Thanksgiving Hot Brown Style Casserole

Leftover ideas

Stuffing on the bottom, turkey, tomatoes, mornay sauce, pimentos, bacon

My take on the Hot Brown using leftovers & casserole; this version featured multi-colored cherry tomatoes

 A new take on the legendary sandwich from The Brown Hotel   in Louisville, KY. Theirs is an individual, open-faced turkey sandwich with a generous tomato slice and criss cross of bacon. (Original recipe here) Mine is a family-style casserole that plays off the same rich, creamy flavors. 

 

The Original, individual Hot Brown Sandwich (photo credit: What's Cooking America dot net)

 I first heard of the Hot Brown Sandwich by way of the lip-smacking PBS documentary “Sandwiches That You Will Like,” which features a smorgasbord of signature sandwiches & eateries all over the USA. Blogger Karen Tortora Lee has a great summary of the film on her blog “The HappiestMedium.” She calls it the best PBS show ever. I don’t’ know about that, as I’m a huge fan of BBC America shows like Broadchurch, Hinterland, Paranoid, and the astoundingly good Sherlock. And I think Ken Burns has produced some amazing history documentaries. Nonetheless, “Sandwiches That You Will Like” is a delight and will absolutely work up your appetite! 

vintage Thanksgiving postcard; public domain

 Cathi’s Thanksgiving Hot Brown Casserole

Adapted from recipe at Cuisine at Homemagazine (Kentucky individual casseroles) Nov 2013 

Ingredients:

Leftover, baked stuffing* enough to cover the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish

Cooked, diced turkey meat (white, dark or mixed)

2 chopped tomatoes, handful of halved cherry/grape tomatoes (or 1 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained)

~2 cups Mornay sauce (see recipe below)

red pimentos (optional)

6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled to garnish

 

MORNAY SAUCE

1 stick butter

1/3 cup wholewheat pastry flour

1½ cups milk

1 cup turkey stock (liquid) or 1 cup turkey drippings (solid, like gelatin)

2 Tbsp sherry or brandy

¾ cup shredded white cheddar

½ cup fresh grated parmesan

2 tsp red hot sauce

Pimentos, drained (2-4 oz jar) can fold into sauce or sprinkle over the top before baking

Pinch or two of kosher salt

In a deep sided skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Measure out flour and use heat-resistant whisk; toast flour to make your roux - ~2 minutes. Should be slightly browned.

Keep whisking and add in broth, then milk, then liquor. Simmer about 3 minutes, until thick. Take off the heat.

Keep whisking and add in cheddar, then parmesan. Sauce should be smooth and even consistency.

Add in hot sauce and lastly, pimentos. Taste, careful not to burn mouth, and season as needed w/kosher salt.

 *If the stuffing hasn't already baked, put it in bottom of the casserole dish and bake for ~20 mins at 350 oven, uncovered. The stuffing needs to be a bit dried out and already baked to work best here. When I'm first preparing my stuffing, I used pre-packaged bread crumbs (14 oz) and add 1/4 tsp each of dried sage + 1/8 tsp dried thyme. Then I stir in a 1/4 red or white onion, finely chopped; 1-2 stalks celery, small dice; handful of baby carrots, small dice; and 1/2 cup dried cranberries mixed in. I like the textures and extra flavors with add-ins.

PUTTING TOGETHER CASSEROLE

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spread out leftover stuffing on the bottom of a large (2 qt) glass casserole dish. Next layer the diced turkey and then the chopped tomatoes. Then pour the mornay sauce over all.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until sauce is bubbling around edges and slightly browned at edges.

Cook bacon on stovetop or in microwave to use for garnish. When casserole is done, and cooling, sprinkle crumbled bacon all over the top.

