Turkey Day Leftovers Bloody Mary

This post was originally published on November 23, 2016.

Holiday time is here and Thanksgiving is only one day away! I am leaving for Chicago this evening to spend five days with family and friends and to enjoy my Midwestern home. Thanksgiving will be a bit different this year, as my grandfather and great uncle have passed away and my sister is studying abroad in Spain. Change is hard, but Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The essence of the holiday is sharing a meal with your loved ones and being grateful for everything life has given you. I love spending time with my family around a big dinner table and I also love the tasty dishes that are characteristic of a Thanksgiving dinner. I am already imagining succulent slices of turkey, a crunchy green bean casserole, and yummy sage stuffing.

I am also a big fan of the days after Thanksgiving, when I feast on more turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Sometimes the “usual” leftovers get a little boring though and new twists to the Turkey Day remnants are needed. That’s why I bring you the Turkey Day Leftovers Bloody Mary with Butternut Squash.

Depending on your leftovers situation, you may have the tiniest bit of work to do, which includes roasting a butternut squash and garlic, heating it over the stove with onions, celery, and chicken broth, and finally, tossing it in a blender to puree the mixture. If you already have a butternut squash dish, you can disregard the instructions for making butternut squash puree on the directions list. You can also substitute the butternut squash puree with by pureeing another squash dish if you have one. The ingredients for the puree do not have to be exact by any means– they are solely a guide.

The garnish ideas are endless; you can pretty much garnish your Turkey Day Leftovers Bloody Mary with any Thanksgiving food that will hold up on a garnish pick. I tried out my Skewer This Skewdats for the first time! They are AWESOME and have 8 different garnish picks for (nearly) unlimited Bloody Mary garnishes. You can even get them customized; mine are adorned with the Bloody Mary Tour logo.

INGREDIENTS

Butternut Squash Puree

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• ⅜ cup chicken stock

Mix (makes 4 Bloodies)

• 1.5- 2 oz vodka (per Bloody)
• 24 oz tomato juice (R.W. Knudsen is my fave)
• 6 oz butternut squash puree
• ½ lemon squeezed
• 1 ⅓ tbs black pepper
• ¼ tsp ground red chili pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp ground sage
• 6 pinches dried rosemary (or fresh if you have it)
• ½ tsp celery salt
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• Dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• Dashes of spicy hot sauce (I used Boulder Hot Sauce Company Harry’s Habanero Hot Sauce)

Garnish Ideas

• Slices of turkey
• Green beans
• Roasted potatoes
• Baked apples
• Crescent rolls or biscuits (I can literally live on General Mills Pillsbury Crescent Rolls)
• Cranberry sauce (for spreading on biscuits)
• Stalks of celery
• Sweet potatoes or yams
• Carrots
• Pumpkin pie

DIRECTIONS FOR BUTTERNUT SQUASH PUREE

1. Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
2. Spray baking sheet with olive oil nonstick spray.
3. Cut butternut squash in half and take out seeds.
4. Place two garlic cloves on baking sheet.
5. Place butternut squash halves over each garlic clove (so that the garlic clove is in the cavity of each squash half).
6. Roast for about 40 minutes, or until the squash is cooked tenderly throughout.
7. Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
8. Toss in onion and celery. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
9. Add ground ginger and salt. Cook for 30 seconds.
10. Scoop out the butternut squash flesh and add to the pan, along with the garlic cloves.
11.  Add chicken stock.
12. Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes.
13. Let cool for 5 minutes.
14. Puree in blender.
15. Cool completely in refrigerator or freezer (if using soon).

DIRECTIONS FOR TURKEY DAY LEFTOVERS BLOODIES

1. Put the tomato juice, butternut squash puree, and the rest of the mix ingredients in the blender and blend on medium for 30 seconds. Now you have your Bloody mix.
2. Fill 4 pint glasses with ice.
3. Pour 1.5-2 oz of vodka in each glass.
4. Fill each glass with Bloody Mary mix.
5. Grab another glass that is pint-sized or larger and transfer the Bloody Mary from one of the pint glasses into the new glass. This is called “rolling” and blends the vodka with the mix.
6. Repeat #5 three or four times until your Bloody Mary is back in its original glass.
7. Repeat steps #5 and #6 for each Bloody Mary.
8. Garnish each Bloody Mary with your Thanksgiving leftovers.
9. Enjoy!