Farmer's Pie: One More Way to Use Leftovers

Lately I've been trying to do a better job of using leftovers without just reheating the same meal over again. I had some pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes from a meal earlier this week. Since I went with stir-fry to repurpose the leftovers last week, I decided on a combo of pot pie and shepherd's pie for this week, using only things I already had on hand.

First of all, technically shepherd's pie is made with lamb, and if you use beef instead it's called cottage pie. I decided mine should be called "farmer's pie" since it was made with pig!

I added a teaspoon or two of olive oil to a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. I diced up half an onion and a stalk of celery I had in the refrigerator.

When I went to get a clove of garlic to mince, I realized I was out - exactly the reason I like having this minced garlic on hand in the fridge. Just a half teaspoon and we're in business!  

While the onions and celery got tender, I cut the pork into small bite-sized pieces. When I cooked it earlier in the week, I left it a little pink in the center so it was perfect for adding to another dish now without getting overcooked. I set the pork aside for the moment.

Next I found some mixed vegetables in the freezer. I added about a cup to the pan and let them cook to warm up, just a couple of minutes. 

Then I added a couple of tablespoons of flour to the veggies, stirring and cooking for another couple of minutes.

 At this point I would normally have added 2 cups of box chicken broth but I didn't have any on hand. I added 2 teaspoons of chicken base to 2 cups of hot water and added that instead. I turned the heat up to bring it to a boil so it would thicken.

Once the mixture had thickened, I added the pork so it could get heated through. While that happened, I sprayed a couple of dishes with nonstick spray.

I also chopped up a couple of pieces of bacon I spotted when I looked in the freezer for the vegetables, and added it to the pan as well.

I rarely need more than a piece or two of bacon for a recipe. The last time I needed bacon, I cooked up the whole package and just popped what I didn't need into a storage bag and stored it in the freezer. It works well any time I need crumbled bacon for a recipe.

I tasted the mixture for seasoning. Because I used the chicken base instead of broth, I didn't need any more salt. I added a good amount of pepper and thyme for a little more flavor.

Once everything was warm, I poured the mixture evenly into the two dishes.




Then I took the leftover mashed potatoes, divided them evenly in two, and pressed each half into a thin patty to "float" on top of the mixture in the dishes.

 I placed them on the dishes and sprinkled them with paprika to add a little color. (This is pronounced with an extra syllable "pap-a-REEK-a" if you're from parts of the south)

I put the dishes on a baking sheet and baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until they started to bubble around the edges.

I forgot to take a picture of them when they came out of the oven, but they looked essentially the same as this, just a little more golden.

We really liked it and I think this method will come in handy in the winter months.  It would work with leftover chicken, beef or pork and you could also throw in small amounts of whatever veggies are in the fridge or freezer that otherwise would get thrown away.

This particular dish also happens to be healthy, since the meat is lean and there is very little added fat. If I'd used my usual low sodium chicken broth instead of the chicken base it would be even better for you.

Anyway, I count this as a success and look forward to more "pies" this fall and winter!

Leftover Stir Fry

We (and by "we" I mean "I") waste so many leftovers. I just don't usually want to eat the same thing two nights in a row. And I enjoy leaving the office for lunch, so I don't bring my leftovers for lunch. I'm working to only cook the amounts we need for one meal, but sometimes that doesn't happen. 

Tonight's dinner inspiration came from restaurant leftovers. My husband and I had sauteed mushrooms, grilled shrimp, and steamed vegetables left after combining what was left when we ate at Longhorn last night. Since I also had a few small pieces of pork tenderloin in the refrigerator from a couple of nights ago, I decided to make a stir fry for supper tonight.

When I got home from work, I put 2 servings of brown rice on to cook. The package called for 1/2 cup of rice and 1 1/3 cups water. I added salt but omitted the butter. I used a nonstick pot, which I always use when cooking starchy stuff. I'm not a fan of scrubbing pots!

Then I chopped half a sweet onion and diced the leftover pork tenderloin into 1/2-inch cubes. I also diced the Longhorn vegetables: broccoli, carrot and squash. To my Southern palate, they needed more cooking anyway! Then I removed the tails from the shrimp (so much better than trying to eat them!) and cut each shrimp into about 4 pieces.

When I looked at my ingredients, I thought I could use more veggies. On my last grocery run I had bought a microwave pack of fresh French green beans. I didn't need them all, but I took a good handful, chopped off and discarded the ends, and cut the beans into small pieces.

I put a large saute pan over medium heat, added a drizzle of olive oil, and added the onion and carrot. I added a little salt and let them saute a couple of minutes until they softened some. 

