Re-purposing Leftovers

Cod fritters and ponzu aioli.  Photo by Rob Robitaille

I love leftovers.  Leftovers means an easy, delicious meal.  But I may be in the minority.  I hear a lot of people say that they hate leftovers.  That one kind of boggles my mind, but maybe it is due to the replay of flavors.  I admit that I rarely eat leftovers in the same form from one day to another because I want something different, so I remake them into something else.  I think that is what keeps things interesting.  Take the cod fritters, for example.  That was a nice way to get rid of mashed potatoes and cod.  When all else fails, most anything can be turned into soup or a casserole.  It's all up to your imagination.

I think I inherited this skill from my mom.  In our house, a roasted chicken always led to chicken a la king, and then onto soup.  A pot roast seemed to lead to hash, which I hated with a passion, but my dad just loved.  Mom would grind up all the remnants of the pot roast and fry it on her electric frying pan until it was brown on both sides.  Then dad would drench it in ketchup and mustard and would carry on like it was the best thing ever to come out of a kitchen.  I, on the other hand, could barely choke it down regardless of how much ketchup and mustard I dumped on it.  To me, left over pot roast can be turned into stew, or a pot pie, which is delicious.  Corned beef hash, well that is another story indeed.  One could argue that the initial boiled dinner of corned beef and cabbage is just a necessary step in order to get corned beef hash, which is fantastic with a fried egg on top.  Meat loaf was turned into meatloaf sandwiches.  Again, dad loved them, but cold meatloaf leaves a bit to be desired, in my opinion.  So, I get why people can tend to hate leftovers.  But there is hope.

Re-purposing them is not a science, but an art that you need to learn over time.  However, the best way to learn it is to always think about where today's meal can lead.  Left over noodles:  mix in some onions and fry them in a pan with butter until golden brown on each side.  Left over meatloaf: well...sandwiches.  But fry them in some butter to make the sides golden first.  Or grind it up and mix it with mac and cheese.  Left over lamb chops:  I have never had left over lamb chops.  I would rather be up all night with a gut ache from eating too many lamb chops.  They are just that good.  Mashed potatoes:  fritters or fixed with some egg and flour to make pancakes.  Or, fry up some mirapoix, add some chicken stock, and mashed potatoes to make a nice potato soup.  Asparagus: I'm thinking omelette.  Steak:  Easy.  Sandwich.  Cut a baguette in half, brush with garlic butter, steak on one half, cheese and onions on the other, and broil until brown, bubbly, and delicious.  Crepes:  Slice them up and add them to soup as a type of noodle.  My German relatives did that all the time.  Beats:  Shred them and add some vinegar and oil to make a light summer salad.  Once you start thinking like that, it starts to get easy.

The point is, think outside the box.  It is really hard to fail to the point where you just can't eat something, so give it a go.  Some of the best things I have ever eaten have been creatively used leftovers.

Pulling Off the Dinner Party

Preparing for the dinner party.  Photo by Rob Robitaille

Dinner parties can test the mettle of any good cook, and can become a nightmare for the less experienced.  While each dish may be easy for even the less experienced, bringing things together at the same time is the trick.  While not always on time, I must admit that I can usually pull together a dinner party and have things done properly and on time.  But this skill didn't just happen, it takes a concerted effort and will on the part of the cook.  Here is a brain dump of my experience that I hope you may find useful for your next gathering.

Here are some questions I ask myself when planning a dinner party:

• What time is dinner?  Is everything going to be served at the same time, or will they be served in courses?  These times are used to figure out the start times for all the components of the meal.
• Are there things that can be assembled/cooked ahead of time like appetizers, soup, certain types of salads?
• What do I need to prepare for my mise [en place] and when should I get that ready?  Typically mise can be done ahead of time on the same day.
• Will I be able to complete everything on time based on the number of items and complexity of those items?  If not, should I adjust the menu, or can I commission someone's help?
• How loquacious are my guests?  Quiet guests make it easier to complete any last minute cooking tasks, while more talkative, gregarious guests can unintentionally work against you.  I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten to do something because I was sucked into a conversation (and beer).
• Do I have enough pans for everything I want to make?
• Do I have enough burners for all the pans?
• If you have a single oven, as I do, will I need to cook more than one thing in that oven?  If they are at the same temperature, no problem if you have the space, otherwise you may need to re-think things a bit.

