Sunday Gravy with yeah right: This isn’t Leftovers, It’s The Main Event!

There are a handful of dishes that I make that come from what some folks would call “leftovers” that really can’t be classified as leftovers at all. Did you really think I cooked a 14 pound turkey just to make a turkey sandwich?

Oh no no. The sandwich was there for the taking but what I really had in mind was today’s meal. The turkey enchilada. Actually this is a recipe for turkey, mushroom and bacon enchiladas. Oh yes I did.

Two main data points to address here, the first is the prevalence of Mexican themed food that I have presented on this very site. First you got your carnitas, we’ve also dabbled with some fish tacos, got down and fucking dirty making some grilled chipotle chicken and habanero salsa, we’ve dropped the grilled carne asada on your unsuspecting asses and my very first foray into posting on this site is my very own chile tepin.

“But yeah, right?” you inquire, “I’m pretty sure you’re not of Mexican heritage.” This is true but I have lived in California for a long fucking time and certain elements of the culture you just get through osmosis. Not to mention that this shit is delicious. It’s true that my primary cuisine of focus is Italian but that’s only due to the fact that I’ve been cooking Mexican food for so long that it seems pretty common day to me. I’m certain that some of our denizens who live in areas WAY outside of California don’t understand how critical Mexican food is to the culture and vibe of California. It’s so ingrained in us that we almost take it for granted that the rest of the world must have access to amazing Mexican food when I know from personal experience that that is not true.

Story time! I lived for a couple of years on the Jersey Shore in the mid ’80’s. Yo Belmar, how the fuck are yez?!? It was during this time when I came up with my internet nickname of “yeah, right.” If you were having any conversation with a Jersey local and they agreed with something you said they would always respond with “yeah, right?” Always. Every fucking time! Men, women, children it didn’t matter. And it was always treated as an inquisitive, “yeah right?” as if asking a question while confirming your obvious statement. “Jesus look at the ass on that girl!” “yeah, right?” “Fuck, it’s hot out today.” “yeah, right?” It got to be really annoying and as someone who had moved to Jersey from California I never used that response and actually was greatly annoyed by it’s use. So of course when given the chance to think up a lame nom de plume I came up with this one.

No I can’t really explain it any better but that’s how it came about.

Anyway!

During my time in Jersey I tended bar, ran a deli – actually a Wawa- and even helped out as a bouncer while I tended bar. At one of these bars, Jason’s in South Belmar, the owner and I got to talking one day about ways to increase his business. It was a couple of weeks away from the first Monday Night Football game of the season and he wanted to start bringing in some traffic. The Jersey shore has no problem with business in the summer since it’s population swells about ten fold due to the influx of people from “The City” but during the offseason it turns into a ghost town. So Mel, the owner – buddy of mine – asked what we had in California that brought in the foot traffic. I mentioned that one of the bars I used to visit in Cali had “Taco Night” for Monday Night Football and the turnout was always fantastic. His response was “That’s a great idea! I love it!”

“What’s a taco? Oh wait, that’s that thing where it’s rolled up like an envelope, right?”

Yes this was in the mid ’80’s and I think they know what Mexican food is now but I was floored by this lack of Mexican food awareness. Consequently I worked at the bar in the kitchen during Monday Night Football while making tacos for the entire game. I was paid in cash and there was a full refrigerator of beer that I was allowed to sample from while cooking. It was fun but I missed the damn games. After a couple of months I got recruited and dragged away by a bigger and more popular bar that had many more young ladies. I moved there and tended bar while I taught the kitchen staff the finer art of taco night. At the end of the day I acted as bouncer and cleared the place out. There were more nights than not that I don’t remember how I got home or what really happened after closing time. I woke up one morning with…

Those were the days.

Second data point: Your first iteration of a meal doesn’t have to be the main iteration. Vis-a-vis the turkey sandwich. While being a delicious sandwich and a glorious meal in its own right when I cooked that turkey everyone in the house said “When are we having enchiladas?”

After years of trying to figure out what to do with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving I stumbled across this dish. There were forays into other food items like the turkey taquito, good but greasy, cream turkey over mashed potatoes, so very fucking good, and other ventures but we finally settled on this as the perfect way to use up the leftover turkey. In this one case I’m going to allow some store bought shit. I’ve got no choice since I really need to stay off of my broken ass knee.

Ready kids?

