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.