Leftovers

[daniellewiley]

Packed lunches deal with a lot of leftovers! Yesterday's spinach is chopped finely with a scallion and some parsley and becomes spinach omelette...the flesh is picked off the fish bones used for the soup, fried and seasoned into a savory crumble for rice. Etc.

I try for a minor change rather than the "same again" idea for soup - the kids had fluffy dumplings in their chicken/veg soup last night...now that the dumplings are gone, I'll have some of the soup over a  "crouton" of home-made bread grilled with cheese on it for lunch. Then I'll add pasta and just one tomato, chopped and sauteed, before the boys meet it again tonight. As you see, soup plus starch is a big winter snack item in our house.

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I often send leftovers to school with Dylan. I deal with the "heating up" problem by putting them in a high quality thermos that I've warmed with hot water. It works wonderfully. She goes to school with hot lunch everyday, preferring that to a sandwich.

The other night, I made a giant pork tenderloin with the intention of having lots of leftovers for future meals. The next night I made a stir fry with it. I also have five 1/2 pound portions in the freezer for future meals.

[snowangel]

The other night, I made a giant pork tenderloin with the intention of having lots of leftovers for future meals. The next night I made a stir fry with it. I also have five 1/2 pound portions in the freezer for future meals.

I love having leftover pork tenderloin or chicken for tons of stuff, but best of all is for a taco for lunch or enchiladas. I made quesidillas the other night with leftover smoked brisket. Heaven on a tortilla.

[daniellewiley]

The other night, I made a giant pork tenderloin with the intention of having lots of leftovers for future meals. The next night I made a stir fry with it. I also have five 1/2 pound portions in the freezer for future meals.

I love having leftover pork tenderloin or chicken for tons of stuff, but best of all is for a taco for lunch or enchiladas. I made quesidillas the other night with leftover smoked brisket. Heaven on a tortilla.

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Yep, I'm definitely planning on going Mexican with the next chunk of leftover pork. Dylan is ALWAYS happy with Mexican food, and, as you can imagine, if the four-year-old ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

[LaurieB]

I was raised with a "waste not, want not" attitude towards food.

So here's my question -- what to do with those little odds and ends -- leftover leftovers -- the dribs and drabs left in your fridge/pantry that are still too fresh/good/plentiful to be tossed but too scant to be used as a main ingredient in dish.

Tell me your ideas?

Laurie

[Anna N]

I do lots of things but here's a couple:

Cheese bits - all grated up and added to a jar in the freezer - this pre-grated cheese comes in very handy for fast dishes - for example - potato skins.

Cooked chicken - will be added to a few shrimp to make a pasta dish or will make a chicken salad for hubby's packed lunch.

Veggies - almost always become soup du jour or cream of leftovers.

Bits of cooked meat or deli meat will also be added to soup and either eaten that day or frozen for future use.

Fresh herbs such as thyme and oregano - if I don't need the whole bunch then I will dry the extra.

I know there are more things but can't think of them at the moment.

[Kouign Aman]

I turn scraps of meat or veggie into "fried rice".

With cheese, much the same as AnnaN but not quite as well organized.

[Dana329]

Omelets, lo mein, tacos.burritos/quesadillas. And if its prepared food, i.e. a serving of mac n' cheese, one chicken cutlet, various veggies, a doggie bag or two, my teenage sons like Left Over NIght, where it all gets heated and you take what you want. Sort of like a dinner buffet. Easy on the cook and those little bits don't get tossed.

Dana

[snowangel]

Bumping this back up, in the hopes that people will share what they're going with leftovers.

Last night, I espied a container of chili in the fridge. It wasn't enough to serve as just chili, even with sides, so I went rumaging. The pantry revealed two boxes with Barilla Pipettes (combined not enough to use for mac and cheese). There were were bits and pieces of cheese rolling around. And a bag of frozen corn in the freezer with just a couple of small handfuls of corn. So, chili mac.

On the side, salad which also had croutons I made out of a stale loaf of bread languishing on the top of the fridge.

What are you doing with leftovers?

[Anna N]

Made potato skins on Sunday and tonight I took the remaining potato flesh, mashed it up with some warm milk and butter, added a beaten egg and some grated cheese from the jar in the freezer, some chopped chives, a hint of cayenne and some salt and pepper and we have potato cakes that I will saute to accompany tonight's protein.

[Pontormo]

Another bump-up, hoping to hear more.

Since I've been trying to buy at least one item each week that I have never had before, I picked up amaranth at the market last week and ended up boiling the leaves in chicken stock before chopping them up fine and mixing them with a mild Greek feta, eaten at room temperature with a drizzle of olive oil.

