Food Chat thread - for general convo by food forum regulars (pancake, vodka)

[JustJulia]

That looks scrumptious!

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by JustJulia

I love looking in my fridge after a lot of cooking and realizing I have the makings for unplanned yummy things. For instance, I noticed I have:

Eight egg whites (leftover from the yolks I needed for french vanilla ice cream)
Thyme (leftover from something--not the turkey, though)
Mushrooms (leftover from the green bean casserole)
Ham (lots)

I think I need to make a frittata for lunch!

I'm making turkey tetrazzini for dinner tomorrow. I hadn't made it before, but I noticed lots of people mentioning it after Thanksgiving, so I tried it out. My husband loves casseroles, so he liked it very much and asked me to make another with this round of leftovers. The one I made has peas in it, and I realized that instead of using frozen peas, I should use the leftover peas with pancetta in the back of the fridge. That should be good, right?

I also had some hard-boiled eggs I didn't use (was going to make deviled eggs), so I made this with the rest of the leftover turkey and a bit of leftover roast chicken:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/annies...ad/Detail.aspx

(I go easy on the mayo, but this salad is terrific.)

Lucky you!

How odd is it that I've never noticed the Food and Drink "Chat" thread before. Sometimes I am sooooo slow.

Hope this is the correct place then, but I too had Holiday Leftovers. Only, my dish wasn't quite so successful. I think of myself as an "above average" vegetarian home cook, but sometimes the stuff left in the fridge just doesn't play so well together. Anyone else have that happen?

We had cooked red beans (unseasoned and leftover from a decent veggie red-beans-and-rice dish), steamed broccoli (as a side dish from some meal?), plus some cooked brown rice. Sharp cheddar. A splosh of heavy cream. I tossed it all in a casserole with a little crushed red pepper, butter and garlic...and it was just "meh".

It need some texture or crunch or something (no points for those of you who say "bacon" lol). I was thinking water chestnuts (always good in a casserole) or homemade breadcrumbs on top?

[JustJulia]

I think it's a pretty new thread, plaiddy.

As for the crunch, I like water chestnuts, but sometimes they have a funny flavor. What about celery, sauteed a little bit so it's not raw? I put celery in all kinds of stuff. It adds bulk so I can stretch the dish, plus it has fiber and practically no calories.

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by plaidmom

Lucky you!

How odd is it that I've never noticed the Food and Drink "Chat" thread before. Sometimes I am sooooo slow.

Hope this is the correct place then, but I too had Holiday Leftovers. Only, my dish wasn't quite so successful. I think of myself as an "above average" vegetarian home cook, but sometimes the stuff left in the fridge just doesn't play so well together. Anyone else have that happen?

We had cooked red beans (unseasoned and leftover from a decent veggie red-beans-and-rice dish), steamed broccoli (as a side dish from some meal?), plus some cooked brown rice. Sharp cheddar. A splosh of heavy cream. I tossed it all in a casserole with a little crushed red pepper, butter and garlic...and it was just "meh".

It need some texture or crunch or something (no points for those of you who say "bacon" lol). I was thinking water chestnuts (always good in a casserole) or homemade breadcrumbs on top?

When all else fails, Stir fry. Now just imagine- toss in broccoli into a super hot wok and flash it for 30 seconds, toss in the beans, brown rice and red pepper flakes. Cook it on high heat for 30-60 seconds more. Pull off heat and toss in one or two beaten eggs. Stir quickly. Once egg has set pour out on to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle with the cheese. Let set for 1-2 minutes for cheese to melt and viola. Seriously stir frying is a great technique to mix together just about anything in your fridge. It all depends on when each ingredient goes into the pan in a certain order. I also like to cook up each item separately real fast and toss into a bowl. Then when every thing has cooked separately, I toss every thing back into the wok and combine quickly to heat up. The technique keeps thing from getting mushy and keeps vegetable crisp and snappy.

Also I always keep a stash of fresh chinese noodles on hand to quickly cook in about four minutes. Then pour stir fry over the noodles or mix noodles into dish first. I do this about once every 7-10 days. Makes cleaning up left overs easy. If I have any with three teenagers around.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by plaidmom

Lucky you!

How odd is it that I've never noticed the Food and Drink "Chat" thread before. Sometimes I am sooooo slow.

Hope this is the correct place then, but I too had Holiday Leftovers. Only, my dish wasn't quite so successful. I think of myself as an "above average" vegetarian home cook, but sometimes the stuff left in the fridge just doesn't play so well together. Anyone else have that happen?

We had cooked red beans (unseasoned and leftover from a decent veggie red-beans-and-rice dish), steamed broccoli (as a side dish from some meal?), plus some cooked brown rice. Sharp cheddar. A splosh of heavy cream. I tossed it all in a casserole with a little crushed red pepper, butter and garlic...and it was just "meh".

It need some texture or crunch or something (no points for those of you who say "bacon" lol). I was thinking water chestnuts (always good in a casserole) or homemade breadcrumbs on top?

Panko instead of regular breadcrumbs on top would add terrific crunch.....I like Julias idea about the celery, too!

[Bulldogdad]

Time to pop the lasagne in the oven.

[kshe95girl]

Polishing off the last of the beef stew.......going to St Louis tomorrow to start stocking up on regional goodies that I wont be able to get once I go back to Florida.
Now that I've gotten used to having certain things again, the thought of going 4 months without them until I get back here is awful!

[temptation001]

Originally Posted by plaidmom

Lucky you!

How odd is it that I've never noticed the Food and Drink "Chat" thread before. Sometimes I am sooooo slow.

I didn't notice it before either until recently. I wonder if it's new?

[Bunjee]

I didn't want to start a new thread about this since it's trivial, but does anyone know why, when you make a grilled cheese sandwich or quesadilla, it takes so much less time to toast the second side?

[temptation001]

Probably cause when you turn it over the grill is already hot.