Out of a 16 lb turkey for 5 guests, we had both drumsticks, one wing, a couple of chunks of dark meat, and half the breast leftover. The breast is in the freezer, intact, and I'll defrost it in a week and slice it for sammiches. All the other meat was either eaten yesterday or tossed in the compost. Not very creative, but highly efficient.

I made a lamb noodle soup (DS’ GF not feeling great) and a lamb rice stew today.

Our faves include turkey pot pie, Tetrazzini, and Divan

And sandwiches, of course 🙂

Probably turkey noodle soup and tetrazzini, as Carol mentioned.

I saw this recently. Talk about BIG Bites!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCukEeYxG9W/?hl=en

I do mashed sweet potatoes with just butter, cumin, ginger, and sumac. A couple scoops of that with some small beans and some spicy beef from the freezer made a nice soup tonight.

No Thanksgiving here but after Christmas I make "Christmas Dinner Pie". Chop up meat and vegetables, add any left over bread sauce, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy. Put it in a large pie dish and put a pastry lid on top. I make the lids to fit my dishes before Christmas and have them ready in the freezer. Obviously if you have leftover lamb Shepherds Pie is the answer. I cannot bring myself to throw any food out.

I really dislike leftovers. Except pie. I like leftover pie. For Thanksgiving, I made massive pans of sides for my sister to serve at her house, and a squirreled away a small portion of what we like for us. So some dressing and Mac and cheese. And I made some green beans with bacon and onions. Enough for 3 meals, one for me and 2 for SO, as he doesn't mind leftovers. The only thing that I had a LOT leftover was the turkey tenderloin. It wasn't big but really, Thanksgiving is about the sides (to me anyway) and so more than half was still left over. I've been doling it out to the doggies. The cat doesn't like people food at all (weird).

As for the pie, I ate it in spoonfuls, right out of the pie dish it was baked in, standing over the sink when I got home from work at 5:30 in the morning before I went to bed. With cool whip. And I am sad its all gone.

Plates were sent home to the cousins who weren't feeling well. Some was retained for the houseguests. I don't know how much was left ,but we have a rule--your brought it, you sell it or take it home. The guacamole went. I think it was about 1.5 qts. There was a cup left, oxidized, and tossed on the basis of time at room temp plus many hands in proximity.

A small half of the chocolate pie came home since the hostess I'd made it specifically for loved it but is on a diet. 2/3 of the leftover chocolate whipped cream came home too. I cut the pie into two pieces to fit in small containers, and dumped the cream into a too large container because it had an airy void and looked like more than it was. Both went right in the freezer. While doing this, of course I removed the turkey and wiped the cream off. But then it was just sitting there looking sad and abandoned, which is a terrible end for fine Lake Champlain chocolate which wasn't even bought for the pie. So I bit off the base. :) The two wings, inc. body and tail, went one at a time later in the day. It was delicious!

There were several other trays of crudités. I'm not sure why. They were boughten with dips. I'm thinking the kids didn't realize I was bringing them. They were cut bigger than mine, so a lot of mine came home. They serve very well as vegetables. ;)

I'm very glad not to have had to find house room for more. I need to get back to my own cooking projects but I keep falling asleep. :)

Besides the storage, I'm not much fond of leftover Thanksgiving except for the veg. None of my folks like leftovers in sandwiches. Turkey sandwiches, yes, but not on dinner rolls, and not with T'day sides--just deli style. I, personally, like leftover stuffing, but have no good excuse to actually eat it. :) The leftover chips (of which there were fewer than usual--we had a lot of the young men on the day and they plowed through them shoveling in all that guacamole) went to a conference. They usually get dumped on me, but never made it into the house, and the new conference venue, where my ride (the chip bringer) was conferring, doesn't have a hospitality suite, or any other snack service, so for once he didn't complain about being stuck with the leftovers.

