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Stein And Nancy Leson's Takes On The Perfect Leftover-Turkey Sandwich

Dick Stein
Don't wing it. Follow my directions instead.

As we all know, the real reason for the Thanksgiving Feast is to ready the components of the post-TG turkey sandwich (PTGTS).  Like just about everyone, I have strong feelings as to what constitutes its most perfect manifestation.

Some may disagree, but of course they are wrong. Mine is the Platonic Ideal of turkey sandwiches. All others mere flickering shadows on the culinary cave wall.

Let's build one from the bottom up.

The Lube: Combine  3 parts mayo/1 part ketchup/2 drops Maggi Seasoning. 

The Bread: NY Sourdough Rye.

The Assembly: Arrange equal parts white and dark meat at least 1½ inches thick on the lubed bread. Salt and pepper the meat. Cmpress leftover stuffing, slice like Spam and layer over meat. Cut reserved turkey skin into chiffonade and sauté briefly to crisp. Place on top of stuffing. Lube top slice of bread, press down hard. Eat.  Repeat.

Naturally, Nancy Leson disagrees. In fact, her favorite isn't even the kind of sandwich you can pick up. Nance goes for the hot turkey san in which the meat is "simmered in leftover gravy, and then you layer it over some cheap white bread from the supermarket." 

In this case, I heartily approve of Nancy's white-bread aesthetic. For sandwiches such as the hot turkey and pulled pork, only that Wonder-style extruded bread-like food product will do.

So what's your idea of the perfect PTGTS? 

"I'm not a sandwich store that only sells turkey sandwiches. I sell a lot of things."

– Lady Gaga

Dick Stein joined KNKX in January 1992. He retired in 2020 after three decades on air. During his storied radio career, he hosted the morning jazz show, co-hosted and produced "Food for Thought" with Nancy Leson and wrote and directed the Jimmy Jazzoid live radio musical comedies and 100 episodes of Jazz Kitchen.