My long-time go-to wild rice casserole, perfect with after-Thanksgiving leftover turkey.
So let’s talk turkey.
We perch in separate broods, the crowd which loves Thanksgiving dinner and the gang which holds out for Thanksgiving leftovers.
Last year, I might have been the happiest person not cooking a turkey. That’s because I stuffed myself at dinner and then came home with the carcass of a fifteen-pound bird that the next day yielded ten cups of stock and nearly as much meat.
So keep your brined and roasted and smoked and deep-fried turkeys fresh-sliced for the holiday table.
Just send me home with nothing but bones to feast for weeks, starting with sandwiches and warmed-overs before moving onto hot soup and pot pie and exotic-sounding, if you think about it, plain-fare turkey tetrazzini (like my mom's recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini) and turkey enchiladas.
But most years, the choice is a comfort-food casserole, a one-dish supper that’ll hold over the leftover-lovin’ turkeys til next year.
For a festive variation, add dried cranberries. For good crunch, chop up a can of water chestnuts, stir them in with the turkey. To stock your freezer without an inventory of dishes, try this technique. Line a casserole dish with plastic wrap, spray lightly with cooking spray. Add the casserole contents and freeze overnight. Lift the frozen casserole out of the dish, wrap it with foil and return to the freezer without the dish. Two days before serving, peel off the foil and plastic wrap, tuck the perfectly shaped casserole back into the dish for thawing and cooking. It’s a snap!
What happens to your Thanksgiving leftovers? Send ideas via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. Follow Kitchen Parade on Facebook! TURKEY WILD RICE CASSEROLE
Time-to-table: 90 minutes
Serves 8
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup wild rice (either natural or cultivated, see about wild rice), rinsed
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 large onion, diced (about 1-1/2 cups)
- 4 ribs celery, diced (about 2 cups)
- 1 large carrot, grated (about 1 cup)
- 2 cups turkey stock or 15 ounces canned chicken broth
- 2 cups half & half (see Later Notes) whisked until smooth with 1/4 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3 cups cooked turkey (about 3/4 pound), diced
- 1/3 cup toasted almonds (how to toast nuts)
Bring water to boil in a saucepan. Stir in salt and rice, simmer for 30 - 45 minutes until the rice is tender but still chewy.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter and sauté the onion, celery and carrots until soft. Add the stock and bring to a boil, then slowly stir in the cream/flour mixture. Add the sherry, salt and pepper. Add the turkey and let simmer slowly while the rice finishes.
Gently stir rice into the turkey mixture. Transfer to two-quart greased casserole dish. (See ALANNA’s TIPS.) Top with almonds and bake for 35 – 40 minutes at 375F.
Serve with cranberry sauce on the side.
LATER NOTES This recipe goes way-way back, I have made it many times. But when I made it in 2010, the mixture seemed right with just one cup of half & half (mixed with 1/4 cup flour) and baked up perfectly. So you might start with just a cup of liquid, then decide whether the second cup is needed. It never hurts to save a few calories, too. :-)
This recipe has been ‘Alanna-sized’ with increases in no-calorie flavorings and fiber-rich vegetables.More Wild Rice Recipes
More Recipe Ideas for Leftover Turkey
What's Your Favorite Way to Use Up Leftover Turkey?
I'd love to know your family's favorites! Let me know in the comments!
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My favorite use for a turkey carcass is lentil soup -- even better if the turkey was smoked. Lentils and turkey get along like gang-busters.
Happy T'day!
11/23/2006
Thanks again .We have snow in Kentucky.Suzanne
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna