Thursday 5 January 2017

Leftovers: turkey casserole

. . . or, as we called it as children, turkey hotpot.

Whatever you call it, it's lovely, filling and frugal too, using up as it does, lots of Christmas/New Year leftovers.

Amounts are variable so see what you've got.  You can substitute (e.g. use oil instead of dripping)

I used
leftover turkey chunks, both brown and white
leftover turkey stock
some white wine
leftover ham, cut into chunks
bacon, cut up (or use cooking bacon - I didn't have any)
turkey dripping
carrot, onion, sweet potato, baby corn, celery, all cut into chunks - just use whatever veg you have really
bay leaves and dried mixed herbs
garlic puree
chicken stock powder (or a stock pot)
Boiling water
thickening granules

Method
Heat the dripping in a large pan.  Add the bacon and stir.  Once that gets going, add the carrot, onion and celery and saute until the onion is going translucent.  Then add the sweet potato, baby corn, ham, mixed herbs, bay leaves and garlic puree, and saute for a short time more.

Add the wine, the turkey stock, some chicken stock powder and boiling water.  Stir, bring to a simmer, cover and allow to slowly cook until the vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally.  Taste the liquid and adjust seasonings or add more stock powder if you want.

Add some thickening granules to make the liquid just a little thicker.  Then add the turkey chunks and stir very gently to avoid the turkey breaking up.  Give a good grinding of black pepper, bring back to the boil and serve.

I didn't add potatoes to this but you can.  In fact, they make the liquid just a bit thicker anyway so you might not need to use the granules.

This freezes well.

If you don't have turkey, get yourself a turkey leg.  They're so cheap and so tasty and have so much meat, especially the more flavoursome brown meat, you wouldn't believe it!  Best value ever!

You could turn it into a curry by adding some curry paste, if you like.

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