root vegetable and turkey stew

i, along with thousands of other folks, have an abundence of leftovers in my fridge. i love the thanksgiving holiday, leftovers, and all of the wonderful memories that come with both. here's a rundown on what we made for thanksgiving- it will help you envision our leftovers. for the turkey i made a paste with fresh herbs, chilis, lemon zest, and olive oil and slathered it, ever so carefully, between the skin and the meat of the turkey. as the bird roasts, the flavors meld into the flesh, and make for one fantastic bird. i made stuffing, or what i think of as more of a savory bread pudding. it was laced with pork belly and kale. jeremy made his favorite and fantastic green bean casserole (from scratch), and addie and i made an apple pie with honeycrisp apples from bayfield wisconsin. it was the best darn apple pie addie and i have made! it was topped with a cinnamon and sugar dusted pie dough cut out of a bison. bison are her new favorite wild beasts. otherwise there is no association, as far as i know, between apple pie and bison.

so imagine the possibilities, armed with all of those leftovers, as to what transpired in my kitchen. the pork belly and kale bread pudding ended up in scrambled eggs for an amazing breakfast. i made a quick turkey salad with some of the leftover turkey- tossed with toasted walnuts, diced apples, blue cheese, and a bit of buttermilk and mayo just to hold it together, it was great on grilled bread with greens. then there was this root vegetable and turkey stew. sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, baby potatoes, brussel sprouts, turkey, and a smokey-herby broth. this dish was the showstopper of all the dishes created with leftovers. here's how it went down....

1 mediium sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large-ish parsnip, peeled and diced
12 tiny fingerling potatoes, halved
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
a handful of brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
3 cupped of leftover turkey, diced
1 sprig of rosemary, de-stemmed and minced
1 Tbl dried sweet basil
1 tsp dried tyme
1 tsp dried sage
turkey or chicken stock
smoked sea salt, to taste
cracked black pepper, to taste

in a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot saute the onion and celery in olive oil, butter, or a dollop of bacon fat which is what went into our stew. add the garlic, the root vegetables, brussel sprouts, and herbs and sute a few minutes more. add the turkey and the stock. season to taste with smoked sea salt and cracked pepper. reduce the heat to a low simmer.

in a seperate pan, make a roux. i used about 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tabelspoons of all- purpose flour. melt the butter in the pan, stir in the flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the roux is golden in color. add this as a thickener to the stew. i added it gradually by the tablespoon full, until it was all nicely distributed throughout the stew.

allow the stew to simmer on low until the root vegetables are tender. serve with freshly baked buttermilk biscuits!! belly- up!!