A Waffle-ly Good Idea
A few months ago I hit the grocery store jackpot- whole frozen turkey for $0.48/lb. Yes, you read that correctly. Forty-eight cents per pound for a frozen turkey. I picked up a 17 pounder. That is a lot of food for just Mr. Food-It-Yourself and I. We ate some the day I cooked it; some leftovers went into the fridge and some went into the freezer, covered in leftover gravy.
Weeks later, I knew I had to use up my frozen stash of yumminess, but I wanted to do something a little different. A coworker mentioned that her children love open-faced turkey and gravy sandwiches. (Actually, she said they like “shit on a shingle”…I had to ask what that is. It is an open-face turkey sandwich with gravy.) I brought this up with Mr. Food it yourself, and our discussion lead us to the following question: What if the bread were replaced by a waffle…made of stuffing? We had to find out.
Step one- I put the frozen turkey and gravy in My Favorite Skillet over a low burner to thaw and heat gently. Never over-heat a starch thickened sauce, friends. The matrix of starch molecules can break down in high heat, leaving you with a sad puddle instead of gravy.
While the turkey got hot, I mixed up a bag of stuffing, following the package directions for the amount of sauteed onion and celery. I doubled the amount of broth the package called for and added two eggs. The extra moisture and the protein from the eggs with give the mixture a dough-like texture. The egg will also help the waffles hold together.
Once the stuffing-dough was uniformly moist I got the waffle iron hot. I sprayed the iron with cooking spray between each waffle, since I do not trust “no stick” surfaces on my appliances. I used about 2/3 cup of dough per waffle.
Finally, it was dinner time. The smells of bird and herbs and bread were heavenly. It tasted even better than a turkey dinner. Mr. Food It Yourself and I both whole-heartedly agree that this is a meal we will make again. I am even quite tempted to serve the stuffing in waffle form this Thanksgiving!
This delicious meal was the result of brain storming and bravely trying out a new idea. What amazing (or amazingly misguided, we don’t judge) things have emerged from your kitchen based on a hunch? Share in the comments.