 

ALLERGENS: contains dairy & wheat (sauce & stuffing)

ALLERGY ACCOMMODATIONS: To avoid wheat, you can use gluten-free stuffing or try mashed potatoes as bottom layer substitute and use a gluten-free thickener for sauce. I’ve never tried making a mornay sauce without dairy; however, there are rich & creamy sauce recipes shared by vegan cooks. Be aware that many vegan recipes do include soy, peanut, and/or treenut ingredients. You may need to get more creative or experimental depending on which allergens you need to avoid. Some vegan recipes use soy-based milk or cheeses, some use coconut milk, some use nut-based mixtures, some suggest nutritive yeast flakes as a stand in for parmesan cheese. For ideas and recipes check out the One Green Planet website for vegan cooking: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/how-to-make-creamy-rich-sauces-without-dairy/

Turkey Frame Soup

Hearty Leftover Ideas

Rich homemade broth w/fresh herbs, veggies, turkey & rice

Turkey soup - hearty bone broth, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, rice, thyme & sage

I first tried this in Thanksgiving 2009 and I find my mouth watering as much for this soup as for the roasted turkey. Making a meat based stock like this works well for most bone-in cuts that have been roasted. You can adjust seasonings and/or amount of water and make this style of soup using roast chicken (including leftover rotisserie chickens), smoked & roasted hambone, or roasted beef soup bones. I do a smaller scale soup like this using the turkey neck. If you don’t have fresh herbs, try ¼-½ tsp of dried instead. For my turkey soup I use fresh Rosemary, Sage & Thyme.

PHOTO CREDIT: Vintage drawing from Culinary Posters site; Artist: Constance Lael

  It has been a family tradition to see our city’s Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We walk several blocks downtown, hang out in the open air with a bit of caroling, and as dusk deepens see the dramatic switch flipping on the festive lights. Last year there was snow on the ground already. I usually wear flannel lined jeans. Especially on those particularly cold Fridays, it is so cozy and welcoming to come back inside my home with the scent of this hearty soup hanging in the air.

 

Vintage photo of one horse open sleigh; Property of Plainfield Public Library

Another family tradition is to read or sing “Over the River and Through the Woods” leading up to or just after Thanksgiving Day. I used to sing the song with my mom when I was kid. Now I read a picture book to my kids; I like the vintage look of the artwork by Brinton Turkle.   I knew the song was from past times when I was a kid, but I didn’t realize it was written in 1844. And I didn’t know anything about the biography of the woman who wrote it. Lydia Maria Child was amazing!

Lydia Maria Child, 1870; public domain photo

She held an editing job, founded a children’s literary magazine, wrote novels & nonfiction books and political pamphlets. She advocated for abolition, for Native American rights, and for bettering the economic and political power of women. More on her biography as well as a sing along can be seen in the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk-IaIvsSdY

 

 

 

Turkey Frame Soup

By Cathi

Inspired by: http://www.texascooking.com/recipes/turkeyframesoup.htm

Broth/Turkey stock

1 leftover turkey frame

(optional - 2 Tbsp pan drippings and/or skin for extra flavor)

1-2 ribs celery, quartered – with leaves on if avail

~10 baby carrots, whole

1/2 large red onion, cut in large chunks

2-4 cloves garlic, halved

3 fresh Sage leaves

3 sprigs of fresh Thyme

2 sprigs fresh Rosemary

1 bay leaf

1½ teaspoons sea salt

10-12 black peppercorns

½ teaspoon Hungarian or Smoked Paprika

12 cups water

Broth Directions:

Put the turkey frame into large stock pot (break in pieces if necessary to fit pot). Add in other broth ingredients, pour water in last.

Bring soup up to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3-4 hours.

Let cool. Carefully strain the cooled broth through a sieve into another large pot. Keep all the strained broth. 

Remove frame from sieve. It may start coming apart in your hands so be near plate or trashcan. Using fingers, pick out or pull off the usable meat and put on plate or in container. Discard the bones, cartilage, skin and unusable parts. Discard broth vegetables and whole seasonings.

