Curried Turkey Salad and Sour Cream Scones

Other than the turkey sandwich I had for lunch yesterday, the next best thing I wanted to put together from the leftover Easter turkey is this curried turkey salad we had for dinner last night.

Thrown together without a recipe, it's got all the usual bird salad ingredients in it like celery and red onion, but in addition I loaded it up on dried cranberries and slivered almonds too just for a different crunch. What really gives this one a step up is the curry flavored mayo based dressing I concocted.

I added 4 teaspoons of curry powder to a 1/2 cup of mayo and a 1/4 cup of sour cream, then realized I might have gone a tad overboard with it. Curry can be a little bitter if it isn't mellowed in a hot pan first which of course I didn't do, so I added a half cup of our homemade kumquat marmalade to sweeten it up a bit. Any orange marmalade will do just fine, but there's something special about one that you've fashioned yourself out of kumquats from your own trees. Anyway, it was just what was needed to put this salad up there with one of our best. By the way, the salad would be wonderful with more fruit added to it in addition to the dried cranberries. Try mango chunks, or green grapes or some diced up apple and see what I mean.

I knew the plate needed one more thing and since I didn't have any dinner rolls hiding in the freezer, I went to the internet and found Paula's Sour Cream Scone recipe online at foodnetwork.com. They came together in the food processor in a flash but I left out the heavy cream/raw sugar finish she recommends and the top was perfectly golden and crunchy anyway, thank you very much.

The only thing I didn't do was work them a little more when the dough came out of the processor so if anything, the finished scones were a little too light and fluffy. Imagine having such a problem when often they can be like dry hockey pucks instead of the moist tender morsels they ended up as. I should make that mistake again soon! Thanks Paula!

Hit the link here to head directly to Paula's Sour Cream Scone recipe, and see the Curried Turkey Salad recipe below. 

Curried Turkey Salad (an original from JBug’s Kitchen)

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3 cups diced cooked turkey (or chicken if you wish)

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

3 to 4 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 cup orange marmalade (I used our homemade kumquat)

Salt and coarse ground black pepper to taste

Salad Greens

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, curry powder and orange marmalade and mix well. All to sit for 5 minutes, then taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required. Add celery, onion, cranberries, turkey and almonds to the dressing and toss well to combine. Refrigerate well covered for a minimum 1 hour to blend flavors. Serve on bed of mixed greens. Makes 4 servings.

For those of you that just dropped by for a look see at JBug's Kitchen Antics, I must apologize for the fancy dinner ware you see in the photograph but we're in the midst of renovating our kitchen and we're without a kitchen sink (among other things). Believe me using disposable plates while the kitchen's being renovated is becoming a life saver ....or should I say wife saver! 

Two year's ago - Maui Tacos with Seared Pineapple Salsa

Comments

[Lea]

Wowsa - a fabulous salad right there - and I think adding the marmalade for balance is brilliant! Love the color of it!

[June]

Thanks Lea. It was rather a sunny curried color, no question!

[Lorraine]

Well, you know me and curry, so you know I want to make this one! Great use of the extra turkey. I like the idea of the dried cranberries, and adding grapes would add a classic touch.

[June]

Thanks Lorraine and you're absolutely right about the grapes. Wish I had thought about it before I made it rather than after but I may have to add some to the leftovers for lunch today.