My contribution to the culinary world – turkey dinner strudel!
Happy be-lated Thanksgiving everyone! Are you now suffering from the ravages of post-turkey doldrums? Want to know what to do with those poultry leftovers? Fear not! A tasty solution is nigh! For me there is nothing better than a day-after turkey sandwich but I’ve invented another way to get rid of the remnants of a holiday meal and in the spirit of the occasion, I’m going to share it with you.
Crystal’s Turkey Dinner Strudel
Mark out three long sections on the pastry. I laid out toothpicks so you can see in the photo – do not leave toothpicks in the pastry unless you enjoy eating splinters!
Step 1 – Thaw out a block of puff pastry. Take it out the night before and you’ll be ahead of the game.
Step 2 – Pound the living daylights out of it. This is another reason this is such a great post-holiday meal; if you’ve had family hanging around you for a few days, you may feel the need to hit something. Take it out on the pastry.
Step 3 – Shape it into a vaguely rectangular-ish shape about 9 x 12” in dimension (release the need for geometric perfection – it’s just pastry).
Step 4 – With a dull knife, draw two lines down the length of the pastry so you can see three long skinny sections
Step 5 – Now on the outer two sections, cut little 1-2 inch “fingers” horizontally all the way down (really, this is probably the hardest part – it gets easier from here in)
Step 6 – Now for the fun part. Get your leftover cranberry sauce and spread it over the inside section. If you used that stuff from
Spread cranberry sauce in middle, cut horizontal pastry “arms” on either side.
the can, you might have to mush it down. This year I tried cranberry sauce from Upper Canada Cranberries and really enjoyed it; a good balance of sweet and tart. You can see lots of whole cranberries in it; Hubby thought the sauce itself was too runny but I liked it just fine.
Step 7 – Sprinkle on top leftover dressing (I make the world’s best chestnut stuffing but you’ll have to wait for that recipe), chopped pieces of turkey and roasted potatoes.
Step 8 – Beat an egg (again, great for getting out family induced aggression) and have it on stand-by. Fold each of the little outer “arms of pastry, one over the other, brushing each with a little egg to help it “stick”. It’s basically like the pastry is giving itself a big hug (awww!).
Sprinkle dressing, potato and turkey on top of the cranberry sauce and start folding those arms over the centre in a big “pastry hug”
Step 9 – Make sure the whole outside of the pastry has a nice coating of egg – it helps it brown nice and golden. If you want, sprinkle the top with a little finishing salt, pepper and parsley (it just looks nice!)
Step 10 – Pop that sucker in the oven. Now, the box of pastry says it should go in for 20 minutes on 450 but that is waaaay too hot for my oven. Everyone’s oven is different – some don’t heat up well, some burn hot. Mine is like Dante’s Inferno so I cooked mine at 400 degrees for less than 15 minutes and it turned out well. Experiment to see what works for you but use those as guidelines.
Voila! Your boring leftovers are transformed into a delectable dinner! If you must, feel free to pour gravy over the top. This meal also freezes well so if you can keep it on ice for some day when you crave a taste of the holidays – enjoy!
Where to Find It:
Upper Canada Cranberries
I Ate Ottawa 
Yummy, it looks amazing!