The Black Friday Brunch
Skip the mall and make turkey and waffles using your Thanksgiving leftovers
I had to double-check several smart devices to confirm that Thanksgiving is next week. Lo and behind — the annual time of year when we eat ourselves into a stupor with friends and family is upon us.
Although the season can be stressful, there’s one terrible day that has changed for the better thanks to the internet — Black Friday. No longer must we wake up at the crack of dawn to fight our way through hundreds of harried shoppers to snag a “door buster”.
This means we can snuggle in our cozy pajamas and search for deals on our phones, leaving us free to relish a much better new tradition - the Black Friday Brunch.
Executive chef of The Bower in New Orleans, Marcus Woodham, loves a play on traditional chicken and waffles for his post-Thanksgiving brunch.
The recipe starts with zhuzh-ing up your favorite waffle mix with fall flavors and utilizing your leftover turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce for a delicious sweet-and-savory dish.
Turkey and Waffles
2 pounds of leftover turkey (white and dark meat)
4 cups turkey gravy
1 box waffle mix
zest of 2 oranges
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
4 oz. cranberry sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 oz. cane syrup
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups oil
Follow the directions on the waffle mix, adding orange zest and rosemary. Let rest.
Simmer turkey in gravy until it starts to shred apart. You can add more turkey or chicken stock to thin out if it starts to get thick.
In a blender, add cranberry, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, cane syrup, and red pepper. Blend and slowly add oil to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook waffles. Add turkey gravy on top, and drizzle with vinaigrette.
Note: Make this recipe your own. Add a fried egg on top, slather some cranberry sauce on it, or fry up some leftover stuffing into hash browns. You can also easily half the recipe to serve two, saving some turkey for sandwiches or snacking.
Cranberry Mimosa
(for each mimosa)
8 oz. Champagne or prosecco
4 oz. cranberry juice (not cocktail — find at Whole Foods Market or similar store)
Fresh cranberries and rosemary sprigs for garnish
In a champagne flute, pour in cranberry juice, and top with champagne or prosecco.
Pop in three fresh cranberries and garnish with rosemary sprig.
Note: If Thanksgiving turned into a booze-filled event, turn this recipe into a hair-of-the-dog highball by adding 1 1/2 oz. bourbon to cranberry juice in a highball and topping with champagne or prosecco. Garnish as above.