Homemade Gyoza

Okay, last one I swear.  It’s just having to eat the same thing four days in a row really gets my creativity going.  So in this post for Thanksgiving turkey leftovers, we’re going to make

Homemade Dumplings with Leftover Turkey

So, I’ve got a rule when it comes to creating turkey day leftovers dishes: escape the traditional Thansgiving flavors.  On days four through twenty of Turkey Day leftover eating, the problem isn’t that we don’t love turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc.  We all still do!  The problem is eating the same thing from November 25th to December 25th is boring!!!

So, we are taking Turkey to the Orient with this recipe.  It’s just a simple dumpling recipe using storebought gyoza or wonton wraps.  No fuss, no muss.  Just a delicious turkey dish completely different than what you’ve been eating!

Making Turkey Dumplings from Turkey Leftovers

This recipe is easy, but I’m not going to lie.  Making the dumplings takes a little time.  Hopefully, you have a little family good will left and can talk the fam into helping you roll the dumplings.  Once that’s over, just steam or pan fry them, dip them in some soy and boom! you have a delicious dinner.

You will need:

• 4 tablespoons of broth
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• leftover turkey
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 egg
• gyoza or wonton wraps
• Oil for pan frying (you can steam if you prefer)
• Extra soy sauce for dipping

Okay, first thing to do is prepare the sauce you are going to cook the turkey in.  Mix the broth, soy sauce, tahini, garlic powder, and sugar in a bowl.  If that doesn’t look like enough to cover the turkey, double the recipe.

Next, break the turkey into small pieces.  You can shred it or dice it, but remember, this mixture will go inside dumplings, so keep it small.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the sauce and let it start to get warm, maybe 2 minutes.  Then add the turkey and stir until it gets warm.  If there is a lot of liquid left, mix the cornstarch in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of water.  Add to the skillet and stir until the sauce thickens.

Next, beat the egg in a bowl with a tablespoon of water to make an egg wash. This will be the glue that holds the wraps together.  Lay out the won ton wraps in a line.   Put about a teaspoonful of mixture in the middle of each wrap, then come back and brush the egg wash on two edges of the wonton wraps.  Finally, fold each wrap in half to close.

Lastly, heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and fry the gyoza two minutes per side in small batches.  Add more oil as needed.

Serve with soy sauce to dip and enjoy!

Thanks to WordRidden for the picture.

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Turkey Black Bean Soup

Ah…this recipe takes me back.  The first article I ever wrote for BIAO Magazine was a Black Friday special that used Thanksgiving leftovers for a quick, healthy meal you could fix after a long day of Black Friday shopping.  With that being said, this is not a revisiting of that recipe.  It is a reimagining!  I am tooking the same basic concept and using more spices and peppers for a Mexican-inspired flavor since, at this point, I do not want to eat anything that even vaguely reminds me of Turkey Day leftovers.

With that being said, if you have some leftover mashed potatoes, we’ll be using them as an optional thing little extra for the bowl!

Making Turkey Black Bean Soup

This dish is really easy and can use up as much or as little of that leftover turkey as you want.  Don’t overdo the leftover turkey since there are two more recipes I’ll be sharing (ha ha)!  Still,  in all seriousness you want the black beans to stand on their own and not have this turn into a turkey casserole.

You will need:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 red pepper, finely diced
• 1 stalk of celery, sliced
• 1 poblano, diced
• 3 cans black beans
• 2-3 cups stock
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
• 1/2 cup cream (you can omit if you would like)
• Left over turkey

In a soup pot  over medium-high heat, add the onions.  Let them cook a 2 minutes and then add the red pepper, celery, and poblano.  Cook until all of the vegetables are soft.

Open the cans of black beans.  If you are worried about salt, wash away the liquid the beans came in.  If not, there’s good flavor in there!  Add the beans to the pot and pour in the stock so the beans are almost covered. 

Add the cumin and ancho powder.

You may need to lower the heat to medium to keep the beans from burning, but at this point, all you need to do is stir occassionally until the beans start to open.  This will cause the broth to thicken.  The thicker it becomes, the more you need to stir!

Once the soup has reached the desired thickness, add the cream and the turkey.  Continue to stir until the turkey is warm.

Serve with left over rolls or in bowls lined with mashed potatoes.  Enjoy!

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Turkey Leftovers

Quick tip if you still have turkey bones lying around.   Whatever you do, don’t throw away those bones.  Locked inside your turkey carcass is the key to the most amazing turkey stock you’ve ever had in your life.   With that stock you can make delicious gravies, soups, stuffings, vegetables…anything you want.  It’s so easy.

So, let’s make

Turkey Stock

Now, the most basic way to make stock is to just put the bones in a pot, add water, and come back in two hours.

There is nothing wrong with that.  It makes good stock, but let’s see if we can’t gild this lily a bit.

Making Turkey Stock

This may sound odd, but pretty much everything in this recipe is optional.  Consider this post a canvas, a template, a starting point for you to make your own amazing turkey stock.  Below are the suggestions for what I do because it develops the flavors I like.  I want you to feel free to take my suggestions, use them, and rock your own turkey stock the way you want!

You will need:

• 1 turkey carcass (okay, this part’s not optional…)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Lots of water or chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon pepepr

When assembling this dish, the first thing you need to check is how much meat is left on your turkey bones.  If they are basically bereft of any meat, you should consider roasting them in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.   If there is a fair amount of meat on the bones, skip that step.  You’ll just dry out the meat.

In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and let it get hot.  Then add the onions, carrots, and celery.  Cook for 2 minutes, add the garlic, and then cook for 8 more minutes or until the onions have started to caramelize.

Then add the carcass and fill the pot up so that it is almost full of water or stock (or a combination).  Crank the heat up to high and let the water come to a boil.  Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium and add the rest of the ingredients.

Then, it’s a waiting game.  You can pretty much leave the turkey boiling away for as long as there is water in the pot, but I prefer to remove the bones after about 2 to 2.5 hours.  Then I refrigerate over night to let the fat congeal, which I remove the next day and get out the noodles for some awesome turkey noodle soup.

So, give this recipe a try or try your own, just whatever you do, don’t toss out the bones.  Boil those babies and enjoy!

Thanks to CarbonNYC for the picture.

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I wanted to start with the old standby: Green Bean Casserole.  Why?  1) Because I love the stuff and 2) Because it’s ridiculously unhealthy as is.  Think about it, it is canned green beans (mmm…sodium) and fried onions stewed in cream of mushroom soup.  Wait a minute…no wonder it’s so good.

Anyway, my recipe for making Green Bean Casserole is pretty straightforward, but is a whole lot healthier.

You will need:

• 1 bag of frozen green beans
• Juice from 1/2 of a lemon
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons of Old Bay
• 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup of reduced fat chedder cheese (optional)
• 1 cup of oyster crackers or roughly crushed saltines

To make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Boil the green beens in salted water for 5-7 minutes or until al dente.
3. Drain and add lemon juice.  Set aside.
4. In a preheated skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, the onions, and the seasonings.  Cook until the onions are soft.
5. Combine the green beans, the onions, and the cans of soup in a oven safe dish and bake until the soup is bubbly.
6. If cheese is desired, add about five minutes into the baking prcoess.
7. Add the crackers right before serving so that they stay crispy.

The key to this recipe for me is the Old Bay seasoning on the onions.  It gives them a flavor I prefer to fried onions.  To make up for the texture of green bean casserole, I added saltines to the top of the casserole.

 Enjoy!

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