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November 2016 Cooking Challenge: Leftovers

9K views 61 replies 23 participants last post by  morning glory 
#1 ·
So, in the month of November, we have the Thanksgiving holiday, known not only for it's classic dishes, often passed down through families, but also for the immense amount of leftovers it usually produces.  So, this month's challenge is LEFTOVERS.

We're not talking about only Thanksgiving turkey and cranberry sauce (since not all ChefTalk members celebrate the US holiday of Thanksgiving) but let's use our skills to turn something into something else fantastic the next day.  Of course, waiting for Thanksgiving inspiration is fine also.  Go!
 
#5 ·
Shucks. If I had checked Cheftalk before dinner, I would have taken more pictures. I actually meant to do this dish for the squash challenge, didn't get to it. I made it tonight.


Took some leftover baked spaghetti squash shredded it, mixed with a beaten egg, some rice flour, a bit of grated parm, light seasoning. Fried up a couple of fritters. Plated them, topped with some burrata cheese. And over the cheese an Italian sausage patty. Smothered with some leftover tomato sauce, garnished with more cheese.

Several yummies from my lovely wife. I don't recall doing squash fritters with hard squash before, will certainly do again. Like maybe tomorrow night, still have some squash in the fridge.

mjb.
 
#6 · (Edited)
In my house, leftovers is fried rice, using old rice in the fridge and any ingredients I can find. I haven't been to the market in weeks. I wanted to see how long I can use up ingredients in my freezer and pantry. Supplemented by farmers market and farm stand stops.

This is bone marrow fried rice. roasted bone marrow took all the fat that rendered out and scooped out the marrow part with a oyster knife..

Shallot, egg, soy. That's it. For not having actual meat in it, it is gloriously beefy

 
#7 ·
In my house, leftovers is fried rice, using old rice in the fridge and any ingredients I can find. I haven't been to the market in weeks. I wanted to see how long I can use up ingredients in my freezer and pantry. Supplemented by farmers market and farm stand stops.

This is bone marrow fried rice. roasted bone marrow took all the fat that rendered out and scooped out the marrow part with a oyster knife..

Shallot, egg, soy. That's it. For not having actual meat in it, it is gloriously beefy
Looks a dish that simple on the outside but explodes with flavor. Can you give more detail on the roasting/prep?
 
#8 ·
I probably have 5 lbs of bone marrow in my freezer at any time.  I add one or two into my pho broth usually.   

Salt it, oven at 350F and keep an eye on it.   When roasting, you're trying to brown for some flavor.  You're looking for the marrow to be cooked through and not raw but still have it sort of a soft gelatinous mess.  If you overcook bone marrow you get a puddle of fat.    Timing depends on if you cut it across or if you split it like a canoe.   Works great on the smoker too.  Smoked bone marrow is fantastic and the high fat content picks up smoke very well.

One of my favorite things is taking smoked bone marrow and whipping it into bone marrow butter
 
#12 · (Edited)
I had leftover Pasty filling in the freezer and it just happened to coincide with the ingredients for a dish I made for letter "F" for compound dinner. I few extra ingredients like feta, egg, mint, thyme and parsley and I made Greek Freighter Meat Pie with Filo dough of course. It was delicious and I have enough for two sides left like 2" x 2" each. I guess it was popular. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif

 
#13 ·
Hi all! I'm a college student and beginner cook. These challenges have been helping me build confidence and develop some useful skills, so I thought I'd share. Always open to suggestions!

I made pork ragu from a leftover slow cooked Hawaiian pork recipe. (The dish was originally pork shoulder covered in liquid smoke and rubbed with Himalayan sea salt left to cook for about 6 hours.)

I made the tomato sauce based off chef John's from food wishes blog. I used canned san marzano tomatoes, garlic, pepper, about an inch of ginger, basil, and a cup of cilantro. I served the ragu in a spaghetti squash I had laying around.


Cheers!

Abi
 
#14 · (Edited)
I had extra boiled eggs leftover from salad and pork butt I bought on sale a long time ago in the freezer.

thịt kho trứng - caramel braised pork and eggs. Caramel is where the color comes from, the saltiness is from fish sauce, and the rest of the braising liquid is coconut water. The darker you can make your caramel, the less of it you use and the less sweet the dish will be. That's the basic premise anyway, as grandma would make it. It's supposed to be a salty dish you eat with rice. This one I also added leftover flat beer from a growler I had when I stopped by a new brewery on a flyfishing trip, an extra special barrel oak. A bunch of spices from my pantry- green cardamom, black cardamom, star anise, malabar black pepper. Ginger and lemongrass leftover from i don't even know what in my fridge.

Step it up y'all because I don't want to win. If I win, we'll all cook mung bean for a month.

