Leftover Vegetarian Dinner

Found a terrific recipe for a Riso (rice) Primavera. I made riso pasta last night which is similar to orzo but mine was plain, tonight I make Weekday Vegetarian's Riso Primavera. It sounds delicious and I have all the ingredients on hand already. YAY!

Tuesday: The Quick and the Fed

Last night's dinner revolved around a store bought rotisserie chicken, heat and eat mashed potatoes and fresh corn on the cob. When you're home all day with two sick, lethargic kids making a big production out of dinner just won't cut it. In fact immediately after finishing her dinner (with 2 helpings of everything) the baby fell asleep on the floor of the living room and had to be transported fully clothed to her bed. The older child only lasted through a quick shower and into PJ's before she was also out like a light.

I love a rotisserie chicken! There are so many things you can do with the leftovers. Here's a list of my favorites.

*Chicken Salad (mix leftover meat with mayo, chopped celery, salt, white pepper, finely minced onion and a dash of dill.)
*Chicken Tacos (mix leftovers with seasoned black beans for a yummy taco filling.)
*Chicken and Rice Casserole (chicken meat, mixed with cooked rice, chopped spinach, cheese and mushroom soup, then bake.)
*Chicken Quesadillas (toasted tortillas filled with cheese and chicken)
*Chicken Soup (pull all the meat from the bones and use the carcass to make your soup base. Save the meat for the finished soup.)
*Chicken and Rice (make your favorite rice and load it with vegetables, carrots, tomato, onion what have you, in the last few minutes of rice cooking add your chicken meat, stir and serve as a hearty one dish meal.)
*Chicken Alfredo (add chicken to Alfredo sauce and pour over hot pasta, serve with a side of steamed veggies)
*Chicken Stir-Fry (Stir-fry all veggies, add chicken and mix, serve over cooked brown rice.)
*Chicken Fajitas (cook and season all veggies, onions, peppers, mushrooms, carrots strips, add chicken and serve in flour tortillas.)

If you are making a roast or rotisserie chicken at home here are some great flavoring ideas.

*Insert in the cavity of the chicken a quartered lemon and some rosemary sprigs.
*Rub chicken all over, especially under the skin and over the breast, with compound butter.
*Brush chicken liberally with mojo marinade before baking.
*Place chicken in roasting pan, resting on top of thick slices of onion, it will also flavor your pan drippings for an excellent gravy or reduction sauce.
*Brine chicken overnight before roasting in a large bowl or bucket filled with water, salt, sugar and bay leaves. Your chicken will be amazingly moist and flavorful.
*Cook and baste chicken in orange juice, the sugar in the juice will caramelize and make a gorgeous sort of glaze.

Tuesday and Wednesday's meals

Tuesday I made my MIL's famous picadillo recipe. She learned it from her mother, her mother learned it from a recent emigre from Cuba who had settled in Tampa. If you are ever in Tampa, take the electric trolley car over to Ybor City and eat in a Cuban bakery. The bread! The pastries! The cafe con leche! You will love it. Anyhow, this is a unique picadillo to be sure. I have had many kinds over the years, but none like this. MIL always serves it over black beans and rice with a side of vinegar if you like and plenty of diced fresh onions to go on top.

Picadillo

1 pound hamburger beef
1 TB olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced
1 (8) oz can tomato sauce
1/2 t of salt
Raisins (a good handful)
Capers (to taste)
Green salad olives (to taste)

Place olive oil in skillet, brown vegetables, starting with onions and ending with garlic. Brown the meat in the same skillet, pour off any grease. Add olives, raisins and capers and tomato sauce and salt. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, then remove lid and let simmer until liquid is much reduced and raisins are plump.

For the rice, prepare white or yellow rice according to package directions.

For the black bean soup, season canned or freshly cooked black beans with sauteed chopped garlic, onion and green pepper and 1 C of red wine. After beans are fully cooked taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt and pepper as necessary.

Scoop the rice into the bowl, then ladle over some black bean soup, then add a small scoop of picadillo over all, garnish as you see fit. Delish!