Here are some things I do to make things easier on myself that you may find helpful:

• Soups, stews, and things like jambalaya are a perfect course to make a day ahead and reheat on the day of the party.  You will want to wait until the day of to add certain ingredients, depending on your soup, like rice, noodles, certain vegetables that cook quickly, and perhaps the meat.
• Lettuce can be chopped a day ahead and kept quite nicely in a salad spinner (if you don't have one, get one.  They are great!).
• Many deserts can be made a day ahead.  These are some common desserts I like to make that are particularly suited for advanced cooking: cheese cake, crème brulee, ice cream, and chocolate cake.
• Write down everything you are planning to server and at what time.  Place that list in an obvious place so you see it as a reminder.  It seems like a no-brainer, but it is easy to forget the garlic bread waiting in a warm oven once you start your courses and get involved with your guests.
• Arrange some help.  Many people that we have over are either foodies or at least know their way around a kitchen and never mind pitching in when needed.  Heck, even people that are not at home in a kitchen can be good helpers if you break their tasks down and tell them exactly what you need from them.  Anyone can help assemble a salad or put the garlic bread into a basket for serving.
• I like to prepare my mise an hour or so before starting to cook everything.  They can be covered and refrigerated until needed.
• When the mise is needed, I arrange in in groups on the counter in the order that they will be used.  That way it is self documenting on what goes into a dish and when.
• If you are planning on drinking alcohol when your guests arrive, make sure you have a little something in your stomach before you do and try to pace yourself.  I don't know about you, but alcohol seems to affect my memory first and that is sometimes why I find that loaf of garlic bread in the warm oven after the meal is over.  By the way, that was also hands-down the best garlic bread I have ever made.  We still ate it; we just had it after dessert.
• If you are serving meat, plan around a quarter pound per person, or a half pound if your guests are carnivores.  I have a friend that works out and runs almost every day.  I usually plan more when he comes over.  Also, younger guests generally eat more than older guests.
• Most important, don't freak out if things don't go according to plan.  I usually like to server more but smaller courses, so it is easier to absorb a problem.

I have said it before and I will say it again.  Typically, you serve your friends and family to a dinner party.  It's not someone from Michelin, or the James Beard Foundation.  It's okay if things don't go as planned.  They will be okay with it and won't tell their friends "It was a perfect evening until Rob forgot the garlic bread in the warm oven.  What a dork.  It's just, like, beyond ridiculous.  I totally can't believe it."  The point is, have fun above all, but keep your head in the game so you look like a super star and not a dork.

Radishes. Something New?

Sauteed radishes.  Photo by Rob Robitaille.

I grew up eating radishes.  It seemed like we always had them on hand when they were in season.  As with most American families, radishes were always served as a garnish, raw with salt, or sliced on a salad.  But radishes are so much more than crunchy, sometimes hot and spicy, juicy little roots.  Raw radishes with some butter is sublime, but my favorite way is sauteed with their greens.  The French have always known that radishes and butter are a combo made in heaven, so why is America so uninformed about these gems?  Again, I love my country, but we are really behind, in general, on the whole good eating thing.  Granted, there are cities in this country that have world class cuisine, but a larger part of our country doesn't live there.  Most of the country eats good, honest, but lets face it, very typical food.  And no disrespect intended toward all those folks out there. After all, I study this stuff every day and managed to miss this gift until recently.  This was one of those things that was, in my opinion, so good that I had to tell someone.  And I am not alone.  There are many out there that feel the same way, and unless you seek them out, you will never know that they exist.

So what does a sauteed radish taste like?  Well, a sauteed radish.  And that is what is so great about it.  It is rare that, once you become an adult, you taste something that is not unlike something else you have tasted.  One of the sucky things about experience is that you get to a point where you hit the "been there, done that" place that we really don't want to be in.  The best part of this was that it was a "Wow!  Never been there before." kind of moment.  Now, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up too high.  After all, this is simply my personal taste.  But, I think most people would agree that these are delicious.  My wife, Miss Picky Pickingham even admitted that these were the only vegetable she liked better cooked than raw.  It's all about thinking outside the box, which is hard to do.  You get into the paradigm that certain foods can only be consumed certain ways, but that is what separates the cooks from the chefs.  Don't get me wrong, I am a cook not a chef, and I will never say that I am a chef (unless I actually become one, which is really unlikely).  I'm talking David Chang, René Redzepi, the Brothers Adrià, and so many more of the great culinary inventors.  The ones that say, what if?

So, what is my point?  I'm not really sure, to be honest.  This started out as a shout-out about a little known, but very delicious treat that most people don't know about.  I would be willing to bet my 1922 Peace Dollar that you could stand on a street corner all day in small town America (where I live, in fact) and ask people if they have eaten cooked radishes and you may be lucky to get one person all day that has.  But then my post took a hard left into the realm of what more is out there?  My recommendation is this; go to the farmers market, or other favorite market and buy something you are familiar with.  Something you take for granted.  The research it to see if there is something really different you can do with it.  I hate to keep saying it, but see what the French and Spaniards are doing.  After all, they are on the pinnacle of  the culinary arts.  As for me, and I am guessing most people, we don't have that gift that the great chefs have.  The ability to decipher what something can taste like with a bit of manipulation.  Although I can be creative in my own right, I still require some inspiration.  But thinking outside the box is critical to creativity.  I don't know what the silver bullet is, if there is one.  Maybe it is as simple as just go forth and boldly cook.  And above all, have fun.