Turkey, mushroom and bacon enchiladas!

pan o enchilada

Some rationale first: turkey, as you all know is a very lean meat, especially after it’s been de-carcassed and frozen for a week or two. The idea behind the mushrooms and the bacon is to reintroduce moisture and fat, yes FAT, back into a fairly dry protein. We’re going to combine these things, give a quick saute and let the fucking magic happen.

Leftover turkey – what about 3 cups or so worth? Mixed white and dark meat or whatever you have on hand.

3-4 slices of bacon cut into lardons or cubes

16 oz fresh mushrooms

1 small can of diced green chilies

1 small onion diced

4-5 cloves of garlic minced

1 package of corn tortillas

1 small can of red enchilada sauce (sorry, just ain’t up to standing to make my own sauce)

1 small can of green enchilada sauce

1 cup of shredded cheese. I prefer jack cheese or a 4 cheese blend

2-3 tablespoons of yeah right’s proprietary seasoning mix ( recipe to follow)

You’re going to season the turkey with some sprinkling of the seasoning mix and set aside for a minute or two. Cook your bacon down until the fat has been rendered and the bacon is almost cooked then remove the bacon from the pan and dry on some paper towels. Cook the onion in the bacon fat. Oh shit yes! Cook and sweat down for about 6-8 minutes then add in the mushrooms. You don’t want to cook the mushrooms too long maybe 3-5 minutes. Throw in your garlic and saute for another 3 minutes. Add the seasoned turkey, the green chilies and the bacon back into the pan and get them all familiar like. It should look something like this.

turkey mushroom bacon saute

Cook for just a few minutes. Now mix together the red and green enchilada sauces. Take out about 12 tortillas and wrap them in a moist paper towel and nuke in the microwave for about 20 seconds, just enough to make them pliable. Dip a tortilla in the sauce mix and add some of the turkey, mushroom, bacon mixture along with a little cheese and roll up into a tube. Place each tube on to a baking dish. A 13×9″ dish should handle about 10-12 enchiladas. Once the pan is full ladle the remaining sauce over the enchiladas (there will be extra sauce! Sauce at your own discretion!) Cover the whole thing with cheese. Lots of cheese and cook in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Let rest for 5 minutes then serve alongside some refried beans, rice if you want and plenty of cold cervezas.

Yeah right’s proprietary seasoning mix:

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne.

Mix all ingredients well. Can be stored in a Tupperware container in a cool dry place for months. This is a versatile spice mix that can be used in any number of applications.

spice blend

Bonus recipe!

The chicken burrito!

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1-2 tablespoons of the seasoning mix

Season the breasts (oh yeah!) with enough seasoning mix to make the chicken reddish in hue.

Cook in a 350 oven for 40-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.

Take a warm flour tortilla and put some sliced chicken breast inside, top with your choice of cheese, sharp cheddar works really well and add a couple of teaspoons of my previously linked chile tepin. Roll up into a burrito shape and warm in a microwave for about 50 seconds. I’m not fucking kidding around when I say I have lived off of these things for over 15 years. They are so fucking good you can eat them every day. My girl, the crazy red-head, will come out to visit me for occasional conjugal visits but I really think the primary reason is because she loves the chicken burrito. Every person who has ever had this says it’s one of the best bites they have ever had. If challenged to a “best of” throwdown this would probably be my meal of choice. The chicken can also be used in salads, it makes a glorious chicken sandwich (little mayo some cheese and you’re good to go.) It’s versatile as fuck and one of the leaner and healthier proteins you can get. Seriously I have this same chicken in various forms 4-5 times every week. It helps to alleviate the fabulous and calorie-laden dishes I drop on you each week.

We were talking about enchiladas.

You can use this primary concept with the seasoning, the spice and the savory. Every application. Just because that looks like some dry ass turkey doesn’t mean it can’t be a tasty ass enchilada. Don’t be afraid to reintroduce the fat to your life. Bacon solves everything.

Embrace your local atmosphere, hug your fellow man and use your leftover turkey to make some motherfucking enchiladas.

Did you see that photo?

enchilada money shot

 

So, thanks for reading, experiment in the kitchen and use fresh ingredients when you can.

I’m going to limp off upstairs to bed.

Peace!

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yeah right is a lifelong Vikings fan. He is into self denial and still harbors hope. Loves to cook, read and drink. But he doesn't plate.
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Sill Bimmons

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Sill Bimmons

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Sill Bimmons

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Sill Bimmons

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Sill Bimmons

The best thing about religious nutcases and Teatards (theirs an overlappin’g Venn diegram,, smh) is that they never allow comments on their sites.

