Satisfying day-after recipes
When Thanksgiving is celebrated at my house, the very last thing I want to do once the meal is out on the table is actually eat it. After spending the day wrestling a raw turkey, tasting mashed potatoes to adjust seasoning and chopping until I’ve developed mild carpal tunnel, I couldn’t be less hungry.
This all means that my true Thanksgiving feast happens the next day, when a plate of sliced turkey, stuffing and yams looks new again.
On the other hand, those who have had a regular round one are often ready to use the remainder of the bird in creative new ways, whether in soup, salad, chili or a sandwich.
Aquick pot pie keeps things centered on comfort food, and much of the preparation can be done while you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner.
The recipe is essentially just the pot pie filling, which gets cooked on top of the stove. For the topping, I bake some extra pie dough and break it into shards as a riff on the more time-consuming sealed crust. Baked puff dough, extra biscuits or even dinner rolls could accompany this as well.
The simple broth can be thickened with some reserved roux; when you’re making the flour and butter mixture for the gravy (see Lynne Char Bennett’s tips in today’s cover story), keep a little extra aside.
Add frozen mixed vegetables, or throw in leftovers from the holiday meal — some chopped green beans or even sauteed spinach will add wonderful flavor to this thick soup.
For a weekend of football watching, the second recipe is perfect coffee table food — “nachos” that get an Asianinspired twist with wonton chips.
Rather than melt cheese on top, drizzle on a creamy soy and lemon sauce, and top with chopped leftover turkey, red peppers for color and crunch, shredded cabbage and creamy avocado.
The wonton skins are baked using nothing more than oil spray and some salt, and crisp up in six minutes flat.
This robust snack will be ready so quickly — and with so little fuss — that even the cook will feel like eating it when it hits the table. Amanda Gold is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: agold@sfchronicle.com