Roughing it in Arizona

Lamb chops and rosemary potatoes.  Photo by Rob Robitaille

Recently, my wife's brother was married in Arizona.  To be honest, I never even considered Arizona a place that I would want to visit.  But after chatting about it with my wife, we decided to extend the wedding trip into a vacation.  I have to admit that I instantly fell in love with Arizona.  Every concept I had about the state turned out to be wrong, in a good way.  The dessert was blooming, birds were everywhere, and the "dry heat" concept is true.  The only time I broke into a sweat was hauling my wife's suit case up two flights of stairs to our second floor room at the inn that we stayed at the first three days.  Other than that, the weather was great.  On top of that, the food was also equally as good.  After the weekend at Fountain Hills, which was a very nice community decorated with many Mercedes, Porches, Ferraris, and at least one Maserati that I could find, we headed south, past Tucson, to the Medera Canyon.  Fountain Hills was nice, but Medera Canyon is my kind of place.  My wife was primarily responsible for planning the vacation, which was fine my me, and she did a great job.  She found the nicest B&B I have ever seen.  If there is a better one out there, you have to prove it to me, because the Chuparosa Bed and Breakfast is the best, in my opinion.  The owners, Luis and Nancy, are top notch.  The fluffy quiches and yogurt parfaits were outstanding, and the inn itself is beautifully maintained and cared for.  After all, it's their home, too.  As with all B&Bs, breakfast is provided (hence the term), but you are on your own for the rest of the meals.  We happened to be about 15 miles from the closest town of Green Valley, so we picked up some groceries to make our own meals, which was great, because hanging out at a great inn, with great people, and getting to cook is my idea of a wonderful vacation.  If you like meeting people from all walks of life, B&Bs are fantastic for that.

Our stay at Chuparosa was proof that you don't need a lot of equipment to make a fantastic meal.  I was armed merely with some good ingredients, salt and pepper, aluminum foil, paper plates for prep, and a wickedly sharp Swiss Army knife (never travel without it).  Much to my joy, Chuparosa has an abundant supply of rosemary bushes, which they were more than happy to share with us.  On the first night staying anywhere that I will be cooking, steak is the traditional celebratory "WE'RE ON VACATION!" meal.  However, I found some nice racks of lamb at the grocery store as well as some nice steaks.  Now my tradition is steak the first night, unless you can find a rack of lamb.  The outdoor cooking area, complete with a monster sized grill, was conveniently located about twenty feet out our door.  The first nights menu, grilled rack of lamb, rosemary potatoes, and a salad which we ate outside in the beautiful, clear, calm day at our own private table.  Very special.

This trip reminded me of one of the basic rules of cooking.  Less is more.  I know, people cringe with that phrase, but it is really true.  Americans, in general, tend to lean toward the mantra of more is better.  More ingredients, bigger portions, etc.  I would rather eat three small lamb chops than a huge steak any day.  Period.  So, let's talk about this lamb, since there is a picture of it above.  If you have never tried lamb, I encourage you to give it a shot.  It is actually quite simple and the only way you can really screw it up is if you over cook it.  You can serve it up to medium, but medium rare is even better.  If you are a well done kind of person, then maybe this isn't for you, because well done lamb is just sad.  While you can find individual lamb chops, which are fine, I prefer to buy a rack of lamb chops because the presentation is better and they are less work because you only have to cook one thing.  They usually come with the bones frenched, meaning cleaned off like you see in the picture.  All you need to do is season the meat and cook them.  I personally like the seasoning Spike Original Magic, which you can find in almost any grocery store. It works well with lamb, but feel free to come up with your own special mix.  The seasoning can be done a while in advance, up to a couple days.  To cook them, you need either a hot grill or heavy pan that is smoking hot.  If you use a grill, it is a good idea to fold a piece of aluminum foil over the bones so they don't burn, which, besides making them ugly, will reduce their usefulness.  After all, the bones are handles.  More on that in a second.  Then, sear each side to make a nice crust.  At this point they will be rare to medium rare depending on how thick the roast is.  If you like them that way, take them off now.  If not, reduce the heat of the grill, or if you are using the pan method, move them into a 325 oven and finish them to a medium.  Remember, as long as they don't go past medium, you are in for a treat.

Then, and this is probably the second most important step besides cooking them properly, let them rest.  Resist the urge to cut into them, because all you will do is dry them out.  Right now, the lamb is hot and the pressure inside is higher than the outside, so if you cut into them, all the wonderful juice will be pushed out leaving you with a puddle and dry chops.  This rule is so important for any cut of meat or poultry, by the way.  So, grab another beer, or have some more wine, or just put your hands in your pockets and give it about 10 minutes.  After that, hold the roast by the bones and cut between each one to separate it into individual chops.  Now you can dig in.  About the handles I talked about, I don't think I have ever seen anyone, even my mom, use a knife and fork on one of these.  Just pick them up and enjoy.  Once you taste one, you will see why the lamb lollipop method is the best.

It has been a few weeks since our trip and I really miss Arizona and my new friends at the Chuparosa, but we have already made reservations for next year, so I have that to look forward to.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the bounty of the farmers market and go forth and boldly cook. And above all, have fun.