Question

I have 5 lbs of leftover turkey mid-thaw. What are good uses for leftover turkey? (One of our favorites is turkey curry, especially good for frozen leftovers)

Answer 1

Instead of chicken noodle or chicken and rice soup, cooked and chopped turkey works just as well. Turkey pot pie is also good. Essentially, you can use cooked turkey anywhere you would use cooked chicken, with nearly identical results. Except, of course, your left-over turkey has that good, roasted flavor to start with.

Answer 2

I'd go with thursdaysgeek's suggestions for the meat, here are a couple of other suggestions.

• Turkey and ham pie with cranberry topping
• Barley ‘Risotto’ With Turkey and Mushrooms

. One part that a lot of people overlook is the bones and giblets. You can use these to make a rich stock that can be used whenever chicken stock is called for.

1. Strip the meat and skin from the bones, then add the bones to a large pot with 2 coarsely chopped onions, 2 celery sticks, 2 carrots, a few bay leaves and a handful of uncrushed peppercorns.
2. If you've not already used the giblets, fry them lightly in a little oil, then add them to the pot.
3. Add water to cover and bring to a gentle simmer.
4. Simmer for 2-3 hours, use a ladle or large spoon to skim off any scum or froth every ten minutes or so.
5. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pieces, then pour through a sieve to remove small bits
6. Give the pan a wipe and return the strained stock to the pan, turn the heat to high and reduce the stock by half.
7. use a ladle and funnel to pour the stock into ice cube trays, leave to cool, then freeze.

The last step isn't strictly needed - you can just pour the stock into a tub then freeze it, but it's a lot easier to use a small amount of stock from an ice cube tray.

You can use exactly the same technique for chicken, just freeze the bones until you have 4 or 5 carcasses.