For a lot of us the best meal of Christmas is the one on the 26th. This is the leftovers sandwich done properly: sturdy sourdough that will not go soggy, turkey and ham, a slab of stuffing, sharp cranberry sauce and melting Brie, pan-fried in butter until crisp, with a little cup of hot gravy for dipping.
A loaf that is a day or two old is better here than a fresh one. It slices cleanly, holds a heavy filling and toasts to a proper crunch.
Ingredients
Makes 2
- 4 slices of sourdough, about 1.5 cm thick, from a large loaf
- 25 g soft salted butter
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 200 g leftover roast turkey, sliced or torn
- 4 thin slices of leftover ham
- 2 slices of leftover stuffing, about 1.5 cm thick (or 4 tbsp crumbled)
- 2 leftover pigs in blankets, halved lengthways (optional)
- 3 tbsp cranberry sauce
- 100 g Brie, sliced (or mature Cheddar)
- A handful of watercress or rocket
- 150 ml leftover gravy, to serve
Contains: wheat (gluten), milk, eggs, mustard. Check your stuffing and gravy for celery.
Method
- Warm the leftovers. Put the turkey, ham, stuffing and pigs in blankets in a covered dish and reheat in the oven or microwave until steaming hot all the way through. The frying pan alone will only make them warm, and reheated leftovers should be properly hot. Heat the gravy in a small pan.
- Make the mustard mayo. Stir the mayonnaise and English mustard together.
- Butter and spread. Butter one side of each slice of bread thinly; this side goes against the pan. Turn the slices over and spread the other side with the mustard mayo right to the edges. That layer stops the cranberry sauce soaking into the bread.
- Build. On two of the slices, mayo side up, layer half the Brie, then the turkey, stuffing, ham and pigs in blankets. Spread over the cranberry sauce, add the rest of the Brie and top with the remaining slices, butter side up. Cheese on both sides glues the sandwich together.
- Pan-fry. Heat a large heavy frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the sandwiches and press down with a fish slice, or sit a small heavy pan on top. Cook for 3–4 minutes a side until deep golden and the cheese is melting. Low and slow lets the cheese melt before the bread burns.
- Finish. Lift the top slice, tuck in the watercress, close and cut in half. Serve with the hot gravy in a cup or small bowl for dipping.
Tips
- Prefer it cold? Skip the pan and the reheating and build it with fridge-cold leftovers on fresh slices. Just avoid the in-between: leftovers are best eaten either cold from the fridge or reheated until steaming hot.
- Keep leftovers safe. Cool them and get them into the fridge within a couple of hours of the meal, and use them within two days. Freeze anything you will not get through by then.
- Swap the cheese. Mature Cheddar, Stilton or Wensleydale with cranberries all work. Stilton is strong, so use about half as much.
- Best bread for it. Our cranberry and walnut sourdough is very good here, or any plain white sourdough.
For more fillings see our sourdough sandwich recipes, make the sourdough stuffing on Christmas Day so there is some left over, and see all our Christmas sourdough recipes.
FAQ
What is the best bread for a Boxing Day sandwich?
A sourdough loaf a day or two old, cut about 1.5 cm thick. Its firm crust and chewy crumb hold a heavy, saucy filling without going soggy, and it toasts to a good crunch in the pan.
Can I make a Boxing Day sandwich with cold turkey?
Yes. For a cold sandwich, use leftovers straight from the fridge and skip the pan. If you want it toasted, reheat the turkey and stuffing until steaming hot first.
How long do Christmas leftovers keep?
Cool leftovers and refrigerate them within a couple of hours, and use them within two days. Anything you will not eat by then can be frozen.
Bake this with a live starter
Our San Francisco sourdough starter is a live culture: add 75 g flour and 75 g warm water and it is usually bubbly and ready to bake with in about two hours. A starter makes a good stocking filler too — see our sourdough starter gifts.
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