Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I know I certainly enjoyed the time off from the restaurant. Although I spent a ton of time cooking, it was a nice change to be doing it in at home in PJ's without a mask on. Cooking in the restaurant with a mask has become the norm but it's definitely not ideal for a Chef. I like being able to smell and taste freely when I'm cooking and the mask just makes it a tad bit harder. But this post isn't about me cooking in a mask. It's about how I use my leftovers after Thanksgiving.
I'm assuming you all go big and deck out the table with turkey, more sides you can handle, and enough dessert that will send your blood sugar through the roof. And why wouldn't you? We only eat like this once a year right? So GO BIG OR GO HOME!
I'm not going to bore you with the same refabs that we are use to. Yes, everyone boils down those turkey carcasses and makes some kind of soup, stew or broth out of it. And with the leftover meat, sandwiches are always on the list. My hubby in particular likes having turkey melts with leftover cranberry sauce smothered inside. Pair it with some leftover gravy as a dipping sauce for the sandwich and you are on cloud nine.
Now for something a little unconventional! I like to take the turkey meat and mince it up create a filling for crispy wontons. Think crab rangoon except with turkey. And use the cranberry sauce as the dipping sauce! You can thank me later:)
Thanksgiving Wontons a la Rangoon Style
Ingredients:
1 cup leftover turkey, minced
3/4 cup cream cheese, softened at room temp
1 green onion minced
1 teaspoon worchestershire
1/4 cup finely minced celery hearts
pinch of garlic salt
pinch of white pepper
16-20 wonton wrappers
Water on the side to seal wrappers
Canola oil for frying
Method:
Put everything in a bowl except the oil and wonton wrappers. Whisk with a fork to fully incorporate
Once filling is fully mixed, begin wrapping wontons.
Place 1 teaspoon filling to the center of wrapper. Dab water on the edge of the wrapper and draw a line with your finger along half of the circle.
Fold the wrapper in half and seal edges. Now the wonton looks like a half circle.
The curved part of the half circle should be farther away from you. Dab water on the left corner of the half circle.
Pull the left corner to the right corner, place it directly under the right corner and press down to seal. End result should look like a wonton or tortellini.
Repeat until all filling is gone.
Heat oil in a pot to 325F and drop into oil and fry in small batches for 2--3 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove and drain off excess oil on paper towel lined plates.
Serve with leftover cranberry sauce!
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