If they’re right to the degree they think they are, why do they care what we hellbound commies think? Shouldn’t their omnipotent god or candidate be able to withstand our pitiful missives against their universal truths?

What are they so afraid of?

Sill Bimmons

I have in my hand a movie theater, jukebox, and library that also sends phone calls, texts, and emails.

http://www.cmcstir.org/pr/jardinepr/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/simpsons-thumb.jpg

Sill Bimmons

I love mono recordings through headphones.

Here’s Space Oddity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo

Sill Bimmons

Is this the OT?

‘Cause if it is I got some confessions to make:

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Sill Bimmons
Sill Bimmons
Sill Bimmons
scotchnaut

[has eaten two huge plates of bolognese]

Nighty-night buddies. I got’s some snoozing to do.

Spanky Datass

Man, I really need to up my enchilada game.
On the bright side I did re-purpose some leftover grilled Mediterranean chicken boobs into a kick ass burrito today.

blaxabbath

Love cumin.

scotchnaut

My Grandfather used to say, “the tighter the sweater, the better the weather.”*

*grandfather actually said, ‘go get me another whiskey, ya stupid runt”**

**Actually, grandfather didn’t say much of anything when he was drinking

Sill Bimmons

***didn’t know either grandfather

Wakezilla

So, my wife is visiting my in-laws and is officially 6 months pregnant. Fun story, we need to do a major spring cleaning/get shit out of our place because we don’t really have room for our kid. One thing that I know has to go, but I don’t want to depart with, is my PS2. I love the shit out of that thing. Even though I play with it (phrasing) once every 4 or so months, I know it’s not worth keeping around. So many memories. Sigh.

Horatio Cornblower

When preparing for a newborn if you haven’t used it in 4 months, get rid of it.

You are going to be overwhelmed with shit. In some cases quite literally.

scotchnaut

Horatio speaks the truth-for once.

JerBear50

He speaks the truth often. It’s just hard to hear from inside the locker.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

One defense to keeping it is that it can serve as a home entertainment hub. It’s what we’ve been using ever since we canceled cable and works pretty well.

Sill Bimmons

dey gud

Wakezilla

I have tried those before and I am definitely a fan

Buddy Cole's Halftime Show

I have a love-hate relationship with Yelp. If there’s 250+ reviews on a place, I’ll trust it as a rule of thumb, otherwise, I sift through the people who make one account just to either glow or bitch about the place.

Sill Bimmons

I actually used to think Bayern wasn’t the douchiest club in the Bundesliga.

Then this happened:

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Then THIS happened:

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That sound you just heard was all the Commentists who own Bayern merch firing up their grills so they can burn that shit.

Spanky Datass

Did Xmas Ape teach us nothing? You burn you merch on SOMEONE ELSE’S GRILL! smdh
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Sill Bimmons

rotflmgdmfbo

blaxabbath

Wait — does everyone else here hate Jimmy Fallon too?!

I’ve always thought I was the only one, considering how much his little ‘…does next will blow your mind!’ clips get reposted by dummies on my facebook feed.

Horatio Cornblower

Fallon is classic lowest common denominator entertainment. I find him irritating as hell but I will give him credit for seeming to know what he is, living it, and finding a way to get paid millions to do it.

Sill Bimmons

He does seem to be self-aware.

A self-aware bucket of wallpaper paste.

Sill Bimmons

And it wasn’t even so much of a douchebaggery that it was Jimmy Fallon on the receiving end but rather that it was the Farvenis throwing him the post-corner.

Now that Fetushead has SB #2 the Farvenis will forever be the most overrated player in the history of organized sport.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

I got nothing against Fallon. My friend’s sister went to an SNL cast party one time and she said he was very pleasant and nice to her. She also said that Chris Kattan was an insufferable cokehead asshole, which confirms her credibility.

blaxabbath

This disappoints me to hear.

scotchnaut

[watching Plantagenet Of The Apes]

/makes Game of Thrones look like a dog and pony show

Low Commander of the Super Soldiers

Good thing you’re #GrabbigSomeBuds

scotchnaut

“Icing ‘down’? Have I not taught you anything?”

-Steve Smith Sr.

Sill Bimmons

And that “yeah, right?” Jersey thing is pretty irritating.

You’re the only person I’ve ever seen make something positive out of it.

Low Commander of the Super Soldiers

I use that sometimes, but I’ve been using “No yeah…” a lot lately, which I know is dumb and makes me feel like this idiot, but I can’t seem to help myself.

http://rlv.zcache.com/oh_no_yeah_no_poster-r31ddcf58d0ad4f659822827b2ebdca88_ai0sm_8byvr_512.jpg

WCS

Sill Bimmons

So Red Star Belgrade v. Partizan Belgrade happened earlier this weekend.