Example of how much meat you may get off the frame; neck meat is a smaller amount

 Soup

~10 baby carrots, diced

1 rib celery diced

1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled & small dice

Ripped or diced Turkey meat from frame

½ cup rice (I use brown or jasmine)

 Fresh herbs – sprig of thyme, snips of fresh sage leaves

Add diced veggies to the broth and bring back to boil. Add in dry rice and stir. Add in fresh herbs and turkey meat. Stir. Lower heat a bit to low simmer and cover pot. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Test rice & veggies for doneness - adjust cooking time longer if needed. Season to taste.

ALLERGENS: does not contain any of the top 8 food allergens

Turkey Pot Pie with Checkerboard Topping

Happy Thanksgiving!

Leftover Ideas - Turkey Pot Pie Casserole

Savory filling topped with alternating scoops of stuffing & potatoes

Turkey Pot Pie with scoops of stuffing & mashed sweet potatoes for topping

Vintage Thanksgiving postcard

Posting this to share left over ideas. I tried this out last year with great success.

Also sharing this fun history of the made up ritual behind Beaujolais Nouveau. My family has been including at least one bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau as a necessary part of our Thanksgiving tradition for many years now. We really look forward to it. The local bars & bistros of Beaujoalis & Lyons began this libation celebration. And then it spread to Paris, other parts of France and - thankfully - it's now spread around the world. Georges Duboeuf is our usual vintner go to. Bon apetit! Slainte!

From an article at the Into Wine website: “It has become a worldwide race to be the first to serve this new wine of the harvest. In doing so, it has been carried by motorcycle, balloon, truck, helicopter, Concorde jet, elephant, runners and rickshaws to get it to its final destination. It is amazing to realize that just weeks before this wine was a cluster of grapes in a growers vineyard. But by an expeditious harvest, a rapid fermentation, and a speedy bottling, all is ready at the midnight hour. By French law, Beaujolais Nouveau is to be released no earlier than the third Thursday of November. ...the race from grape to glass may be silly, but half the fun is knowing that on the same night, in homes, cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and bistros around the world, the same celebration is taking place. It hasn't the pedigree to be a classic wine, but it is always good."  

Cathi’s Turkey Pot Pie with Sweet Potato & Stuffing Topping

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker’s Turkey Pot Pie at http://www.browneyedbaker.com/turkey-pot-pie-recipe/ and Anne Cusack’s Pilgrim Pie at http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/25/food/la-fo-leftoversrec25b-2009nov25

Ingredients:

1 Tbp olive oil

1 medium red onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 large sprig fresh thyme

Couple pinches kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3 Tbsp whole wheat flour

1¾ cups turkey broth (stock or from drippings)

1-2 fresh sage leaves, chiffonade (very thinly sliced into ribbons)

~3 cups cooked turkey meat, skin removed, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup frozen peas

2 cups mashed sweet potatoes

2 cups leftover stuffing (mine has small dice of carrots, celery, onion, & craisins + bread crumbs/herbs)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Pour olive oil into large skillet and heat over medium. Add the onion, celery and thyme to the skillet.  Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until veggies are softened, 5-10 minutes.

Sprinkle flour over veggies and stir, cooking until the flour is toasted, about 3 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with turkey broth. Sprinkle in sage ribbons. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until thickened.

Add in the turkey meat and peas. Stir to coat meat & veggies with sauce.

Turn out turkey mixture to a 9x13 glass casserole dish or 2-quart baking dish.

Use a cookie scoop and alternate scoops of stuffing and sweet potatoes across the top of the pie mixture.

Bake until the filling is bubbling and the topping is starting to brown, about 30 minutes.

ALLERGENS: contains wheat (sauce & stuffing)

ALLERGY ACCOMMODATIONS: can substitute with gluten-free thickener for sauce; can use gluten-free stuffing or use an alternating pattern of plain mashed potatoes & mashed sweet potatoes to maintain checkboard topping. Also, be aware of the ingredients used in making the stuffing and mash – if you need to avoid using dairy (esp butter) in stuffing mix, use a bit of olive oil and broth or plain water to moisten. Can avoid using dairy (butter and/or milk) in mashed potatoes by using margarine and broth.