When I'm making everything, I try really hard to make just enough for a portion and a half to be left, though, of course, there's the turkey and carcass, which have their own separate fates. Since we were bringing the gathering snacks, we were very just ahead of arrival time. As I was organizing my contributions, I heard the kitchen discussion of what to do with the carcass. Nobody was about to use it for stock or anything, the cooks being in from out of state, and it was well picked, not meaty, so little to nibble, so they were trying to figure out how to throw it away!

Having said all that, I totally forgot the kiwi, like I forgot to serve it on the day. We always have fruit at the end of the meal but there were so many desserts no one remarked on it. I found a really interesting salsa recipe for it, and I'm thinking of syrup with the rest, but I have to do it tonight. I just slept away the afternoon…

I think it is tough to do anything with most of the sides. No-one can reverse time and entropy enough to return a cauliflower casserole to its original parts and states. Nor are there onward transformations of a casserole that aren’t basically a stunt (“watch as I convert this day-old casserole to a frozen slurry and then to gelato!”) worthy of airsick bags.. You’re eating it as casserole, or throwing it out.

Per idea above, I’m trying to make a bunch of little shepherds pies in pie crust, using a muffin pan, to be sampled then frozen. Sadly I know nothing about pie crust - that is SWMBO’s department - so this isn’t starting well.

Turkey enchiladas. Mix meat with chopped green onions, shredded cheese, chili seasoning and real sour cream. Roll up using fresh corn tortillas, put some canned enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish, then place the rolled enchiladas in the dish. Cover with more sauce. Bake about 30 minutes, top with more cheese when you have 5-8 minutes left to bake, just to melt cheese.

JL, pie crusts are easy as pie, especially with a food processor. Maybe if you ask sweetly and provide roses, or her own personal heart warmer, Ms. MBO will teach you. Best hints: Keep your ingredients cold and your butter colder. The water content in American style butter (lower butterfat percentage) is in your favor. You can chill your work surface for rolling out, too. If Ms. MBO can't be sweet talked, here's Stella Parks's crash course. It's not the only way, but you can't go wrong with it.

https://www.seriouseats.com/7-rules-for-making-perfect-pie-dough-8746706

And this is her basic recipe. I've made it several times. There's plenty extra if you roll thin for non-standard dishes. It requires no special equipment. Good recipe.

https://www.seriouseats.com/old-fashioned-flaky-pie-dough-recipe

Good luck!

Thanks plllog! I saw those pie crust recipes after I’d made my crust, but whatever random clickbait recipe I used didn’t have enough water (4-6 tbsp ice water per 2.5 cups flour and 8 oz butter?) and my dough would not hold together even after being wrapped in plastic film and chilled for a couple hours.

So I added more water and proceeded to roll out the now slightly shaggy dough, cut circles, and line the cups of my greased muffin tray.

Minced some lamb, cooked some diced onion, garlic, carrot, flour, added the lamb and seasonings, a little water, and loaded that mixture into the muffin tray, followed with dollops of gravy and mashed potatoes.

SWMBO suddenly intervened to add grated gruyere cheese to some of the pies, but I prevailed on her to desist before all the pies were defiled.

Like I said, I don’t make pies or do any kind of baking, other than bread, so we’ll see how these turn out. I wouldn’t have thought of trying, but for floral’s post!

Compost. Only one person in the family likes turkey. The rest of us reluctantly eat it that one day only. A bit less than half of that little 13 lb. smoked turkey went into the green waste bin.

The leftover garlic mashed potatoes got eaten as potato cakes and the pie was finished off on day 2.

Well, they are pretty edible, if unpretty. SWMBO likes them.

Dissection suggests the pie crust was not fully cooked through. I think next time I should par-bake the crusts in the muffin tin, then load up with ingredients. Or, I guess, see how much longer I can push baking time before the tops get burned-up looking.

Anyway, that used up the potatoes and almost all the lamb. Yaay!

Great job for a first try! They look scrumptious! And cute. I think your mini-dishes for the rats are giving you new ways of thinking in general. ;)

So proportions to keep in mind for pie crust are 1 cup of flour (AP or pastry, i.e., 9-11% protein, measured large batch, not ”nutrition information”) for a single crust 9” pie is standard. 5-7 tbsp American butter (82% butterfat). 4-8 tbsp ice water, depending on what the flour needs, if there's slightly more or less in the butter, atmospheric moisture. Pick up whatever frills from the 'net, but start there. The slight differences in these ranges will giive you different degrees of crisp, flaky, tender, solid, shattery, etc., but will succeed. You were right to add water.

