Appetizers & Snacks

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Fresh Rolls with Cranberry Dipping Sauce

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Just in case you forgot I figured I would remind you. Although I’m counting down the hours until I can eat until I can’t eat anymore, what’s even more exciting than actual Thanksgiving day is the day after Thanksgiving. It involves leftovers and I love leftovers. You get to revisit all your favorite dishes from the day before and there’s no waiting for everyone to sit down for the big meal. The leftovers are in your fridge waiting for you, calling your name… Unless of course you didn’t have Thanksgiving at your house or word got out that you were cooking Monday’s mushrooms and unexpected guests ate all your would-be leftovers. Sorry about that.

But sometimes after a couple rounds of leftovers your stomach needs a break. All that stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie weigh on you and your body craves something light and refreshing. That’s when it is time to reinvent your leftovers. These leftover Thanksgiving turkey fresh rolls are exactly what you will need the day after Thanksgiving. They may look complicated, but I made about eight of these in less than ten minutes. After a long day you don’t need something that takes a lot of work.

Soaking the turkey in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil moistens the leftover slices. The cellophane noodles are a light filler and there’s no boiling required as they only need to be soaked in warm water. Then you can add whatever vegetables you have sitting in your fridge. Leftover avocado from guacamole? Done. Carrots, lettuce and cucumbers from leftover salad fixings? Done, done and done. I used carrots and lettuce in mine because that was what was in my fridge, but feel free to get creative. The sweet and tangy cranberry dipping sauce compliments the spring rolls well and helps you use up all that leftover cranberry sauce. So when you’re running out to the store today for those last minute ingredients make sure to pick up some spring roll wrappers and cellophane noodles. Your stomach will thank you for it, as will your taste buds.

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Fresh Rolls with Cranberry Dipping Sauce
 
Yield: 8 fresh rolls
Ingredients
for the rolls
  • 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
  • Pinch of ground ginger
  • Pinch of garlic powder
  • 1 cup chopped roast turkey
  • ¼ cup grated carrot
  • ½ package cellophane noodles
  • 8 spring roll wrappers
  • 1 cup roughly chopped lettuce leaves
for the sauce
  • ¼ cup cranberry sauce
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
Directions
for the rolls
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and seasonings. Add the turkey pieces and grated carrot, stir to coat and let soak.
  2. Place the cellophane noodles in a medium mixing bowl. Heat 4 cups of water and pour over the noodles. Let soak for 10 minutes, or until soft. Transfer the noodles to a small bowl with a fork or tongs leaving the water in the medium bowl for the spring roll wrappers. Rip the noodles or cut with kitchen scissors into shorter strands about 1 inch long. It doesn't need to be exact or even.
  3. Take the first spring roll wrapper and submerge it in the warm water the noodles were soaking in. After the wrapper is soft and pliable, about 10 seconds, remove from the water and carefully lay flat on a cutting board or clean counter.
  4. Take a small amount of the noodles and place in a line in the middle of the spring roll wrapper. Add a spoonful of the turkey mixture onto the noodles and a couple pieces of chopped lettuce. Fold the two sides next to the ends of the filling line you created up and over part of the filling. Take the top of the wrapper and pull it over the filling then tuck it under and roll the wrapped filling towards you to finish the roll. It sounds complicated, but once you do one or two you will get the hang of it.
  5. Repeat for the rest of the rolls.
for the sauce
  1. Place the cranberry sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir and mash the cranberry sauce until mostly smooth.
  2. Whisk in the sugar, vinegar and soy sauce then bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce has slightly thickened, whisking frequently. Remove from the heat and serve with the rolls.
Notes
You can use whatever vegetables you have in your fridge as part of the filling. Some ideas include cucumber or avocado cut in 1 inch strips.

Inspiration from The Pioneer Woman.
Dipping sauce from allrecipes.com.

