One of my favorite things about the holidays, well besides being with family and friends, is all of the great food. I especially love Thanksgiving food, you know, turkey and gravy, stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and did I mention gravy? I love gravy. I also love Thanksgiving leftovers, but after two or three days of turkey, one can get a little tired of the reheated poultry taste. There's something about reheated meat in general that I'm not a huge fan of, but poultry is especially gross. I don't really know how to describe the flavor, but I know that you know what I'm talking about.
Well, we fried up an 18lb. turkey with the help of my father-in-law and it was delicious. But we were also left with a gallon sized Ziploc bag of turkey. My husband suggested that perhaps we should make a casserole of all of the leftovers, you know stir all the turkey, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes together and bake it in the oven. Now, I like Thanksgiving food, but I also like to enjoy each part separately, except the gravy that can cover every bit of my plate (minus the sweet potato casserole of course). I am not a huge casserole fan in general. So I nixed that idea pretty quickly.
My husband's second idea should win a gold star or maybe a blue ribbon because it was genius. Buffalo Turkey Bites. At first, I was skeptical because the turkey had to be reheated, but it was actually very tasty and if I hadn't known, I wouldn't have been able to tell that I was eating off the same turkey I've been nibbling on for the past three days. It also wins major points because it was so simple and easy. Have you seen those cooking shows where you need your leftovers plus 50 more ingredients to transform your food. Who has time for that? Plus I don't want to see the inside of a grocery store or any store for that matter for weeks after all of the shopping I've been doing lately.
Okay, okay, I know, get to the Buffalo Turkey Bites already. Simply cut up your leftover turkey into bite sized chunks and toss in a large bowl with your favorite wing sauce. We used traditional buffalo sauce, hence the name, Buffalo Turkey Bites. Next lay your sauce covered turkey onto a cookie sheet (we used our stoneware sheet) and bake until warm and the sauce is set, about 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Dunk in your favorite ranch or blue cheese dressing and voila, you are eating your leftover turkey and you won't even know it.
