Thanksgiving leftovers: Give them a Mexican accent

On Thanksgiving, we eat in honor of the Pilgrims. That means indigenous foods and passed-down casserole recipes, the bland but multigenerational crowd-pleasing flavors we've all come to expect.

By Friday, though, the spice rack beckons. The palate craves more stimulation. Leftovers practically beg for a boost of flavor.

Of all the global cooking traditions, Mexican cuisine makes a natural fit for the contents of Thanksgiving Tupperware. The turkey, for instance: Though Americans may think they've cornered the market on the fowl, wild turkey is native to many Mexican states, including Chihuahua, Sonora, and Jalisco.

Roast turkey is a culinary tradition in Mexico, and it was used both as a banquet dish by the Aztecs and as a ritual food by the Maya. (It's still a matter of debate, meanwhile, whether or not turkey was actually served at the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving dinner.) The roast turkeys that adorn Christmas tables in Chihuahua today are very similar to the American version, though the stuffing might feature ground meat instead of bread.

All of that means Mexicans have likely been dealing with leftover turkey for as long as Americans have. Perhaps that's why shredded cooked turkey is ideal for any number of familiar Mexican dishes, including tostadas, tacos, and enchiladas.

Having tortillas, shredded lettuce, cheese, canned jalapeños or chipotles, salsa, onion, radishes, and avocado on hand for the day after is just good preparation. Tamales and empanadas also make good vessels for turkey.

Mole is a classic preparation for turkey, and it's a perfect application for leftover meat, because it's traditionally made with the cooked turkey being added only once the mole has reduced. On restaurant menus, turkey tends to be paired with a notoriously elaborate, dark mole, with a list of ingredients bigger than the stack of dishes from Thanksgiving dinner.

But for the leisurely day after the holiday, chef Lucio Palazzo at Society Hill's Xochitl recommends making a more manageable green mole that cooks up in less than two hours. The thick, verdant sauce has sweet notes of cinnamon and fennel, rounded out by nutty pumpkin seeds, fruity tomatillos, and a warm kiss of chile spice, transforming even flavorless turkey into a luxuriant stew. It's all the better, Palazzo says, with a cold beer on that extra day off.

Even simpler is Palazzo's recipe for a turkey caldo, in which the shredded meat swirls around in tomatoey stock, heightened by smoky dried chilies and crisp strips of fried tortillas. It's a light antidote to a day of heavy eating, though garnishes such as grated cheese, crema, and avocado can make it a heartier affair.

(Both the mole and soup recipes call for stock, and the more ambitious and thrifty cook can make it from the bones of the turkey carcass as Palazzo might at home, but packaged stock is fine, too. You should get points for even planning to cook an egg on Friday.)

Side dishes can also live to see another day with an accent. Sweet potatoes, in particular, are a versatile ingredient in the Mexican lexicon of cookery. Along with black beans, they make a wholesome filling for burritos or quesadillas. Mashed and spiced with a little cinnamon, they can be used to stuff empanadas either sweet or savory. Sweet potato is also commonly added to custard, and its gentle flavor, mellowed by milk and sugar, can be heightened by a dab of extra cranberry sauce or relish. If the sauce has a hint of orange flavor, so much the better.

Pueblan sweets called camotes de Santa Clara are candies made from the tuber. In her recent book, My Sweet Mexico, pastry chef Fany Gerson offers a recipe for making these chewy confections - cooking the sweet potato long and slow with sugar, rolling it into a tube, and letting it dry overnight.

Even pumpkin seeds, scooped out during the pie-making process, can be put to good use: toasted and salted as a garnish for soup, ground into a Mayan-style dip with cilantro, or folded into hardening sugar syrup for a spicy brittle known as pepitoria.

In a pinch, it's easy to add a little flair to the rest of the leftovers, even if the results are not necessarily authentic: brussels sprouts, tossed with a spicy chile-laden cream and toasted pumpkin seeds; mashed potatoes and sauteed greens wrapped in a tortilla; pureed squash soup swirled with spicy chipotle cream; leftover bread cooked with cinnamon, chocolate, a pinch of ancho chile powder, and custard into bread pudding.

Of course, there will always be those who insist on repurposing Thursday's meal as the filling between two slices of bread, but to them, we say no problemo: Add some chipotle mayo, avocado, shredded lettuce, and pickled jalapeños and call it a torta.

Makes 4-6 servings

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1 pound fresh poblano chilies

10 medium tomatillos,  husked and rinsed

1/2 cup almonds

1 plantain or banana, roughly chopped

1/2 stale roll or 2 slices stale white bread, lightly toasted

4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, toasted

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1 head lettuce or a handful of spinach, rough-chopped

1 head fennel

1/2 bunch cilantro

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon ground clove

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

2 teaspoons ground fennel seed

10 cups turkey or chicken stock

Lard or vegetable oil

2 jalapeño peppers

Juice of 1/2 lime

Salt and sugar to taste

1 1/2 pounds leftover turkey, shredded

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1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. On a burner, or on a grill, char the peppers. Once cool enough to handle, peel and seed them.

