Thanksgiving is fun, but it’s kind of an overwhelming affair. One that requires organization and preparation and pushing carts through crowded aisles hunting for supplies. It’s work. I’m lucky enough to live near family and we are splitting up the various duties, but it’s still a lot.

That’s why the day after Thanksgiving is so fun. There is sooo much amazing food left in the fridge, nobody needs to cook. The work is done. Everyone can just wander to the kitchen, heap up a plate, and get back to vegetating, watching Christmas movies, or napping. But it’s also kind of fun to play with the food a bit, stacking up Thanksgiving frankenwiches with different flavor combinations. I got a jump on the experimentation and made four versions (in no particular order) for your consideration. You are welcome.

#1 The Traditional Turkey

This is the sandwich I grew up making at 11:50pm on Thanksgiving, a good six or seven hours after the main event. It’s dead simple, and pretty much riding on nostalgia for me, but when the turkey is good, I like to let it shine with nothing but lettuce for crunch (iceberg if I’m at my grandparent’s house), lots of Hellman’s mayo, turkey, a pinch of salt, and a ton of fresh cracked pepper from my grandparent’s old wood pepper mill that grinds really unevenly. Some good soft bread, whole thing sawed in half at a sloppy diagonal with a butter knife and eaten standing at the kitchen counter. That’s it. But it really does taste good too, in a very straightforward kind of way.

Ingredients:
-soft sandwich bread
-leftover turkey
-lettuce, leaf or romaine or iceberg (or whatever)
-lots of Hellman’s mayo (or your preferred brand)
-a pinch of salt and lots of fresh cracked black pepper

Method:
1. Spread too much mayo on both slices of bread. Cover with cracked pepper.
2. Layer in fresh lettuce and turkey and a pinch of salt.
3. Eat standing at the counter, off a paper towel, or sitting in a chair while watching tv.

#2: Cranberry Cream Cheese Thanksgiving on a Croissant

The idea for this sandwich was stolen from my friend Tiffany. Last year I posted an Instagram of my after-thanksgiving sandwich stack and she commented “we do that too, but with cream cheese and croissants” and I was like: “obviously, you’re right”.

This beast turned out to be my favorite flavor-wise. It has to be assembled thusly for optimal structural integrity: first split and toast a store bought croissant, then pile stuffing on the bottom half, followed by a dollop of gravy (I leave it cold because it stays together better, but if jiggle bothers you, by all means heat it up) then a slice or two of turkey, some cranberry sauce, and on the top half, cream cheese. Finagle the two sides together and it’s pretty hard to beat.

Ingredients:
-store bought croissants
-cream cheese
-leftover cranberry sauce
-leftover stuffing
-leftover gravy
-leftover turkey

Method:
1. Split croissants in half with a bread knife and toast them.
2. On the bottom half layer stuffing (warm if you want), gravy (I go cold for this, but warm is good too), sliced turkey, and cranberry sauce.
3. On the top half spread cream cheese. This is a little tricky because the croissant is really delicate and the cream cheese requires a bit of brute force to spread around, so swipe it on in blobs if it’s cold and stubborn. I like it served with a couple of clementines.

#3: The Turkey Cranberry Thanksgiving Hot Brown

I hear that Kentucky has this crazy sandwich called a Hot Brown. I can’t say I’ve ever had a proper one, but it’s an open-faced thing with toast on the bottom, turkey, tomatoes, cheese sauce, and bacon. So I didn’t really need to go to Kentucky to know it’s for me.

This Thanksgiving version is built similarly on a bed of toast and stuffing, a layer of sliced turkey, cranberry sauce instead of tomatoes, a blanket of gruyere cheese sauce, and bacon. It works. But to be honest, anything with a blanket of gruyere cheese sauce is going to taste good. If you’re up for making a little bechamel and bacon the day after, Thanksgiving Hot Browns could be in your future.

