No More Warmed Over Leftovers...
...To be warmed over, left over. You'd have to be a real Flintstones dork to know the reference but here's the question...
Everyone knows you can make roast beef sandwiches out of leftover roast beef but what's something imaginative you've done with leftovers to transmogrify them into another night's meal?
Cooking larger quantities of food on the weekends and using cooked food for other meals during busy weeknights is recommended both as a time saver and an economic tool.
How do you make it work?
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17 Comments:
I love the chicken croquette/salmon croquette incarnation of leftovers. I've found that the most delicious recipes to use are for crab cakes---you just substitute the chicken or salmon for crab!
Teachertalk at 8:26AM on 09/12/09
When I make a pot roast w/vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots, celery), I'll use the leftovers cut into bite size pieces for stew. Use plenty of gravy and add some Bisquick dumplings to the mix. Delightful.
1stmakearoux at 8:57AM on 09/12/09
It's become almost a dare in my house to make leftovers unrecognizable as food served earlier in the week. My most recent triumph was leftover spare rib meat (the ribs were cooked so tender that I could easily pull out the bones) made into tamale filling. Other such fun things were chix pot pie made with roasted chix and roasted herb potatoes, cut up some fresh carrots and onion, saute them - then add the cooked meat and potatoes. I don't use Bisquick but whipped together a batch of cheddar biscuits from a simple recipe and dollop that on top of the bubbling chix mixture.
I just baked off 3 sweet potatoes I bought and am buzzing with ideas of what to do with the mash. I know I'd like to make a sweet potato souffle (along the lines of carrot souffle) and I want to reserve about 1 1/4 cups for sweet potato biscuits. They're great at dinner or if you have leftovers, they make a great breakfast, toasted, buttered and drizzled with honey.
It's almost like I don't cook a meal without considering what to do with the leftovers in the same breath.
therealchiffonade at 9:27AM on 09/12/09
@chiff - make a sweet potato crust for your pot pie (like a shepherds pie).... love the spare rib idea....
pooch at 10:04AM on 09/12/09
I have fond memories from childhood of my mother turning left over roast beef into stroganoff. That was always a welcome weekday meal from Sunday's leftovers.
I've used leftover sweet potatoes, mixed with butternut squash (but it's not absolutely necessary), as filling in lasagna (a white one like Ina's mushroom one).
The last time I had leftover vegetables from roasting a chicken (potatoes, carrots and onions) I pureed two cups of them with a cup of corn kernels and about 3 cups of chicken stock to make soup (I added a bit of ancho chile powder and cayenne for zip). I served it with a sprinkling of scallions, cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon. The leftover roast chicken went into chicken salad and a broccoli stir fry.
Amandarama at 10:21AM on 09/12/09
Funny you should ask--I've been using the leftovers of a roasted pork butt from making David Chang's bo ssam. Since the original flavors of the pork where pretty universal/neutral (salt & sugar cure, plus a little black pepper and garlic) I was able to incorporate the roasted and shredded pork into a couple of different dishes. Day one was the bo ssam, next day, I threw some chunks into the crock pot on low with some tomato, garlic, peppers, onions, splash of oj, squeeze of lime, ancho chilli, cayenne, and cumin--then made pork quesadillas with it. Next night, I sauteed onion, garlic, tomato (lots of toms coming from the garden), pepper, sweet corn, leftover rice (from bo ssam night), and stuffed some bell peppers from the garden. Tonight is empanadas and I will be done with pork for awhile...
wookie at 12:45PM on 09/12/09
Does anyone else delay the reappearance of 'transmogrified' leftovers? This past week we had pork ribs that were fall off the bone tasty with roasted corn on the cob. I hadn't anticipated leftovers, and so had pulled chicken out to grill the next day in anticipation.
I decided leftover ribs would be better suited to a day's delay in the fridge--so left them and made the chicken the next day. On the third day, I stripped the ribs and sliced the corn kernels and made them into bbq pork pizza toppings alongside carmelized onions and mushrooms. We seem to have a thin crust pizza about once a week, and i always find it to be useful for cleaning out the fridge. A few weeks ago I took a too hot madrassi style chicken curry, used the sauce to flavour a cooler white sauce and made curried chicken 'pizza'.
BananaMonkey at 1:10PM on 09/12/09
@BananaMonkey - I always space my transmogrified leftovers at least one full day away from the original meal. (i.e. Sunday to Tuesday at least - maybe Wednesday.) I plan it that way. Cooked food can last 7 days in a cold refrigerator if sealed with little air and kept in the back where warmth won't reach the container. (Label and date so there's no guesswork and "memory testing.")
