Leftover Turkey Dinner Sandwiches

Gobble, gobble! 'Tis the season to celebrate big dinners and lots of leftovers!

It’s the time of year when turkey dinners make themselves at home in our kitchens, dining rooms and after all is said and eaten, in our fridges in leftover form. You could enjoy piling up plate after plate of leftovers for the next few lunches and dinners – and there’s nothing wrong with doing just that. Who doesn’t love another meal of mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce?

Or you could compress all that goodness between two thick slices of bread instead.

And from the Tupperware and Pyrex containers of leftovers rises the Leftover Turkey Dinner Sandwich.

I’m not going to pretend the idea for this sandwich creation is uniquely mine because I know for a fact that many people have been enjoying this sandwich for countless post-turkey dinners. It’s probably not as iconic as Grilled Cheese, but it’s up there. At least, it is for me.

It’s hard to describe the sheer pleasure I got a few weeks ago, from pulling out the leftovers from our big Canadian Ex-Pat Thanksgiving Dinner and heaping them together in a huge, delicious mouthful of a sandwich. So tasty, so filling. After your next turkey dinner, I encourage you to do the same.

This was only part of the feast. Potluck dinners are amazing.

You will need:

Sandwich bread, thickly sliced, or a small baguette, ciabatta or sub-style loaf cut lengthwise

Whatever leftovers you have from Turkey Dinner: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, etc.

Mustard and/or mayo, if you so choose

A hearty appetite

Stretchy pants or a belt you can loosen after eating are nice to have too

Stuffing, mustard, cranberries, turkey and bread.

Prep:

1-Spread your chosen condiment(s) on the bread or loaf.

2-Pile on your turkey dinner fixings in any order you choose. My personal favorite is turkey (dark meat, if possible), then stuffing, then topped with cranberries. We almost never have mashed potato leftovers, so I haven’t tried them on the sandwich. Hopefully I will someday.

Ready for stacking and snacking upon.

3-Stack the sandwich closed. This part is a bit messy but worth it.

4-Enjoy with a Cranberry Ginger Ale. If you’re lucky enough to find the real Canada Day stuff, good for you! If not, top up your half-full glass of ginger ale with cranberry juice.

Stacked to perfection.

My sandwich was good and thick and biting into it brought back many memories of Thanksgiving Dinners past: at home with my family in Canada and here in France with seven other families that make up one big combined, extended family. Always great times with great people on both sides of the Atlantic.

A question I’d like to put out there in the blogosphere – to heat or not to heat?

I didn’t heat mine and it tasted just fine, but when my husband made his, he pre-heated the leftovers before assembling his sandwich. It comes down to personal preferences and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

My husband's version, baguette style.

I hope this post gets you inspired with something fun to try after your next turkey dinner. For those of you who aren’t hosting and therefore don’t necessarily get leftovers, I hope your host sends you home with a care-package so the holiday gluttony can last for a few more days. Whether you eat your leftovers heaped on a plate or piled high in a sandwich, the end result should be the same: the satisfied silence of a turkey-dinner coma, complete with a full belly and a loosened belt.

Gobble, gobble, Sandwich Lovers. Eat up!

Ciabatta Goodness

Can you pronounce ciabatta?

It’s a tricky one – the ‘ci’ is actually pronounced like ‘chi’, so to say the name of this lovely bread correctly, try ‘chi-batta’. I actually looked up how to pronounce it – thank you Macmillan Dictionary and your audio clips for pronunciation!

Fresh Ciabatta Goodness!

This sudden attention to the pronunciation of foreign words is a result of the intensive English Teacher training course I recently completed at the International Language Center in Paris. I can now apply for English teaching positions and the world is wide open to me once again!

During my course, I brought my lunch from home as much as possible. This was helpful to save money, since buying lunch everyday can be expensive, and to save time, especially on those afternoons when I was teaching. I often brought homemade sandwiches made with ciabatta bread and stuffed with my favorite sandwich innards: multiple types of meat and cheese, veggies and mustard.

Stacked and Packed!

I can get fresh ciabatta bread  at my local grocery store and one loaf can make multiple sandwiches, depending on the size of my appetite: 3 small or 2 large. Ciabatta is lovely bread, crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, with lots of nice little nooks and crannies to hold reserves of mustard. It’s a worthy alternative to the baguette and it makes some pretty amazing sandwiches, both fresh and toasted.

A medley of goodness and ingredients

Possible ingredients for some Ciabatta Goodness include:

Meat: Ham, salami, sausage, roast beef, roast chicken or turkey

Cheese: Emmental, gouda, camembert (so good!)

Veggies: Feuilles de chêne (salad greens), arugula, spinach, avocado, red pepper, tomato, etc.

Condiments: Butter, mustard (multiple kinds in the same sandwich!), mayo

Prep:

1-Cut a fresh ciabatta loaf in half, length wise.

2-Spread butter and/or mustard on the halves, alternating or combining as per your tastes.

3-Pile on your choice(s) of meat(s) and cheese(s).

4-Top with veggies.

5-Assemble the top half of the loaf.

6-Cut to your desired size and number of sandwiches.

7-Serve and enjoy!

One Ciabatta Loaf = Multiple Sandwiches!

To create a tasty toasted ciabatta sandwich, place both halves of the bread (after the meat and cheese are in place, but before adding the veggies) in the oven under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, top with veggies, cut and serve!

Tasty and Toasty Ciabatta Sandwich

This sandwich was a conversation starter among my new classmates during my course and it was extremely filling to eat for lunch. It also works well at sandwich parties or potlucks, where there are lot of fun ingredient combinations to play with. We brought some ciabatta to a recent gathering of sandwich lovers (friends) and they were a big hit there too.

So give it a try with your favorite ingredients and when someone asks you about your sandwich, because they will, tell them it’s all in the ciabatta bread and help them pronounce it correctly.

Just don’t talk with your mouth full!

Upside-down Ciabatta Goodness.