Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with leftovers

Ideas for leftover chateaubriand besides sandwiches?

_Mona_ — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 07:37:58 -0800

I have a huge portion of leftover chateaubriand from a top-notch steakhouse I went to last night and I'm trying to decide how to morph it into dinner tonight. I saw this thread but nothing really stood out at me so I'm looking for other ideas. I don't really want to turn it into sandwiches but I will if the collective wisdom tells me that's the best way to go. Also, the meat is a little more rare than I'd prefer so is there a way I can cook it a bit more without ruining it?

Can I do anything with pig skin after slow-cooking it?

Magnakai — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 13:57:08 -0800

I made some delicious slow-cooker pulled pork using this chow.com recipe. I cooked the pork shoulder with the skin on, believing it to add flavour. After cooking, it came right off, along with a thick layer of fat. I've looked up pork scratching recipes, but none of them take into account that I cooked it for 8 hours beforehand. I'd like to do something useful with it, but I'm not sure what. Is it destined for my tummy or the bin?

Leftover Rib-eye Steak

brenton — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 13:03:18 -0800

How should I prepare a leftover ribeye steak? I had a huge ribeye steak last night at a restaurant last night but I only ate about a quarter of it (it was a little too pink for me anyway). How should I eat it today for lunch or dinner?? I was thinking of slicking it into strips and grilling it on our grill pan (though I'm not sure which direction to cut it) and maybe make a sandwich out of it? What would be good?

What to do with cake trimmings?

the man of twists and turns — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:05:42 -0800

What to do with excess cake? I just finished making this magnificent dessert. But, as you can see, it generates a lot of leftover cake, in some odd pieces. I could make a negative version, but I wanted to know if anyone else had ideas. Recipe says to freeze and save, but for what?

my first plan: make a lemon curd with the excess egg yolks and some other things I have around and pour it over the top, enjoy.

Recipes for leftovers, Passover edition

bq — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:37:15 -0800

I just threw out a lot of food and I don't want to do that next year. Please suggest recipes that will help me use up Passover leftovers. Difficulty level: kosher for Passover. Every year I host a Seder for Passover and end up with a vat of leftovers. Most of them we manage to eat or freeze over the intervening days but 2 dishes pose a problem: charoset and Israeli salad. The charoset is minced nuts, raisin, and apples. The salad is diced tomatoes, onion, cucumber, and other vegetables, with parsley and mint, and dressed with olive oil and vinegar. Neither dish is cooked, so it's not possible to freeze them.

This year I found a recipe for Charoset muffins made with matzo meal that was pretty good, but I still ended up throwing a lot out. Please suggest other recipes or ideas for using up these leftovers. We keep kosher for Passover, so I can't use regular flour and so forth, and by the time Passover is over the food is not really safe to eat.

What To Do With Pea Soup Paste?

The Whelk — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:35:43 -0800

Super Concentrated Soup? So I made split pea and pesto with pork soup two nights ago and I made too much. It also sat on low for a bit too long and is now a thick green paste. What do I do with it? Is it still safe to eat? Can i do anything to it besides adding water and making more soup? How best can I use these leftovers? The soup itself was just split peas on low heat with stock and water, lime juice, pesto, and some previously cooked pork cubes. Its in a bowl under tin foil in the fridge.

I want recipes for Chicken Casseroles, please.

bilabial — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:14:39 -0800

Your favorite Chicken Casseroles with real vegetables and no hash browns? What is in them? How much? Double points for links to recipes that you love. Please limit my need to think or experiement. I just don't have the brain power to play it by ear these days, and I don't have the financial resources to throw out a pan of wrecked food.

Recently I have discovered a super easy way to make delicious shredded chicken in the crock pot, and I feel confident that it can be used for anything. (Toss chicken breasts into crock pot. Add a little bit of salt, some pepper, and about 1/2 cup of water. Cook on low for 10 hours. Shred with forks.) I'm willing to use chunk chicken if you insist it makes a better finished product in your recipe! The shredded stuff just offsets one step of the cooking process.

I've been searching "chicken casserole" and have come up with an overwhelming pile of...stuff. Lots of it involves hash browns. Very little of it involves veggies. I'm ok with a can of cream of something soup here and there in my life. I need meals that I can eat for long periods of time, solid rib sticking foods. These days I'm often not hungry, but I know I need to eat. Casseroles can make that easier for me.

My pantry doesn't contain much in the way of asian ingredients, so maybe don't suggets Asian inspired noodle dishes? All veggies are welcome in my home and my belly. No dietary restrictions to date.

