The Moistmaker Sliders
November 23, 2018 by Nicole Collins
Knock, Knock. Who's there?
Ross Gellar's lunch. Ross Gellar's lunch, who?
Ross Gellar's lunch. Please don't take me, ok?
You better get the deadbolts out today folks, because you're not going to want anyone stealing (or throwing away half of) today's recipe.
But, before we get in to it...how was everyone's holiday? Are you still totally stuffed? Anyone doing any Black Friday shopping this morning?
I'm sure there's some kind of scientific reason relating to the ins and outs of my metabolism to explain this; but whenever I eat late or go to bed super full, I wake up starving. It's the strangest thing. You'd think I'd get a couple extra hours of satisfaction or something. But, no! I'm a total hungry monster this morning.
But, I'm a hungry monster that is staying in my comfy cozy bed until it's time to go to work. And, I'm working from home today, which means I'm staying in my comfy cozy bed all day. I am not and have never been a Black Friday shopper. I've actually never ventured out in to the world to go Black Friday shopping. I've always worked in some kind of retail environment, so Black Friday was always a day that I either wanted to be at work (when I was a commissioned employee) or that I needed to be at work (when I was managing a Customer Service team).
This year is the first year that I'm working Black Friday because I want to. And honestly, it's probably a lot safer for my bank account that way.
Until Cyber Monday, that is.
Before all of my money gets transferred from my bank account to Amazon, let's talk about today's recipe. We're making an ode to the greatest show of all time today.
Today, we're making The Moistmaker Sliders!
First of all, how amazing is it that pretty much every situation in life calls for a Friends quote?!? I LOVE it!
So, we've all seen the episode where Ross has a nervous breakdown and gets suspended from work on account of his rage because his coworker eats his Thanksgiving sandwich. And, as he tells us what's so incredible about this leftover sandwich, we learn about the Moistmaker.
The Moistmaker is a piece of bread soaked in gravy strategically placed in the middle of the sandwich to add texture and flavor to a sammie piled high with leftovers from the Thanksgiving table. It's like a little gravy sponge in your sammie. And, it really does make a difference!
However, a full out leftover sandwich can be a little intimidating, because it's so hearty and large. I mean, Ross' coworker threw half of the sammie away because it was too much!
So, we're scaling it down a little bit by making our leftover sandwich into a slider!
We start with a brioche slider roll, which you probably already have from your leftover dinner rolls. I like using a roll, because it's nice and sturdy and can hold all of the delicious things we're going to pile on top without getting soggy. Then, we layer the rest of our leftovers in this order: schmear of cranberry sauce, slice of turkey, moistmaker, slice of stuffing, schmear of garlic mashed potatoes, and the top of our slider bun. Does that sound like a sammie, or what!
This guy may be slider sized, but it is still quite the monster. And look at that lean! It reminds me of the Leaning Tower of Pisa! It just leans in the opposite direction.
This slider seriously has one of everything from the leftovers containers, and they all blend so well together. The tangy cranberry, they juicy turkey, the pop of moisture from the gravy, the herbaceous stuffing, and the creamy garlic mash. Usually, mixing all of these foods that don't necessarily belong touching each other would be a huge issue for me. But, there's something magical that happens when you're reliving the joy of time spent with your family and friends through your leftover sandwich.
And the best part is that all of our sammies will be unique to each of us and our families. No two sliders will be alike!
To send us off today, a few more of my favorite moments:
“Could I be wearing any more clothes?”
“PIVOT!”
“They don't know we know they know we know.”
And my ALL TIME favorite: “I got off the plane.”
Let's eat!
The Moistmaker Sliders
Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
4 brioche slider buns
4 tbsp cranberry sauce
6 oz carved turkey
1 slice sandwich bread, cut in to fours
½ cup turkey gravy
1 cup stuffing
4 tbsp garlic mashed potatoes
Directions:
Make the moistmaker: Take each quarter of sandwich bread, and dip both sides in turkey gravy until the bread has absorbed the gravy.
Assemble each sandwich in the following order: 1 tbsp cranberry sauce spread on the bottom of brioche bun, 1 ½ oz sliced turkey, 1 square of moistmaker, ¼ cup stuffing, and 1 tbsp garlic mashed potatoes spread on the top of the brioche bun. Enjoy!
Recipe notes:
*I've eaten this sandwich with the leftovers being warmed first and with leaving them cold. I prefer the sandwich when the fillings are warm, but it's still totally yummy both ways.
*The stuffing is easier to cut in to a slider sized square when it's cold.
*If you're feeling SUPER hungry, you could also make a full sized sandwich on a regular sizer bun or on sandwich bread. It's a lot though!
*If you want to make this sandwich when you don't have leftover Thanksgiving dinner, you can easily whip it up with a few shortcuts: 1. Use a store bought rotisserie chicken in place of carved Thanksgiving turkey. 2. Make a quick batch of store bought boxed stuffing. Bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 mins (covered for the first 15 mins, and not covered for the last 15 mins) after following the instructions on the box to crisp it up a bit. 3. Make a quick batch of garlic mash: In a large pot, add 1 ½ lbs yukon gold potatoes (quartered), 2 smashed garlic cloves, 1 tbsp salt, and cover with cold water, making sure there's about an inch of water above the top of the potatoes. Heat to high, and bring to a boil. Boil for 10-12 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. Remove from heat. Drain water from pot. Put potatoes back in the pot along with the softened garlic cloves. Add 4 tbsp butter, and mash to desired consistency. Add 1 tbsp heavy cream, ¼ cup sour cream, ¾ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper. Continue mashing, and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
