For years now, I've been a huge fan of the fact that there are some foods that just get better over time. I remember that as a kid, my mom's spaghetti sauce was always better the second day (and she always made enough for at least two nights worth of meals). These days, when I make ratatouille (which I've been doing on a near-weekly basis in an attempt to use us all the tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and zucchini from my farm share), I try to do it the day before I plan on serving it, so that it can mellow and get silky during the resting time.
The team at YumSugar has put together a slide show of five dinners that improve with time that could be a new source of cooking inspiration. In these days, where we're all pressed for time, it's great to have a selection of meals in the arsenal that can be prepped during a spare moment and then stashed in the fridge, ready to be eaten at your convenience.
Have you ever made up a great stir-fry or fajita mix and then struggle to eat all the tasty veggies before they go bad? There are other ways to use those great, leftover veggies.
Kind little rituals seem to go a long way toward making marriage work, so almost every weekend, I make my husband some sweet tea. He's a Southern boy by birth (Brooklynian by marriage), and having a big ol' pitcher easily grabbable in the fridge seems to right any Mason Dixon imbalance he might be suffering at the time. I've got it down to a science, proportion-wise, but this past weekend, his itch for a sugar fix kicked in while I was at the grocery store. What he made tasted divine, but there was just too much for one pitcher, and not enough refrigerator room for a second.
If nothing else, the nuns at St. Scorpacciata instilled in me the mortal fear of wasting food, and seeing how I'd been at the store to buy milk (which neither of us usually drink) for a Bolognese, I decided sherbet would be what saved our souls from eternal damnation. I suppose we won't know for a while if that worked, but it did taste pretty damned delicious.
I am a big fan of leftovers. I always bring home any food that remains after a meal out and when I've cooked at home, I squirrel away anything that wasn't eaten. I have no qualms about eating steamed broccoli the next day, sprinkled with salt and straight out of the container. However, there are times when I like to put the energy into my leftovers and turn them into something new.
The sandwich you see above was one of my most successful leftover transformations to date. I took a chunk of leftover braised brisket, sliced it into strips and reheated it gently in a small bit of beef stock (not so that it was swimming, just enough to give it some moisture). In another pan, I sauteed some garlic and sliced leeks together until they started to brown and then added a bunch of cleaned and chopped greens (I'm not sure what kind I used, to be honest, they were whatever had come with my CSA share the previous week). I added a bit of water, clapped the lid on and braised the greens until they were tender. I sliced a couple of hoagie rolls lengthwise, toasted them and gently smeared one side with boursin cheese.
Putting the rest of the sandwich together was easy. A layer of greens went down, then the brisket and then I just closed it up. They were amazingly tasty and happily were a full meal, as since the greens were contained within the sandwich, my personal "there must be a green vegetable with every meal" rule was satisfied.
I always thought that a muscle car was a hot rod from the late 60's- early 70's until I was driving around my old haunts of Rockland, Maine yesterday researching and shooting an article and saw this impressive Mussel Car.
That looks like it was the remains of a tasty lobster, clam, and mussel bake. Or maybe it washed up on the beach after a Nor'easter. Either way that's one heck of a vehicle. I wonder how many shellfish power it is? Does it get dive bombed by hungry gulls? Does it belongs to the offspring of Neptune's many affairs with mortals? If I follow, will it lead to a huge vat of steaming Mussel's Provence? Inquiring minds want to know.
Last week, I ran home from work to make some lunch and ended up standing in front of the fridge, struggling to creating a meal from the hodgepodge of leftovers and aging veggies. I had some sad radishes, two romaine hearts that were decidedly past their prime, a handful of meatballs, the end chunk of a seedless cucumber and half of a ciabatta roll that was so hard that it could have been used as a weapon.
Hungry and pressed for time, I started to assemble a salad, although without much enthusiasm. I peeled the outer leaves off the romaine and gave it a rough chop. I crumbled the meatballs into bits and sawed the roll into chunks. Tossing all the everything together, I doused the salad with the homemade balsamic vinaigrette I typically have in the fridge and let it sit for a minute while I made some tea.
When I turned back to the salad, the chunks of bread has softened into tasty bits of balsamic flavor. The meatballs had lost their refrigerator chill and the veggies were surprisingly crisp. What had started out as a meal of obligation (must use up food before it goes bad) had turned into a delightful and tasty lunch.
That's not my opinion, by the way. I love turkey leftovers. But Slate's Jill Hunter Pelletteri says that she's had enough with all the talk about what to do with your holiday turkey leftovers:
Every November, magazine editors and food writers, cooking gurus and TV personalities, foist turkey leftover recipes upon us. Unless we put our tired, picked-over turkey carcass to good use, they tell us, we're wasting some precious opportunity. But don't be fooled. Do not be tempted by that recipe for turkey and leek risotto. Those stringy last bits of gristle and meat that cling to your bird are better suited to the raccoons who rummage through your garbage. Do you really want to morph the centerpiece of your most ceremonial meal of the year into turkey bundles (stuffed with turkey, cream cheese, dill weed, and water chestnuts, among other things)?
