Leftovers

A food writer in Slatemagazine.com says the leftover turkey (after Thanksgiving) should not be turned into other meals like risottoed turkey scraps or tsunami fried fricasee; she believes that the only decent way to eat leftover turkey is in a sandwich, that turkey is a really inferior bird to the chicken and other more exotic wild birds. She's right. Turkey is popular in America because its a traditional food to eat at Thanksgiving parties; its not eaten because it's particularly liked but because it's... well, traditional: it brings America's short history into mind, how they got shot of us by emigrating to America from Britain; it's in memory of the Pilgrims who celebrated their first harvest of The Plymouth Colony in 1621. They don't eat it because they like it, they eat it because, like Everest, "it's there".
I don't like turkey either. It's too dry, not very tasty. You have to have stuff with it to make it interesting, often to make it palatable: cranberry sauce, stuffing, sausages..... Chicken is superior in taste and texture. The author of the article mentions capon as being better than both turkey and chicken. It's bigger, has the breast, nearly, of a turkey and tastes better. It's not a large chicken but a castrated cock. Nice to know!
Leftovers in general are more popular now probably because of the credit crunch; why waste all that food, sort of thing? What I do with leftovers is this: chicken pieces leftovers I put in a pan and pour over them a tin of curry and heat (Homepride is my favourite) or throw them in a wok and pour over them a jar of sweet and sour sauce (Uncle Benn's is good). Beef leftovers? Cottage pie - fry with onions, put in a dish, cover with mashed potatoes and stick in the oven. Lamb leftovers? Shepherd's pie - same as cottage pie only it's lamb not beef. Pork leftovers? Leave well alone. Duck leftovers? No such thing - there's so little breast, you eat it all in one go.
O yes, leftover potatoes: chop into small pieces, fry, beat an egg in a cup and pour over them. It's called.... all together now.... an ommelette.