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Talking Turkey (Hash)

Oh, my, Thanksgiving is upon us, although it is late this year. This year, we have an extra week to prepare. I have made roasted turkey almost every way possible. I have brined it, roasted it upside down before turning it upside, baked it in plastic bags, and wrapped the top in cheesecloth. I have bought Butterball and organic turkeys.

Now, I buy the least expensive turkey, always frozen. I figure he fresh turkey at the supermarket may have been in the cooler for many days. My turkey was probably frozen before it got to the supermarket. I do thaw the turkey in the refrigerator for at least three days. Usually, by the morning of Thanksgiving, I think it has thawed, but it hasn’t and my hands are frozen and sore by the time I get the bag of giblets out of the cavity. I stuff the turkey, baste it with butter and white wine. While there has been some debate about when to call it cooked through and safe to eat, the current consensus is that it’s dinner time when everything—turkey meat dark and light and all of the stuffing—reaches 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. If the white meat is a little dry at the end, I figure the gravy, the moist stuffing, and the buttery mashed potatoes will turn that meat luscious. If you want my Turkey 101, its gravy and its stuffing, e-mail me at leeawhite@aol.com.

My favorite leftover is a turkey sandwich and its sides, three to four inches tall at the very least. My second favorite is to make a casserole and eat it on Sunday. Too much mashed potatoes? Freeze the potatoes in 1 cup packets and make mashed potato bread. For that recipe, e-mail me. And here is another recipe. It’s delish.

Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.

Turkey Hash Salad

From Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, The New Basics Cookbook (Workman, New York, 1989)

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5 teaspoons Dijon mustard

½ cup red wine vinegar

1 cup light olive oil (or other good vegetable oil)

12 small red potatoes

½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt

2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

12 large cloves garlic

8 ounces bacon cut into one-half-inch pieces

½ cup finely chopped red onion

¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 cups coarsely shredded cook turkey

1 bunch arugula, rinsed, trimmed and patted dry

2 bunches watercress, rinsed, trimmed and

patted dry

Whisk mustard and vinegar together in a small bowl. Slowly pour in ¾ cup olive oil, whisking constantly. Set the vinaigrette aside.

Prick the potatoes all over with the tines of a fork. Combine remaining ¼ cup olive oil, salt, and 1 teaspoon of the pepper in a bowl. Add potatoes and toss until well coated with the mixture. Place the potatoes in a shallow roasting pan and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Remove potatoes from the oven and allow them to cool. Then cut them into one-half-inch slices and place in a large bowl.

Place the garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Cover with water, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain, allow to cool. Then peel.

Saute bacon in a heavy skillet until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain, reserving the fat.

Add garlic cloves to bacon fat in the skillet and cook over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Discard the fat.

Add red onion, parsley, remaining teaspoon of black pepper and the vinaigrette to the potatoes. Toss gently.

Add turkey, bacon and garlic cloves. Gently fold all ingredients together.

Arrange the arugula and watercress on a large serving platter and place the salad on top. Serve immediately.