Stuffed Turkey Buns

BY GUEST BLOGGER – Memories of Home

After days and days of hedonistic holiday feasting, the fridge is full.
The kids are taking a running start to fit the milk back in.

Time to come up with an idea for leftovers…

hmmm…

Turkey Salad stuffed inside two-tone buns, shaped liked little turkeys.  Obviously.

Here’s the recipe for the Turkey Salad part.  (I’ll show you the bun part after.)
TURKEY SALAD (makes 8 luncheon sized servings)
4 cups of finely diced leftover roasted turkey
1 cup of fresh pomegranate seeds
1 1/2 cups of salted cashews
2 red apples, cored, unpeeled, and finely diced
1 1/2 cups celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
2 TBSP milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all that together gently, in a big bowl.  Cover, refrigerate, and use within 24 hours.

TURKEY SHAPED BUNS
I enjoy making my own bread, and have made two batches of dough for these turkeys, a 100% whole wheat, and a farmhouse white recipe, however you may use bread or bun dough from the freezer section at the grocery store, following the package directions for thawing.  One pound of each colour dough (brown and white) makes eight little turkeys.

Firstly, cut your whole wheat dough into eight pieces.  Next, cut your white dough into eight pieces.  Each piece will be about the size of a golf ball.  Keep them covered while you are working, with a damp towel.

Now, cut each piece of whole wheat dough into two pieces, one slightly smaller than the other.  Like this:

The smaller whole wheat piece will become the “wings” of the turkey, and the larger piece, the “legs”.  Once you have prepared all of the pieces, shape them like this:

… and assemble them like this:

The white dough represents the “breast meat” of the turkey, and is a heart shape.  The whole wheat pieces roll nicely on a wooden board, begun as a rope shape about 3” long, and then thinned in the centre and at the tips by rolling under your fingertips.

Place the “turkeys” on a baking mat on a cookie sheet, and pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Because of the rising properties of the yeasted buns, it is possible for the detailed elements of your artistic creation to become mutated during rising, however small adjustments before you bake them will help to recover their fowl shape.  Gently brush each bun with an egg white wash (egg white + 1 TBSP water).  Sprinkle lightly with lemon pepper or any desired seasoning.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly browned.

Cool completely before attempting to stuff these turkeys.  They may be prepared ahead, and frozen.

Use a strawberry huller, or a small serrated knife to core out a “cavity” in your “turkey”.  Carefully stuff the Turkey Salad filling inside each bun, and serve.

Gobble up!