CLEVELAND, Ohio – Happy Thanksgiving, friends. This week’s “Classic CLE Eats & Drinks” trip down memory lane requires a little bit of time in the kitchen, if you’re feeling so inclined.
You might be asking yourself, “What do I do with all that turkey?” It’s a time-honored dilemma around this particular holiday, with every media outlet scratching up a recipe to help you “use it up.”
If your tryptophan trip hasn’t rendered you useless, consider cranking out a batch of “Chicken” a la King or Welsh Rarebit with your turkey leftovers. It doesn’t take a whole lot of thought or preparation, but it feels decadent, ever so French and has major ties to the CLE holiday season.
A little history first. You’ll be sleepy after your magic leftovers, so we’ll do this now and keep it brief.
Once upon a time, residents around these parts ended up in the city for shopping. Department stores of the time – looking at you Higbee’s, May Company, Halle Brothers and so on – had restaurant dining rooms where customers could climb off “shanks’ mare” for a respite and refuel.
Later on, these little stops would fall out of favor and modern mall “food courts” filled burgers, pizza and more would take their place in the pop culture lexicon.
Higbee’s Silver Grille is the most remembered and iconic of these yesteryear spots, though many have been remembered over the years for offering all kinds of things of dishes that were old-school, along with hot entrees, sandwiches, salads and other a la carte items.
They even had an “Afternoon Tea” menu for a time, where diners could enjoy a pot of tea or coffee with choice of toasted crumpets, crackers with cheese or apple pie a la Mode.
Welsh Rarebit. Toast with a spicy cheese mix topping. Usually served with almonds on top, but chicken and turkey variations are not unheard of.Getty Images
Ah, but back to lunch. Welsh Rarebit was a popular choice, with its silky cheese sauce served over toast. Easy to make. Melt butter, add flour to make a roux, cook together until bubbly, slowly pour warm milk into the mix and keep stirring to work out the lumps.
While stirring slowly and steadily, incorporate shredded cheddar cheese and seasoning and voila. This would be garnished with almonds and was a treat meal, but you could easily garnish with turkey and it would come off quite well. Chicken and turkey rarebit is not unheard of. Don’t believe me? Google it.
Chicken a la King was the other big department store lunch. It often was served vol-au-vent, in a puff pastry “cup” but if you’re feeling lazy, restaurants also served it over rice, toast or stuffing.
Intrigued? No need to be a kitchen whiz-kid. Simply sauté mushrooms, pimentos and peas in oil or butter; add flour to make a roux, then add some half and half or milk, stir often while it reduces to a creamy sauce. Toss in your turkey to warm it up. Season and add a splash of dry sherry or white wine and stir.
If you want to make it super fancy and serve the vol-au-vent route, you can. But we won’t judge if you choose to serve it over warmed dinner rolls, toast or another granary. These are leftovers after all.
Not looking for you to abandon your favorite turkey sandwich plans. Not wanting you to rush out to the store, either – most of these items required are in the pantry or fridge already. But if you want to put surplus Thanksgiving bird to good use, you could do far worse than incorporating it into a “Classic CLE” dish or two.
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