Thanksgiving Leftover Threesome

This one is going to be a little different. Sure, we’re still going to be writing reviews of sandwiches, but this one is going to feature three different sandwiches. All of them feature typical Thanksgiving dinner ingredients, and it just so happened the we had some left over after our most recent Thanksgiving meal. (Or we went back to the store to buy some at heavily-discounted-post-Thanksgiving prices.)

So, here we go.

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Sandwich #68 – Turkey and Gravy on Buttered Roll

Ingredients

Christian: When it comes to Thanksgiving turkey, I absolutely prefer dark meat over white meat. No question. To me, it is just more moist, right out of the oven and even the next day as leftovers. That’s not to say that I haven’t had moist, delicious white meat, but more often than not, it’s too dry to me.

Now, this first sandwich is what I would normally make for myself the day after Thanksgiving for a quick bite. A leftover roll (buttered), some leftover dark meat, a little bit of gravy…

And it was great. If I didn’t have another two sandwiches to eat, I probably would have made a few more of these.

Would I try this one at any other time of the year? Probably not. But for what it is and for the time of year when we made it, it reminded me of the best times I had growing up, trying to finish off the remnants of Thanksgiving dinner.

★★★½

Susannah: It makes me sad. Full disclosure: I don’t care for turkey, especially right off the bird. I know, I know, I’m probably weird for preferring the deli slices over the real deal. But here we are.

Sorry, it’s not my cup of tea, nor would I want to eat it again.

★★

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Sandwich #61 – Turkey, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, and Brie on French Roll

Ingredients

Christian: This one surprised me with how much I liked it. Typically, I won’t touch anything cranberry-flavored, even during Thanksgiving. I just don’t like the flavor. I mean, I’ll definitely open the can of the cranberry sauce and watch it jiggle out onto a plate, but I won’t ever sully my own plate with a slice of it.

Therefore, I wasn’t looking forward to its inclusion in the sandwich. But I was wrong because I had no idea how well it would be complimented by the brie. The creaminess of the cheese paired perfectly with the tartness of the cranberry.

Also, for clarity, we did not have any leftover dressing/stuffing from our Thanksgiving dinner, so we just went to the store and bought a box of some Stove Top stuffing (turkey flavor, of course) for its part of this sandwich. I know some might consider using this from-a-box version of a Thanksgiving staple as the equivalent of just going back in time to kick a Pilgrim in the face, but I like it. Not better or worse than the made-from-scratch kind, but it can definitely be made in less time. And it probably has a lot more sodium, which is apparently delicious.

All of these things together on another leftover roll with some dark meat turkey made my favorite of these three sandwiches and even had me questioning whether I needed to give cranberry another shot.

If you want something a little fancier for lunch on Black Friday, make this one.

★★★★

Susannah: A much better step in the right direction… but it’s still turkey. I don’t usually care for cranberry sauce, but it actually really lifts this sandwich. I was a little timid with the cranberries when assembling my sandwich, and then wished I was more generous when I bit into it. I also think I may be a brie convert as far as sandwiches go. It has a unique, salty, tangy flavor that you can’t get anywhere else.

This might be a sandwich I would get once in a while if I was craving something different, but it wouldn’t be one of my regulars.

★★★

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Sandwich #8 – Pesto, Turkey, and Cranberry Aïoli on a French Roll

Ingredients

Christian: This one was my least favorite of the three, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. It was okay, but I definitely liked the other two much more.

Apparently, I much prefer cranberry with brie over cranberry aïoli with pesto. Again, not that the latter was bad, but it was a little underwhelming. Just the two sauces with the turkey on a roll wasn’t enough for me, especially after the other sandwiches.

This one was fine, but I don’t think I’d go to the lengths to make it again.

★★★

Susannah: The pesto/cranberry combo is not one I would have thought to put together, but I didn’t hate it. But then again, I love pesto. The cranberry aïoli had a unique tang and zestiness that actually worked with the pesto, and didn’t overpower it. It’s still turkey, though. I just don’t like it, I never have, and unfortunately, these sandwiches did not change my mind.

★★★

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Next Up: #54 – Avocado on Toasted and Buttered Ciabatta Open Face, Sprinkled with Fine Salt