The Luxurious Bread Martha Stewart Uses For Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwiches
There's really nothing that hits quite like Thanksgiving leftovers. After the chaos of preparing, cooking, and hosting, getting to relax at home and enjoy a delicious concoction of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and gravy is near perfection.
As someone who has raised her own turkeys and has cooked more than a thousand birds throughout her years as a caterer and chef, she knows a thing or two about Thanksgiving. But her secret to elevating a sandwich composed of leftovers might surprise you. It isn't about a complicated sauce or how to properly reheat your mashed potatoes, according to Stewart, it's all about the bread. And in her opinion, you should be making your leftover sandwiches with two slices of fluffy, rich Japanese milk bread.
What does Japanese milk bread bring to the Thanksgiving leftover table?
Shokupan, or Japanese milk bread as it's known in the States,is an incredibly fluffy and moist bread you can find at most Asian bakeries. Cut into thick squares, it has a slightly sweet and buttery flavor with an airy, yet dense texture that absolutely melts in your mouth. In other words, it's the ultimate white bread but made with even more butter and milk. Although a fairly new craze in America, it's been enjoyed in Japan for decades. It's great for dishes like French toast, and even better, it takes longer to go stale than other types of breads. But what exactly makes it the perfect bread to use for your Thanksgiving leftover sandwich? Per Martha Stewart, it's all about the unique combination of textures and flavors that tie perfectly together into one sweet, savory and crunchy, creamy bite.
Aside from lightly toasting the milk bread to give it that nice bit of crispiness, Stewart suggests using iceberg lettuce to add an additional layer of crunch to your Thanksgiving leftover sandwich. She also packs hers with either mayonnaise or Russian dressing, and a tart cranberry sauce. Altogether, these ingredients on top of your Thanksgiving leftovers stuck between two slices of thick milk bread, makes for the perfect bite. Don't have milk bread on hand? Hawaiian rolls are a close second and can give your sandwich that touch of savory sweetness you're looking for. But, if you're feeling ambitious, Stewart has a Japanese milk bread recipe of her own to try making at home. Either way, make sure to give Stewart's tip a try this Thanksgiving season.
