Happy leftovers.

[rivka]

The sad truth about a roast is that, unless you want to serve it cold on the second day, you'll be serving it well done. Given that the whole point of roast red meat is deep pink juicy rareness, leftovers require a recipe that compensates for the further cooking entailed.


Take the end of a roast of meat and dice it into bite-sized pieces. Trim off any visible fat. Our example today involves lamb, but you could also use beef. Or pork, I suppose, if you like that sort of thing.

Chop a red bell pepper into large pieces, and finely chop a can of whole plum tomatoes. If I'd had some fresh green beans, they would have gone in here as well. Also mince a few cloves of garlic.

Heat about a quarter-cup of olive oil and saute the garlic in it. Then add the fresh vegetables and saute for a few minutes.

Add a cup of cheap white wine, a couple of bay leaves, lots of black pepper, a little bit of salt, the canned tomato bits, and the meat. Bring it to a boil and let it bubble furiously for a while, stirring frequently, until the wine/oil/juices have reduced a bit. Then let the whole thing simmer, covered, while you heat water and boil some linguini. If it gets too dry, add more wine. Serve the sauce very hot, over linguini, with bread and butter or a salad.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Having enjoyed a similar repast with you, I'm sitting here nodding and saying "Oh yes..."

Of course, I've been known to say that when thinking about you in other contexts too, but that is a very nice recipe.

[scherazade.livejournal.com]

Hello.
That's such a useful recipe. I always have a problem making leftover food tasty.
I added you as a friend. Hope you don't mind :)

Re:

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I added you as a friend. Hope you don't mind :)

Nope! Not at all. How did you find me?

Re:

[scherazade.livejournal.com]

Well we share an interest in dorothy sayers.
And cooking as I just found out! *grin*

and apropos of Dorothy Sayers ...

[persimmon.livejournal.com]

my brother was over for Easter, and during the course of the evening, I looked at him and said

"My manners may be unpolished ..."

"but your silver is not!" he answered, completing the quote from Busman's Honeymoon. And the rest of my family sat there going 'huh?'.

He's very good at following the erratic bounces of my thinking processes.

Re: and apropos of Dorothy Sayers ...

[scherazade.livejournal.com]

I think that proposal at the end of Gaudy Nights is something I will never forget.

P: "Placetne, magistra?"
H: "Placet."

Apparently these words were spoken at the Oxford graduation ceremony; the candidate for graduation would ask, "Placetne, magister?" He would then be approved with the word "Placet"

Quite a short one, but I think that's about the most perfect proposal :)

Re: and apropos of Dorothy Sayers ...

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you! Finally I understand. After the first time I read GN I dug up an appropriate dictionary and did my best to figure out the meaning, a challenge at which wasn't overly successful, and so I had been left wondering, until by lucky chance I stumbled into this exchange.... Yes, the proposal was perfectly suited to the circumstance and persons involved.

Liana,
who actually does not read LJ. (What, never? Hardly ever.)

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Hrmph! Given the vague "don't read", killer curiosity compelled me to look.

YKIOK, IJNMK. The rest will go unsaid, as I'm sure you don't need to be reminded.

However. I'm tempted to pout and say that I'm not going to share any of my "cooking with leftover roast" recipes. -wicked grin-

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Oh, mercy, Rivka - apologize to the woman! I'm not getting my quota of foodporn this week!

(I like to cut leftover roast and new potatoes in equivalent sized cubes, put a bit of the beef fat in the bottom of a small, preheated baking dish until it renders into a tablespoon or so of fat, toss in the potatoes, some plenty of garlic and some fresh rosemary and pop in the oven until almost done, then add the beef and continue cooking until everything's hot and the potatoes are slightly crusty. Good winter fare, served with mixed baby leaf lettuces from our garden - we had lettuce and arugula all winter this year!)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Oooohhhh, that sounds really good.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Hrmph! Given the vague "don't read", killer curiosity compelled me to look.

But it was "don't read a recipe." Surely that translates easily to "contains mango and/or sweet peppers"? Because... because... I promised to put the next squickful recipe behind spoiler space!

However. I'm tempted to pout and say that I'm not going to share any of my "cooking with leftover roast" recipes. -wicked grin-

But how will I ever mend my wicked ways, if I don't get appropriate stern-but-loving guidance complete with recipes?

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Sure, sure, you've got justifications all over the place, ain'tcha?