A little background.

Red Star and Partizan were formed in 1945, with Red Star being formed from the Yugoslav branch of the Young Octobrists and Partizan from the Yugoslav People’s Army. This led to a slight political divide between the clubs.

The People’s Army was largely independent of Communist control or indeed any top-level organization. There’s a reason that they called the club “Partizan” and not “Army.” These were some hardass motherfuckers, dudes who took to the mountains and fought their Nazi occupiers for almost four years with practically no outside assistance. Needless to say, these were not men who were in the habit of taking any shit lying down.

Enter Red Star. Good little Communists all, Red Star immediately became the favorite of Marshal Tito and the Communist party establishment. They were given every conceivable advantage denied to Partizan, including a brand new stadium built with government money.

This did not go ever well. Partizan was made up of the men who had actually fought and bled for Yugoslav freedom, and Red Star was the plaything of opportunistic party apparatchiks who laid claim to everything once the Nazis had withdrawn. This divide would only get worse, culminating in the Milosevic years and the Yugoslav Civil War.

Today things are about the same as far as club relations are concerned. Here are some photos from some of their latest meet-and-greets:

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http://static.goal.com/1293300/1293332.jpg

Yeah. So next time anyone ever tries to sell you on Steelers-Ravens or the Merseyside derby as being hardcore rivalries, just chuckle softly to yourself.

The only rivalry on earth that even approaches Red Star-Partizan is India-Pakistan in cricket. I’m going to have to give that one the edge because they’ve fought three wars and the leading Ultra firms have tanks and nuclear weapons instead of balaclavas and flares.

Senor Weaselo

…But was it called “chippy”?

Buddy Cole's Halftime Show

I’ll give some love to the other derbies of hate:

Fenerbahce-Galatasaray
Boca Juniors – River Plate
Panathinaikos – Olympiacos

Also, Lazio-Roma is pretty well known… and still insane, due to one team’s fascist leanings.

Sill Bimmons

The Greek thing actually spills over into Red Star-Partizan:

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They’re PAOK Thessaloniki supporters who favor Partizan.

Horatio Cornblower

They should probably start playing that game in Wichita.

Sill Bimmons

Ummm…hmmm…

Compared to Serbia, Kansas would just give them that many more opportunities to kill each other:

“Rifle and handgun ammunition is severely restricted, there is a 60 round limit per firearm, per year, except rounds shot at ranges.”

CHRIS ROCK WAS RIGHT

Sill Bimmons

Did you get that?

SERBIA IS SAFER THAN KANSAS YOU DUMB FUCKING HICKTARDS

Wakezilla

*raises hand*

I have a question and a request: Do you think it would taste the same or would taste good if I replace the Turkey would extra lean Turkey meat? Or would that mess it up too much?

The request is for you to place this link in your early October Sunday gravy post, because this sounds like something I’d love to make after Maple Thanksgiving and there’s no way in hell I’ll remember this with my first born due early August.

It’s amazing to think in the 80s Jersey, or most of America for that matter, didn’t have Latin cuisine as part of their regular meals. Since the mid 90s when I started going to USA with my parents (mainly Washington, Oregon and Cali), it was almost impossible to avoid Latin food.

Sill Bimmons

Funny that Belmar now has one of the best Mexican places in the North Shore.

http://tenthaveburrito.com/

The adobo wings take like 6 hours to prepare and they absolutely taste like it.

Might just have to hop the train to Belmar for dinner tonight…

Senor Weaselo

Adobo, buffalo, AND General Tso’s wings? I’m sold.

Sill Bimmons

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Sill Bimmons

Here’s the recipe:

Chipotle jalapeno’s in the bottom of a pan

In a strainer, above the jalapenos:

garlic heads 4-5
onions 4-5
bay leaves
oregano 1 Tbs
thyme 1 Tbs
oranges (4-5 cut up)
white vinegar 1 1/2 cups
orange juice 1/2 cup
cinnamon sticks 5 fresh
sugar chunks (hard Mexican style) 2 Tbs or so
cloves 1 Tsp
pineapple + orange steeped in cold water
1/4 cup raisins
salt and pepper to taste
water as needed to cover ingredients

Cook 3-4 hours

tomato puree 28oz.

remove all but the jalapenos.

add tomato puree

grind up

toss wings

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theeWeeBabySeamus

THREADJACK ALERT!!!!

