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I'm Ree Drummond.
I'm a writer, blogger, photographer, mother,
and I'm an accidental country girl.
I live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere,
and all my recipes have to be approved by cowboys,
hungry kids, and me.
It's the day after Thanksgiving.
The big meal is done,
and I'm doctoring up all the luscious leftovers.
First, I'm making my girls
a delicious leftover Thanksgiving panini.
Lunch delivery.
Ooh, yum.
Then leftover turkey makes another appearance
in light, crisp, crunchy spring rolls
with a great dipping sauce.
After that, we're taking Ladd's grandmother a turkey Tetrazzini.
Thank you. Thank you, guys.
REE: At the end of the day, pumpkin-pie filling
is magically transformed into pumpkin smoothies.
I think this is going pretty smoothly.
Don't you think?
This is the Thanksgiving feast that keeps on giving.
Welcome to my frontier.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
Well, Thanksgiving dinner is over,
and, boy, was it delicious.
Everybody ate and ate and ate, and now everyone's chilling out.
We had a really great meal.
You know, I love Thanksgiving,
but I actually love the day after Thanksgiving
almost as much,
and that's because I love Thanksgiving leftover recipes.
I've got a big old platter of turkey.
I have a big bowl of dressing, cranberry sauce, leftover gravy.
Today was pretty delicious,
but tomorrow's gonna be delicious, too.
Well, I'm up here at the lodge
cleaning up after our big Thanksgiving feast yesterday.
Ladd and the boys are out feeding cattle,
and the girls are doing some work
on another part of the ranch.
They just called me and told me they are hungry,
and I said, "Well, I've got just the thing."
I'm gonna whip up a delicious leftover Thanksgiving panini.
I'm gonna use stuff that we had yesterday,
and it is gonna be so good.
I'll start with two slices of sourdough bread.
You can use whatever kind of bread you want.
And then I'll put some Dijon mustard on both halves.
This sandwich is so huge and filling,
I'm just gonna have the girls split one.
Now I'll just spread the Dijon in a really thin layer.
The Dijon just gives the sandwich a really nice tang.
But I don't want to add too much.
I don't want it to be gloopy.
That's one of my favorite words.
I use it a lot.
Okay, since this is a panini, it has to have cheese,
and I like to use Swiss cheese,
but, of course, any cheese will do.
And I'll do one piece on each slice of bread.
Okay, and now, because this is a leftover Thanksgiving panini,
it has to have turkey.
This turkey is the one I make every year,
and it is so delicious.
I just brine the turkey
and rub it in a rosemary-citrus butter while it roasts,
and it always comes out moist, juicy, golden brown,
and delicious.
I'm gonna use mostly white meat on the sandwich.
That's what my girls really like.
Fortunately, I have plenty left over.
And I'll just do about 1/3 cup or so.
I love to have pieces with the skin still on,
just all that Thanksgiving flavor.
I'll add just a little bit more.
Okay, now, on top of the turkey,
I'll spoon some of my leftover cranberry sauce.
I make this every year, and it is good.
I just use fresh cranberries, cranberry juice,
maple syrup, orange juice, and a little orange zest.
This is kind of a weird sandwich.
It has every single component of Thanksgiving dinner
on the sandwich,
but it all combines to make this heavenly, heavenly sandwich
so good.
Okay, I just spread that out.
Next comes my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner --
the dressing.
This is my cornbread dressing
with sausage, apples, and mushrooms.
It's so good, you could make a meal out of it.
I'll just grab some big chunks of dressing.
Oh, I love this stuff.
I'm always relieved when there's leftover dressing
'cause I know I'm gonna use it.
Okay, I think that's about all the dressing
this sandwich will hold.
And then, over the top of the dressing,
I'm gonna spoon some of this heavenly giblet gravy.
It's just a classic Thanksgiving gravy made
with giblets and turkey drippings,
definitely a must on our Thanksgiving table.
Okay, now I'll just spoon this luscious gravy
right over the dressing.