A couple of days ago I put two small frozen chicken breasts in the refrigerator to thaw. I needed to cook the chicken, so I cut it into to small bite-sized pieces on a separate, dishwasher-safe cutting board.

I added the chicken to the center of the pan, then added the green bean pieces as well.


Once the chicken was cooked through, I added about a teaspoon of ginger to the pan. I like this ginger-in-a-tube I found in the produce department. I've bought, peeled, and frozen countless pieces of fresh ginger only to have them wither away before I use them. This stuff works great for me.

I also added a clove of garlic, minced.

Once that was combined well, I added the remaining veggies, the pork, and the shrimp. See how pretty?

Here's a close-up:

 Meanwhile, the rice had cooked long enough so all the moisture was gone. I let it cook a minute or two more and a cool thing happened: it started to stick a little to the bottom of the pan and some of the pieces were crispy. The texture was similar to fried rice without any added fat. Yeah!

I added the rice to the pan and stirred it in, along with a tablespoon or two of soy sauce, and about 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil. I tasted it as I went and added from there.

The finished result was pretty darned tasty! The great thing about this dinner is that it can be made with lots of different proteins and vegetables. I plan to make this again when I have random leftovers in amounts too small to make meals of their own.

(P.S. If you noticed that the mushrooms from the restaurant leftovers were not included in the stir fry, there is a very good reason for that. My husband does not like mushrooms. I made a great sacrifice and ate them as I cooked dinner. Sometimes you've just got to take one for the team.)

Roast Chicken Dinner

A roasted chicken dinner is classic comfort food. This one took two hours to cook, but pretty much cooked without too much interference. 

The recipe is from one of my Giada DeLaurentis cookbooks. Click here to get the recipe found on the Food Network website: Garlic and Citrus Chicken

One key is to gather everything you need before touching the raw chicken. I got out my big roasting pan and rack. Do what I forgot to do: spray the rack with nonstick spray! 

I cut up the lemon, orange, and garlic head, then put some salt and pepper in small bowls so I could use it while working with the raw chicken.  

I unwrapped the chicken, removed the packet inside, and rinsed and dried the chicken. After seasoning the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper, I stuffed as much of the citrus and garlic as would fit into the cavity.

Then I was supposed to tie up the legs, but my kitchen string had somehow disappeared. I was able to make slits in some of the extra skin to secure the legs. Not very elegant, but it seemed to work OK.

The chicken cooks for an hour before it is basted in a citrus sauce. It already looked pretty nice and it still had another hour or so to cook.

After I got the chicken in the oven the first time, I went ahead and made the basting sauce. In retrospect, I will probably skip this in the future. We don't eat the skin anyway, and it made the chicken and pan sauces more likely to burn.

When the chicken was almost finished cooking, I made a simple salad of mixed baby greens and tomatoes. I love a vinaigrette, and this is the easiest one ever. Put the greens in a bowl and sprinkle them with red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss together and adjust the proportions to taste. Add the tomatoes on top.

Another great quick side are these French green beans in a microwavable pouch. I'm not normally a fan of cooking in the microwave, but these are so quick and taste good. You just cut the corner off of the package and microwave them for 3 minutes. Then, for a little extra flavor, I put them in a small skillet and sprinkled them with red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. 

All in all, it made a nice looking plate. 

You'll notice I did not take pictures of my great butchering skills. That's because I have none!

Try it this weekend. If you have a small family, you might even have more than one meal with this roast chicken.

Baking Bread!

Who doesn't love fresh-baked bread?  With a sourdough starter, it's actually pretty easy. If you don't know, the starter can live in your refrigerator  - literally - forever. You just have to feed it every 3 - 5 days. It sounds kinds creepy, but it makes such yummy bread!

Over the years, my dear friends have given me their sourdough starter again and again. The reason? I forget to feed mine and it dies. (Come to think of it, maybe it's a good thing I never had kids....)

So - when I found a recipe for a sourdough starter in the Cobb-Marietta Junior League "Southern On Occasion" cookbook, I was so excited!

I made the starter, which is a simple mix of water, instant potato flakes, sugar, and yeast. The mixture was left on the counter for 4 days to "sour;" then it was ready to use. I took 1 cup to use in the bread and put the rest in the refrigerator.  (I sure hope I remember to feed it this time.)

In my mixer bowl, I added 6 cups of bread flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 cup of starter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup canola oil, and 1 1/2 cups hot water.

With the dough hook attached, I ran the mixer until the dough came together into a ball and cleaned the sides of the bowl.