Ingredients:
-white bread
-leftover stuffing
-leftover turkey
-leftover cranberry sauce
-bacon
-one recipe bechamél sauce with a cup of shredded gruyere cheese to melt into every cup of sauce (plus a small handful of shredded gruyere set aside for topping)
-salt and pepper (I like white pepper for white sauces, but black is delicious)
-optional: pinch of nutmeg (for the cheese sauce)

Method:
1. Start your bacon. Cook it in the oven using this method because it’s the best.
2. Make your bechamél sauce using this method. Remove it from the heat and stir in your shredded gruyere until melted and smooth. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Add a pinch of nutmeg if you’re using it.
3. Toast up your bread and slice it in halves or quarters. Place it in an oven safe dish like a pie pan. Warm up your stuffing and turkey and add a pile of each to the toasted bread (stuffing on the bottom, turkey on top).
4. Dot the toast, stuffing, and turkey with cranberry sauce.
5. Flood the entire mess with as much cheese sauce as you like. Top with a few strips of crispy cooked bacon and a sprinkle of shredded gruyere.
6. Broil the sandwich until the cheese on top is melted and bubbly. Set the pie pan on a plate or towel (because it will be hot) and eat it with a fork and knife.

#4: The Turkey, Brie, Bacon, and Cranberry Grilled Cheese

Brie and sweet cranberries are just made for each other. Add a little bacon to balance out the sweetness, nestle some turkey in the middle and it’s pretty excellent. This sandwich was my favorite texture-wise because the crunch of properly butter drenched and slowly toasted bread is undeniable.

Ingredients:
– a fancy white loaf of bread (with some good air holes in that crumb structure for enhanced textural awesomeness)
-butter (like a tablespoon per sandwich)
-brie (maybe three slices per side of the sandwich, more is good too, less is fine if you’re not sure how you feel about brie)
-leftover turkey
-leftover cranberry sauce
-bacon

Method:
1. Make bacon like this.
2. Slice your bread about 1/2 inch thick. Butter one side of each slice (the sides that will be the outside of the sandwich)
3. Assemble your sandwich with three slices of brie on each slice of bread, turkey on one side, cranberry on the other side, and bacon in the middle.
4. Toast your sandwich in a pan (buttered sides out) over low to medium-low heat until the cheese is melty, the sandwich is warmed through, and the bread is gorgeously brown.
5. Eat it while it’s hot.

All these sandwiches are delicious and I love them like children, but last night I combined the filling from the croissant sandwich with the buttery toasted bread from the grilled cheese and we are getting married.

Who’s your favorite??

I am not exactly the queen of desserts. I think I have four recipes for sweets on this site. And they’re all on the very basic end of the dessert spectrum. I don’t normally go for sweets at all, but when I do, I keep it simple.

Lately my cooking habits have changed. If you follow me on Instagram, you heard already, but I’m pregnant! Aaaand my relationship with food has become complicated. Thankfully, I’m through the worst of the nausea, but for weeks I hated the smell of food being cooked and if there was even a trace of any aroma left after I was done eating, the windows had to be opened, candles had to be lit, and scented sprays had to be spritzed. We ate a lot of fast food.

And I’ve been craving desserts like I’ve never craved anything in my life. I don’t know how many of you have ever been pregnant, but the violence of a pregnancy craving (or aversion) is unreal. If someone suggests a food to me, or if someone in a show I’m watching happens to be eating something, I either need it so bad right now that I’m actually drooling or I want it burned out of existence before the thought of it makes me vomit. I have not been able to even look at broccoli, for example, but chocolate makes me dizzy with want (and burgers and pizza and crispy chickens of all kinds).

So, I made brownies. Fudgy ones. With real chocolate.

The best trick I have for fudgy brownies is to underbake them ever so slightly, so when you check these for doneness, look for slight wobble but not slosh, and for a knife or stick that comes out from the center of the brownies almost clean, but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs holding on.

