Leftover turkey nuggets
Oh, Thanksgiving. Time of gratitude, feasting, and lots of leftover turkey. Much to my food-blogger chagrin, my kid loves a nugget above most other foods.
Also, I always want to do something creative with Thanksgiving leftovers, but often lack the brain power after a huge meal and no sleep.
Have I mentioned that M refuses to sleep in houses other than ours? It happened gradually: At about 18 months he started waking up crazy early (like, 4:30 am, early) when we slept away from home and refused to go back to sleep. Then, he started refusing to sleep at all. The last time we stayed at my parents' house, he fought sleep until 4 am. And when we last slept at my in-laws', he slept from 9:30 pm to 1 am and that. was. it.
Maybe the turkey's tryptophan will knock him out? Fingers crossed.
Anyway, these nuggets solve a lot of our problems: They use up the leftover turkey, don't require a lot of thought, and are something my kid likes anyway.
I used a leftover rotisserie chicken for some of the recipe developing because for us, and I'd imagine for many of you, a leftover chicken is more common than leftover turkey, so this recipe can be used year-round. Also, I prefer to use bread over breadcrumbs in the actual meat mixture (save the panko or breadcrumbs for the nuggets' outside) because I think the slice soaks up the milk more efficiently and acts as a better binder and liquid adder. And while grating the onion might seem like an unnecessary step, I think it helps the nuggets hold together better than minced onions do, but if you want to chop, make sure they're done finely.
Leftover turkey nuggets
10 oz leftover turkey or chicken (combination of light and dark meat)
1 piece of stale(ish) bread
¼ cup whole milk
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 small or ½ large onion, grated
½ tsp sage
2 oz cheddar or gruyere, cut into small cubes
1 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup panko or whole wheat bread crumbs
1/3 cup parmesan
½ tsp salt
Soak the bread in milk while prepping the rest of your ingredients.
Combine the soaked bread with the leftover turkey and pulse in a food processor until the mixture is in coarse crumbs.
Turn the mixture out into a large bowl and add the Dijon mustard, grated onion, sage, and cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and mix a few more times.
In two separate bowls, lightly beat the egg with a fork. In the second bowl, combine the panko, parmesan cheese, and salt and mix with your fingers or another fork.
Using a large spoon, scoop about 2 Tbsp of the turkey mixture into your palms and roll them into balls. Flatten them into nuggets and dredge them first in the egg, then in the panko/cheese/salt mixture.
Heat olive oil over a medium-low flame. Cook the nuggets until the bottoms are golden brown and the cheese inside of the nugget begins to ooze. Flip and repeat on the other side.
Yield: About 12-14 large nuggets
Green bean galette
This green bean galette started life as a green bean casserole alternative and quickly earned a spot on my easy-yet-impressive list.
We've eaten this galette quite a few times since the calendar flipped to September and I decided it was time to eat "cozy food." It’s so easy and somehow makes everyone in my family happy. Maybe it’s all the cheese and butter?
This recipe is truly one of those crowd pleasers that feels so fancy and yet, couldn’t be simpler. Well, I suppose it could be simpler, but the difficulty-to-impressiveness ratio makes it well worth the effort.
A couple of notes:
I sometimes buy the smaller, skinnier haricot vert over traditional green beans and skip the blanching step.
This galette is also delicious for breakfast with some ham (or leftover turkey) and an egg on top.
Green bean galette
Time: About 55 minutes, half of it active
Yield: about 6-8 portions
1 sheet puff pastry
3 oz gruyere, grated
6-8 oz thin green beans, trimmed
½ large onion or 3-4 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup panko
½ tsp salt
Preheat oven to 425. Roll out a sheet of puff pastry dough into a large rectangle on a piece of parchment and transfer to a sheet pan or baking sheet.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and set aside a large bowl. (Skip this step if using thin green beans.)
Meanwhile, grate gruyere and spread over the puff pastry, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides.
Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat and add the onions or shallots, cooking until they begin to soften and brown, about 15 minutes. Add the breadcrumbs and salt and sauté until fragrant and toasted, about 5 minutes.
While cooking the onions or shallots, check your pot of water. When it’s boiling, add the green beans and cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add ice cubes and water to your large bowl. When the beans have boiled for a few minutes, remove them and submerge in the ice water. (Again, skip this step if using thin green beans.)
Pat the green beans dry and place them on top of the puff pastry and cheese, leaving the 1-inch border. Spread the breadcrumb mixture over the green beans.
Fold the pastry border over the edges of the green beans and breadcrumbs.
Bake for 18-23 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
Everything egg cups
This morning, M asked for a lollipop and ice cream for breakfast, so we're obviously still recovering from the Halloween sugarpalooza.
As a side note, we decided to do a Whole 15 instead of a Whole 30 this time. We hit the halfway mark and I thought back to our previous Whole 30's: By the end of each one, I was SO SO ready to have bread and beans and dairy and wine again that the eating pendulum swung wildly back in the other direction. At this mid-point, I feel great and in control and ready to incorporate things back into my life while also eating them in moderation rather than going on a candy binge. This feels like a better place to be when entering the holiday season.
Anyway, I made these egg cups twice during our Whole 15 and they are easy and delicious and filling and really satisfying. The salty, garlicky kick is why I sometimes crave everything bagels, but you can get that without eating a bread bomb for breakfast.
I also must confess: I'm not normally a fan of the egg cup. They're so ubiquitous when looking for healthy, make-ahead breakfasts, but they never do it for me. In these cups, the potato is filling, but they're also meant to function like the bread of a sandwich, so you can fill them with whatever constitutes a good breakfast for you. My personal favorite is turkey bacon, tomato, and avocado, but we've also done spinach and sausage, and smoked salmon with fixings like onion, tomato, and capers.
Since the next two months will be treat filled, I'm sure we'll be making these cups many times.
Just one note: I personally like the Everything Spice recipe from TheKitchn. You can also buy premade mixes from Trader Joe's and King Arthur. If you are sensitive to salt, I would recommend making your own mix and decreasing the salt to 1 tsp. You can always add more if it's not enough, but you can't subtract. I also omit all seasoning on the muffins so that the topping shines.
Everything egg cups
6 eggs
1 medium russet potato (about 6-8 oz)
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1 Tbsp dried garlic flakes
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tsp coarse salt
olive oil
Preheat oven to 375. Spray or brush olive oil in an extra-large muffin tin and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk 6 eggs until the yolks and whites are well mixed. Grate the potato directly into the egg mixture and whisk again. Distribute evenly into your prepared muffin tins.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the muffins feel dense and there is absolutely no give when you gently push on the tops.
While the muffins are cooking, put together your everything spice mix. You’ll have extra, so make the mix in a container or jar and then pour about half of it onto a plate.
Let the muffins cool slightly and turn them out onto your work surface. Lightly spray or brush the tops and bottoms with olive oil and dip into the spice mixture on the top and bottom of the muffins. Place back on your work surface and let cool some more. Cut them in half and fill with whatever you like.
Yield: 6 extra-large muffins
