Tasty Leftover Idea

First of all - how was your Thanksgiving? Good? Mine was great. We spent Thanksgiving here in Indiana with Matt's family, and we had a wonderful time! Have you ever had Thanksgiving at a cemetery before? No? Me either ... until this year. Matt's dad's side of the family gets together for Thanksgiving at a building in a cemetery, for reasons unbeknownst to me. I believe it's because it's the only place they could find that fit everyone? Unsure. What I DO know is that there isn't a bathroom - only an outhouse type deal outside. In the cemetery. No thanks! The cemetery was also on a "dead end." Giggle.

Anyway, I made a giant batch of cranberry sauce because I LOVE it and must have it smothered all over my turkey and stuffing. I always forget that not a lot of other people like it, though, so I had a ton of cranberry sauce leftover. That's when I discovered this recipe over on the Panini Happy blog: Pulled Turkey Cranberry BBQ Sliders. I modified this a bit (would you believe we didn't have hardly any turkey leftover? so I used a rotisserie chicken), and I absolutely LOVED it. So did Matt - it definitely got the Man A-Okay.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp canola oil (I used EVOO)

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp jalapeno pepper, finely chopped, seeds removed (I forgot both the onion AND the jalapeno)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tbsp prepared mustard (we used probably more like 2 tbsp of horseradish mustard - gave it a great kick!)

roast turkey, shredded (or umm rotisserie chicken)

Hawaiian dinner rolls, halved lengthwise (we didn't use buns and just ate it alone)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add onions and jalapeno (or, you know, don't) and cook over medium heat until the onions have softened. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so. Add cranberry sauce, ketchup and mustard and simmer for around 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.

The original recipe says to remove it from the heat and THEN mix in the turkey/chicken, but we just shredded the rotisserie chicken and then tossed it in the saucepan. Since the chicken was cold, I left it on the stove for a bit, stirring occasionally, to heat it up.

The verdict? Delish! You can make it as sliders and put the turkey/chicken on buns, or not. I reheated it today, served it over a salad with romaine, cucumbers, green onions, corn and black beans for a little bbq tex mex salad. Delish!

How was your Thanksgiving?