hat toward England.
The pot pie gets a special flavor accent from Tellicherry pepper, which is named for the city on India’s Malabar Coast where it originates. It is one of the only ingredients that might require a special pop out to the grocery store. “I developed these recipes just by thinking about the ingredients most people have in their kitchen after Thanksgiving,” des Rosiers explained. “We always have too much food after the holiday, and these are creative, easy ways to use it.”
While elaborating on leftovers recipes has become more and more important, des Rosiers said the primary emphasis should remain on the main-day meal. “The idea of a celebratory feast is very important,” he said. “I think tradition is important. The maximum effort should be paid to creating that Thanksgiving Day meal.”
