The Reincarnation of the Roast of PlannedOver Future

A not so Long long time ago (humming when the music dies) I wrote a post about the Roast of PlannedOver Future - and while we did enjoy the roast first go around, knowing that I have something cooked and in the freezer and ready to incorporate into a fabulous dinner - gives me immense satisfaction.  What can I say??? I'm a planner!  I do and have realized after talking with friends and meeting new people that not everyone shares my affliction for needing to plan.  Some are in fact, quite happy to have no clue what they will be eating for dinner that night, even if it is RAPIDLY approaching dinner time.  I have not found myself to have that capacity, it sounds nice - if only on paper.

So after we enjoyed the roast I subdivided into two portions and vaccusealed and labeled the plannedovers and into the freezer to await their rebirth into a hectic work day meal.   On this particular occasion I knew it would be a late night for me so I needed something simple for my darling husband to simply heat and eat.  That coupled with the cold temperatures of late led me to make something warmy and comforty and I decided on a stuffed spud.  To keep it as simple as possible I shredded the meat and added it to a homemade bechamel style cheese sauce, using up the last bits of several bags of shredded cheese including mexican and Cheddar.  Ready to simply heat and pour over baked potatoes.  Add a simple salad and some steamed broccoli and dinner is DONE!!

Shredded Meat in Cheese Sauce

Happy Eating!!! Enjoy!

You say potato I say POtAto. Either or EIther way you look at it reheating a big ole bowl of mashed up spuds is just plain boring.  I have explored various uses for putting to use purposefully plannedover pureed potatoes, because lets face it if you are going to put the work into homemade mashed potatoes it behooves you to plan it out to get the maximum bang for your
buck.  We've had potato pancakes.  Tried and enjoyed plannedover potato gnocchi.  And now, a genius use for planned over spuds I came about while trolling the internet on a very recent very uncommon snow day.  Twice baked potato casserole! Brilliant!!


PlannedOver mashed potatoes
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Milk
Sour Cream
Crumbled bacon - optional
Chopped Green Onions - optional

Preheat oven to 350. Mix mashed potatoes with sour cream and milk - stir in cheese, and if using bacon and onions.  Top with cheese.
Place in an oven proof baking dish.  Bake until heated through and cheese is melted 30-45 minutes.

Enjoy!! Happy eating!

The Business of a Name

What is it about the particular name of something that either induces a strong desire for or against a particular food.  For example pate sounds much more desirable than liver pudding - yes such a thing does exist.  All I can tell you about puddin as it is know around these parts, is that when I asked how you serve it and eat it here is what I was told "You cut a slice and put it on hot grits and it just sort of melts."  I passed.  Boudin noir better than blood sausage, Escargot infinitely better than sails and crudites sounds more appetizing and far more chic than raw cut up vegetables. To me,  being a love of  vegetables in all form this one does not apply to me.  So food, or the perception of food, along with so many other aspects of life can vary greatly, depending how it is presented.

So whether you call it stuffing or dressing the teenage male in my household had made up his mind that he did not like this particular dish.  Please do not even get me started on the thousands of variaions of what stuffing or dressing can be comprised of, he is of the opine that if he had eaten something called stuffing and he did not like it, he would therefore from that point moving forward, not like anything called stuffing.  A dilema because I had stale bread and leftover celery from Christmas morning bloodies and when you find yourself with those  two ingredients and it is winter - you make stuffing.  And I did.  I did also, however, when querried as to what was for dinner, rename it as bread pudding.  Needless to say it was a hit!

Hodge Podge of Stale PlannedOver Bread

Left over bread - if you see from my picture I used bagels
Onion
Celery
Mushrooms
Eggs
Broth or Stock
Salt and Pepper
Bell's seasoning

Saute onions, mushrooms and celery in a little butter and olive oil until translucent and soft.  Transfer to a bowl.  If your bread is not dried out - put it in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.  Add cubed or torn bread to bowl with onions add two beaten eggs, stock and seasoning to taste.  Mixture should be pretty wet.  This can even be made in advance, refridgerated, check if additional broth needs to be added and continue.  Place mixture in a baking dish 350 45-60 minutes!

Enjoy! Happy Eating!

The Roast Revival

I cooked a RibEye Roast for the first time - times 2 - this holiday season.  Having never cooked this cut of beef before I asked the butcher for recommendations.  For my 5 plus pound roast I was given the following instructions:

Bring the roast to room temperature by leaving on the counter for one hour prior to cooking Preheat the oven to 350- Cook for one hour then turn the oven off.  DO NOT OPEN the Door during this time.  Wait one hour.  Then turn the oven back on to 350 and cook 20-40 minutes depending upon your preference for how rare you like your beef.

She told me she had been cooking her roast this way for 25 years and true to her word it came out beautifully!  Now I just need to remember to stop in and let her know how it turned out!

