What are your best holiday dinner left-over remakes? This will definitely be a good way of maximizing the food that we have in our house and it's always better to find ways of making the most of things than throwing them away. Share away!
Regardless of whether I have leftover holiday ham or leftover turkey, they both make good fried rice, so that's usually one thing I make with them. Leftover ham is also good in stir fry cabbage.
I make soup with the left over turkey along with turkey salad if there is enough meat left. For the ham I use some of the meat to season my beans when I cook dried beans. The cranberry sauce is great in muffins. This year we did not have alot of food left over, they ate it all.
True, leftover ham is great as a seasoning for beans. I sometimes use ham when cooking lentils. I know people that use ham as a seasoning for collard greens too.
I have a simple recipe for any kind leftovers. It's called Stone Soup. The name has a story behind it. Basically, Stone Soup is throwing everything into one pot and making a soup out of it. Add extra items like onions, garlic and chilli to improve the taste.
Most of the traditional holiday foods people eat here are not things I really want to eat. My SO. manages a restaurant and for Thanksgiving this year we actually went out for dinner, which was nice. His son had a traditional American turkey dinner and he and I each had fish (two different menu items). My aunt made gumbo and she always sets mine aside (just seafood) before adding the rest of her ingredients. Sometimes I stretch it by adding veg stock. This year she made it too thick, so I'll be adding stock as well as more shrimp.
It depends really on what's left over - but a good portion of it is easily converted in to a brunch for whatever guests remain the next morning. Aside from that, the turkey carcass makes an excellent start to a stock or stew. Any leftover meat can be used in sandwiches, omelettes and salads without too much hassle and the veggies can be had just as side dishes. Desserts are rarely left, but when they are you can always serve them up over the next few meals.
The best part of Christmas in a way is the leftovers. I love being creative with the various bits of food, creating random things like turkey curry and soups. It gets a bit tiring after a while but not early on. In fact, that's exactly what I'm doing now...
Usually when my wife and I play host we don't have much left over. If we do it is enough for maybe a meal the next day or two. Nothing huge. This year we have been going to other people's houses and they have a lot left over. I wonder what they do with it.
I like turning leftover ham into ham sandwiches and since we usually get a lot of ham as gifts during the holidays I even have enough leftover to make fried rice as well. The best part about it is that the ones we get are always varied since they come from different sources so there's always one that will fit a certain recipe more than another. Of course it is also good to just have the leftover ham on their own with a side of mashed potatoes as well, but often the potatoes don't make it onto the next day anymore since they are very popular with everyone.
We seldom have leftover because I am able to finish them all because I am a heavy eater like that. But if there are, we think of ways to conserve them and make yummy dishes. Chopped meats in tiny bit pieces can be used for sandwich spreads, salads, pasta, or rice as flavoring and ingredients. Fresh fruits are used in shakes or juices for a drink later. When low in creativity we can always donate and give leftover and untouched food to the less fortunate, strengthening the spirit of Christmas giving.
We actually eat the leftovers without turning it into another dish. But we also hate having much leftovers so we make an estimate of how much food to cook during gatherings and parties. But take note that we have a tradition of giving away some of the leftover food for the guests to bring home. So after the celebration, expect the foil wrap and plastic containers to be ready for the packing of food. So leftovers are minimized.
I like to make fried rice dishes with any leftover ham. Another thing we do is take all the leftover turkey and veggies, and throw them in a big baking dish with a can of condensed mushroom soup,, and bake for about 30 minutes. It makes a wonderful homemade pot pie.
