Brie Cranberry Turkey Quesadillas

Brie Cranberry Turkey Quesadillas use up the leftover bits of your cheese board, a little of that cranberry sauce and some sliced up turkey to create a whole new dish for the days after Thanksgiving or Christmas.

For many years my in-laws hosted a New Year’s Day recovery open house where they served vast pots of turkey soup made from the donated carcasses of all of their friends’ Christmas turkeys. Isn’t that a brilliant idea? All afternoon their friends would come by for some restorative soup and a drink or two to welcome in the New Year.

My go-to recipe for Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers is turkey potpie. I make the filling every year from scratch, the recipe always in flux depending on the leftovers. I finally got around to trying to quantify the amounts when a reader requested it a few years back. Check it out here. The filling is super easy and I top it with store-bought puff pastry, which makes the whole thing a doddle, as my British friends would say.

This year I wanted to try something a little bit different and decided on quesadillas which incorporate the typical leftovers from my cheeseboard as well. There always seems to be a wedge of Brie, but you can surely use whatever cheese you've got. I can’t give exact amounts since you’ll make as many as your leftovers will allow but I’ll try to approximate how much I used for each quesadilla.

If you struggle with the leftover blues, make sure to scroll down to see all the great ideas my Sunday Supper friends are sharing this week.

Ingredients per quesadilla
2 fresh flour tortillas – I used mixed grain
4-5 slices Brie
5-6 teaspoons whole cranberry sauce
2-3 slices turkey

Method
Put 2-3 teaspoons of cranberry sauce dotted around on one tortilla. Break the Brie and turkey slices into smaller pieces and arrange them on top of the cranberry sauce.

Finish with a few more spoons of cranberry sauce. Put the other tortilla on top and press down lightly to stick it all together.

Warm the quesadilla on a griddle or a non-stick pan for a few minutes over a medium heat, waiting to turn it to the other side when the Brie has melted a bit and can act as a “glue” to hold the tortillas together.

Carefully turn the quesadilla over and brown on the other side, cooking for just a minute or two more, until the filling is warmed through.

Remove from the griddle and leave to cool for a few minutes before cutting the quesadillas into quarters (or smaller) with a sharp knife or pizza wheel. Serve with extra cranberry sauce if you have enough left over.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this week's host, Christie of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures and our event manager, Cricket of Cricket's Confections. We've got nearly 30 outstanding ideas for transforming your holiday leftovers.

Breakfast

• Country Skillet Breakfast by The Freshman Cook
• Mashed Potato Craisin Bread by Baking Sense
• Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles by Sew You Think You Can Cook

Appetizers

• Brie Cranberry Turkey Quesadillas by Food Lust People Love
• Mini Stuffing Muffins by An Appealing Plan
• Turkey Egg Rolls with Cranberry Sauce by Brunch-n-Bites
• Turkey Glass Noodle Salad by Sunday Supper Movement

Soups

• Arroz Caldo with Turkey by Asian In America
• Bacon Egg Potato and Turkey Soup by Family Foodie
• Leftover Turkey Tortilla Soup by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Lemony Chicken-Lentil Soup with Couscous by What Smells So Good?

Mains

• "Australian Pie" – Leftover Turkey Pie with Raisins and Bechamel by Caroline’s Cooking
• Bubble Up Hot Brown Casserole by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Cranberry Chipotle BBQ Chicken Pizza by A Mind “Full” Mom
• Cranberry Pork Tenderloin by The Crumby Cupcake
• Creamed Spinach Turkey Pasta by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Healthy Turkey Quesadillas with Cranberry Apple Salsa by Food Done Light
• Leftover Turkey Noodle Casserole by Cricket's Confections
• Leftover Turkey Pasta with Mushrooms by Cooking Chat
• Turkey Alfredo Stuffed Shells by Palatable Pastime
• Turkey Broccoli and Cheddar Pot Pie by Cookin’ Mimi
• Turkey Grilled Cheese with Cranberry and Brie by Life Tastes Good
• Turkey Pot Pie Casserole by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Turkey Shepard’s Pie by Monica’s Table

Sides

• Baked Mashed Potato Pancakes by Pies and Plots
• Leftover Mashed Potato Puff Casserole by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks

Dessert

• Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies by NinjaBaker.com

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Turkey Camembert Cranberry Muffins #MuffinMonday

Turkey and cranberry jelly come together with Camembert to create the perfect use of Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers in a savory muffin.  

