A little something left over?
Try making Turkey a la King
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| While this Turkey a la King recipe calls for carrots and beans, you can use just about any vegetable to enhance it – even anything leftover from Thanksgiving dinner. You can even substitute chicken for the turkey. (Herald Photo by Adam Nekola) |
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Even before Thanksgiving begins, we start thinking of what we will want to do with the leftovers.
Turkey a la King is just one delicious recipe for turkey. It is easy to make and very tasty.
You can substitute leftover cooked vegetables from your Thanksgiving meal for the carrots and beans. Hopefully, one of your leftover vegetables is carrots, because that veggie is really delicious in turkey a la king.
I like to use beans, but peas are good also.
This dish really gives a wonderful flavor to your leftover turkey. It is so good that, hopefully, everyone will like it, and you may find that you make it often.
No need to wait for leftovers with this recipe. You can use cooked turkey at any time of year to make this.
You can also substitute chicken. But then, of course, it would be Chicken a la King.
Keep this recipe handy for those times you need a quick, hearty dinner.
The sauce in this dish is basically a gravy. If you have leftover turkey gravy, use that in this dish. If you have no gravy or are making this at a different time, just use the recipe for gravy in the recipe.
If you have your own homemade turkey stock, use that. Otherwise, chicken broth is fine. It is all fowl anyway.
One easy secret kitchen staple is Kitchen Bouquet. This is a great thing to have on hand. You will find that you will use it for many different things that you make in the kitchen. It is just a browning sauce that adds color and also enhances flavor.
If you want the gravy you make to be a little darker, add ¼ teaspoon of Kitchen Bouquet at a time until you have achieved the color you want for the sauce. Be careful not to add too much.
My friend, Kathy Maddox, who is probably the best cook I know, always makes her Turkey a la King with mushrooms and green olives only.
This is another good way to prepare this dish. Feel free to put your leftover green olives in this recipe!
Serve this over mashed potatoes, rice or biscuits.
There are so many things to prepare with turkey leftovers. Besides the Turkey a la King, you can make a quiche, shepherds pie, or any number of other dishes. Even a turkey sandwich is delicious.
If you have a lot of turkey left, freeze it for a later use. It will be a real treat to have cooked turkey in your freezer for a quick meal when you are short on time.
Be sure to boil the turkey carcass for turkey soup or for stock. I like to have stock in my freezer to use as needed. Pour the prepared stock into paper cups and freeze. Unmold and put in a freezer bag to store in the freezer.
I usually freeze one and two cup measures of broth. That way, I can take out the size I need and I don’t waste any.
This may seem like a lot of work, but you may find, as I do that it is nice to have fresh stock on hand for all those recipes that call for it. In fact, I have started browning vegetables in stock instead of butter.
Be sure to give thanks this holiday for all the things you have been blessed with.
And remember,… a good cook always cleans up!
Turkey a la King
3 cups chicken stock
¼ cup flour
1 cup water or milk
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp. celery
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
In medium saucepan, bring stock to a boil. In small bowl, dissolve flour in water. Gradually whisk flour mixture into stock.
Season with poultry seasoning, salt, pepper and celery salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer until thickened, 8 to 10 minutes.
Stir in the turkey, carrots, green beans, salt and pepper; heat through.
Serves 5
