Thanksgiving Leftovers: Turkey Eggs Benedict

I love eggs benedict in all its incarnations, particularly the Northwest version made with dungeness crab cakes.

This is yet another take on Eggs Benedict, Thanksgiving leftover-style. I've taken last night's cold mashed potatoes and formed them into a potato cakes. Dredging each in beaten egg, flour and then pan fried to create a crispy shell surrounding soft buttery potatoes. Top each golden potato patty with sliced turkey, poached egg and homemade hollandaise and you're well on your way to emptying your refrigerator of all those pesky leftovers.

Not so Humble Turkey Eggs Benedict on Potato Cakes:
serves 4

5 large eggs
2 cups cold mashed potatoes
3/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
sliced turkey

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Beat one of the eggs in a small bowl and set aside. Divide the potatoes into four portions and form into patties with your hands. Cold leftover potatoes work best for this as freshly made mashed potatoes will be too sticky. Dredge your patties in the flour, then into the egg and then back into the flour coating well. Place the patties into the frying pan and cook for a few minutes each side, until golden, flipping once. Set the potato cakes onto paper towels to drain.

Poach the remaining 4 eggs in gently boiling water for three minutes.

Top the potato cakes with turkey slices, poached eggs and hollandaise and serve.

Hollandaise
2 egg yolks
4 tablespoons butter
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt
pepper

Place the egg yolks into a blender and mix briefly. Microwave the butter in a small bowl until very hot and bubbly. While blending on high speed, pour the boiling butter into the blender and mix for a minute. Add the lemon juice and mix. Salt and pepper to taste.

Dueling Potato Rolls

The humble potato: destroyer of family harmony.

Roll battles are brutal and it is not just the baking, it is the eating.

I've had so much buttered bread this afternoon that I don't even know if I want to so much as look at another roll this week. Worse, even after that bread binge I'm totally undecided as to who has the better potato roll. I was feeling really confident with my recipe going in and then I ate one of Mother Humble's rolls... they were unexpectedly good. Well played Mother Humble, well played.

It would be easier if the rolls were not so similar. They are both moist and slightly sweet. My rolls had a lighter, open crumb and Mother Humble's rolls had a soft, fine crumb. How do you choose between that?! So I just keep sitting here, eating bread, trying to determine who the loser is and now I am getting the feeling that the only loser here is my waistline.

I'll just post the recipes and the family will just have to duke this out over the next couple of days.




Mother Humble's Potato Rolls:

1 cup unsalted butter
12 oz evaporated milk
4 tablespoons sugar
6 eggs
4 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
3 cups mashed potatoes
8 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Mix together the salt and the flour in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, microwave the evaporated milk until very warm, add the butter and allow it to melt. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup of the butter/milk mixture with about 1/4 cup of cool water to bring down the temperature to about 100-110°F. Add the yeast and sugar mixing well, then allow to stand for a couple minutes.

Once the milk-butter mixture has cooled enough not kill the yeast, add it and the yeast mixture to your stand mixer equipped with the paddle attachment, along with the potatoes and eggs. Mix well. Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing on low speed. Once all the flour is incorporated, switch to a dough hook and kneed the dough for several minutes until soft and smooth, adding additional flour if dough is too sticky (up to one additional cup if needed). I should note that this dough is supposed to be fairly sticky, so only add enough flour to help the kneading process.

Once smooth, turn the dough out into an oiled bowl and let sit covered for an hour or until doubled. Once risen, punch down and with well-floured hands assemble the rolls. (Tip: Mother Humble tends to give this dough an extended rise [up to several hours--I think she forgets about it], both after mixing and before baking.)

Allow the rolls to rise for another hour and then brush with egg wash and bake at 325°F for 10-12 minutes.

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Not so Humble's Potato Rolls:

2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons granulated sugar
5 teaspoons active dry yeast
8 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening

Cut the butter into tablespoon sized pieces and set aside.

Heat the milk until warm (110-120°F ) and whisk in the eggs and sugar. Add the yeast and mix well and then allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes until foamy.

Add the flour and salt to your stand mixer equipped with the paddle attachment and beating on low speed, add the yeast mixture in a slow stream. Add the potatoes and mix until incorporated. Add the butter a couple pieces at a time mixing slowly and then, working in thirds, add the shortening. Switch the paddle out for the dough hook and mix on medium low speed for 4-5 minutes until dough is soft and smooth.

Place the dough into a oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise for an hour and then punch down and shape into rolls. Allow the rolls to rise for another hour, or until doubled.

