Freezeable Thanksgiving entree

Does anyone have a recipe or idea for an entree for Thanksgiving? Doesn't even have to contain turkey. My husband and I will be arriving home from our vacation on Thanksgiving Day (around 12pm). I want to make a mini dinner and I need an entree that can be prepped a week ahead, frozen/refrigerated, and then cooked or reheated when we arrive home. Something that screams "Thanksgiving" but does not require the whole roasting-a-bird (which has been defrosted 3 days prior), or any roast, for half of the day. I'm leery of leaving any meat thawing in the fridge for 7 days. Any suggestions?

HalfPint
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4 Comments

BoulderGalinTokyo
BoulderGalinTokyo November 8, 2013
This freezes well, and is deliciously different. http://food52.com/recipes/10317-leftover-turkey-kumquat-shiitake-quiche

I prefer turkey but chicken is good too. My springform pan is 21 cm so would need some space to fit in freezer.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames November 6, 2013
Braise a turkey leg, perhaps the Turkey Osso Buco here, and freeze it in the sauce. Defrost under warm water to release from the container, and then in the microwave on very low power, just long enough to pull it apart, to allow it to defrost at room temperature for an hour or so. Then gently reheat on the stove. Make some brown rice and freeze that, too (or on T-Day). Roast and freeze some butternut squash. Puree, and then stir some homemade almond milk (or butter if you like) and a good pinch of garam masala into it before freezing. Freeze in small containers to allow for quicker thawing. Make creamed spinach on TDay using organic frozen spinach. (Or make it before you go away and freeze, leaving out the cream and adding when you reheat.) Make just the pecan praline sauce from mrslarkin's recipe for this; http://food52.com/recipes/18835-pumpkin-ice-cream-with-pecan-praline-sauce. Serve over vanilla ice cream. Or chocolate! Make cranberry sauce or chutney now and freeze. Thanksgiving Dinner solved! ;o)
 
HalfPint
HalfPint November 7, 2013
I like this Osso Buco. It sounds wonderful after half a day of flying. Thank you, AJ!
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames November 7, 2013
See if you can get the butcher to pull out the small tendons from the turkey legs, or make it with thighs (though I'm not sure how well the meat with stay with the bone, once cut). All those little hard bits in the drumstick can be annoying. Any braise though will work just fine. Last year I made the Turkey Roulade with a Tuscan theme from Food52. I broke the bird down and used the breast for the roulade. I braised the legs and thighs, the latter in a red-wine sauce, much like beef burgundy. It was fantastic! We had that on the Sunday after Thanksgiving over egg noodles; I froze about 2/3 of it, without the carrots and mushrooms, to enjoy during the Christmas holidays and then again in January. Makes me want to get some extra thighs this year to do it again! ;o)
 
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