Pumpkin Hummus

This post was not supposed to be pumpkin hummus. I had other recipes in store for you before this hummus was even a thought. Upon realizing I had yet to post a pumpkin recipe I immediately went out and purchased a can of pumpkin puree. Trial one was some sort of chocolate pumpkin tart, but I never got to the pumpkin portion. Although the chocolate tart shell tasted delicious, it wasn’t very… photogenic… so Matt and I happily ate the scrapped tart shells while I moved on to trial two. One skillet pumpkin cornbread later I was staring at a beautiful dish that would have photographed quite nicely, but after one bite I knew it wasn’t for Lemon & Mocha. Thankfully I refuse to settle on mediocre dishes and was determined to share some pumpkin tastiness so this smooth and addictive pumpkin hummus was able to find its way to the homepage. The lesson to be had here is try, try, again, if you fall down get back up, no tart shell shall go uneaten, or something like that.

If you are looking for something light to serve before your big Thanksgiving meal next week or you simply would like something tasty to snack on and get you in the fall spirit look no further than this pumpkin hummus. Do you have five minutes and either a food processor or an immersion blender? Then you are five minutes away from savory, creamy, pumpkiny hummusy perfection. The pepita garnish provides a great crunch and nicely compliments the cumin and cinnamon spiced pumpkin flavor. What are pepitas? Well they are just shelled pumpkin seeds. I know you’re thinking I’m super smart right now, but don’t feel bad, Google taught me that just the other day! I served this hummus with cinnamon sugar pita chips, but any sort of pita chip or cracker will pair well. Another idea is to serve pumpkin hummus and roasted turkey wraps the day after Thanksgiving- now we’re talking.

Pumpkin Hummus
 
Ingredients
  • One 15-ounce can chickpeas
  • 1 clove garlic
  • ¾ cup pumpkin puree
  • 5 tablespoons tahini paste
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • Salt
  • Pepitas for garnish
Directions
  1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas to remove the excess salt. Set aside in the strainer to dry.
  2. Puree the chickpeas, pumpkin, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin and cinnamon in a food processor or with an immersion blender until smooth.
  3. Season with salt to taste. Top with the pepitas before serving.

Recipe adapted from the October 2013 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Prosciutto & Gruyere Pinwheels

Sometimes the simple things in life are the most delicious. Especially when they involve cheese. And prosciutto; prosciutto makes everything better. These prosciutto and gruyere pinwheels made with puff pastry are simple, delicious and fitting for the next time you’re cooking for guests.

Every year my friend goes on a trip with the same group of women and for one of the nights they have an appetizer party. All the women bring a couple appetizers and they cook the miniature items up for dinner. Brilliant! Smaller sizes of candy is a total bummer. But bite sized food? Now that’s a whole different ball game. The joy of appetizers is that you can have thirds, fourths and fifths. Just do a little drive by on your way to refill your wine glass and pop a pinwheel in your mouth. No one will be the wiser!

This year my friend commissioned me to make her appetizers and these pinwheels made it on the list. According to my friend the pinwheels were one of the favorites of the trip. I tried one and the buttery flakiness of the puff pastry with the saltiness of the prosciutto and the creaminess of the cheese made it an incredibly satisfying bite. A kind of bite you would pull an oh-I-don’t-mind-if-I-do-definitely-not-my-sixth maneuver on.

Except I couldn’t do that. I could have one. As in singular. And that, my friends, is why I could never be a caterer. You make all this food, but aren’t able to sit down and have a major snarf session when it’s all done? Torture! So when you make these pinwheels cook up some extra so you and all your guests can have fifths and sixths.

Prosciutto & Gruyere Pinwheels
 
Yield: 16 pinwheels
Ingredients
  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
  • 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
  • 1 egg, beaten
Directions
  1. Defrost both puff pastry sheets according to the directions on the package.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Lay the defrosted puff pastry flat and evenly spread the mustard leaving a ½ inch border on 1 long side of the puff pastry.
  4. Evenly place the prosciutto on the mustard topped puff pastry.
  5. Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the prosciutto.
  6. Brush the beaten egg on the ½ inch border.
  7. Roll the topped puff pastry up the long way starting at the long edge without the egg, similar to rolling a jelly roll. Make sure the roll is sealed.
  8. Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
  9. Take the roll out of the fridge and cut into ½ inch slices.
  10. Place the slices on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from Pepperidge Farms.