Thanksgiving Leftovers 2: The Curry That Saved Christmas

Aaaand now it’s Sunday. Day three after the holiday, and the last of that turkey had. to. go. If we threw that final, symbolic half pound away, then an innocent beast would have died in vain, the abundance of the holiday would have been dishonored, and we would have been spitting in the face of our Pilgrim ancestors who would have called up Santa and baby Jesus all ornery-like to instruct them to fill our stockings with weasel droppings and Justin Beiber novelty pens.  

So for the final push, here it is, The Curry That Saved Christmas.

Today I am grateful for keffir lime leaves, coconut milk, and the fact that this dish tastes like all of the things that don’t remind me of Thanksgiving food.  

Turkey, Kale and Sweet Potato Curry     

2 tsp vegi oil

½ onion, sliced

2-3 thai chilies, chopped fine

4 tsp red thai curry paste

1 ½ cups chicken broth

1 cup coconut milk

1 tsp soy sauce

2 keffir lime leaves, torn

1 ½ cup kale (or ½ lb of green beans, or other leftover greens)

½ lb cooked turkey, cubed

2-3 cooked sweet potatoes, cubed (festive marshmallow and/or fruity topping scraped off).*

White rice, for serving

In a large pot, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and thai chilies and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or so until onions are soft.  Add curry paste and fry, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Add broth, coconut milk, soy sauce and kefir lime leaves and bring to a simmer. Add kale or other greens. If greens are raw, simmer in the curry for 4-5 minutes until cooked through. Add turkey and sweet potatoes, and simmer for another 2 minutes, just to heat. ** Serve with rice, hot pepper flakes, and lime wedges.

*This only works if you make sweet potatoes like my mother-in-law. That is, not mashed but cut into halves and baked with sweet stuff on top.  Otherwise use raw sweet potatoes, peeled, and added just after the broth and coconut and cooked for 5-10 minutes until tender. Leftover pumpkin or other firm winter squash will work just as well.

** Should your sweet potatoes have, like mine, been sitting on the counter for three days instead of in the fridge like they were supposed to be, boil vigorously for 2 minutes to kill whatever questionable bacteria might be present. Unless your great-great-grandparents came over on the Mayflower, in which case the USDA advises that you are of such hearty and resilient stock that the potatoes are safe for you to consume either way.

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Black Bean Turkey Pot Pies and 5-Spice Cranberry Sauce

The Pilgrams were fortunate. They didn’t have access to Asian food, and therefore didn’t experience the withdrawal symptoms that yours truly has been subjected to thanks to the onset of Thanksgiving.  We have just concluded 5 days of family entertainment, culminating in the traditional annual celebration of white person food. My dairy consumption is off the charts, and this morning’s blood test revealed a soy sauce level that is dangerously low.  I have grown two inches taller, and have developed a Minnesota-shaped rash on my right arm.  Coincidence? I think not.

Yet there is an issue of leftovers that must be resolved. Since my cookbooks have more to say about pickled mustard greens than mashed potatoes or turkey, I must find a way to transform the pounds and pounds of leftover Thanksgiving food into something Asian-y. 

Update: Zao Jun the Kitchen God has smiled on me today and helped me to create damn good Asian Turkey Pot Pies. Google doesn’t turn anything up in this particular category, so perhaps we’re starting something here. This made a dent in the leftover turkey, gravy, veggies, biscuits, AND cranberries. Thanks to all the cooking that actually took place on Thanksgiving day, this was an easy 10 minute assembly. There is real heat in the cranberry sauce, so add cayenne and taste as you go, yo.  

Black Bean Turkey Pot Pies and Five-Spice Cranberry Sauce

Pot Pie

1 can Pillsbury or other oven-bake biscuits

1 cup green beans, cut to ¼ inch dice, or 1 cup peas

1 cup mushrooms, diced

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup cooked turkey, diced

1 T fresh ginger, grated or finely diced

2 large garlic cloves, diced

1 ½ cup brown, mushroom, or turkey gravy

1 ½ tsp black bean sauce

1 T vegetable oil              

Soy Sauce

Preheat over according to directions on can o’ biscuits. Grease 8 muffin tins.

In a wok or large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onions and sauté until they start to soften. Add garlic and ginger, sauté 1 minute. Add beans and mushrooms, cook 2 minutes or until just starting to soften – leave them al dente. Add turkey and gravy and remove pan from heat. (Unless you are Emeril or Oprah, that turkey is probably already dry, so don't cook it anymore, for pete's sake.) Stir black bean sauce in and mix all to combine.    

Roll each biscuit into large, thin rounds between two pieces of wax paper. Place one into each muffin tin, with the edges folded out like flower petals. Fill each cup with pie filling, and fold edges of dough in toward the center. Filling will not be completely covered – just make sure the edges of the dough don’t creep back down into the cup.

Bake according to directions on biscuit can, or just remove from the oven when they look ready to be bitten.

Serve with soy sauce to drizzle, ma nizzle.

Cranberry Sauce

½ cup leftover cranberry sauce

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

Mix all to combine well. Serve alongside pot pies

Where to find Asian Ingredients in San Francisco

Hint: Not at the misleadingly named Cost Plus “World Market”.  Not only will you NOT find lemongrass there, you may awake from a retail-induced fog to find you have purchased a wicker elephant “figurine”.  Don’t do it.

Sure, you can buy oyster sauce at every Walgreens in SF, but other items are harder to find here than a registered Republican.  Lucky for you, I’ve done the heavy lifting. Three month long sleepless, peyote-fueled quests for puya chiles, miles run through the Sunset with long-sought pandan leaves defrosting in my hand… I’ve done these things so that you don’t have to.

Here’s a guide that will help you spend less time driving all over hell and half of Georgia, and more time crushing Soju shots.  First, organized by ingredient, then organized by market, so that when you’re on-site you can stock up on all that is inconveniently essential.

*Check back for updates!

New May Wah Market  - 707 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118

Keffir lime leaves

Thai eggplant

Thai Basil

23rd and Irving Market 2101 Irving St 94122

Keffir Lime Leaves (cheap! $1/pack)

Thai Basil

Shishito Peppers

Kukje Supermarket 2350 Junipero Serra Blvd, Daly City, CA

Shishito Peppers

Huge bags of ground peppers for kimchi

Manila Oriental Market 4175 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94112

Dried Puya Chiles

Spice Ace 1821 Steiner St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Dried Puya Chiles

Dried Thai Chiles

99 Ranch Market 250 Skyline Plaza, Daly City, CA 94015

Thai Basil

BY INGREDIENT:

Keffir Lime Leaves

New May Wah Market  - 707 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118

23rd and Irving Market 2101 Irving St 94122

Puya Chilies (dried)

Manila Oriental Market 4175 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94112

Spice Ace 1821 Steiner St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Shishito Peppers

Kukje Supermarket 2350 Junipero Serra Blvd, Daly City, CA23rd and Irving Market 2101 Irving St 94122

Thai Basil (real Thai basil, not some other similar versions found in most Asian stores)

New May Wah Market  - 707 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118

23rd and Irving Market 2101 Irving St 94122
99 Ranch Market 250 Skyline Plaza Daly City, CA 94015

Thai Chilies (Dried)

Spice Ace 1821 Steiner St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Thai Eggplant

New May Wah Market  - 707 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118