Brush with egg wash and bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.

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These are both big batches of rolls, so expect about 3-4 dozen from each.

Turkey Avgolemono

Back to this week's turkey. Or at least, what is left of it.

I've never been able to just toss out what remains of a turkey after I've carved all the meat off it. I have to make stock out of it. It seems to be a compulsion of sorts. One that I think my mother shares, as she will start a pot of chicken stock on my stove moments before catching a plane back to her home in London. She seemingly can't leave the country without first ensuring that any leftover rotisserie chicken that might be lurking around in the fridge are properly simmering in a pot. I have to mention that this habit of hers, making and then abandoning stocks, nearly set fire to the kitchen once.

Anyway, before I enter full on ramble mode, let's get on to what I did with my turkey stock. As much as I love good ol' fashioned traditional turkey noodle soup, I need to mix it up a little sometimes. I need some turkey avgolemono.

Literally meaning 'egg-lemon' in Greek, this soup is essentially that; rice (or orzo) in a stock thickened with egg and flavored with lemon juice. I discovered it while working for a Greek chef named Fifi almost a decade ago, she served it in her restaurant from time to time and it always ran out before the dinner rush ended, usually because the floor staff were eating so much of it.

I eventually got the Cliffs-Notes version of her recipe and have been able to replicate her soup. While this recipe calls for chicken it works equally well with turkey.

Not so Humble's Turkey Avgolemono:
8 cups turkey stock
1 cup uncooked white rice (preferably short grain)
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice (though I usually add a bit more)
2 cups cooked and roughly chopped turkey meat (optional)
salt
pepper

Bring the turkey stock to a boil and add the rice. Simmer covered for 20 minutes, stir in the turkey and remove from heat.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, egg yoke, olive oil and lemon juice until smooth. Temper the egg mixture by slowly adding one cup of the hot soup while whisking continuously. Pour this mixture back into the pot and stir gently. The soup should have a smooth, creamy appearance now. Salt and pepper the soup to taste. Serve garnished with parsley or dill and a drizzle of olive oil.

If the soup is reheated or stored the texture will change ever so slightly, so it is best served immediately. However, don't let that that stop you from eating leftover Avgolemono, the flavor will still remain the same.

Early Bird: Pre-Thanksgiving Turkey

All done with the my near-freebie turkey. Thankfully, it is now a much more manageable size with the meat removed and the carcass simmering away in my stock pot. Thats right, there will be a soup post in the near future. Going to turn my birdie buddy into my favorite Greek soup tomorrow if time allows.

Anyway, on to how we dealt with this enormous turkey.


Look at that beast! Almost too wide for my biggest roasting pan.

So I went with a simple, reliable approach for this unplanned turkey. Herbs and lots of lots of butter, smeared under the skin to keep the flesh moist and flavorful. It is hard to go wrong with that. Though, can you go wrong with a dish when 'lots and lots' of butter is involved? I think not.



Not so Humble's Basic Herb Butter Rub:

I cup of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 clove garlic minced

Cream the mixture together and set aside. Now comes the fun part, where you get really familiar with your dinner. Starting from the neck cavity, slip your hand in between the breast and the skin of your turkey, separating any connective tissue. Get all the way to the other end of the breast making a pocket for all that yummy butter. Repeat on the other breast. Now, take about half the butter and slather it all over both breasts under the skin, using the pockets you've made. Take the rest of the butter and thoroughly rub it over the outside of the bird and inside the cavity. This part is a bit icky, I know. I didn't want to spend my morning elbow deep in a cold turkey, but some things just have to be done. Besides, if the girl who passed out twice in highschool biology can do it, so can you.

I then take 8-10 whole fresh sage leaves and slip them under the skin, arranging them best I can to look pleasing once the turkey is baked. They are hard to see now, but once the turkey is cooked the skin will be crispy, golden and near transparent. The leaves will then show, making a pretty, edible mosaic under the skin. Once that is finished I sprinkle the bird with more kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, stuff some of my remaining fresh sage and parsley into the cavity and it is ready to hit the oven.



Cook at 325°F for however long necessary for the weight of your bird. Check occasionally to see how it is browning, tent with foil towards the end of the cooking if the breast is darkening too quickly. Once the thickest part of the thigh hits 165°F your turkey is ready. Allow the bird to sit for about 20 minutes before carving so the juices can saturate the meat.

The end result should be a moist, flavorful bird with very crispy skin.