It actually helps that the gravy's kind of cool.
It's not totally warm and running all over the place.
Okay.
Now I'm gonna put this sandwich together.
I want the outside of the panini
to be really crisp and golden brown.
So I've got some softened butter,
and I'll just spread it all over the surface.
And then my panini maker should be all toasty.
So, I'm gonna put it face down,
hoping this beautiful sandwich doesn't fall apart.
Ready. Set.
Ahh. I love it when it works.
Okay, I'll just pat it down a little bit.
And now, before I close it,
I'll just spread the top with butter.
My girls love panini,
but they are gonna go crazy over this one.
I'm starving.
There has to be some pretty good leftovers up there.
Hopefully turkey.
Okay. Oh, the panini is ready.
I kind of wish I had made myself one.
It smells so divine.
The girls will be here in just a minute.
I told them just to honk the horn
'cause they're in a hurry to get where they're going.
So, I'll just slice it in half.
The cheese is melted, the gravy is hot,
everything is just yummy and gooey.
Oh! The girls are gonna love this.
All right, I'll just wrap them up.
[ Horn honks ]
Oh, and there are the girls.
It's like a lodge drive-through.
Hey, girlies.
Lunch delivery.
Ooh, yum.
I made you panini with all the Thanksgiving leftovers inside.
Good, 'cause we're hungry.
I'm gonna come get you later.
I'm gonna go in and make some turkey Tetrazzini
to take to Edna Mae.
And I'll come get you and we'll take it to her, okay?
Okay.
All right, enjoy your panini, girls.
Thanks, Mom.
[ Engine turns over ]
But before I do anything,
I'm gonna take care of lunch for me.
Mmm. This looks good.
This isn't fair. I want to eat mine.
Mmm.
Stop it.
[ Chuckles ]
Up next, cool and crunchy turkey spring rolls,
and a comfort classic -- turkey Tetrazzini.
Then it's a treat for the kids --
fabulous, festive pumpkin smoothies.
That was good, Mom.
[ Laughs ]
You have a pumpkin-pie mustache.
One of the downsides
of having everybody over for Thanksgiving dinner
is all the cleanup.
Well, I've made pretty good progress there.
Now, one of the upsides to having dinner at my house
is I wind up
with all the delicious Thanksgiving leftovers.
I'm gonna whip up something that I just love,
but I need a few things.
Soy sauce, sesame oil, hot chili oil.
I love this stuff.
Rice wine vinegar.
I'm gonna whip up something with a little bit of an Asian edge.
It's gonna be so good.
The girls have had their lunch.
Now I'm gonna have mine.
I'm whipping up a batch of leftover turkey spring rolls.
They are so fresh and so delicious.
After the big, heavy meal we had yesterday,
they're gonna be just the ticket.
Now, I'll start by soaking some cellophane noodles.
I love these things.
They soften and they're really transparent.
They're really light.
I'll just pour them into a bowl.
And then I have a kettle of boiling water.
And I'll just pour the water right over the noodles.
They're so easy.
You just have to let them soak for about five minutes or so
and they'll be just perfect.
Okay, I'll let those go.
And now I'll start on the flavoring
for the leftover turkey.
It starts with about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
I usually do low-sodium soy sauce whenever I use soy sauce.
All righty.
Now, just about a teaspoon of rice wine vinegar.
I don't need to make too much,
just a little bit to season the turkey.
Okay, and then my very favorite --
About a teaspoon of sesame oil.
And then, to give it a little bit of a kick,
about 1/2 teaspoon of hot chili oil.
I can definitely handle the spice,
but you don't have to add this if you don't want to.
Okay, now I'll just whisk this together.
And then I have some shredded turkey.
I tore it into pieces.
I'll just grab a handful, and I'll just sort of toss it in,
and this is gonna make the turkey
just out-of-this-world delicious.
And what I love about these spring rolls
is the flavors are totally different
from the ones in the Thanksgiving meal.
Now, the noodles look like they're ready,
so I'll drain them.
