Jenny and the Giant Turkey - Chapter Seven - Finishing Off the Last of It!

Each time we smoked at turkey, we eeked out seven full meals from it.  That doesn't include the regular ol' turkey sandwiches or any leftovers from the main dish.    I say for $0.69 a pound...that's not too shabby.  I spread these meals over the course of two weeks.  The few days after smoking the giant bird, I put some meat in the freezer for later use.  The last meal each time was taking the bones and the meat left on them from the smoked portion of the turkey (the legs, thighs and breast bones) and making smoked turkey soup.  I followed my previous soup method...but added a cup of brown rice instead of the noodles for a simple variation.

Other dishes that I did that I didn't include on this blog were turkey quiche.  I used Julia Child's quiche base: 3 beaten eggs and 1 c. heavy cream with salt and pepper.  I added 1 c. of chopped turkey and 1 c. of cheddar cheese.  Pour into a prepared pie shell and bake at 375 for 30 to 35 minutes or until just set.  The middle should be a little jiggly when you bring it out of the oven.  Sadly, I didn't take any pics of that meal....or I might have lost them when our computer crashed.  It was delicious!

I also made a curried turkey salad.

I took a basic turkey salad recipe and added a T. of curry powder.  My basic turkey salad is  2 c. of chopped turkey; 2 carrots and  2 celery stalks, chopped; a minced shallot; 1/2 c. mayo; salt and pepper and of course, the curry powder.

We like our turkey salad a little on the dry side...only because I go light on the mayo.  You can add more to your liking of course. It made a fabulous sandwich, with the right bread of course.  Matt used a tortilla wrap and said it was wonderful. 

Okay, quick recap:  We ate soup twice; quiche with one bird and bread pudding with another; Kentucky Hot Browns; barbequed turkey pizza;  turkey salad sandwiches and of course, the original smoked turkey.

I hope you've enjoyed this series of blogs; I've certainly enjoyed writing them.  It was fun coming up with new ways to use up a large, inexpensive, but yummy! ingredient like the massive turkey!  Next time you see a turkey on sale, consider buying one and seeing how many meals you can come with!