Just when I think I’m so smart to come up with a great combination of ingredients that not only uses up leftovers but is a classic favorite mixture, I do a web search and realize that I am not the only bright bulb on the chandelier.   There are a bunch of turkey cranberry muffins out there, as it turns out.  But these are mine.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
2 eggs
1 cup chopped turkey  (Sorry, I don’t have a scale here to weigh it as well.)
1/2 cup or 120ml cranberry jelly or jam
4 oz or 115g chopped Camembert (I leave the rind on but you can cut it off if it offends you.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan by greasing it or lining it paper muffin cups.  The cheese will stick as it melts out of the muffin tops, so grease the top of the muffin pan as well.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add in your chopped Camembert pieces and divide them with your fingers, coating them with the flour mixture so they don’t stick together again.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, oil and eggs.

Cut the cranberry jelly into cubes.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Add in the turkey and cranberry jelly and fold gently, trying to keep the cranberry jam pieces whole.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.

Enjoy!

We are staying in a delightful home, filled with eclectic decorations.  I was struggling to find a horizontal space to place the muffins for a photograph.  Here's the whole wonderful shelf.

Easy Tasty Turkey Potpie

Every year after roasting a turkey and making tons of giblet gravy, I look forward to the leftovers.  Not that I don’t enjoy the original meal, because I do, but one of my very favorite things is potpie.  And leftover roast of any fowl is likely to see itself again as potpie in our house, if there are indeed any leftovers.  It is also a well-established fact that leftover roast beef or lamb turns into shepherds’ pie here.  Also a fact, but less well-known, is that I don’t have a recipe for any of these.  Pie interiors depend upon what is leftover.  You got mashed or roasted potatoes?  Excellent.  Buttered carrots or peas?  But, of course.  Brussels sprouts or green beans, cooked with garlic and bacon.  You betcha.  I’ve even been known to throw in some maque choux.  About the only turkey dinner things I won’t throw in there are stuffing (soaks up all the gravy) and jellied cranberry sauce and candied yams for the obvious reason:  too sweet.  So, as you can imagine, it would be hard to follow a recipe.

This year though, at the request of a reader on Facebook, I tried to quantify the amounts and not use just leftovers that you might not have.  Feel free to substitute for the potato and carrot if you do have already cooked, leftover vegetables. Also, play free and loose with the amounts.  Potpie is the most forgiving of meals.  This one is for you, Denise from Succasunna, New Jersey!  You’ve been on my mind and I apologize for the delay.

Also, lovely people:  Consider this your heads up to make lots of gravy if you are planning a Christmas turkey.  So you can make potpie!

Yep, those are frozen peas, still frozen.
And congealed gravy.  It's all good. 

Ingredients for a three-four person potpie
8 oz or 230g leftover turkey, off the bone
1 cup or 240ml turkey gravy – still chilled is good.  No need to warm.
1 medium carrot
1 medium potato
1/2 cup frozen or leftover peas
1 fresh red chili – optional
1 sheet puff pastry or enough to cover an 8in x 8in or 23cm x 23cm pan
1-2 cups or 240-480ml turkey stock or salted water for cooking carrot and potato
Sea salt
Black pepper


Method
Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Peel and dice your carrot and peel and cut your potato into small cubes.

Cut the turkey into medium pieces and set aside.  Chop the red chili finely, if using, and set aside.

Cook the carrot and potato in leftover turkey broth or salted water until just tender.

Remove the carrot and potato to a mixing bowl with a slotted spoon so you can save the stock for soup, if using.  Otherwise, drain the pot of the salted water and put the carrot and potato into a mixing bowl.

Add in the turkey, chili and peas.  Stir well.

Add in the gravy and give it a good couple of grinds of fresh black pepper.  Stir well.  Taste the mixture and add a little salt, if needed.

Spread the mixture evenly in your pan.  Do not be concerned that it looks dry because remember that your gravy will turn liquid again when heated.

Top with the puff pastry, tucking the ends under, if necessary, to get side to side coverage.  Push the pastry gently up against the sides.

Poke holes in the pastry with the tip of a sharp knife to let the steam out.

Bake in your preheated oven for around 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and you can see the filling bubbling up a little bit around the edges.

Serve alone or with a mixed green salad.

Enjoy!