Hrm...mend Rivka's wicked ways with stern but loving...


-blink-


How did I get here? Recipes for leftover roast, was it?

I like to take chunks of roast lamb and to either cube it or shred it, and add it to a pilaf of long-grain rice with Moroccan seasonings. Mince an onion and brown it in olive oil, along with the rice. Add garlic either in cloves or slices (or minced, if you prefer), a bit of ginger, a stick of cinnamon, some fresh cracked black pepper. Chickpeas, if you like that. Diced dried apricots, barberries as well if you have them, or maybe dried cranberries or cherries. Lamb or beef stock if you have it, if not, 50-50 water to white wine. I like to serve it with a nice green salad and some sauteed carrots.

Leftover roast makes its appearance as cubed bits in fried rice, which I make by dicing and browning an onion (in some neutral oil, or drippings, or bacon grease, if I'm feeling naughty), and then a little garlic, maybe a little ginger. Chopped carrots (quartered lengthwise and then "diced"), diced celery. When the vegetables are nearly done, add the day old rice, breaking it up with the spatula. When the rice is heated through, make a well in the center and pour in a (what do you call it when you take an egg and mix it enough so that the yolk and white are blended, but not frothy?) egg mixed with about 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Scramble the egg, and then garnish with frozen peas. The residual heat of the dish should heat the peas through. Salt sometime during the cooking process to taste, add white or black pepper as desired.

The other favorite leftover roast beast recipe is simply to add it to a bowl of ramen, at the end. Or to make a salad, with a basalmic vinegar and onion dressing, with shreds of paperthin raw onions...

[kightp.livejournal.com]

*copyandpaste,copyandpaste*

Long, satiated *sigh*

Damn. Now I wish I had a cigarette ... (-;

[trinker.livejournal.com]

I forgot to elaborate on my roast beast in ramen comment. I especially like it with beef or "Oriental" flavor ramen, with a mass of boiled mung bean sprouts. Cooked until they're translucent. About 1 part sprouts to 1 part noodles, or maybe 2 parts sprouts to 3 parts noodles. The other favorite roast beast in ramen combination is roast beast and greens.

And I got a long satiated sigh from Jez! Woohoo!

(I'm really, really glad that cigarette smoke doesn't transmit via 'net.)

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's one of the lovely things about net.talk - we can all enjoy our vices without disturbing one another. Well, for various values of "disturb..."

Damn, I'm getting hungry. My sister is supposed to be making "vegetable drawer soup" tonight (as in, "Oh, look, we need to eat these things before they start wilting.) It's never the same twice, but it's always delicious!

[trinker.livejournal.com]

If I manage to get my act together (which includes getting the hell off the computer!) and over to Costco today, dinner will be crepe noodles and spinach in chicken broth; sauteed carrots with rosemary; a bit of chicken breast, shredded; and potatoes cooked with limequat juice and rind.

I learned the lovely phrase "plat au fond du frigo" from a French friend, and have used it with great pleasure ever since. (It's a coinage based on "plat au fond du poulet", and other constructions, meaning "dish based on...").

And yes. Virtual smoking is, IMO, the best.

[(Anonymous)]

My recipe for left over roast (or steak, for that matter):

Slice some onion. Saute it in oil until it's very soft and beginning to caramelize. Slice or shred the beef, add to frying pan with an appropriate amount of good quality barbecue sauce. Simmer for 15 or 20 minutes (less if you're pressed for time, but it's best to let the flavors meld). Serve on toasted buns with some yummy vegetable side dish (roasted asparagus would be perfect - just toss a bunch of trimmed asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper, then roast in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes).



Tammy
aka "A charming woman from Michigan"
- thinking about getting her own LiveJournal

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Tammy
aka "A charming woman from Michigan"
- thinking about getting her own LiveJournal

Hey, look who showed up in my journal! *bounce*

Thanks for the recipe. Being married to curiousangel, who is from Memphis and a devotee of all the appropriate religious rites thereof, it would never occur to me that one could barbecue anything but pork. Or barbecue without a smoker. But I bet I would like this. And the roasted asparagus sounds so good.

Let me - or Misha - know if you'd like a LJ creation code.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, look who showed up in my journal! *bounce*

After lurking all week I decided to take the plunge...

Let me - or Misha - know if you'd like a LJ creation code.

Yes please! It's been the kind of week that I would have liked to write journal entries about...

Tammy
(ACWFM)