Your Holiday Leftovers, creative ways of dealing with them.

[Sunset]

^^^Duly noted.

[Sunset]

Not holiday related per se, but I've always felt the skillful utilization of leftovers to be one of those little things that separate a good home cook from a truly ambitious home cook.

Thurs night we had Mrs. Sunset's truly phenomenal Vietnamese Banh Mi(baguette, pork pate, grilled pork in orange glaze, pickled carrot/daikon, cilantro, jalapeno, and sriracha)


Then Fri night was a typical central cali brai. 7 bone chuck(tastier and more value conscious than a lot of fancy cuts), grilled eggplant and scallion. Straight forward and simplistic for sure.


So Sat evening I was enjoying a wee dram(Clynelish 14) wondering what to do with the leftover eggplant and I came up with this. Down&dirty eggplant parmasan with a roast red pepper, sausage, and shroom red sauce.


Sun evening rolls around and we still have a bit of grilled eggplant left over. So, it's grilled eggplant sammich with tomato, mayo, maille, mozerella, and avocado. With a bit of carrot/daikon relish on the side.



I've got a great idea to make braised short rib burgers, but unfortunately my short ribs get hozzled up so fast I never seem to have leftovers.

[Sunset]

We all use store bought stock. It's sorta kinda yummy and seriously convenient. But if anyone is interested in taking a dish into righteous territory, making your own stock is a great first step.

Turkey stock...

-Pre-heat oven to 450 and place rack in top 1/3 of oven
-Place both wings, one cup water, and entire (relatively cleaned of meat)carcass in large baking pan. Reduce heat to 400 and roast wings/carcass for 45min turning once. Drippings and fond should be dark brown, but never blackened. If blackening begins to occur add 1 more cup water.


-Place wings/carcass in large stock pot



-Place baking pan on stove top low heat and add 2 cups water. Making sure to scrape up all the glorious brown bits of magic.



-Pour glorious magic liquid into stock pot
-Add 1 sm onion chopped, 1 large carrot chopped, 1 celery stalk chopped, 1 bay leaf, one sprig fresh thyme, 4-5 sprigs fresh parsley, and 10 cups water.


Bring to slow boil uncovered and reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until 12 cups liquid is reduced to 8 cups. Your entire home will smell wonderful!!!



-Almost there...


-Strain contents into large bowl(reserving the pound or two of wonderfully seasoned meat for sammiches and such). Chill and use within 3 days, or freeze and use within 3 months.

8 cups of magic.



ENJOY!!

[burma.girl]

****SIIIIIGH****
Sunset...where do you get all the energy 'n' inspiration to make such...such...AHHHHMAAAZING noms??! I'm STARVIN' after every food post you make! Flabbergasting. Durn you!
Can I hire you for a weekend? Will you chef the next Brewhaha? Opportunities abound!

[Sunset]

Well, just between us girls...what you're seeing is a bit of catharsis. Cooking and riding motorcycles are two things I absolutely *need* to maintain some level of sanity. From August to mid November every year I'm chained to a desk for dehumanizing periods of time, and therefore can't do either one.

But I sure make up for lost time from December through July. Heck, I haven't even posted up on the braised short ribs, turkey mushroom risotto, or the entire Thanksgiving feast I prepared yet.

And thanks for the compliments, you're always so supportive.

[2Beers]

As stated above Sunset, you know how to make a Wow! picture thread. Please share and post your Turkey Day feast accomplishments.

[Sunset]

Hey, anything for the birthday girl...

I'll be back in the office on Monday with a proper computer. I'll post a few pix then...

[Scythe Matters]

YUM!!! (pardon the drool - I'll mop it up...)

[Sunset]

(11-29-2012 12:27 PM)2Beers Wrote:  Please share and post your Turkey Day feast accomplishments.

Somewhere along the line I must have zipped most of the turkey day food pics out of my photo album, so this is a sadly abbreviated post. At any rate, this was my first attempt at a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner. The gravy was, imo, just a wee bit salty for my taste(used regular broth instead of reduced sodium, so when I reduced the liquid the saltiness intensified a bit. Live and learn...won't make the same mistake on my second gravy attempt some time in the future)...but other than that, I cracked that sucker right outta the park.


A perfect example of plating FAIL. But what the heck...Thanksgiving is a "family style" dinner service, so just pile it on and commence to grubbin' says I!



The aftermath. Brined 12lb turkey roasted with apples, oranges, and red onion in the cavity. Sausage and walnut dressing. Potato/Parsnip mash. Snap-beans, gravy, and Mrs Sunsets home-made cranberry relish...bless her sweet little heart.