The Best Brownies

Ingredients:
-3/4 cup unsweetened chocolate, chopped
-3/4 cup butter (thats one and a half sticks), cubed
-2 cups white sugar
-4 large eggs
-2 tsp vanilla
-1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
-1/2 tsp. salt
-3/4 tsp. baking powder

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 325F. Heat a small pot of water over medium heat until it simmers. Set a glass or metal bowl on top of the simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the top of the water). Use a bowl that is large enough to hold the entire batch of batter (a standard 2.5 qt mixing bowl will do the trick).

2. Into the mixing bowl over the simmering water (btw this is called a double boiler) add your chopped chocolate and cubed butter. Stir the chocolate and butter until completely melted.

3. Remove the mixing bowl from the pot of water and let it cool slightly. Stir in sugar and test the temperature with your finger. When the chocolate and sugar are no warmer than body temp, you can add the vanilla and start adding your eggs and mixing them in one at a time.

4. When the eggs are stirred into the chocolate and sugar mixture, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a smaller, separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two or three additions, folding to combine.

5. Pour your finished batter into a buttered, parchment or foil lined 9×13 baking pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out with a few sticky crumbs attached. Allow to cool, slice (this part will be messy if you’ve done it right) and serve.

Have you ever invited friends for dinner and had them request soup? Friends of mine who have been fed this soup, if they don’t outright ask for it when they come over, will silently hope that I make it for them (I know because they tell me how happy they are when they see a big pot of it on the stove). For dinner. They want soup.

I discovered a version of this soup when I was working at my favorite kitchen job in a breakfast and lunch cafe in Salt Lake City. This soup was our Friday soup, and it always sold out because it is garlic cheese velvet.

It’s hearty stuff, being made of potatoes and cheese, so I serve it with a big salad and a bit of toast and nobody ever complains.

It adds some time to the process, but don’t skip the potato-baking step. Potatoes that have been baked have a hugely different flavor than potatoes that are boiled or microwaved, and it screws up the soup if you leave it out, so take the time and bake them and you will be richly rewarded. If you can salvage the skins, cut them in fat strips, swipe them with butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cheese and bake them in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes for a nice crispy potato skin topping or side nibble (maybe even in lieu of toast).

Baked Potato Cheddar Soup With Leeks and Garlic

Ingredients:

4-5 medium russet potatoes
2 Tbsp butter
2-3 medium sized leeks, sliced and rinsed of grit
3-4 medium cloves garlic, minced
4-6 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 6 oz brick sharp cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
sliced green onion for garnish

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F, scrub your potatoes and pierce the skin once or twice with a knife. Bake them straight on the rack for about an hour, or until a knife inserted in the side goes in and comes out with almost no sticking or resistance.

2. While the potatoes bake, prep your leeks by trimming the roots and dark green parts away (dark green parts are fibrous and not so edible). I like to rinse mine by cutting them in half lengthwise, slicing them pretty thin, and putting them in a large bowl of water. Use your fingers to separate the layers in the bowl of water and give the dirt and grit time to sink to the bottom of the bowl. Drain the leeks by lifting them out of the bowl with a strainer or your hands, leaving the dirt and water in the bowl.

3. In a large pot, heat butter over medium heat and cook the leeks until soft. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Before the garlic takes on any color, add 4 cups of chicken broth and bring to a simmer.

4. When the potatoes are cooked and cool enough to handle, cut them in half length-wise and scoop out the flesh. Add the baked potato flesh (ew, is there a better word for that?) to the pot with the leeks and broth.

5. Blend the potatoes and broth/leek mixture with an immersion blender until completely smooth. The texture might be pretty thick at this point, but you can thin it later (in step 7) with more broth (that’s what the extra two cups are for).

6. Scoop out about a cup of the blended potato soup and transfer it to a mixing bowl. Add the sour cream to the bowl and whisk together until smooth. Add the sour cream mixture back to the soup and incorporate fully.

7. Remove the soup from heat and whisk in the cheese, a handful at a time, until it’s fully melted and smooth. This is the best point to adjust the thickness of the soup to your liking by adding more broth if necessary.

8. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper and serve topped with sliced green onion.