So Much Turkey

A couple days after Thanksgiving, you're utterly sick of re-heated Thanksgiving dinner, and really don't want another turkey sandwich, with or without cranberry sauce. But you still have several pounds of turkey meat, mostly dark meat. Now, I know, that most people are going to say "open-faced turkey sandwiches," or "turkey soup," or turkey noodle casserole, and even, the dreaded and really ought-to-be-avoided turkey tetrazzini—a dish that I have never ever understood.

Forget all of those. What you want is a lovely pan of homemade turkey enchiladas. Make a whole batch, eat half now, and then then freeze the rest for a simple mostly done meal in the middle of January. Only cook half the recipe; prepare the pan for the second half as if you were going to cook it, but then double-wrap it in foil and freeze it. Later, you can thaw it in the refrigerator, or pop the foil-wrapped pan in the oven to thaw, removing the foil part way through to brown and melt the cheese.

One of the things I like about this tasty turkey enchilada recipe is that it's easy, yummy, and eminently practical; it uses canned enchilada sauce, for instance. I know the recipe calls for corn tortillas, but it works fine with wheat tortillas if you'd rather. Also, feel free to substitute Greek plain yogurt for the sour cream, but if you can't get fresh cilantro, don't use dried. Use some pico de gallo instead. And if you're serving this for company, go ahead and make some Spanish Rice, and put a container of guacamole on the table too. The recipe suggests pairing the turkey enchiladas with Pinot Noir; me, I suggest a zinfandel (not white zinfandel but the traditional Zinfandel); there's a decent and under $5.00 a bottle California Zinfandel from Sutter Home. What could be more Northwest than a California style enchilada made with turkey and served with Zinfandel ?