I've been making tacos and quesadillas with the chicken, but those are getting boring. So, any suggestions for things un-casserole-y and things un-tacoey would be good too.

The art of the roast

A Terrible Llama — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:57:10 -0800

I would like to cook roast beef. For starters, what's roast beef? I have never cooked a roast before, but I'd like to. At the supermarket, I saw several roasts that looked like they might be what I have in mind when I think 'roast beef' but I wasn't sure what I was looking for and I wasn't sure what that cut of meat is actually called.

I'm looking to produce a roast that I can cook to medium rare and use as a standalone dish one night, and then for subsequent meals in Thai beef salad, in sandwiches, make hash, etc. Something I might make on Sunday that could produce lunch for a few days.

So:

What specifically is the cut of meat I'm looking for? How many pounds?
How do I cook it?
What else can I do with leftovers and how long will they keep?
Can I/should I freeze some cooked meat for another purpose?
Interested in side dishes or sauces (specifically horseradish sauce, especially)

I'm a pretty good cook in general but haven't cooked a really large cut of meat, other than whole chickens. I do not own a meat thermometer but if you make me buy one, I will.

Just because fine ham abounds

Majorita — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 19:26:18 -0800

Remove a cooked smoked ham from its cooking liquid before refrigerating the leftovers? I baked a pre-cooked, spiral sliced smoked ham (Carando brand) tonight in a roasting pan with about a cup of pineapple juice. In addition to the pineapple juice, the ham gave off a lot of liquid and is now sitting, waiting for refrigeration, in that liquid. Is it better to remove the ham from the liquid when I refrigerate it? On the one hand, I like how moist it is. On the other hand, ???? TIA.

What are your favourite leftovers?

fatmouse — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:14:37 -0800

What leftovers are better the next day than they were for the original meal? I work a lot at home so I eat a lot of leftovers for lunch. Some things are much better the next day, imo - most roasted meats, home made sauces/bruschetta/hummus etc, cold boiled veg.

Then there are things that are horrible the next day - roasted veg, dressed salad, baked potatoes.

What I am looking for are leftovers that are going to be better than they were when served.

I realise everyone's tastes are different but looking for ideas. Thanks.

What can I cook with 3 or more kinds of leftover meat?

Jasper Fnorde — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:19:20 -0800

What can I cook with 3 or more kinds of leftover meat? With the elder Fnorde boy off at college, I'm finding more and more often that dinner leaves us with a small amount of meat left over, too small for a serving, but too big to blithely throw away. What ideas can you give me for things to cook that can use multiple different cooked meats? For example, the fridge now includes about 3 ounces each of grilled beef, pork tenderloin, and chicken legs. I'd like to use them up in a single dish. I can think of making fried rice or lo mein with mixed meat, or maybe burritos or hash. Any other ideas? I haven't got a crockpot, but I'm otherwise pretty well set with basic cooking technique and equipment. There are no dietary restrictions.

Soggy cornflakes AGAIN??!

Ys — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:01:16 -0800

Can I eat it --The FoodMiser edition: Is there anything useful that can be done with soggy cornflakes/rice crispies in milk? Yes, that's a little gross, but that's the thought that crosses my mind every morning. as I dispose of my child's soggy leftovers. She loves to make her bowlful herself, but has not mastered portion size. So there is always wastage, and I *HATE* wasting food.

So far the solution is to leave it on the porch for whatever critters want it. But...maybe there's a way to repurpose it as food? Some innovative, potentially delicious masterpiece that takes leftovers & turns them into more food?

The ingredients are: 1) Milk 2) unsweetened cornflakes or rice crispies. Any ideas? Or persuasive reasons why this is an appalling idea & my brain should just drop it? I'd love to hear, thanks!

5 gallons of stock that needs used up

Attackpanda — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:06:53 -0800

Tasty recipes using chicken stock please? I'm now the proud owner of 5 gallons of homemade chicken stock from Mr. Attackpanda. Please give me your recipes that involve chicken stock, even if it's only a cup. Soups are good too, but I wanted some variety. Complicated or easy recipes, lay it on me!

Spicy recipe ideas for stale cornbread

crackingdes — Wed, 04 May 2011 07:43:43 -0800

What should I make for dinner? 'A second life for stale savory cornbread' edition. A few days ago my beloved baked a pan of savory cornbread (garlic and italian seasoning instead of sugar). I prefer mine slathered in maple syrup and he prefers his not left-over, so most of it has been languishing on the counter getting stale for a couple days.

This morning I was struck with an impulse to save it; first I was thinking I might make some type of stuffing, but then I noticed a can of green chiles and inspiration almost struck.

