The East Hampton Star makes it easy on the cook. Everett requires less than a week from the time copy is submitted to date of publication. For that I give thanks. Except at Thanksgiving.
That is when all or part of my Thanksgiving dinner and/or dishes made with the leftovers of the meal must be cooked or recooked a full week or two before the holiday. The issues which precede Thanksgiving must have appropriate copy.
Pumpkin pie on Dec. 4 would be anticlimactic. And by that date, one's turkey leftovers would certainly have long been digested. Thus, thinking of the designers who are showing spring collections now, I roasted a turkey last week. (Fortunately, my sister-in-law is doing the real family dinner this year.)
This dress rehearsal fortified us for two meals. The ample remains of the bird were divided into white meat, saved for salad and sandwiches, and dark, the better to make casseroles, hashes, curries, pates, and vegetable stuffings and such.
Thanksgiving In July
Actually, it was still more convenient than cooking Thanksgiving dinner in July, which I have done for magazines requiring lengthy lead time. You learn to keep a supply of cranberries and last year’s pumpkin puree in the freezer.
Herewith a casserole of extreme simplicity but terrific flavor, suitable for entertaining the hungry on Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving (by which time one has presumably regained one's appetite).
Not only will it make use of every last scrap of meat still clinging to the bones, but the very bones themselves can be simmered to make stock for the dish. A final advantage is that it does not come across as poultry particularly, but rather, something hearty and good.
Serve it with rice (if you have enough turkey stock, cook your rice in it, too), a tossed salad, incorporating the last of the ripe local tomatoes (for these, and for fresh corn, one must give double thanks every year), and plenty of beer.
Turkey and Lentil Casserole
3 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. ground cumin
3 cups cooked turkey, preferably dark meat, in 1" chunks (see Note 1)
4 cups boiling stock or water (see Note 2)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 cups lentils
Sour cream or plain yogurt (optional)
Heat oil in a heavy casserole (2 1/2 to 3 quart). Add onion and green pepper and saute until soft. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, for several minutes, until the mushrooms are moist. Stir in garlic and ginger and continue to cook several minutes longer. Do not allow the garlic to brown. Stir in cumin. Add turkey and one cup of the stock or water and stir gently to combine the ingredients. Stir in salt and pepper, the lentils, and remaining stock or water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the lentils are tender, about one hour. If all the liquid has not been absorbed, allow the casserole to sit, covered, for about 15 minutes before serving. If you plan to reheat the casserole, you may have to add additional boiling stock or water. Reheat it covered, preferably in a 350-degree oven, and do not stir it or the lentils will become mushy. Serve with sour cream or yogurt if you wish.
Serves six to eight.
Notes:
1. If you do not have three cups of turkey, you can make do with two, or supplement the turkey with some sliced Polish sausage.
2. Make turkey stock by breaking up the carcass and simmering it in salted water with celery, onion, carrot, and leek for about two hours. Strain and, if necessary, reduce it and concentrate the flavor by boiling it down. Chicken broth may be substituted.
