I love to make pies for the holidays and one of my favorites is lemon meringue.  There is nothing like a fresh lemony dessert after a long, heavy meal.  The lemon curd base can get a little overly tart though, and if you don’t like meringue then, well, it’s kind of a deal breaker.  This year, I made a lemon cream pie topped with sweetened whipped cream instead.  It is still sweet/tart but the lemon pudding filling is creamy and smooth with a bright lemony flavor that’s not quite as lip-puckering as the lemon curd.

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

• 1 9-inch pie crust
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup sour cream
• whipped cream, for topping

1. Carefully pat pie crust into a pie dish and flute the edges. Prick all over the bottom and sides with a fork.  Bake at 350°F abour 8 minutes or until golden brown.
2. In a sauce pan combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice, egg yolks and milk.  Heat over medium, whisking constantly.
3. Cook filling until very thick, whisking constantly, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in butter.
4. Allow filling to cool slightly, then stir in sour cream until well combined.
5. Pour filling into pie shell and refrigerate until completely cold and set.
6. Top with sweetened whipped cream before serving

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Sandwiches and me are like Jerry Seinfeld and cereal.  I just love them and I could happily eat a good sandwich at every meal.  Perhaps it was because one of my first ever jobs was making sandwiches.  In high school, I lovingly constructed beautiful sandwiches for long lines of hungry lunchers at the mall on weekends.  There, I learned how to appreciate paper thin slices of meat piled just so and the perfect layering of condiments and vegetables.  Even now I love constructing beautiful sandwiches: club sandwiches with layers of avocado and bacon, roast beef and cheddar with sliced red onions, pastrami on rye with sauerkraut and swiss-yum! I get excited and hungry just writing them out.  I know. <—- Nerd.

It could also be that hot sandwiches just make a great fast weeknight dinner.  My favorites are reubans and french dips.  A good french dip is such an easy-yet hearty and impressive-dinner.  I have two french dip recipes, this one my mom taught me when I was just learning to cook-which uses canned french onion soup for the jus and simmers the roast beef in the broth-and the one below.  I like the one below because it is just as easy and quick yet it doesn’t over cook the rare roast beef. 

French Dip Sandwiches Au Jus

• 4 cups beef broth
• 1/2 small onion, sliced into rings
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 hoagie rolls
• 1lb lean, rare deli roast beef, thinly sliced
• 8 thin slices provolone
• roasted garlic mayonnaise
• prepared creamy horseradish

1. In a medium pot, add beef broth, onion and garlic to a boil.
2. Boil vigorously until reduce by half.  You should be able to measure out 2 cups of au jus.
3. Separate hoagie rolls and broil until slightly crisp. Do not walk away from the broiler unless you have lots of extra rolls on hand!
4. Once they are good and crunchy, spread mayo on one side of each roll, loosely pile 3-4 ounces of roast beef on top of the mayo.
5. Top roast beef with two slices of provolone.
6. Return to the broiler and broil until cheese is melted and edges darken.
7. Spread horseradish on top bun and close sandwiches.
8. Serve cut on a diagonal and au jus on the side.

I was able to buy roasted garlic mayonnaise already prepared at the store but to make it yourself just roast a head of garlic in a small crock in the oven with a bit of oil and then combine the softened, caramelized cloves with regular mayonnaise and keep in the fridge.  You could also just sprinkle them very lightly with a bit of garlic powder.  The whole point to this recipe is that it should be easy to whip up with ingredients on hand with just a trip to the store for hoagies, roastbeef, and cheese.

If there was ever a perfect crowd-pleasing dish to bring to a party or a potluck-this is it.  I don’t even like artichokes in my spinach dip but here, combined with hot, creamy cheeses and plenty of chopped spinach, they are a fantastic addition.

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

• 2 blocks cream cheese (16 oz), room temperature
• 1 lb frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (can use half Romano)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
• 8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)

1. Thaw spinach and set your cream cheese out to soften in advance.  Once spinach is thawed place in the center of a clean dishtowel.  Bring up the corners and twist the towel above the spinach until the liquid is completely wrung out of the spinach.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, Parmesan, mayo, garlic, salt and pepper.  Use a fork to get everything really well mixed and combined.
4. Stir in drained spinach and chopped artichoke hearts using your fork to break up any chunks.
5. Stir in half the mozzarella and pour the mixture into the baking dish.
6. Smooth the top and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella.
7. Bake dip approximately 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly and brown at the edges.

You can halve this dip if you feel it is necessary but for a party I would double it.  It goes fast!  Serve with crisp pita or tortilla chips, toasted bread slices or hearty crackers.  Definately make this dip for a large party, your friends or co-workers will be glad you did.  Whatever you do, however, do not make this dip for snacking on the couch at home!  Unless, that is, you intend to eat the entire thing and call it dinner.  Not that we’ve done that or anything.

So by now you know that your leftover turkey carcass makes a wonderful base for stock.  You can then use this and the left over meat as a base for soups or casseroles for another week or so.  Here are a few of my favorite combinations of dishes to make the most of your leftovers.

Leftover turkey: Chicken Casserole, Chicken Salad, Quesadillas (use whatever filling combination you like)

Turkey stock: Risotto

Turkey stock, leftover turkey: Tortilla Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, or Pancit

Turkey stock, leftover turkey, leftover plain vegetables (corn, green beans, etc..): Chicken Pot Pie

Leftover mashed potatoes: Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Turkey stock, leftover turkey, leftover mashed potatoes: Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing holiday-full of friends, family and great food!  See you next week!