As much as I love Thanksgiving, I may adore the days after the holiday even more.
One word: Leftovers.
Sure turkey dinners with stuffing and corn pudding that have been doused in so much gravy that you have a thick, glistening brown moat on your plate are unbeatable. But this is also a great time to rev up your creativity in the kitchen.
What to do with your mounds of leftover turkey? Our Let's Lunch bunch -- a group of far-flung home cooks who have a monthly lunch date on Twitter -- decided to tackle this question for December.
My answer? A garlicky turkey hash brown quiche.
Before you begin, I must warn you that this recipe is to be avoided at all costs if you are in any semblance of a diet mode. When I've made this hash brown quiche with ham and cheddar, the entire quiche has been known to disappear in a day.
How bad is this? Well, there are only two people in my household.
Given how weak-kneed I get over this quiche, I naturally thought of it when I was dreaming up new ways to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
The process is simple -- the hardest part, really, is defrosting the hash browns, which can be a pain because you need the potatoes to be really dry. (Thawing them between sheets of paper towels works well but can take a while. You also can defrost them in the microwave and then press them between paper towels to dry them off.)
After that's done, the rest is a cinch.
Because I was using turkey instead of far more flavorful ham, I spiced things up by adding salt and pepper to the meat and frying it up with a big gob of minced garlic. (I used a heaping teaspoon but if you're not a big fan of garlic, dial it back.) If you have sliced mushrooms on hand, those work well, too.
After enduring half an hour of buttery, cheesy smells from your oven, there you have it, a delicious hash brown quiche that, trust me, you will be inhaling.
Shortly after my leftover quiche came out of the oven, this is what it looked like.
What can I say?
My diet begins tomorrow.
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If you'd like to join Let's Lunch, go to Twitter and post a message with the hashtag #Letslunch -- or, post a comment below.
And don't forget to see what other Let's Lunchers did with their Thanksgiving leftovers:
Cathy's Curry Turkey Salad on Mache at Showfood Chef
Ellise's Turkey-Tomatillo Soup at Cowgirl Chef
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Cheryl's Garlicky Turkey Hash Brown Quiche
(An adaptation of Paula Deen's ham and cheese hash brown quiche recipe)
- 3 cups, shredded frozen hash browns, thawed and drained
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 3/4 cup diced leftover turkey
- 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of minced garlic -- add more if you like the taste of garlic (I do.)
- 1/2 cup diced green onions
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar
- 1 to 2 tsps olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Generous sprinklings of dried herbs such as oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Gently press the drained hash browns between paper towels to dry them as best as possible. In a 9-inch pie plate, toss the hash browns with the melted butter and dried herbs in the plate. Press them into the bottom and up the sides to form a crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and starting to crisp.
While crust is baking, heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. When oil is so hot it crackles when you sprinkle water on it, add minced garlic to the pan and fry for 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant. Add turkey to the pan and top it with sprinkles of salt and freshly ground pepper and fry it up until turkey is heated through and mixed well with garlic.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the turkey mixture with the remaining ingredients. When the hash brown crust is ready pour the turkey-egg mixture over it and return to the oven.
Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for about 30 minutes until the quiche is light golden brown on top and puffed.
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