I have not used a convection oven. But, my best advice would be, as it always is when considering the use of some new gadget or method for a special occasion dinner is to try it first!!! You may not want a turkey before Thanksgiving, but you could roast a good sized chicken and at least the result would give you an idea.

I usually only use leftover turkey for hot turkey sandwiches and then only the breast meat. The rest of the carcass goes in the stock pot for soup. I don't like the taste of turkey or chicken recooked. The exception to that is this casserole. Kind of like a tetrazzini. I make it occasionally with or tuna. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Tuna Casserole ============== Source: My Own 8 Tablespoons butter 1/4 all purpose flour 2 1/2 cups milk or mixture of milk and cream 2 garlic cloves 2 cans white tuna, well drained (or turkey/chicken) 1 cup mushrooms sliced 1/2 cup chopped green onions 1/2 cup chopped celery 1 tablespoon fresh thyme 8 ounces penne (or use pasta shape of your choice) 1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs saute in butter 3 Tablespoons parmesan cheese . Put water on to boil and cook pasta. Do not overcook pasta as it will cook again in the oven. Heat milk in microwave with whole garlic cloves. Make a roux with 4 tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup flour. Add milk or cream and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes and remove garlic cloves. Saute mushrooms, onions and celery in butter or margarine until tender. Add the thyme. Stir this mixture into the cream sauce. Add well drained pasta to sauce and stir in tuna. Leave tuna in fair size pieces. Place in buttered casserole dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs to which you have added the parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until crumbs are golden in a 350°F oven.

I think I'm going to give up roasting birds. The joints are seldom done while the white meat is too dry to suit me. Same goes for chicken. It's a rare bird I've gotten right, and I've tried many methods in 40 years. I love to cook and do a lot of it, but birds are the hardest for me. I roasted a 14 pound turkey Thursday after drying it in the fridge. We had to nuke various parts of it before serving. The thermometer read 175, but the joints were very pink. Oh, well.

My DH loved the way this is prepared at an Italian restaurant we frequent, and I thought it must be simple to duplicate. Here's the photo from the restaurant version and then the one I made which tasted even better - guess I used more cream and maybe I poured on too much sauce for the photo. Turkey & Noodles in Curry Cream Sauce *********************************** 2 - 3 portions 1 lb turkey breast, cooked and cut into chunks butter - 1 heaping TBS flour - 1 heaping TBS milk - about 1 1/2 cups heavy cream - about 1 1/2 cups 1 chicken stock cube or spoonful of chicken bouillon mix 1 heaping TBS curry powder (I used Sharwoods's mild) fettuccini noodles for 2 - 3 servings fresh ground pepper butter 1) Put water on to boil for noodles. 2) If turkey is not already cooked, it can be done in microoven with 3 TBS water until just done 3) Melt butter in saucepan, take off stove and mix in flour to make a roux, gradually adding warmed milk a few drops at a time and stirring to keep smooth. 4) Put back on low heat and finish adding milk, then cream a little at a time and stirring. Crumble in chicken stock cube and curry powder. Stir to blend. 5) Add turkey chunks and heat gently, keeping warm while cooking noodles in pot of water. 6) Drain noodles, add butter and fresh ground black pepper. Pour sauce over noodles and mix. Serve on hot plates and add grated parmesan. Note: The Spanish and German chicken stock cubes and chicken sauce bases are excellent and quite different than the ones I saw in Canada. This dish tastes better than the version in the Italian restaurant and goes well with a nice crisp green salad. ******************************** I usually make a turkey curry at the end of our Christmas bird. The dressing and cranberry sauce as well as the gravy all goes with this. The recipe is taken from a Sharwood Curry Powder advert for chicken curry which I also make but here I substitute leftover turkey. TURKEY CURRY **************** Serves 4. 1 apple, peeled and chopped 1 onion, chopped 2 TBS oil 2 TBS curry powder 1 level TBS flour 15 fluid oz (scant 2 cups) stock (boil turkey bones to make stock) 1 TBS chutney (I use Sharwoods Mango Chutney) 1/4 to 1/3 cup (60 grams) sultana raisins 8 oz (225 grams) diced turkey (include different sized small pieces from the leftovers on the turkey platter) salt 1) Fry chopped apple and onion together in 2 TBS oil. Add curry powder and flour. Fry gentry 1 minute. 2) Blend in the stock, bring to boil. Add 1 TBS chutney and the raisins. Simmer, covered - 30 minutes. 3) Add turkey pieces to the sauce, season with salt and simmer very gently 10 - 15 minutes more. If you have some leftover turkey gravy - that also goes well added into the curry sauce. 4) Serve over rice and pass around cranberry sauce, warmed turkey dressing, mango chutney and chopped walnuts. SharonCb