The leftover broth was an unattractive but fragrant muddy brown. I borrowed a copy of Sunday Suppers at Lucques and was inspired to use it to prepare a kind of green rice that sounds quite similiar to a version Docsconz first prepared during a recent trip to Mexico. I heated up the broth, added a little water and blended the liquid with chopped fresh herbs: chives, cilantro and parsley. The result was a beautiful shade of green. After sauteing celery, garlic and onion and coating grains of rice with the mixture, I poured in the broth. The pilaf retained the vivid color along with the flavors of the vegetables and herbs.

(I also figured out a way to transform an unending supply of caponata to go along with the rice, but would not wish to insult traditionalists.)

ETAccommodate yet another merge as per request.

Edited August 7, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[snowangel]

I don't know where I'd be without leftover gumbo and smoked meat in the freezer. Reheat the gumbo, and voila! instant dinner that requires almost no attention.

The other night, it was a forgotten package of smoked pork (freezer gold) the morphed into posole.

So, I'm in a rut, but then again, the deep freezer is not a safe deposit box, and the stuff needs to be used.

[Domestic Goddess]

For today - I will be reheating the steamed dumplings I made and froze. They will be potstickers today. The frozen cooked macaroni and leftover roasted chicken will be resurrected as creamy macaroni & broccoli bake tonight.

[meredithla]

Clean out the freezer before '06 ends, that's my leftover motto! Last night I took out the puff pastry, frozen broccoli florets, grated Gruyere & Parm and roasted garlic to make a tart/pizza. Served with a salad of greens, feta & peas with lemon garlic dressing. My guests said "This is leftovers?!"

[Domestic Goddess]

You can freeze broccoli florets? Do I steam them first and freeze or just simply cut it up and freeze?

[christine007]

You can freeze broccoli florets? Do I steam them first and freeze or just simply cut it up and freeze?

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I would blanch them in boiling water for two minutes, then put them in an ice water bath. Drain and freeze.

I have a cookbook that has an entire, engrossing chapter on leftovers, and how you can do things such as combine them with canned soups or bechemal cheese sauce and serve them over pancakes, rice, noodles, etc. I do this all the time.

and never forget shepherd's pie for your leftover meat/gravy\ vegetable combos.

Put the leftovers in a buttered baking dish, frost with mashed potatos, and bake in a 375 oven until the potatos and filling are hot. Cheese may be sprinkled on the top, if desired.

Edited December 15, 2006 by christine007 (log)

[jasie]

OoO. glad this topic was bumped up.

I'm alone this week so I'm not really feeling too bothered to cook food that require lots o preparation....rumaged around and came out with something that was absolutely yummy. Didn't have fresh pork defrosted so looked at what pork was leftover and found some frozen in small ziplocks. This is what I ended up with....

Smoked pork that was simply brined and then smoked. Kimchi, gochujang. and sesame oil. oh. and h2o of course.

Basically a kimchi jigae except with smoked pulled pork (without any added seasonings like bbq sauce).

It tastes soo damn awesome. smoky kimchi and pork. It all melds into a lovely red mess and eaten with some fluffy white rice? Definitely doesn't taste like leftovers.

Might need to smoke some more pork.....

[snowangel]

Two of the three kids got sick while I was cooking dinner, and as a result, I have a large lot of leftover mashed potatoes. What should I do with them? Potato Madeleines? Can I freeze them? Suggestions, please!

[Domestic Goddess]

I suggest making the Potato Madelines as in the thread indicated, you can freeze them!

[Pontormo]

Shepherd's Pie or a chicken pot pie with a mashed potato crust!

Soup, using mashed potatoes as thickening agent instead of cream. Plenty of possibilities here, such as caldo verde.

Bubble and Squeak. Klary's stampot. Potato croquettes...

ETA: Dessert, e.g. Russian chocolate cake.

Edited February 12, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[Pontormo]

CHALLENGE:

Last night I poached wild Sockeye salmon in olive oil flavored (very slightly if at all) w a single garlic clove and fresh basil.

According to one source I read online, the oil can be reserved and re-used for up to a week if kept in the fridge. N.B. the temperature of the oil is never raised much above 150 F during the brief cooking process.

There are at least 6 oz. leftover, and even though I used a fine mesh strainer (I'll strain again w cloth or a paper towel), I could see there were impurities suspended in the cooled oil. A very thin layer of a lighter color formed below the intense green of basil-infused Sicilian oil.

I assume salmon fat is at the bottom of my jar since the oil smelled distinctly of salmon while still a little warm.

So, I'm thinking, I don't want to waste this much of a decent EVOO, yet I am not inclined to make a tomato, garlic & basil sauce with something fishy. Nor do I plan on buying any more seafood for the week ahead.

Questions:

1) Any suggestions for using the reserved oil during the week ahead? I'm clueless, so:

2) Would it be safe to freeze cubes of the oil to thaw and use later if I wanted

a) to perk up water-packed tuna fish, dress a seafood salad, or use it without raising the temperature of the oil in any way?

b) to use strictly for cooking more seafood at a later date, raising the heat to a higher temperature than I used to poach it?

In other words, I'd rather waste the oil than get sick.