The marbling in a ribeye is a beautiful thing and provides so much of the rich beefy flavor of this particular cut of beef.  Especially when it is hot.  Next day ribeye leftovers that marbling can seem obscene as if somehow overnight in the refrigerator all of the fat molecules joined forces and multiplied - a lot.  I figured I could take advantage of their effort and use a braise to melt the fat and re-infuse the meat -making it tender and juicy.  I fine chopped all I had left and added it to a pan with some remaining au jus and a little broth and simmered it all for about 30 minutes.  Sauteed up a mess of peppers and onions and my Ribeye Roast was reborn into a Philly Cheese Steak.

 Enjoy and Happy Eating!!!

By the way...................Spencer says

A Tale of Two Dips - part Two

The other luscious leftover from our celebrations was a simply divine mushroom pate spread.  Long long ago in a galaxy far far away, no wait - that was just for you MG, faithful reader and mine.  Several years ago one of us got a small tin of Mushroom Pate in her stocking.  I believe it was my mother who took it and developed a simply marvelous mushroom mashed potatoes that is  heavenly and has been oft repeated at holiday dinners.  We had a menu change this year which left me with a tin of pate and a desire to have a mushroomie component to our meal.  I mixed the tin with some sauteed finely chopped mushrooms, cream cheese, and a hefty handful of grated Parmesan.  35 minute stint in a 350 oven produced a creamy, earthy, cheesy - mushroom delightful spread.

And now the fun begins round two with the continuation of the party, the refrigerator clean out party that is. It has been unseasonably cold here, well everywhere for that matter and that has me staying indoors and seeking warmth.  I decided that the perfect second life for our cheesy magic mushroom spread was to become a sauce for pasta.  I took the spread, thinned with a little milk and heated in a saucepan.  I added cooled cooked orzo and cooked until heated through.  Perfect as is or feel free to add some freshly chopped parsley and a little more Parm - never hurt anything!

Happy Eating!! Enjoy!!

A Tale of Two Post Holiday Dips Part One

Tis the season for celebrations and there has been a great deal to celebrate what with the holidays and New Years and family and company.  And celebrations for my family  will ususally mean one or hopefully, more than one snack meal.  The origin of our family tradition began for me as a young child in my parents home where the snack meal was almost favored over a traditional sit down dinner for any special occasion.  The meal can be as complicated or as simple as you wish and the very most delightful thing about this style of eating is little bites of this and that, tons of flavor, texture, and temperatures-  it simply is the best.  Our snack meals over the years have become somewhat legendary with some, namely sister, who insists on certain components to be present for it to even be considered a snack meal.  In this instance, and at her insistence, the object of her utmost desire is smoked white fish and to go along with it, smoked white fish dip.  She loves it and has over the years developed her very own sensational spread.  So of course we have THAT.  But we also have something warmy and something crunchy and something veggie, and we have lots of lots of things that are spready.  And we have conversation, we have laughter, and we create memories, and we have fun.

So after the guests have departed and I survey the scene that is my refridgerator I find myself with an abundance of two such spready things and the hamster starts running and the wheel starts a-turning and low and behold a plannedover is born.Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato, and Goat Cheese Spread is gloriously reborn into a decadent frittata with additional sauteed spinach, a little more goat cheese and some eggs. 

Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato, and Goat Cheese Spread
1 Block of Cream Cheese
Sauteed fresh Spinach or frozen spinach drained and sauteed - with garlic of course
1/4 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes finely chopped
1/2 of a small log of goat Cheese


Allow Cream Cheese to come to room temperature and blend in remaining ingredients - either by hand or using a stand mixer.  Transfer mixture to an oven proof serving dish.  Heat at 350 for 30 minutes until bubbly and golden.  Serve with crackers or toast points.

This had been baked and enjoyed and is en route to being reborn!!

Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato, and Goat Cheese Frittata
3/4 Cup of PlannedOver  Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato, and Goat Cheese Spread
1 Cup Sauteed Spinach
1/4 of a small log of Goat Cheese
6 eggs

Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl, whisk to combine - pour into a glass baking dish- I used a loaf pan- and bake at 350 for one hour.

Happy Eating!!! Enjoy!

Mashed Potatoes become Gnocchi Part Deux

Happiest New Year to you!!! I can not hardly believe it is 2014.  I hope your holidays were all you wanted and that this glorious year has gotten off to a smashing start!  I hope your resolutions included incorporating plannedovers and delicious food in the New Year!  On to Gnocchi!

So if you have frozen gnocchi - bring a pot of salted water to a boil - drop gnocchi and cook - it is ready when it floats to the surface

I scoop from the water an put in a bowl with a little olive oil until I am ready to use.

Next step is where the magic happens.  I personally find the texture of boiled gnocchi to be a bit redundant lacking any yin to the yang - it's all just the same.  However that same so so gnocchi plus a little butter and some time in a pan-you get the good stuff.  Crunchy outside and creamy pillowy inside in which the two textural components create an end product that is infinitely better than individually. 

In the beginning

Golden Nuggets of Goodness

Like all of the photos?  Let me tell y'all how much flour I got on my phone taking these!  Enjoy!! Happy Eating and Happy New Year!!