Wednesday we had a softball game that went from 5 until 7, so we got home and the kids were starving and extremely dirty. I sent them off to the showers while I reheated my meal from the night before but this time stuffed the rice, beans and picadillo into warmed taco shells and topped them with lettuce and fresh tomato salsa, cheese and a dollop of Greek yogurt. (Greek yogurt is my got-to sour cream stand in, try it, you'll like it!) It was wonderful, the beans in particular had gotten more flavorful over night.

Meatless Monday: As meatless as you wanna be

Tonight we all had various holiday meal leftovers, some colorful boiled eggs, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, potato casserole and some honey baked ham slices and honey baked turkey breast. So some of us ate vegetarian and some of us had meat, but basically it was a fight to clean out our very, very full refrigerator.

I also had to put the leftover Easter candy on a very high shelf. Because I will eat it all. Seriously. I have to put it out of reach of myself. I had Cadbury Creme Eggs for breakfast. Oh, chocolate, my lover, my enemy.

Here is my Aunt Kathy's wonderful, wonderful potato casserole recipe. There are a jillion variations on this one, when I make the casserole for breakfast I add buttered corn flakes on the top, otherwise I leave it just cheesy on top.

Potato Casserole

(1) 2-pound bag frozen hash browns or frozen potatoes O’Brien
½ cup melted butter or margarine (1 stick)
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ cup chopped onion (omit if using potatoes O’Brien)
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup (cream of anything works really)
1 Pint Sour Cream (have also used Greek yogurt here)
2 Cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese (Or save 1 cup cheese for top.)

Mix all ingredients (except potatoes). Add potatoes and mix well. Put into an ungreased oblong casserole. (I mix it all in the casserole pan actually.) Sprinkle top with 1 cup reserved cheese (if applicable)

Bake 350 F for 50-60 minutes.

Choose Your Own Adventure

I forgot I had a PTO meeting tonight, plus darling girl had basketball practice. Tonight was a choose your own adventure (dinner) night! Some of us had sliced pot roast over romaine lettuce and broccoli slaw, some of us had peanut butter crackers and apples, some of us had leftover hummus and carrot sticks. It was a free for all!

However the refrigerator is very, very clean, so BONUS!

Tomorrow is Fish Friday, I have to call my fisherman and put in an order. Oh yeah, my commercial fisherman delivers... to my house, super fresh fish that had been swimming only hours before. It's pretty sweet! Of course I am now spoiled for anything else!

Roasted Garlic Redux

Last night I roasted some garlic to make my hummus and to just eat it by itself, because roasted garlic = YUM in my world. Since I so rarely make it I decided to go ahead and roast 5 heads worth of the stuff just to use in other recipes. Tonight when I warmed up my leftover pot roast I made a side of creamy cheese grits to go with it. I made the grits according to package directions and added some salt, butter, cheese and 3 cloves worth of the roasted garlic, stirring to combine. Cheesy, garlicky grits = HEAVEN ON A PLATE.

Roasted garlic is something that can add an unexpected flavor to so many dishes, you can put it in a vinaigrette or add it to rice, it works well in most pan sauces and gravies, you can even stir it into a side dish as simple as sauteed green beans for a special kick of flavor. I love it in mashed potatoes, rubbed on roasts, or seasoning some steamed asparagus. I'm like the guy at the end of "Green Eggs and Ham" I would eat roasted garlic in a box, I would eat with a fox, I would eat it here or there, I would eat it everywhere!

The other side dish I made was lightly steamed brussels sprouts. I just steamed them with a little bit of water and a pat of butter, when they were done I added a bit of kosher salt. My kids aren't crazy about brussels but my husband and I love them, so the kids got 2 tiny sprouts a piece on their plates and whether they eat them or not is immaterial to me. I know someday they will and I am fairly sure when they do they will love them.

The secret to good sprouts is NOT to overcook them. They should still be bright green when you are done with them. If they are small sprouts I simply trim the stems, peel off any tough outer leaves (if necessary) and steam them. If I have larger sprouts I will cut them in half first and either steam or oven roast them. Brussels sprouts can also be "dressed" at the end of cooking time with a bit of bacon grease, which gives them a smoky flavor, or you can pair them beautifully with caramelized onions.

