From Plymouth to Bombay in Under a Day
After we partake in the annual deluge of carbs and Americana-style side dishes that is a customary part of Thanksgiving, it is fair to say that our whole bodies are spent. The next day you inevitably wake up to what is essentially a food hangover--the aches and pains that serve as a quick reminder of the previous day's excess. You yawn, still groggy from the turkey's tryptophan-induced food coma. Stretching and scratching, you readjust your pajama pants where a bloated belly is pushing the limits of your elastic waistband. In brushing your teeth, you prepare those pearly whites and pink tongue for a new day. But sizing up the aftermath, you realize that whereas you may have gained five new pounds, you surely have lost a good amount of the taste buds that once were yours.
Yet in the spirit of the celebration of our American heritage, we are optimists. And thus Friday, even the Friday after Thanksgiving, is a new day. With the new day comes a clean slate, free for promises of better health ("My diet starts tomorrow"), commitments to better relationships ("When dealing with crazy relatives, I will adhere to the adage If you don't have anything nice to say. . .") and resolutions in kitchen endeavors ("I will never attempt to deep-fry a turkey in my garage ever again!"). With any luck, when you amble into the kitchen the dishes will have been done the night before and your path to success in the kitchen will be as clear as the sparkle on your countertop.
One minor problem: how is one to rejuvenate a sluggish body and sickly taste buds with a refrigerator full of leftovers?
Lucky for us, as Americans, not only are we optimists, we are innovators. So before the glow of the new day's renewal fades into a frightening vision of a week's worth of mashed potatoes and turkey, now is the time to harness the spirit of our pilgrim ancestors to take what you have to forge ahead with a new-found sense of culinary adventure!
Where to begin? First, take stock of what you have. How much turkey, how many cups of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and leftover veggies--either in side dishes or raw--do you have to work with? Often it is not just the cooked portions that are leftover, but those extra raw potatoes, whole apples, pecans and such that didn't quite make it onto the table after you shopped with the idea of "better to have too much than not enough." The beautiful thing is that these are the building blocks of your meals which take the shopping and much of the cooking time out of your dinners to come.
Now all you need is to map out a plan. Literally take out an atlas and map out a plan. Where in the world are you going to take these leftovers? Think far and wide because if you are going to revitalize your senses and avoid eating turkey sandwiches everyday for the coming week, you gotta get creative.
I like to look east, where halfway around the world they still regularly cook with poultry and potatoes. Yesterday we ate with the American Indians; so today, eat with the East Indians. If you have sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes you have the basis for a quick soup. Mixed with stock and doctored with spices, it can be whizzed in the blender and heated on the stove in less than ten minutes (However, if you are the type who makes terribly sweet sweet potatoes, you be the judge on whether they will find a place in a savory soup).
Since you may have overdone it on the starch the day before, now consider some sort of salad. Use turkey instead of the played-out chicken in a curried salad loaded with leftover nuts, dried fruit and coconut plus some of those leftover apples. This is a quick way to clean out all those bits and pieces that are taking up room in your pantry or crisper drawer.
Lastly, what to do with all that cranberry relish no one touched? As if it were not sweet already, thinned out and fluffed up with whipped cream and topped with some crushed cookies for crunch, the gelatinous glob is given new life as an ethereal ending to a quick and dreamy day-after meal.
Now that you have found that adventurous American spirit, get cooking! Be intrepid with the spirit of Plymouth Rock and find yourself on the other side of the world in less than the time it takes to book a ticket to Bombay.
Made with gingersnap cookies, pecans, confectioners' sugar, whipping cream, vanilla extract, cranberry sauce, oranges
Serves/Makes: 6
- 1/3 cup pecans
- 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups cranberry sauce
- 2 oranges
- 12 gingersnap cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a colander, lightly rinse pecans. Sprinkle with half the sugar and toss to coat. Spread out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put in the oven to bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
In a standing mixer or with an electric handheld mixer, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add remaining sugar and vanilla and beat until you have stiff peaks.
Meanwhile, whisk or stir cranberry sauce to break up and make smooth. Zest the oranges and mix zest into the cranberries. Remove skin and pith from the oranges, separate segments and cut into a quarter inch dice. Fold the orange dice into the cranberries.
Fold whipped cream into cranberry orange mixture. Divide evenly among individual dessert glasses.
In a large Ziploc bag, add pecans and gingersnaps. Seal, and with rolling pin or other heavy object, crush the contents of the bag until pieces are smallish. Top each serving fool with a healthy sprinkling of the pecan cookie topping.
Made with prepared mustard, sugar, cooked turkey, celery, apples, golden raisins, yellow onion, mayonnaise, curry powder
Serves/Makes: 4
- 5 cups cubed, cooked turkey (white or dark meat)
- 1 cup thinly sliced celery
- 2 medium apples, finely diced
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/3 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon curry powder, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
Place the cubed turkey, celery, apples, raisins, and onion in a large bowl.
In another bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, curry powder, sugar, and mustard until smooth. Fold the curried mayonnaise mixture into the turkey mixture, mixing until the turkey salad is coated well with the curry dressing.
Cover the bowl and place the salad in the refrigerator for 1-6 hours. Stir the turkey curry salad before serving. Serve on a bed or lettuce, croissants, or bread.
Made with salt and pepper, sour cream, chicken stock, oil, onion, ginger, ground turmeric, ground coriander, sweet potato, white potato
Serves/Makes: 4
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 onion, minced
- 1 piece (1-inch size) fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 cup baked sweet potato, skin removed
- 1 cup baked white potato, skin removed
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced onion, ginger, turmeric, and coriander. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft.
Combine the sweet and white potatoes in a food processor. Add the onion mixture and chicken stock. Process until smooth.
Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sour cream. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until just heated through. Do not let the soup boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
related articles
Write a comment:
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/185-plymouth-to-bombay/