"I don’t always eat leftovers," says sandwich maestro Ike Shehadeh of Ike's Place fame, "but when I do, I make them into a sandwich."
Thanksgiving is one time of year when you're virtually guaranteed to have a whole heap of leftovers lying around, so we asked San Francisco's resident sandwich savant to share his personal recipe for turning everything you weren't able to eat on Thursday night into something can't wait to eat on Friday morning.
"I can guarantee you that I will eat at least one of these sandwiches within the next seven days," Ike noted. "You should too."
Ike is famous for his Ratatouille-esque ability to turn virtually any combination of food times into a mouth-watering sandwich.
"When I go out to eat, nine out of ten times those leftovers will end up in a sandwich," he told The Huffington Post in an interview earlier this year. "I went to Baby Blues the other night and had barbecue brisket, cornbread, creamed spinach and chicken wings. So I piled it all up and added dirty sauce and threw everything on Dutch Crunch bread."
Check out Ike's special Thanksgiving leftover recipe:
Ingredients:
4-8oz Leftover Turkey Dark Meat - I use dark meat because it's juicier than its white friend and makes for a better leftover sandwich.
1-2oz Leftover Cranberry Sauce - Or if you're trying to clean out your fridge, use whatever that jam or jelly that’s been on your refrigerator door since '09. If you're feeling extra hip, use fresh whole blueberries. I only know one man hip enough to through blueberries on his sandwich. Oh, be sure to slice them first, so they don't roll off your sandwich.
2-4oz Cheese - Continuing with the purging of the refrigerator, go for that close to expiring container of cream cheese, that'll make your sandwich extra gooey and keep it from tasting dry. Havarti or a sharp cheddar cheese also works well.
2oz Mayo - Or ask me if I’ll let you borrow my stash of Dirty Secret Sauce.
Your favorite Hot Sauce, to taste. I prefer Sriracha. Seriously, trust me on the hot sauce.
2 slices of your favorite bread - Be sure that it is thick enough to handle all the delicious goodness you're about to throw in between it.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
In a toaster, toast one slice of bread to medium.
Place turkey meat on a sheet of foil and ball it up, making sure that no turkey or juice can escape.
Grab toasted slice of bread and add a generous spread of mayo. Next, add the cranberry sauce or your jelly/jam (or blueberries) on top of the mayo and spread out evenly over bread. Dash your hot sauce to taste, though I use EXTRA Sriracha. Top all that off with your cheese.
On a baking sheet, put your foil ball of turkey and both slices of your bread and let bake for 4-7 minutes. Remove bread when cheese is melted and the plain slice of bread looks toasted. Leave turkey in for another 3-5 minutes.
Take the saucey, cheesey slice of bread and use that as the “bottom” of the sandwich. Throw the turkey on top of the cheese. Add your preferred veggies: I recommend pickles, especially from that jar that has been in your fridge for months. Add another generous spread of mayo on the "top" slice of bread and finish off the sandwich. Eat this and think of me. Happy day after Thanksgiving!
Love & Sandwiches,
Ike
If that's got your mouth watering, just remember one thing: Ike's Place delivers.
You're welcome.