Valentine's Day Everyday

I have been sick the last week and still feel not quite up to snuff. I'd probably feel better if I just slowed down for a couple of days and took the time to get better, but I am always DOING STUFF. Anyhow, my sweetheart and my Valentine basically told me to sit down and rest. So I am. And we are having leftovers for dinner and the kids are having a pizza. And we can celebrate another night when I feel better and I have had more than 3 hours of sleep.

I hope you all have a very happy Valentine's Day!

Pizza Night

So, I have a clogged salivary duct! I guess that means my food has been insufficiently mouth-watering lately. It is making me feel pretty cruddy so I am taking it easy on myself and having a "Make Your Own Pizza" night. I will use the leftover red sauce from last night's spaghetti dinner and some thin round sandwich breads (whole grain!) for the crusts. The kids can spoon on their own sauce and top it with pieces of mozzarella string cheese.

I used to have a pizza stone but after a few years it snapped into two jagged pieces when I accidentally spilled some water on it while it was very hot (I was making a creme brulee.) Anyhow when I went to replace it I saw that they cost like $20 and up so I decided to use an unfinished, unglazed 12 x 12 ceramic tile in my oven instead. It cost about $2 and is much larger than a standard pizza stone. I used it for all of my baking now, gives great crust to pizza and bread and keeps the oven temperature consistent.

Hope you all have good health and good dinners tonight!

Fish Friday: Scallops and Pasta

I had a meeting on another island south of us tonight, and I was supposed to be there at 6 and bring my cookie cutters. I made about 4 dozen chocolate cookies shaped like footballs while we discussed upcoming events at our church and how to get more involvement. On the upside I really liked all the women I was talking to and on the REALLY, REALLY upside, I am Roman Catholic so wine was served and enjoyed.

Before I left home however I made scallops and warmed up my leftover Long Life Noodles.

Scallops are awesome, so easy to cook, so easy to thaw, they take about 3 minutes to prepare. Run some frozen scallops under running water for maybe a minute. Pat dry, season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Melt some butter in a pan and add some olive oil, turn the heat up to medium high and place the scallops one by one, not touching, in the pan in a clockwise pattern. Set the time for 90 seconds and then flip the scallops one by one starting with the same clockwise pattern and let them cook another 90 seconds. They should get a really good sear on both sides and be somewhat translucent in the middle. Do not over cook as they will taste like seafood flavored bubble-gum.

My husband turned the heat up too high using my fabulous 100 year old wrought iron skillet, this thing will conduct and retain some damn heat. The scallops nearly burst into flame, and streams of smoke from the oil and butter drove us from our home. The scallops did not burn but the smoke was so intense from the oil that we had to open all of the door and windows and fans to air the place out. That was how he learned that not all pans are created equal. If you are cooking in a iron skillet or a copper clad heavy duty pan you should not turn the heat up all the way. If you have an anodized aluminum or inexpensive stainless steel pan you may need to get the heat higher on the burner. Your mileage may vary.

Dinner redux

I had a big weekend. Family Fun Day event at the Community Park Saturday afternoon, party on Saturday night, Sunday morning church and Sunday school, Sunday afternoon cleaning out the shed and re-organizing it (after we discovered a snake in there), then calming down and stopping screaming, then the darling girl's basketball game, then back to the shed, then going to see a friend's new baby. And now dinner!

The best thing about parties is leftover party food, am I right? I took the veggies off the kabobs and started stir-frying them in a pan with olive oil and spicy sesame seed oil. I shredded a bit of red cabbage and added that to the pot and added some salt and pepper and soy sauce. When everything got nice and soft I added the bag of boil in bag rice I'd made. At the very last I added the chicken teriyaki kebab meat and stirred everything together.

You know what? Fun makes me tired! Goodnight!

It is a free night!

Because other than reheating my roast leftovers, roasting some new potatoes and microwaving some "in the bag veggies", I am not really "cooking" tonight. *high fives herself* Honestly after the three day weekend it feels good to be taking it comparatively easy today. Leftovers, pressure cookers and crock pots are all my saving graces, if you are going to get dinner on the table every night, these are your go-to helpers.