So…I've never blind baked (“par”) in muffin cups, but if you're putting in a watery filling, (not recommended), pricking (“docking”) the bottom might be a problem, but it helps them not puff up. You would need to weight them as well. Put a piece of parchment in first, then pie weights, enough to keep the sides from slumping, if Ms. L has them, or beans (which can be cooked and eaten afterward but will need a long soak and a generous spirit). Then a hot oven (for a big pie, 420-ish F for 15-20 mins., but maybe lower and less time for muffins). With a better dough, however, you shouldn't have to blind bake with that kind of filling.

Suggestion for the future: If the ingredients seem too dry, add the water earlier and let it soak in rather than putting it in loose. Maybe that's what you did? But leave behind any excess. Sloshy pies have soggy bottoms. :)

Ooo, par baking the crusts sounds like a pain in the butt - weights, beans, parchment, I’m not doing all that! My allergy to baking might get triggered.

I’ll just push baking time longer to get the crust bottoms fully cooked through. Maybe I can cover the muffin pan with foil if the tops are getting too brown.

The filling was not watery, more of a thick stew consistency. The gravy had a lot of moisture, of course.

SWMBO says ”we” should make these more often. Perhaps I will. They were fun and didn’t take long. I made Cornish pasties once, and those were fun too.

Incidentally, this was done in Giselle, 350F, 25 min. I find myself using her in preference to the range oven, for convenience - faster pre-heat, at eye level.

I’m glad you didn’t let the chocolate turkey go to waste!

I don't know what to call those little pies, other than delicious-looking. But they're really not shepherds pie which by definition has no base and is topped with a good thickness of mashed potato.

Ps a tip for avoiding a soggy bottom. Put a baking sheet in the oven to heat up. Put your pie on that sheet rather than on the oven shelf.

There were 3 people for Thanksgiving dinner. I don't buy industrial poultry and I don't like turkey enough to want to spend $70 for a pastured poultry turkey. For the last two years, I did a pork roast (pastured pork) with all the sides, and it was delicious. But one guest had just discovered she had an alpha gal allergy (from tick bites) and the other had gut issues that made red meat iffy, so I made one of my pastured poultry chickens. We also had baked sweet potatoes, raw cranberry relish, brussels sprouts and homemade rolls. Not much in the way of leftovers except the pecan pie. Three people (old women) can't make too much of a dent in a pecan pie.

This was the first year in quite some time I escaped without leftovers being forced upon me on my way out the door. That contributed to it being one of my most favorite Thanksgivings in recent history!

I'm really just here to second Stella Parks' pie crust which plllog linked. It's so puffy and flaky that I've been "accused" of using puff pastry for my crust!

I always buy a turkey several pounds more than we need and make a double or triple batch of pot pie filling on Friday. I made a triple batch this year and we had one for dinner last night and I froze 5 quarts for the future.

I cannot use the pie crusts made with butter, my oldest grandson is allergic to dairy. I still use Crisco like I grew up with. I tried lard once and did not like the taste.

Those little pies look good - I agree about the Gruyere, tho - just nope.

I would try placing them lower in the oven, closer to the heat

And you can use oil instead of butter or vegetable shortening - I've done it plenty and it works just fine, but the dough is a bit weird at first - it seems too wet, but then firms up.

If I have leftover turkey, I make my grandmother’s turkey casserole with biscuits. Really a turkey pot pie with mixed vegetables and sauce with biscuits on top. No crust, just biscuits. The seasonings are whatever you want, plus sometimes white sauce, sometimes Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup, or both.

Besides just leftovers, turkey caesar salads and turkey clubs, I turned the carcass into broth. 1/2 went into traditional soup (should have made a pot pie, that sounds good). 1'/2 went into the freezer along with chopped meat, and will become Japanese curry rice. Leftover ham became grilled ham and cheeses but I need a more inventive use. Ham is such a specific taste that it doesn't lend itself into substitution directly into recipes.