Okay, now, to make the wrapper,
I need these rice paper wrappers.
So I'll just snip open the package,
and I'll take one out,
and then I'll just dip it into a bowl of warm water.
I don't want it to get too soft.
If the wrapper's too soft, then the whole thing will fall apart.
I take it out just a few seconds before I think it's perfect
'cause it'll still start to soften after I take it out.
Okay, it's just right.
Now I grab leaves of cilantro, and I just lay them on first,
and that way, when you roll up the roll,
you have these beautiful leaves that are visible.
Now I'll grab a little handful of noodles.
The biggest mistake I sometimes make when I build these
is putting too much filling in,
and then the roll won't roll at all.
So just start with a little bit of everything.
Some turkey.
Then I have just some regular lettuce.
Julienned carrots.
And the same with cucumbers.
Alfalfa sprouts.
I love alfalfa sprouts.
A little more cilantro in.
This is more of a filling then a decoration.
All right, and now I'll start to roll it.
I'll start by bringing the bottom up,
and I'll wrap all the ingredients
and try to get it nice and tight in there.
And then I'll fold in the edges.
I'm not gonna win any perfection awards with these.
I might win a delicious award, though.
And then I'll just roll them up.
Okay, just perfect.
Now, I would sink my teeth into this right now,
but I've got a few more to build.
You obviously don't have to wait
until you have Thanksgiving leftovers to make them.
You can put chicken in them.
You can use cooked shrimp.
Anything you can fit in the wrapper will work.
Okay, last one.
These will keep for a good day in the fridge,
so I'll snack on them here and there.
They're that good.
Okay, now, to go with the spring rolls,
I need to make a dipping sauce,
so I'm gonna break out
the leftover cranberry sauce again.
It's the perfect base.
And I'll just put a few spoonfuls in.
And then, to make it into more of a sauce,
I'll add a little bit of soy sauce,
and just 'cause I'm feeling adventurous,
I'll add some hot chili oil.
Okay, the sauce is ready, which means I get to dig in.
I am so excited.
I love these things.
Just cut it in half.
I'll tell you what.
Ohh.
You know, Thanksgiving dinner is good and all,
but I don't think anything's better than the leftovers.
Mmm! Mmm.
Up next, turkey Tetrazzini,
one of my all-time favorite leftover dishes,
and a fabulous post-holiday treat for the kids --
pumpkin smoothies.
Ladd's grandmother Edna Mae
joined us for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday,
and she brought the most amazing casserole in this lovely dish.
But rather than take it back to her empty,
I decided to fill it with a big old batch of turkey Tetrazzini.
It's one of my very favorite Thanksgiving leftovers.
So I'm just gonna go pick up the kids and head to town.
Turkey Tetrazzini is really simple,
but it does have quite a few steps.
I'm gonna start by making the delicious sauce.
Now, I've got 1/2 a stick of butter sizzling in a pot,
and I'll add some really finely minced garlic.
Now I have some white mushrooms,
and I just sliced them into quarters,
and I'll throw them in.
That's one of the things I love
about this Thanksgiving leftover dish.
I had these mushrooms on hand for my Thanksgiving stuffing.
A lot of these things I already had.
Okay, now I'll just stir the mushrooms around,
get them coated in that butter and garlic.
And now I'm gonna add a cup of white wine.
The only thing better
than mushrooms cooked in butter and garlic
is mushrooms cooked in butter, garlic, and wine.
Okay, now I'll let the mushrooms cook
until the liquid's reduced by half.
When the sauce has thickened,
I just sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour over the mushrooms,
stir it together,
pour in 4 cups of turkey broth,
and continue to cook the sauce until it's nice and thick.
Now I'm gonna add an 8-ounce block of cream cheese.
This is melting almost instantly,
and if it didn't look good before, it looks amazing now.
Wow.
Okay, now, I've got my leftover Thanksgiving turkey, of course.
I have a mix of white and dark meat.
Now it's time to add even more good stuff.
