What did I just do?

January 31, 2018 8:40 AM

Per text instruction from my SO leaving work, I sauteed* random stuff from the fridge: frozen sliced mushrooms, diced onion, diced garlic, chicken bouillon, and then ground turkey... and boy was it good (and the house smells amazing!) I realize I’m not breaking any culinary ground here, but... what did I just make?

And I feel like I was halfway there to making something well-known. Spaghetti with meat sauce? Tacos? Goulash? Some kind of casserole? Where can I go from what I made? Can I freeze this goodness?

*The mushrooms had so much water that I didn’t end up using olive oil, though the instructions said to.

posted by Pig Tail Orchestra to Food & Drink (23 answers total)

Best answer: I'd add a little cream and cook it down, maybe with a drop of sherry or marsala, maybe a little parmesan, put that over some pasta. It has no particular name. Turkey/mushroom sauté is as close to a name that it has.
posted by beagle at 8:48 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You can definitely freeze it. It would also be good as a version of shepherd's pie (pour into casserole dish, top with mashed potatoes, bake), or mixed with rice or another grain, stuffed into bell peppers or acorn squash, and baked.
posted by halation at 8:49 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: We call this hash. We usually put more vegetables in it, but whenever we sautee ground meat with things and make it yummy and not a part of something else, that's our name for it. It's how we deal with having an odd assortment of leftover vegetables, or some kind of CSA imbalance like we got 1 random parsnip.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:58 AM on January 31, 2018 [12 favorites]

Best answer: You made a non- (or pre-) rice version of fried rice or bibimbap! i.e., leftovers/randoms sauted and mixed. You could serve with rice, or if that's not your thing then pasta, noodles...
posted by methroach at 9:11 AM on January 31, 2018

sort of a stir-fry?
eat, freeze, blend, go!
posted by acm at 9:15 AM on January 31, 2018

Best answer: You made taco filling! You are possibly also on your way to turkey chili, with the addition of beans and tomatoes and spices, but I suppose that depends on where one stands on the whole question of meat in chili.
posted by Stacey at 9:16 AM on January 31, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Add green olives and/or potatoes (and/or raisins, tomatoes, capers, depending on the part of the world) and you've got yourself a picadillo.
posted by mudpuppie at 9:19 AM on January 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

This sounds like what happens in my house when I realize "oh man, I need to use all this stuff up and figure out what to do with it later." Maybe that's all your SO is thinking. This could be turned into virtually anything.
posted by something something at 9:24 AM on January 31, 2018

Best answer: In India, you'd add spices and call it curry. In China, you'd use spices and call it My_Region's_Food. Etc. Around the world, people cook on a stovetop or burner or fire, not an oven, using regionally available foods and spices. I cook this way a lot, and think of it as Helper, from Hamburger Helper, which I have seldom eaten, or as Hotdish, which is culturally inaccurate, but it's hot and a dish. I usually serve it in a bowl, but it's not a Bowl.
posted by theora55 at 9:28 AM on January 31, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Add some cream and a little flour to thicken and you made turkey stroganoff. It's more commonly known with ground beef as hamburger stroganoff, or steak as beef stroganoff. Serve over noodles or butterfly pasta.
posted by Liesl at 9:32 AM on January 31, 2018 [7 favorites]

I’m not sure what you’ve just made but something I’ve learned from making Blue Apron meals is how adding voulions or demi-glaze from another animal to a main protein is a great way to kick the dish up a notch.
posted by raccoon409 at 9:40 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: seconding 'hash'.

i like to add some eggs and milk to whatever meat/potato/veggies i have and then eat it as breakfast burritos.
posted by noloveforned at 9:42 AM on January 31, 2018

Best answer: "Skillet scramble" is what I've seen at some restaurants. (I think they just want to avoid the word "hash", but I'd use it with pride)
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:04 AM on January 31, 2018

I'd add a splash of soy sauce and/or white wine and cook it down a little more, for even more concentrated flavor. Maybe squeeze some lemon on top at the end.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 10:18 AM on January 31, 2018

Best answer: Technically, I would probably call what you made a ragout (ragu)
posted by briank at 10:38 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Plomp half a jar of spaghetti sauce in there and you've got an easy hearty pasta sauce. Or put in some leftover rice and you've got fried rice. Or add a bit of cumin and chili powder and put it in a taco. We cook this sort of thing at home a lot.

Onions, garlic, and mushrooms are all very versatile staple-y ingredients and super good when sauteed, and bouillon is a great way to punch up just about any food. You can go in all sorts of directions depending on what spices you add.

It's also a good way to get some veggies in; we frequently add carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, celery, etc. to the mix. Pre-shredded carrots and riced broccoli or cauliflower make really convenient additions, or try throwing some frozen chopped spinach in near the end.
posted by Metroid Baby at 12:09 PM on January 31, 2018

Best answer: Add cooked spaghetti, cream, sherry, some parmesan and maybe some peas; bake it in a buttered casserole dish and you have close to what my mom called Turkey Tetrazzini, though ours was made with leftover turkey in lieu of the ground turkey.
posted by sarajane at 12:11 PM on January 31, 2018

Also, if you want to learn more about this kind of cooking, which is freestyle within parameters, I recommend Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.
posted by theora55 at 12:12 PM on January 31, 2018

Best answer: "Hash"
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 12:15 PM on January 31, 2018

You combined aromatics (onions, garlic) with protein / naturally occurring msg (mushrooms, chicken bouillon, turkey).

Turkey is not really a Chinese staple, so you probably can't literally say it's Chinese food, but the general pattern is pretty universal.
posted by batter_my_heart at 12:26 PM on January 31, 2018

Best answer: You made “Turkey What-the-hell”. It’s made whenever you stand at the fridge & ask yourself: “should I throw that in???...aw, what the hell!”. It’s often delicious, always different, never repeatable. This dish often grows larger than you can eat in a single meal, but try to stick with conservative volumes. Whether it’s freezeable depends on the ingredients, but very often since one can’t label it well enough to be appetizing enough to thaw it often just takes up space in the freezer, growing freezer burn icicle hair & getting disgusting. It’s NEVER as good reheated & further experimenting after the thaw always goes downhill quick.
posted by iiniisfree at 1:06 PM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: What you have made is known as 'stir fried random'.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 4:53 PM on January 31, 2018

Best answer: We called it picadillo growing up.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:59 AM on February 1, 2018