The leftover challenge: three chefs shine

November 21, 2011 6:14 PM

For most of us, a turkey sandwich with a schmear of cranberry sauce is about as much effort as we're likely to put into Thanksgiving leftovers. But we're amateurs. Newsday wondered: Could a professional chef make a silk purse out of a turkey's ear? To find out, we challenged Ben Durham (Four Food Studio), Lia Fallon (Amarelle) and Scott Bradley (Snaps) to create a memorable dish using cooked turkey and other foods you probably have in your refrigerator. The ground rules: Aside from the turkey, the chefs didn't know what the other three ingredients would be until we showed up with a mystery basket. As on "Chopped" and "Iron Chef," staples and seasonings from the chef's kitchen were OK to use, but the main focus of the dish had to be the ingredients we supplied. The dish could not require more than 45 minutes to prepare. By the way, no one got chopped from this challenge; every recipe was a winner.