Turn holiday leftovers into delicious dishes with these chef tips

Due to Omicron, many holiday tables have fewer guests this year, which may mean more food leftovers than you'd anticipated.

Rather than waste good food — and money — plan ahead for saving and using those leftovers whether ham, turkey, beef or vegetables.

First things first, however. Be safe and sure to protect the leftovers so they can become ingredients in the days ahead. 

When it comes to food safety when using leftovers, just remember that contaminated food doesn't necessarily smell bad (when in doubt, toss it out). Don't leave cooked food on the counter for more than two hours.

When packing leftovers into containers to store in the fridge, leave the top off until the food is cooled and has stopped  steaming before placing the covering on it. This will help cool it much faster, reducing the time it's exposed to warmer temperatures that a container lid might seal in.

Label the contents of the container and include the date. Don't pack the fridge too tightly: cooling air needs to circulate properly.

Generally, leftovers can be kept for about three to five days. Properly frozen food can stay in your freezer for up to six months.  

Rebrand your leftovers

Don't be discouraged by tired turkey bits and worn out-looking vegetables that make for uninspiring meal ideas. Think of leftovers as "ingredients" and be creative with them. Here are a few tips and ideas to make the remnants of your holiday meals a bit more enjoyable over the course of the next few days.

At Big Jerk Smokehouse, Kevin Thomas prepared Caribbean jerk-seasoned turkeys for holiday customers this year, so Thomas knows the bird well. His leftover dish is turkey tacos.

"Turkey can get dry when re-heating. Sauté it in barbecue sauce or leftover gravy. What we're trying to do is rehydrate the bird. Then add the ingredients you want in your taco and use a soft tortilla or hard shell. Be creative. Add some hot peppers and balance them out with some sour cream," said Thomas.

Collecting the remains of the meal and adding them to beaten eggs to make a frittata is another simple and delicious solution for the leftovers. Or, make a soup that could then be frozen for a future meal weeks down the road.

A plant-based approach could be to omit the eggs and use a silken tofu. Add herbs and spices to make a veggie hash with leftover vegetables.

Reinvented birds  

Kirstie Herbstreit and Jody O'Malley operate The Culinary Studio. Herbstreit suggests taking your turkey leftovers to southeast Asia by adding a simple tomato-based sauce.

"There will likely be leftover turkey and definitely a need to re-invent it, Herbstreit says. "Make an achar, a spiced Indian tomato-butter sauce. Simmer the leftover turkey in it quite gently, add some rice and dinner is done." (The Culinary Studio recipe is below.)

A holiday duck or goose is a less familiar dish nowadays, but not for local chef Teneile Warren, who, like Thomas, suggests adding Caribbean flavours to fowl.

"My Jamaican Christmas table will have duck. I'd do a curried take on the leftovers for a shepherd's pie with a green plantain crust, but you can also use mashed potatoes. I already know that I'm going to have a lot of green beans on the table and other roasted veggies that can re-invent the dish as a warm meal," Warren says.

If you are a bit more ambitious, Darryl Howie of Darlise Cafe suggests shaping leftover turkey and sides into a "drumstick" with a re-vitalized cranberry sauce.

"Chop the turkey fine, add some mashed potatoes, chopped vegetables and mix them together with cream and Cheddar or Parmesan cheese and form it into a croquette and shallow fry it," says Howie.

"You could even shape it into drumstick with some egg as a bit of a binder. Give it an egg wash and add some breadcrumbs, fry it and then finish in the oven," he says.

Howie says to mix the cranberries with some heavy cream, some brown sugar and a bit of lemon juice to a sauce-like consistency in a saucepan. "Pour some on the plate and add your re-made drumstick," Howie says. "I've done this with ham too. It's just a fun way to use up leftovers."

Mix bits with pasta 

If you have the odds and ends of various cheeses that remain from holiday entertaining, combine them with a sauce of butter, flour and milk (a Béchamel) and create a layered pasta. Bake with whatever noodles you have on hand – penne or rigatoni, for instance – and some tomato sauce. It's easy to combine that mix with some bits of turkey and leftover vegetables too.

Keep stale, leftover bread as well. Rejuvenate it by cutting it into cubes and making a Tuscan panzanella salad with olive oil, onions, garlic, cucumber, tomatoes and cheese if you like. Give it the zip of acidity with red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard, along with red pepper flakes and any basil and parsley garnish that have been left behind in the fridge. Let the mixture sit for a short time so flavours combine.

Use slices of old bread or even dry pannetone wedges in a French Toast breakfast, or, to be fancy, "pain perdu:" soak thick slices of the loaf in beaten eggs, some milk, cinnamon and a touch of maple syrup overnight and pan-fry them the next morning. 

No judging 

Any chef will say creativity can defeat your leftover blahs, if you use your imagination and think outside the box.

"It's using up your leftovers and whatever garnishes you have. Toss them in and play with it," Thomas says with a laugh. "You're the one that's going to be eating it, so you won't be judged." 

Warm Tomato Achar | The Culinary Studio

"Achar is versatile as a dip or spicy sauce to cook with leftover turkey or vegetables. Add some rice, and dinner is done," says Kirstie Herbstreit.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon sugar
2 cups good quality canned tomatoes
1 teaspooon hot sauce
Juice from ½ lemon
4-5 sprigs cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Pre-heat a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Add butter to melt, followed by garlic and ginger. Fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Stir in spices and sugar, fry 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and hot sauce, stirring to break up the tomatoes.

Increase heat to reduce tomatoes, simmering for 4-5 minutes. Add leftover turkey and/or vegetables and heat it through.

Turn off heat, stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve with rice, warm bread or pita.