Holiday eating traditions are precious for many of us. We wait all year long to eat that certain dish with our favorite people.
One of my Thanksgiving traditions has been to join the long line at Parkway Bakery & Tavern in my hometown of New Orleans to get my once-a-year Thanksgiving po' boy. The locally famous overstuffed sandwich, sold only in November, is straightforward: French bread is layered with fresh-roasted turkey, hot cornbread dressing, whole-berry cranberry relish and then drenched in brown gravy.
This year, there will be no line at Parkway, but, by God, there will be turkey po' boys.
General Manager Justin Kennedy explained that the popular restaurant has changed much of the way it does business due to the pandemic. It has cut its staff from 50 to 25 and shortened its operating hours. And these days, 60% of its regular business is takeout — even though the restaurant has an ample patio and limited indoor seating.
To accommodate the to-go orders, all 90 spots in its parking lot are now numbered. People drive in, call in their order, give their spot number and wait for a golf cart-ferried po' boy to arrive, he said. A toll-booth-like stand is manned by the "parking lot maître d'" who hands out menus or answers questions. Parkway also added a walk-up ordering window for the bar.
But you cannot get the seasonal Thanksgiving po' boy that way. This year, the only way to get it is to call in your order, prepay with a credit card and pick it up at the restaurant on a Tuesday in November.
"There's no big crazy line, so it's working out," said Kennedy about the po' boy's fans who, each November, usually snake around the block, with some customers arriving early and holding their spots by sitting in lawn chairs. Social distancing would have been difficult in that scenario, he said.
In 2020, the Thanksgiving po' boy is sold in a kit that makes two 11-inch po' boys. Each component — the sliced turkey dark/light meat, dressing, gravy, whole berry cranberry sauce — is in its own deli container. (Patrons can add a bottle of wine to benefit the Hogs for the Cause, a nonprofit group that supports those with pediatric brain cancer.)
Kennedy sees advantages to the new arrangement. "It'll hold in the refrigerator. You heat it up on your time, build it how you want it, with the dressing and gravy how you want it," he said, adding that the packages could easily serve four, "but two hungry, hungry people could take it down."
Because I cannot order one, I decided to re-create it. If building a po' boy at home, Kennedy recommends at least 7 ounces of turkey, 12 ounces of dressing, 4 ounces gravy and 4 ounces cranberry sauce on an 11-inch loaf of New Orleans-style French bread.
And there is the rub: I can make a good facsimile of the roasted turkey, gravy, cornbread dressing and cranberry sauce, but the Leidenheimer bread is elusive when I'm not in my hometown.
Leidenheimer is light, with thin, crunchy exterior crust and an airy, fluffy interior. This makes the bread a perfect partner for overstuffed sandwiches.
To approximate New Orleans-style French bread, I buy the lightest French-style long loaf or Belgian pistolets that I can find. Or I bake a frozen one, such as Pillsbury French bread. If the bread is dense, I pull out some of the soft interior and save it for making breadcrumbs. To get the crunch, I lightly toast the partially hollowed-out loaf until crisp.
Then, I follow Parkway's lead, using hot traditional Thanksgiving meal leftovers, but I scale mine down a bit from Kennedy's proportions.
Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Po' Boy
- 1 cup cornbread dressing
- 1 cup turkey brown gravy, divided use, plus more as needed
- 7 ounces roasted turkey, light and/or dark meat, sliced or shredded
- 1 (12-inch) loaf French bread OR 2 (6-inch) Belgian-style pistolets
- ¾ cup whole berry cranberry sauce
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350 degrees. Place the dressing in a small ovenproof pan and transfer to the oven for about 10 minutes or until warmed through.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add half the gravy and the turkey and toss together so the meat is heated through, about 5 minutes.
Halve the bread lengthwise down the center and place on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to the oven for about 3 minutes, or until just crisp.
On one side of the bread, spoon on the stuffing and spread it edge to edge. Top with the turkey and spoon the cranberry sauce on top of the meat. Then, generously ladle more gravy over the sandwich. Cover with the other side of the bread. If working with a 12-inch loaf, slice the sandwich in half with a sharp, serrated knife and serve.
Makes 2 servings.