First, finely chopped black olives, frozen green peas,
bacon that had been fried till crisp and chopped,
grated Monterey Jack and Parmesan.
Then salt and pepper.
Now I've got some spaghetti noodles.
I broke them in half before I cooked them,
and I'll just throw those in.
It shouldn't be too thick
because it's gonna continue to thicken
when it bakes in the oven.
Okay, now I'll grab Edna Mae's dish.
And I will hope that all of this fits.
And I'll just pour it right in.
Look at that.
Now, you can top it with a little cheese if you want to,
but I like to sprinkle on
just a little bit of panko bread crumbs.
It just gives it a little bit of crunch,
a little bit of texture on top.
Okay.
Now, this just needs to bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or so.
So then, when the Tetrazzini was bubbling
and the crumbs were golden,
I just took the pan out of the oven,
and it was ready to go to Edna Mae's.
Yeah.
Charlie, Walter, you stay here and hold down the fort, okay?
Hi.
Hello.
Good to see you again.
Good to see you.
Hi, Edna Mae.
Hi, Ree.
I'm fine.
We loved what you brought for dinner.
Oh, good. I'm glad you did.
I brought your pan back,
but we filled it with turkey Tetrazzini.
How neat, because I'm having guests.
I'm glad you're having guests.
Well, we're gonna run.
The kids are gonna help me clean up the lodge.
Bryce can hardly wait.
[ Laughs ]
Bye, Edna Mae.
Okay, bye, honey.
REE: Up next, a fabulous finale to the leftover story --
kids, cleanup, and pumpkin smoothies.
There's a lot to be thankful for.
For recipes from this episode, go to...
Well, we've come to the end
of a long, delicious day of Thanksgiving leftovers.
I've got plenty of help putting the lodge back together,
so to reward the kids,
I'm gonna whip up a batch of pumpkin smoothies.
They are so absolutely delicious.
The kids are gonna go crazy for them.
Now, I'll start with 3 cups of milk,
anything from skim milk all the way up to whole milk.
And then I have a 4-ounce container of vanilla yogurt.
It just adds to the deliciousness.
Okay, now, what makes this a Thanksgiving leftover recipe
is I have leftover pumpkin-pie filling.
I've always got half cans sitting around,
so what I do is I spoon them into muffin tins
and let them freeze.
And I'm just gonna drop them right in in their frozen state.
Now, this is pumpkin-pie filling, so it's sweet.
It has really nice spices, nice pumpkin-pie flavor.
I'm gonna put about four into the blender.
And because they're frozen,
I don't have to add ice or anything else.
Now, I'll just add a little bit of cinnamon
just for a little extra flavor,
and that's all I need to do.
I'm just gonna let the blender do the rest.
Got to hold on.
How are you guys doing back there?
Whoo!
Okay, it's nice and smooth and perfect.
Paigey girl, thanks for your help.
Yeah.
I need more help. Would you crush those up?
Yeah.
Now, I've got some cinnamon graham crackers
in the plastic bag,
and I like to top the smoothies with the crumbs,
so I'm having Paige smush them up.
I tell you what, it is so great to have all this help.
My mother-in-law, Nan,
always says, "Many hands make light work."
Many kids make light work, too, right, Paige?
Yeah.
Thank you, Brycey boy.
I appreciate your help with the laundry.
Hey, I think this is going pretty smoothly.
Don't you think?
[ Chuckles ] Yes.
Yeah?
Thanks for laughing at my joke.
It was funny.
Aww. Thanks.
Okay, Paigey, sprinkle some crumbs on there.
I'll grab some and help you out.
Toddy, I'm gonna put extra crumbs on yours, okay?
It's kind of like a piece of pie in a glass.
All right, guys.
That was good, Mom.
[ Laughs ] You have a pumpkin-pie mustache.
So, Mom, what are you thankful for this year?
Oh, I am thankful for so many things,
but I think you guys have to be at the top of the list.
Aww. Thanks.
And I'm not just saying that
'cause you helped me clean the lodge.
Cheers, guys.
Cheers.