I lightly oiled a huge bowl and dumped in the dough, turning it around to coat the whole ball.  (When we received the giant bowl as a wedding gift, I thought it was pretty, but I had no idea how I would ever use it. Now I love it for my bread bowl.)

Then I covered the bowl with a damp cloth and put it in a sunny spot on the kitchen table. (Since it was only a sunny spot for an hour at most, it was probably pointless, but it seemed like the thing to do.)

I let it sit until the dough doubled in size. It took about 12 hours.

This recipe makes 3 medium-sized loaves, so I sprayed 3 bread pans with nonstick spray. Then I dusted  the counter with flour.

Then came the best part: punching down the dough. It's not nearly as violent as it sounds. All you do is put your fist down in the middle of the dough to deflate it, but it's surprisingly fun!

Then I dumped the dough onto the floured counter. It's pretty sticky, so I sprinkled a little more flour on top. I kneaded the dough for a couple of minutes, incorporating most of the flour on the counter in the process.

Don't know how to knead? Just pick up one side, pull it over the rest, and press down on the dough ball with the heel of your hand.

 Repeat over and over for a couple of minutes.





(Incidentally, it's a lot easier to do this with two hands. I don't recommend trying to knead dough and take pictures at the same time.)

When I was finished kneading, I took my handy-dandy bench scrape and cut the dough into 3 equal(ish) pieces. I love this tool. I usually use it to gather up chopped veggies to add into a pot, so it was pretty cool to use it for it's actual purpose this time!

I took each piece and formed it into a rough log. You can see what I mean by "rough." I don't worry about trying to make it too smooth since it's homemade bread. Who wants people to wonder if you really made it yourself?

I brushed each loaf very lightly with canola oil, and covered each one loosely with plastic wrap. I left them out 12 hours to rise.

I love it when time goes by and the result is beautifully risen bread! It's somehow very satisfying.

I baked the loaves in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes, then cooled them on a rack. I like a tender crust, so I wrapped them in plastic wrap when they were still a tiny bit warm. Otherwise, I would wait until they were completely cooled.

Lessons I've learned:

1). Use only fresh ingredients. My canola oil was a little stale and you could taste that in the end product. 

2). Check the instructions to your mixer to be sure it's OK to mix a heavy dough. I burned out the motor of my first KitchenAid mixer by mixing heavy dough on the wrong speed. An expensive mistake I don't intend to make again!

3). Rotate your loaves halfway through baking if your oven has a "hot spot." I have no excuse. I knew the back left corner of my oven is hottest but didn't bother rotating. Hence the dark brown spot!

The bread is great toasted with jelly and it makes the absolute best grilled cheese sandwich anywhere. The dough also makes great cinnamon rolls. I plan to try substituting some of the flour for whole wheat flour and see how it works.

Try making your own bread if you never have. It makes me feel so accomplished! You don't have to tell anyone how simple it is.

Roast Part 3: Taco Night

It's time for the third and last meal of the weekend using the chuck roast I cooked on Friday.  First there was a simple roast beef meal with rice and gravy, then spaghetti with chopped roast added to the sauce. This last meal is a soft taco bar with shredded roast beef.

This was the simplest meal, by far, with mostly just reheating and chopping involved.

I decided to serve the tacos with a packaged Mexican rice mix, so I go that started first.

Then I put the shredded beef I had set aside Friday night into a small pot with a steamer basket set inside. I added about an inch of water to the pot and set it over medium-high heat when the rice had only about 8 minutes left to cook.

Next I started preparing the rest of my toppings. I shredded green leaf lettuce (because that's the kind I had) and cheddar cheese. I chopped some green onions and cilantro. I put a dollop of light sour cream in a ramekin and added some chipotle in adobo sauce, along with a little salt, to make a spicy sour cream spread. I also opened up a container of blue cheese crumbles.

Once the meat was reheated and the rice cooked, I wrapped a few flour tortillas in damp paper towels and heated them to a minute in the microwave.

Then the taco bar was open!

On one taco I used the spicy sour cream, beef, cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes and cilantro. On the other I used regular the plain sour cream, but substituted the cheddar cheese for blue cheese and left off the cilantro. Both were really good, and it was easy to forget that the meat had started out as an oven roast two nights before.

I really enjoyed my weekend of creating three meals with one protein. It was a challenge to come up with three completely different menus, making leftovers interesting every night. While I don't know that I'll do this on a regular basis, I hope it will inspire me to re-imagine leftovers in the future and keep meals (and meal planning) more fun!