Guilty as charged. But what's the fun of making a big turkey if you're not going to make soups and sandwiches and pot pies with the leftovers?!
We're big wine drinkers during the holidays. I'll go with a Cabernet Sauvignon before a cocktail or beer. We'll finish off a bottle no problem and then open another one, but there's often a lot left from this second bottle. Sure, we could put the cork back on and/or put it in the fridge, but how about using the leftover wine in a cookie recipe?
This is a recipe for Wine Cookies, or Biscotti al Vino. Basically it sounds like sugar cookies only with a cup of wine of your choice added in. Cheers!
OK, so we've already talked about the MoistMaker ("you ate my SAAAAAAAAAANDWICH?!"), but what about all of the other varieties of turkey sandwiches you can make long after family and friends have left the house? I've scoured the web to find the best, and added one of my own creation. Several recipes after the jump!
The Thanksgiving tradition from which I come dictates that we do not alter or reimagine the leftovers until several days have elapsed. This is because we all really enjoy just eating plate after plate of reheated stuffing, turkey, potatoes and squash. We are simple like that. However, once Saturday evening arrives and multiple plates of microwaved Thanksgiving food have been consumed, it is time to re-invent a little.
My dad is a fan of chopping everything up into small pieces, throwing it all in a large pan with several spoonfuls of gravy and stirring until it is uniformly brown and chunky. He declares it delicious, the rest of stay far away. My mother eats open-faced turkey sandwiches on squares of whole wheat bread that have been lightly touched with mayo. My sister tends to pick and choose from the leftovers, eating roasted brussels sprouts cold and straight from the peanut butter jars in which they have been stored. Me, I like to match up the turkey and leftover stuffing with freshly cooked veggies. It refreshes the eye appeal and makes the leftover turkey seem new and delicious once again. Some of my favorite quick-cooking veggies after the jump...
I'm ashamed to admit this, but I don't own a crockpot. It's just one of those kitchen items I haven't bought for myself yet, but I'm going to remedy that this winter. I'm starting to realize that many of the recipes that have intrigued me lately start with the phrase, "Put the ingredients in a crockpot..."
This comes from the Cooking For 2 blog, and it's a recipe for Crockpot Thanksgiving Turkey. You've had it roasted from the oven, you've had it in sandwich form, and you may have even had it deep-fried, so try it crockpotted (?).The ingredients include turkey gravy, sage, Worcester sauce, garlic, pepper, and bacon. Mmmm...bacon.
Obviously, if you plan well enough, you always have everything leftover, since leftovers might actually be the real reason we have Thanksgiving dinner, right?!?!
In our house, the funny thing is, no matter what I do about planning, we have the same pattern of leftovers every year. I can't not make cranberry sauce, but ever year, that is the one thing that seems to be leftover the most -- at least in proportion to how much I make.
What about in your house? What gets leftover the most? Mashed potatoes? Stuffing? The turkey?
This is the dish that actress Rebecca Mornay serves to her family the day after Thanksgiving every year. OK, that's not true at all. I really have no idea where the name comes from. But if you're looking to do something with the leftover Turkey you're going to have this Thursday, besides the usual sandwich or soup (nothing wrong with those,of course), take a look at this recipe after the jump.
We all know Paula Deen for her thick Southern accent, enthusiastic laugh and willingness to cook up recipes that incorporate 12 sticks of butter. Despite her occasional trips to the land of excess, she can often be depended on to offer up tasty recipes that can be cooked up quickly and without too much effort. Her Thanksgiving leftovers menu from this year is an example of her reliable cooking.
She's got you covered whether you want to make turkey pot pie (with butternut squash and cranberries cooked right in), potato croquettes (preferably cooked in peanut oil) or (because Paula never forgets dessert) pumpkin bars. If those recipes don't float your boat. If those recipes leave you cold, check out Michael Chiarello's Turkey Soup, George Duran's Turkey in a Cone or Ann Volkwein's upscale Thanksgiving in a Sandwich.
Kind little rituals seem to go a long way toward making marriage work, so almost every weekend, I make my husband some 
That's not my opinion, by the way. I love turkey leftovers. But Slate's Jill Hunter Pelletteri 
We're big wine drinkers during the holidays. I'll go with a Cabernet Sauvignon before a cocktail or beer. We'll finish off a bottle no problem and then open another one, but there's often a lot left from this second bottle. Sure, we could put the cork back on and/or put it in the fridge, but how about using the leftover wine in a cookie recipe?
OK, so we've already talked about the 
I'm ashamed to admit this, but I don't own a crockpot. It's just one of those kitchen items I haven't bought for myself yet, but I'm going to remedy that this winter. I'm starting to realize that many of the recipes that have intrigued me lately start with the phrase, "Put the ingredients in a crockpot..."
This is the dish that actress Rebecca Mornay serves to her family the day after Thanksgiving every year. OK, that's not true at all. I really have no idea where the name comes from. But if you're looking to do something with the leftover Turkey you're going to have this Thursday, besides the usual sandwich or soup (nothing wrong with those,of course), take a look at this recipe after the jump.
New York Times Magazine's food issue
Chicken McNuggets frolic at New York City pet store
Eat your broccoli orbs! 
