By After my blatant infringement on TBS’s Dinner and A Movie session, and the delivery of a cease-and-desist letter, I have decided to change my monthly column to Movie Chowdown, where I will bring you a recipe for food paired with a topical movie of my choice. With my fresh new title settling on the window sill, I bring you “What To Do With Leftovers,” paired with the classic Steve Martin and John Candy masterpiece Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, a film about getting home in time for Thanksgiving. Did I mention it was directed by John Hughes? ‘Cause it was.
After my blatant infringement on TBS’s Dinner and A Movie session, and the delivery of a cease-and-desist letter, I have decided to change my monthly column to Movie Chowdown, where I will bring you a recipe for food paired with a topical movie of my choice. With my fresh new title settling on the window sill, I bring you “What To Do With Leftovers,” paired with the classic Steve Martin and John Candy masterpiece Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, a film about getting home in time for Thanksgiving. Did I mention it was directed by John Hughes? ‘Cause it was.{{page_break}}
Steve Martin plays Neal Page, a business man who is flying home for Thanksgiving. However, his flight is grounded, and he is forced to use various means of transportation to get him home. Accompanying him (much to Neal’s chagrin) is Del Griffith (John Candy), who makes the trip unbearable and sets them back at every turn. Sound familiar? It’s Due Date, but good. The film has quite a few memorable scenes (those aren’t pillows!), but its resounding win lies in the performances of the two leads, who play off each other like Martin and Lewis or Wilder and Pryor. For those of you that missed your plane, or had your driver fall asleep and drive off an overpass onto a crowded highway without major injury (seriously, that’s just weak), here is a chance to gussy up those Thanksgiving leftovers.
What you will need:
An oven or toaster
Leftovers
Good bread
A knife
Part one: Bread Prep
The key to a good sandwich is in the bread. It’s easy enough to cut up an avocado, or find a fancy English mustard, but getting good sandwich bread is harder than it seems. If you like Wonder Bread, take a hike, you don’t deserve this sandwich. Choose a bread that has substance and flavor, something that has some heft to it, and if at all possible, buy it uncut. I would suggest something hearty like sourdough, pumpernickel, or rye. If the bread is too thin, or two soft, the juices will make it slimy and unappealing. Also, your sandwich will lack proper integrity, and that won’t do.
Part Two: Early Construction Phase
Here we run into the first of two major decisions in the sandwich construction. Some people think that you shouldn’t put anything too liquid-y on the bread, for it will soak through and make the whole sandwich bad. Others think its vital to impart some flavor into the bread itself, which will pay off dividends later in the process. I think you can have both, and here’s how. Take your two pieces of bread, and toast them quickly on high heat (can be done in the toaster or oven). This gives the bread some great crusty edges and will help the sandwich hold up to all of the other ingredients. If you want to add gravy, warm it up in a separate container and drizzle it onto the bread, lightly so as not to soak the bread too much. Save some for later.
Part Three: The Filling
I like to start by first layering the turkey, cut in small thin slices, on top of your toasted bread. Then layer a spoonful or two of stuffing, to give it a softer texture and great flavor. Next, pour the remaining gravy on top of the stuffing (it will soak through the stuffing and into the turkey, which will keep the turkey moist). Here, we come to our second decision, to cran or not to cran. If you are adventurous, and want something to combat that rich flavor of stuffing and gravy, take a small spoonful of cranberry sauce, and spread it on the inside of your second bread piece. The sweetness and tart bite from the cranberries will cut through the salty stuffing and gravy, and if the cranberry sauce is cold, will provide a great contrast to the hot gravy and warm bread.
Part Four: Enjoy
This, I am told, is the easiest step. Join your two pieces of bread in sweet matrimony, then ravage your creation with the fury of a thousand barbarians. Finally, give thanks to the deity of your choice for providing a great bounty, and for driving away the in-laws that stand between you and leftover sandwich. Seriously Aunt Peg, lay off the pie. It’s for everyone.
Pics courtesy Norman Rockwell and MGM Studios