 
#15 · (Edited)
I had extra boiled eggs leftover from salad and pork butt I bought on sale a long time ago in the freezer.

thịt kho trứng - caramel braised pork and eggs. Caramel is where the color comes from, the saltiness is from fish sauce, and the rest of the braising liquid is coconut water. The darker you can make your caramel, the less of it you use and the less sweet the dish will be. That's the basic premise anyway, as grandma would make it. It's supposed to be a salty dish you eat with rice. This one I also added leftover flat beer from a growler I had when I stopped by a new brewery on a flyfishing trip, an extra special barrel oak. A bunch of spices from my pantry- green cardamom, black cardamom, star anise, malabar black pepper. Ginger and lemongrass leftover from i don't even know what in my fridge.

Step it up y'all because I don't want to win. If I win, we'll all cook mung bean for a month
Very nice! There are already some pretty creative submissions.
 
#16 ·
I had extra boiled eggs leftover from salad and pork butt I bought on sale a long time ago in the freezer.

thịt kho trứng - caramel braised pork and eggs. Caramel is where the color comes from, the saltiness is from fish sauce, and the rest of the braising liquid is coconut water. The darker you can make your caramel, the less of it you use and the less sweet the dish will be. That's the basic premise anyway, as grandma would make it. It's supposed to be a salty dish you eat with rice. This one I also added leftover flat beer from a growler I had when I stopped by a new brewery on a flyfishing trip, an extra special barrel oak. A bunch of spices from my pantry- green cardamom, black cardamom, star anise, malabar black pepper. Ginger and lemongrass leftover from i don't even know what in my fridge.

Step it up y'all because I don't want to win. If I win, we'll all cook mung bean for a month.

This is almost identical to the Vietnamese Pork I made today (which wasn't leftovers so not eligible). Pork belly, fish sauce, soy sauce, star anise, black cardamom and hard boiled eggs. Mine has spring onions (scallions in US I think) too and is served with rice, as you say. What are the strips on top? Ginger?
 
#20 · (Edited)
Made a beef pot pie from leftover pot roast. Used leftover beef & braising liquid, veg strained from the liquid, pastry dough, and added fresh carrot,celery, onion, mushrooms. Once the veg were cooked, I added a

bit of flour, then the braising liquid, leftover veg & beef.

I would have had more leftovers but my husband put it in a few ramen lunches!

I also do this with leftover turkey and chicken. My husband prefers a double pastry crust and not just the top,

but I usually just have half a pastry recipe in the freezer.

 
#21 ·
Some good looking left over dishes!

I have been away for a bit, just camping and chilling (and fishing and game viewing).

There weren't a lot of left overs, as my friend loves to eat !

I didn;t take many food pics either, but I will be back.....

Maybe I should use left over mung beans ?????
 
#22 ·
One of my favorite leftover things is turkey meat put into a freezer container, covered with turkey gravy and frozen. A month or two after Thanksgiving I reheat it and have it with toast, rice or mashed potatoes. The turkey meat keeps really well in the freezer with the gravy around it.
 
#23 ·
I am from Canada. We had our thanksgiving last month. There were not much leftovers this time. Everyone stuffed their stomach. There was only some Vanila custard left, which I mixed with some fruits the next day and ate. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif
@drewdav
Don't worry, it doesn't have to be only Thanksgiving leftovers. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/drinkbeer.gif
 
#24 ·
Made a beef pot pie from leftover pot roast. Used leftover beef & braising liquid, veg strained from the liquid, pastry dough, and added fresh carrot,celery, onion, mushrooms. Once the veg were cooked, I added a

bit of flour, then the braising liquid, leftover veg & beef.

I would have had more leftovers but my husband put it in a few ramen lunches!

I also do this with leftover turkey and chicken. My husband prefers a double pastry crust and not just the top,

but I usually just have half a pastry recipe in the freezer.

This looks excellent. Please send me some!
 
#25 ·
Some good looking left over dishes!

I have been away for a bit, just camping and chilling (and fishing and game viewing).

There weren't a lot of left overs, as my friend loves to eat !

I didn;t take many food pics either, but I will be back.....

Maybe I should use left over mung beans ?????
You should be so lucky - I mean you are so lucky to have the weather to camp. Now...why do you have left over mung beans, I wonder?

I've also not entered anything yet - still time to go, though.
 
#26 ·
I had some leftover meat from a couple roast chickens and reserved the carcasses. I decided to make Pozole. Made broth with bones, some meat, onion, garlic, chile Cascabel, Arbol, and Guajillos. Fresh jalepeño and cilantro, bay leaf celery. Strained and added hominy. cooked for a few hours, added leftover chicken. Topped with onion/pepper/oregano mix, cabbage, radish, avocado, chili sauce, jalepeño, and lime.

 
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