Make turkey casserole with leftovers

So you have leftover turkey, right? I’ve heard some people complain about that, but many families only have turkey on Thanksgiving (and Christmas) and hardly ever any other time. I have never been able to figure out what the problem is with a couple of pounds of cooked bird on hand. When was the last time you heard grousing about leftover roast beef? So why turkey?

In fact, one busy mother I know with four kids and a job roasts a turkey on Sunday for a dinner, then her family has it for supper a couple of nights. All she does is come up with some vegetables and a salad to go with it. Finally, she makes soup. It is a great strategy for three meals plus a lunch or two.

I love Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, the turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes, squash, leftover pie. I love that little sandwich at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening made of thinly sliced turkey, some lettuce and mayo, on some nonchallenging bread or leftover dinner roll. My husband makes his sandwich with stuffing in it and cranberry sauce, too. Then turkey soup with lots of celery, onions, barley or rice – yum.

What we really look forward to, though, is a casserole I learned to make 37 years ago when I lived with a young family with three moderately fussy eaters under 12. But those three youngsters loved this dish made of cooked turkey and leftover gravy, and topped with leftover stuffing, if there was any, or freshly made stuffing. The young people were still at a stage where most of their foods couldn’t touch each other on the plate, so the vegetables were segregated, squash in one spot and the peas in another. Though our family doesn’t mind our food mixed up, we tend still to bake this up and serve it with the veggies on the side.

This is best with a mixture of light and dark meat, and in fact, if you haven’t any turkey, you can use chicken. If you don’t have enough gravy left over, make a sauce with flour, butter, and broth, either chicken or turkey, if you have already boiled the turkey bones. For the top, if you are using leftovers, you may need to break up stuffing lumps. I usually have to make fresh stuffing, and because my homemade stuffing is not our family’s favorite, I have come to appreciate prepared stuffing seasoned with herbs, to which I add celery and onions sauteed in a little butter or olive oil. In fact, if you want vegetables in your casserole, you can add celery, onion, carrots, peas, or broccoli to the turkey meat; just be sure to saute the onion or celery for five minutes, or lightly steam the peas, carrots and broccoli.

Turkey Casserole

Serves 4

4 cups of cooked turkey, light and dark meat, cut in bite sized pieces optional vegetables

2 cups of turkey gravy or sauce

2 to 3 cups of prepared stuffing

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease lightly a two-quart casserole. Spread the turkey meat in the casserole, add vegetables if you wish, and pour the gravy or sauce over the top. Spread the stuffing over the top of that. If you wish, dot the top with bits of butter. Bake for 30 minutes or until the gravy is bubbling and the stuffing is toasted golden.

If you need extra sauce:

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup of chicken broth

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan, and whisk in the flour. Cook the mixture until the flour is bubbling, and turns golden. Add the broth gradually, and continuing whisking to avoid lumps. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook until it is thick, about five minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings.