Thanksgiving Day Dinner Leftovers

Yunhee Kim for The New York Times

Check out the New York Times Sunday Magazine (Nov. 20, 2011) for some fantastic ideas from Mark Bittman for your Thanksgiving leftovers "Remains of the Day."

I'm not cooking the turkey although I will be bringing some side dishes and desserts to my daughter's house, but these recipes make me want to bring some leftovers home!


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Make ahead Thanksgiving gravy

Getting all the components of a Thanksgiving Feast to the table perfectly cooked and hot - not to mentioned beautifully carved - is a major feat and making gravy at the last minute could be the straw that .....you know.  So why not make the gravy a few days or even a week or two ahead.

Here is a basic recipe you can tweak to your taste:

3 lbs. turkey wings or legs

2 medium onions, root end removed and quartered (don't peel the onion unless there is dirt under the skin)

3 carrots, roughly chopped

4 large, fresh parsley springs

6 cups homemade chicken stock (or substitute canned low-sodium chicken broth)

2 tablespoons butter

⅓ cup flour

½  teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400º.  Melt butter in a medium roasting pan over medium-high heat.  Pat turkey dry and add to roasting pan with vegetables.  Cook turkey 3 to 4 minutes on each side and stir vegetables often.

Bake in oven for about 90 minutes or until turkey is well browned.  Remove from oven and discard vegetables and turkey - reserving turkey for another use if you desire.

Whisk flour into hot drippings in pan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for a minute or two.  Gradually whisk in chicken broth until smooth.  Whisk in pepper.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, for about 45 minutes or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Salt to taste.

Cool gravy, cover and chill up to 3 days or freeze for up to 4 weeks.

One less thing to do on the Big Day!