Leftover Turkey Tacos with Cranberry Salsa Ottoman Turkish

You know you found a good use for your turkey leftovers when the meal is good enough that you’d make it again some other time of year. Who knew turkey leftovers could be so good?

For the cranberry sauce, I used a few spoonfulls of our Vanilla Cardamom cranberry sauce, and then maybe 1/4 cup of our Grand Marnier Cranberry glaze. I also added a kiwi, just because I had one and it seemed like it would be a good fit. And it was! With this one, or anytime, be sure to wear gloves when cutting the jalepeño… it’s two days later and my fingers are still burning!

Leftover Turkey Tacos with Cranberry Salsa

Recipe from Simply Recipes, with adjustments.

INGREDIENTS
Small flour tortillas
Cooked turkey meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
Mixed greens
Avocados, diced

Cranberry Salsa
1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen cranberries, or premade cranberry sauce/glaze.
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 kiwi, peeled and diced
Zest of one orange (or, 1 tablspoon orange juice)
Chopped serrano or jalapeno chili to taste (about a half a chili, but taste for desired heat)
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 lime, juiced
Dash of salt

DIRECTIONS
Prepare cranberry salsa. Combine cranberries and apple in a food processor and pulse until coarsely shredded, about 10 short pulses. Combine shredded cranberries, orange zest, chile, and sugar in a medium bowl. Let sit 15 minutes for the cranberries to macerate. Add cilantro, lime juice, and salt to taste. You can also use cranberry relish, just add chopped chiles and cilantro.

Heat a large frying pan (preferably cast iron) on medium high heat. Unless you are using freshly made homemade tortillas, you will need to soften them first. Working one or two at a time, spread a little butter on one side of the tortilla and fry it in the hot pan for a few seconds on both sides. Most commercially made tortillas will bubble up a little when cooked like this.

Sprinkle one side of the tortilla with grated cheese, and cover one half of the tortilla with turkey meat. Fold over one side of the tortilla onto the other (like an omelette. Cook until the cheese is melted. You may need to flip the tacos over to cook the other side, but if the cheese is completely melted this is unnecessary.

Serve with cranberry salsa, fresh shredded lettuce (sprinkled first with a little vinegar and salt), and avocados.

Leftover Ganache? Make Truffles.

First of all, I needed to get another post up here stat, as everytime I log on I am faced with that wonder that is the Petit-Four cake, and my cravings start all over again.

Though, what I’m about to post won’t help much with those cravings. Sorry!

Upon finishing the aforementioned cake, I found myself left with a cup or so of ganache. I had slathered that thing to death, and really didn’t want to chance overwhelming the delicate flavors with rich bittersweet chocolate, so I resisted the temptation to dump the rest of the bowl over the top of it.

Instead, I poured it into a container, and stashed it in the fridge.

A few days later, when the cake was gone, and I found myself lacking a sugary release, I remembered the ganache.

As anyone here who is confined to living a lactose-free existence knows, finding a chocolate truffle that does not contain milk or cream of some sort is near impossible. And as I eyed the plastic container filled with creamy cream-less ganache goodness (made with soy creamer rather than heavy cream), I was thinking one thing and one thing only: truffles.

The hard part was already done. I simply scooped out teaspoon size gobs of ganache, formed them into a ball (put on your gloves for that job), and then dipped them into some microwave-melted bittersweet chocolate (mixed with a tiny bit of butter, margarine, or vegetable oil to help it harden). Voila. Truffles. Dairy free truffles. And I dare you to feed one to a milk-lover, truffle connoisseur, or dairy farmer and have them be able to tell the difference between it and a full on heavy cream-filled truffle. Not going to happen.

Next time I might have to make the whole batch of ganache and make it all into truffles.