I haven't done a pizza in a while... Hmmmmm. Sounds good!
therealchiffonade at 8:35PM on 09/12/09
I love to make enchilladas out of leftovers. Well, enchillada might be a stretch for some of them, but it is the premise of the enchillada. Sometimes there is no cheese involved, just a cream sauce. A couple of weeks ago I had some leftover turkey breast, not enough for 4 people on its own. Diced the turkey, added leftover corn off the cob, drained black beans (yeah they were canned, wanna fight about it?!), cilantro pesto, grated onions, sour cream, and two minced jalapenos. For the sauce I added cream cheese and sharp cheddar to a cream sauce. Delicious and better the next day for lunch.
finsbigfan at 9:45AM on 09/13/09
I actually have corn tortillas on hand for enchiladas since I know I'm going to have leftovers from tonight's roast chicken that I'll want to transmogrify later this week!
Amandarama at 9:55AM on 09/13/09
@chiff--I found I started making pizza a lot more frequently when I jsut considered it as an ingredient delivery device of relatively low carbs (two slices of a very thin partially whole wheat crust rather than a mound of pasta or potatoes) rather than an attempt to perfect a sicilian masterpiece.
Purists would call it a bastardization of all things pizza, but for me it's tasty, easy and works well for portion control both overall, and for the 'bad' elements of a meal, such as cheese, creamy sauces etc. I do pesto, bbq sauce, tomato, creamy roasted garlic, curry, even a vaguely thai sticky concoction and veggies to match with leftover protein and a salad.
BananaMonkey at 2:36PM on 09/13/09
There are a lot of times that I look forward to the leftovers more than the orignal meal. A beef roast might turn into Italian beef sandwiches; pork or beef could be tacos, fajitas or American chop suey.
As much as I like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, I love cold meatloaf sandwiches, and the mashed potatoes would probably end up in the bread dough.
Anything with bones generally gets cooked down for the stock, but that's particularly true of chicken. And depending on my mood, the leftover chicken could end up in chicken soup, or it could be tacos or chicken salad or just cold chicken for lunch. Or the stock could be the water used to cook rice or noodles as a side dish, maybe with some shredded chicken if there's any left.
If I make a pork roast, a lot of the time it's just an excuse to make Cuban sandwiches the next day.
Then again, some meals, I don't mind eating a couple days in a row.
dbcurrie at 3:33PM on 09/13/09
Many times I will transform leftovers into soups/stews. Other things is to make tamales, or pot pies.
pjracz10 at 4:33PM on 09/13/09
so we have these chicken legs and we originally baked them with curry powder, mustard, honey, and butter sauce. im thinking of making a pizza of it after reading all this. saute onion, garlic, and green peas. add the chicken torn-to-pieces and sour cream. cover with mozzerella.
blizcheetah at 8:51PM on 09/13/09
Whenever I have leftover vegetables, I'll chop them up roughly and mix them with eggs breadcrumbs, and maybe some hard grateable cheese. Then I fry 'em into vegetable pancakes. Love.
BangieB at 10:36PM on 09/13/09
funny thing, I looove leftovers... I enjoy feeling like I somehow outsmarted the food gods and got two meals for the price of one. Also, I was raised eating leftovers constantly (that standard joke about "the original meal has never been found") with "smorgasboard night" at least once a week.
My hubby, on the other hand, never ate leftovers as a kid and so is completely horrified by the idea (granted, who would want to eat his mom's leftovers? But that's another post.
So I hide them and disguise them, like he's 7 years old and I'm sneaking veggies into his food. Like PP'ers, I always try to wait a full 24 hours before the transformation... enough time that the two meals don't connect in his mind.
I can turn just about anything into soup or stirfry, often with the addition of some noodles or additional veg. Quesadillas, piedine, etc... fancy words for "I smushed some leftovers between two tortillas and now you think it's like bar food." Leftover meats and veg often (read: on a weekly basis) reappear as a cold salad over some lettuce later in the week.
Case in point: Saturday night was red-cooked (soy) pot roast type thing with soba noodles, chinese cabbage, water chestnuts... meat reappeared as "steak and eggs" on Sunday morning, tonight is soba noodle bowls (add more broth) topped with shredded beef and veg, chile sauce.
wasliche at 10:48AM on 09/14/09
I always "recycle" leftovers. Proteins like pork chops, pork tenderloins or Chicken on day two are turned into lo mein or fried rice. Sometimes I will go the mexican route and go with enchiladas or quesadillas. In the winter I use beef or chicken leftovers for some sort of soup -- many variations. I always save my chicken carcuses for stock.
lakeloverhh at 4:33PM on 09/14/09