It was just after Thanksgiving. I was visiting my daughter in Los Angeles, CA, and while skimming through the day’s edition of the LA Times, I came across the article, “14 Ideas for Repurposing Those Holiday Leftovers.” The article claimed these were different from the typical recipes floating around. And since we’ve just had another holiday dinner (Christmas, for example) that likely included more turkey, etc., I thought you might be interested in these ideas.

Let’s start with a turkey casserole. This one makes use of not just leftover turkey, but leftover yams as well. And throw in some Brussel sprouts, too. You’ll combine about ¼ pound of fried bacon and diced onion with leftover diced turkey, leftover yams, some cooked Brussels sprouts (maybe 2 cups-worth) and minced fresh sage (1 ½ tablespoons is good). Spoon this combination into a 9-inch square baking dish and top with a Gruyere cheese crust.

The ingredients for this are combined in a food processor: about 1 ½ cups of Grueyere, crushed saltine crackers (at least 20), some pecan halves (1/2 to ¾ cup), softened butter (at least 3 tablespoons), and a little flour (maybe 2 tablespoons). Bake it in a well-buttered 9-inch square dish at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

Then there’s the traditional turkey sandwich. But the LA Times article suggested using fresh tarragon and halved red grapes for a special bright hint of flavor and crunch.

One recipe that sounded especially intriguing was a breakfast dish called griddled stuffing ‘pain perdu’ with Gouda sauce and poached eggs. The ingredients are basic: eggs, sour cream, milk, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, and leftover stuffing.

The day before serving, heat your oven to 350 degrees and generous butter a 9- x 5-inch loaf pan which you line with parchment paper that is trimmed to fit the pan’s bottom. Then you’ll beat 2 eggs, ½ cup sour cream, ½ cup milk, 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard, and ¾ teaspoon kosher salt together until well mixed. You’ll add about 6 cups of leftover stuffing to this and fold together until thoroughly combined. I only had about 4 cups of leftover stuffing to use, and the results were absolutely delicious. So the stuffing measurement isn’t crucial with this.

Pour the mixture into the loaf pan; tap to dislodge any air pockets and to even the surface. Loosely cover the pan with foil. Then bake about 1 hour; remove foil and continue baking until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (about an additional 30 minutes). Let cool then cool in fridge overnight.

The next morning, remove the baked stuffing loaf and cut eight 1-inch slices. Fry each slice until crispy brown on both sides in plenty of butter. While doing this, poach 8 eggs. It’s a trick getting all ingredients prepared at the same time—but the fried stuffing slices can be kept warm in the oven. You’ll top each slice with a poached egg and the aforementioned Gouda sauce.

The Gruyere sauce is nothing more than a white sauce with grated Gouda cheese melted into it (about ¾ cup). This is without question one of the tastiest and most unusual uses for leftover stuffing I’ve ever tried. And BTW: If you don’t like poached eggs, try scrambled. It all works.

Other leftover uses included tossing turkey into a vegetable chowder. Chowder is typically a white sauce with whatever added. Turkey and veggies sound good in this.

A variation on the traditional chicken pot pie is the turkey pot pie. The Times suggested topping it with puff pastry or canned biscuits rather than the usual pie dough pastry, though. And I loved their idea of using leftover mashed potatoes as the topping for the pie (which then turns the whole thing into a Pilgrim’s Pie).

Other ideas included a turkey and asparagus gratine, turkey enchiladas (rather than chicken), turkey frittatas, and turkey white bean chili (again, rather than chicken). So if you’ve got your fair share of holiday leftovers, branch out from your favorite GO TO recipes and consider jazzing up your repertoire with these tested 5-star suggestions.