So I bought a new laptop yesterday. And it’s got touchscreen and Windows 8. I’ve never used windows 8 though I have heard the bitching. So I ask youse good folks…am I better to stick with 8 or just go ahead and do the 10 upgrade? (full info…I also know nothing about 10 as I have yet to upgrade the desktop to it, which is still running 7).

theeWeeBabySeamus

Oh, probably should have mentioned that I don’t really care that much about touchscreen capabilities on the laptop. It just happened to have it.

Unsurprised

You haven’t used porn on it yet?

theeWeeBabySeamus

Nah….porn is the domain of the desktop and the 32″ monitor.

BrettFavresColonoscopy

So you’re saying this isn’t about…

:puts on sunglasses:

…threadjacking it

Unsurprised

There wasn’t enough threadjacking last night after all the porn posted?

JustStopDude

I once had to buy a windows 8 computer in the Middle East.

Trying to get the language and regional settings to change was a nightmare because I kept forgetting that everything not only is in arabic, its fucking mirrored on the screen.

herodotus450

I would upgrade to 10. If you want to use the touchscreen stuff, it’s still there in 10 just not up front. I think you can restore most of the Win8 ui if you really want to (like the start screen). Sooner or later (and microsoft wants it to be sooner) only 10 will be supported and you will pretty much be forced to upgrade, might as well do in now when we know it is still free.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

I had 8 and liked it fine, and then upgraded to 10 and I like that fine too.

Unsurprised

I haven’t made enchiladas since I moved to Oregon since I don’t want to make a tray (Okay, two trays. I always overdo it) just for myself.

Unsurprised

Anyway, that looks delicious.

Unsurprised

I responded “With a spoon. Just lean over the rush and shovel it in.”

OH HELL YEAH

JustStopDude

But not superior to car made enchiladas.

I swear to go the best enchiladas I have ever had have always been in the middle of an oil/gas field where some old Mexican lady is selling them out of the back of a beat to shit station wagon.

ballsofsteelandfury

French-Romanian?

Unsurprised

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Horatio Cornblower

Cripple?

Sill Bimmons

Indian?

theeWeeBabySeamus

Looks damn good. Nicely played, Sir.
Now if you’ll do me the favor of sharing your pain stash? My head feels like your knee sounds.

Horatio Cornblower

DFO turned into Silk Road so gradually I didn’t even notice.

theeWeeBabySeamus
theeWeeBabySeamus

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ballsofsteelandfury

As an American born in Mexico, I have to say…

That looks fucking delicious! Excellent job!

Doktor Zymm

That looks fantastic, though I would toss some sliced avocado on that plate as well. Melty cheese is my platonic ideal of food.

It’s gorgeous out today, and I was debating between walking north and checking out this Georgian bakery I heard about, or walking south to the Mexican place I get air miles at. This may be tipping the balance south….

I was going to try out my Divvy (bike share) membership, but it turns out it’s only good for 30 minute rides, and after dealing with the docking stations and shit that goes down to about 20. Anywhere I would want to bike to is more than a 30 minute ride away, so screw that shit.

...

Just bike for 15 minutes to a station with open slots and swap the bike out. You can relay your way across the city that way.

Doktor Zymm

Because that’s NOT a total pain in the ass that fucks up enjoyment of the ride AT ALL

Doktor Zymm

That also adds quite a lot of time to the trip, removing the advantage over walking. So now I’m paying money to engage in a riskier activity that has no compensating advantage. Total rip off.

...

BIG BIKE fucks over another good citizen. Sad!

Doktor Zymm

It’s run by the same people as Ventra, so that really should have been a tip off that it’s shitty.

Sill Bimmons

Oh Lois Lane let’s make some dinner plans
Oh Lois Lane yeah, right’s no Superman
Come on downtown and stay with me ya ho
IIIIIII got a pocket full of av-o-ca-doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

ballsofsteelandfury

I say spend the hundred or so dollars and get your own bike.

I LOVE avocado. Also melty cheese. I would probably have sex with them both if I could, so they would NOT be the platonic ideal for me.

Sill Bimmons

I don’t like avocados OR bicycles.

Georgian bakery, however…

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Khachapuri FTW!

scotchnaut

[mumbles to self]

“Bet it would taste twice as good if he had TWO good knees…”

/I keed of course

Horatio Cornblower

THOSE MESSICANS ER TAKIN’ OUR MENUS!!!!!! BULID A WALL!!11!1!1