Things I am going to do with my free time:

• Noodle around on the internet
• Paint fingernails
• Make some bread (no, really I find it relaxing)
• GO to bed early

If you are in the mood to try baking your own bread I cannot recommend the "A Year in Bread" blog highly enough. Super good info there. Also the books, "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" and "Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads" are great primers.

Failed Dinners

Okay, so I think I used the wrong cut of beef last night on my brisket because although it looked and smelled JUST LIKE every other time I have made it-- it tasted exceedingly bland! I just used the roast I had on hand and did not go and get a brisket, so I have only myself to blame. But here's the thing; I can eat a mediocre meal one night, but then I have the leftovers to deal with and you have to figure out what went wrong and fix it.

But first you have to start cooing the item that takes the longest to make. There was a leftover bag of collard greens from my husband's lonely little New Year's Day feast (the kids and I were out of town) so I fixed those in my pressure cooker. To the bottom of the pressure cooker I added 1 chopped onion, 1/2 C of vegetable broth, 3 cloves of garlic minced, 2 TB of ketchup, 1 TB of balsamic vinegar. I rinsed and picked over the pre-chopped bag of greens and removed any large stems or blemished leaves. I tossed the leaves with 2 TB of salt and 1 TB of sugar. Then I packed them down in the pressure cooker and cooked them on high for 20 minutes.

So last night's "meh" brisket got thrown into a sauce pan and covered in BBQ spice rub, then I added some BBQ sauce and heated the whole thing up. Instant pulled beef sandwiches, just add buns!

I just took some frozen corn niblets and microwaved them with salt, butter and 1 TB of water, just like you do. They were fine.

I threw the buns on the plates, added the BBQ, side of corn, side of greens. My baby wanted cheese on her sandwich, my 8 year old requested some pickled okra on the side and we were ready to eat.

The greens were so dang good I think I might make them that way from now on. The kids loved the sandwiches. My husband loved ALL of it and no one had to eat any under-spiced brisket for dinner! YAY!

Day after dinners

When you make a BIG meal on one day, like Thanksgiving for instance, you get the benefit of guaranteed leftovers the next day. You can always use those leftovers just as is, which is terrific, or you can get creative. I mean, who doesn't love a turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving?

For New Year's Day leftovers here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy leftover greens, beans, and pork.

* Chop leftover ham and heat it up in barbecue sauce and make BBQ sandwiches.
* Use leftover black eyed peas to make "Cowboy Caviar" it is a sort of fabulous "pico de gallo" with your leftover black eyed peas. Mix cubed avocado, chopped roma (or other smaller) tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and kernel corn together. Top with some fresh lime juice, a bit of apple cider vinegar, a splash of good olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Stir gently and serve with tortilla chips. Add some tabasco if you think it needs to be a little bit spicy.
* Hopping John stir fry, fry leftover white rice in some peanut oil in a wok or large skillet. Mix in fresh chopped onion, peas, and a moderate amount of well-drained greens. Add a lightly beaten egg and stir fry together. YUM!!!
*Mix leftover, well-drained greens into cheese grits, press into a well-greased baking dish and bake until edges are set. Cut into cubes and serve for any meal, even breakfast. DEEEE-lish.
* Mix creamed corn into a thin batter made from about 1 cup of flour, one beaten egg and maybe 1/4 C of milk. Make thin corn pancakes and pour onto a hot greased griddle. Serve as pancakes with or without syrup.

I really hope the New Year is already treating you well. Here is a brand new recipe for you, another great Southern American dish.

Gramma Tallent's Ambrosia Salad

Take 3 pounds of small Florida oranges, cut off the skin and outer membrane. Pull sections from their membranes and drop into medium mixing bowl, Squeeze leftover bits of orange over the bowl to extract juice, but strain with fingers to keep seeds out. To the sections add 2 small handfuls of chopped coconut. Then add 1/2 C chopped pecans (or more to taste) and the juice of 2 more oranges. Stir together and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Serve chilled. A delicious fresh appetizer, salad or breakfast dish, even a light dessert!