2. Roast the tomatillos in the oven until they have softened but are still green.

3. In a blender or food processor, puree all of the ingredients except the lard (or vegetable oil), jalapeños, lime juice, and leftover turkey, and using only a couple of tablespoons of the stock. The puree should be fairly thick.

4. Heat a thick-bottomed, wide saucepan (large enough to contain the puree) on the stove, and add a ½ inch layer of either vegetable oil or lard. When the pot is hot, add a drop of puree to check it - when it sizzles, carefully add remaining puree and begin stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, to reduce it by about half, about 20 minutes. It should be thick enough that when you stir the spoon in a figure-eight motion, the puree pulls all the way around with it.

5. Stir the rest of the stock into the hot puree and bring it to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 60 minutes or until it coats a spoon. Meanwhile, puree the jalapeños with lime juice.

6. Strain mole through a fine-mesh strainer. Season to taste with jalapeño puree, salt, and sugar. Simmer a healthy amount of mole (about half, unless you have more than 1½ pounds turkey left over) with the shredded turkey until heated through. Serve, garnished with radish or shaved red onions, with tomato rice, beans, guacamole, and a stack of warm corn tortillas.

Per serving (based on 6): 655 calories, 52 grams protein, 54 grams carbohydrates, 16 grams sugar, 29 grams fat, 90 milligrams cholesterol, 1,879 milligrams sodium, 12 grams dietary fiber.EndText

Makes 4 servings

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Vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

A few sprigs epazote or thyme

12 dried pasilla or ancho chilies

14-ounce can whole tomatoes

2 quarts turkey or chicken stock

A few handfuls tortilla chips

Salt to taste

8 corn tortillas

1/2 pound leftover turkey,  shredded

For garnish: grated queso (Chihuahua or Jack, dollops of Mexican crema, diced avocados,          and chopped cilantro)

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1. In a soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add onion and garlic and cook until they develop a bit of color, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add epazote and cook until fragrant. Add pasilla chilies, and toast until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add tomatoes to the pot. Turn up the heat to medium, and let this mixture simmer until it's reduced by half, about 15 minutes.

3. Add stock, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add tortilla chips, and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain broth, and season with salt.

4. Heat a deep, wide pot of oil until it reaches 350. Cut tortillas into strips, and fry them until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

5. To serve, heat broth and add some shredded turkey until heated through. In bowls, arrange some tortilla strips, along with a good amount of grated queso Chihuahua or Monterey Jack, dollops of Mexican crema, diced avocados, and chopped cilantro. Top with some broth.

Per serving (without garnishes): 482 calories, 28 grams protein, 70 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams sugar, 13 grams fat, 43 milligrams cholesterol, 216 milligrams sodium, 17 grams dietary fiber.EndText

Makes 4 to 6 servings

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1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1/2 cup roasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds

3 scallions (white and pale green parts only), minced 1 poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded, and very thinly sliced

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 pounds cooked brussels sprouts

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

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1. Melt butter in a large, heavy saucepan. Add seeds, scallions, and pepper and saute for 2 minutes, or until the seeds are toasted and the pepper is tender.

2. Stir in the cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add brussels sprouts to the pan, and toss to coat them with the cream. Cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Per serving (based on 6): 243 calories, 11 grams protein, 14 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams sugar, 18 grams fat, 33 milligrams cholesterol, 44 milligrams sodium, 5 grams dietary fiber.EndText

Makes 6 servings

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Unsalted butter

2 cups whole milk

¾ cup sugar

½ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

3/4 cup leftover cooked and/or mashed sweet potatoes

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

Leftover cranberry sauce

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1.   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter 6 half-cup ramekins. Bring milk, sugar, and vanilla bean to a boil in a saucepan, then turn off the heat. Stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the milk and return the pods to the pan. Let stand for the flavor to infuse for 15 minutes.

2. Puree sweet potatoes with the eggs and the extra yolk. It will have a somewhat sticky texture. Add the milk and process just until well blended. You want a minimal amount of bubbles for a smooth custard.

3. Pour the liquid into the ramekins and set them in a large pan. Add boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until set but just a bit wobbly at the very center, about 45 minutes. Leave the custards in the water bath until ready to serve. Run a knife along the edge of the cups, then turn them out onto serving plates. Serve with a dollop of cranberry sauce.

Per serving: 267 calories, 6 grams protein, 42 grams carbohydrates, 35 grams sugar, 9 grams fat, 124 milligrams cholesterol, 78 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber. EndText