To add to what Carol said, oil crust proportions are a bit different, as well, and since there's no water in oil, you'll have to compensate if you want flaky.

I still haven't addressed the kiwi. I think I'll just make syrup out of the whole thing.

I keep wondering about leftover sweet potato casserole. I'm thinking you could spread it thinly in a prepared casserole dish and toast it in the oven to get some moisture out, then build a strata or turkey casserole on top. Or, perhaps, even spread it on top of a casserole and get it all brown and toasty. Or you could blend it with a not sweet vegetable, like cauliflower (better color than anything green), add giblets or sausage, a lot of herbs, and make it into a pasta sauce. I'll never know, because I don't make the sweet potato casserole, but if I had it, I would try these.

I love leftover turkey! We have it at Christmas and eat sandwiches with a combination of thinly sliced turkey and thinly sliced meat stuffing (I also add some bread stuffing to mine, and use the bread sauce instead of mayonnaise). Yum!

I'm not so big a fan of the dark meat, so back when we got a whole turkey (now I just get a double breast on the bone roast) I would dice up the leg meat and make turkey burritos.

Cauliflower casserole would be turned into soup. Leftover roast potatoes and other vegetables would be diced up and fried well with some diced onion and some butter to make "bubble and squeak" as a side dish for something else.

Plllog, I have been known to take home the carcass from the extended family Christmas Eve dinner to make stock, as no one else in the family does that sort of cooking.

I've made stock from the carcass and found the turkey flavor too assertive, but I can usually palm it off on one of the minions. I can just see 2ndG T'day and spouse carting the carcass home on the airplane! LOL! Thanks, Colleen, for making me think of it!

I'm not a huge fan of turkey stock either, but I do make it and use it to make gravy for turkey or for turkey pot pie.

If I roast a duck for Thanksgiving, I make tamales with the leftover duck fat, which I use with masa instead of lard.

Looks good, JL. Try to roll the pie crust much thinner. I can give you tips if you wish.

Avoid over-handling the pie dough. Be sure enough COLD shortening cut into flour so mix appears to have petite pea sized bits of flour. You will have added a bit of fine salt to the flour, BTW.

PREPARE a place to roll out dough, you will roll from center outward, not back & forth. I use a floured muslin pastry cloth ~ 30” square. Put a cotton stockinette on the rolling pin lightly lour that.

Add the appropriate amount of ice cold water, SLOWLY, not all at once. Mix lightly with a fork (do not stir and avoid over mixing). Add the other few Tablespoon of ice wager in a similar way. You want to pretty much just get it moist, not gooey or soupy. Just moit. Only mix it a bit. It will begin to form a loose raggd ball. Remove the pek dough from bowl, press together a bit to form a quasi loose ball. Careful not to overhandle it or warm the butter. At this point, esp if you’re slow ;-) you can cover w plastic wrap and refrigerate for 25 minutes.

Remove plastic and place dough on flored pastry cloth. Begin to firmly roll outward from the center. Keep enough light flour on rolling pin to prevent dough from sticking. Tidy up ragged or tearing edges as you roll outward. I sometimes patch them (rob peter, pay paul). You want to apply some firm force and pressure as you roll outward from center.

Try to getpie dough rolled out so that it is thinner than as US quarter. If using for a whole 9” pie, there is a way to pick up dough w rolling pin (wrap it over). If cutting out for small pies, use a cookie cutter, allowing a bit extra for shaping into muffin tin or over the top.

Fingers sore. must quit typing.

Thanks plllog and petalique and everyone! My next effort will be better thanks to you. I think I’ll try another batch next week.

You can make savory things with scraps, too. A little herb, spice, salty cheese, onion, turnip…

gyr Why do you cook turkey, then???? We have had crab, lasagna and this year a nice beef roast!

Petalique's directions are spot on for how I learned to make pie crust. Exactly as I learned.