How can I give this cornbread a new life with some TexMex or Latin American flavor? I have green chilies, jalapenos, banana peppers, red and green salsas, plenty of hot sauce, a variety of rice, beans and veggies, plus some assorted dairy products. Vegetarian ideas preferred. :)

Thanks!

Department of Obvious Department, Sushi Version

hecho de la basura — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:07:45 -0800

Best practices for leftover sushi? So I love sushi and I love to make it. I pretty much only make vegetarian nori maki rolls--standard rolls of nori seaweed, sushi rice and filling. Sometimes I make inari or onigiri, but this question is specifically about the rolls. I use various fillings, but they are always vegetarian/vegan. And I *always* have leftover, unsliced rolls because I want to eat it the next day for lunch or was being an overly ambitious sushi roller.
HOWEVER refrigeration is not kind to the rolls and I find myself, next day, thinking "meh", where the night before I was thinking "YAY!". The rice texture changes and gets weird. So my question is this: how are leftover vegetable sushi rolls best stored in order to preserve maximum YAY factor? Is it even possible? I desperately want to have yummy veggie sushi leftovers!
Googling has brought me a variety of answers about sushi containing fish but these are useless to me.

chickens, chickens and more chickens

sanka — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:22:51 -0800

What am I going to do with all these chickens! I have an upcoming project that involves cooking chickens. Lots of chickens. Well over 100, possibly up to 200 whole chickens. Approximately 5-20 per day depending on the schedule. Some days maybe none, some days maybe 20. It may last up to a month or so.

These chickens are going to be prepared in a warehouse environment, not a kitchen. I plan on taking as many as I can and put them in my freezer at home, but beyond those 5 or 6, what else can I do to not waste them?

I really doubt a homeless shelter will take unprofessionally prepared chickens from a warehouse and serve them. That can't be legal can it?

Any ideas? I am in the Minneapolis area.

Thinking outside the casserole

fontophilic — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:49:22 -0800

What recipes are designed for leftovers? I'm hoping to gain cultural insight through those home cooking recipes like Chilaquiles or Panzanella, which were invented to use up leftovers. I always think it is interesting to find homologous recipes/dishes across cooking traditions, and Chilaquiles and Panzanella are one example. Leftover and stale tortillas/bread are given a new life with a highly flavored oily dressing. Of course the Mexican Chilaquiles are flavored with chilies, and the Italian Panzanella uses olive oil and basil, but it is a very similar idea. Both were inspired by a common dilemma, leftovers, and then expressed with the flavors common to each culture.

I expect there are recipes like this from all over the world. What are some of them?

For example, I know that I personally might not have lots of left over lamb organs in my American kitchen, but if your family does and makes a great __?__ with them, I wanna hear about it.

Foods? Show me how to freeze them?

bilabial — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 19:14:33 -0800

Piggy backing on my previous question about freezer friendly foods for a workplace drama fridge- now I need at home freezer help - how to freeze a variety of stuff so I can stop tossing out wilted celery, slimy mashed potatoes, etc. I have some ideas and need your input (or commiseration). What foods/ingredients do you freeze, amd how? Specifics inside, and begging for advice with freezables not listed. I've seen and used the idea of baking meatloaf as 'meat cupcakes' and tonight, on my way home from work I've had an incomplete stroke of brilliance - I can freeze other things in this shape. And that led me to remember that I can freeze ingredients too. (I live alone, I hate raw celery, but find it essential in soups)

So, I'm thinking cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes might release from cupcake tins well enough once frozen, but maybe not. Paper wrappers probably won't stand up to the moisture.

Chopped celery can just be spread on parchment and frozen before throwing it into a sturdy freezer bag? Right?

Meats/meals? I've been making my own 'microwave dinner' set ups with roast beef, potatoes, veggies. But! The plastic reusable containers are brittle when they're that cold- so my bus commute guarantees subtle yet unfortunate destruction of the containers.

The homemade burrito thing I totally understand - freeze the burritos in rows on a baking sheet, then bag them together.

(answers that suggest I am overthinking this will be flagged. I think about and eat food all day long. My life pretty much revolves around maximizing calories in, and enjoying the experience of eating. I still can't 'just' turn the work fridge down, because it is loaded to the gills every day, opened 3-6 times an hour, and mostly empty but completely closed at night. The work fridge is to be considered a red herring anyway, because I won't be making soups or storing my winter cranberry sauce at work)

While I would love to preserve foods by canning, I'm not willing (or able) to invest in the needed equipment or batch sizes required to do that job properly.

You give me a recipe and make me a Puff Daddy?

bilabial — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:27:30 -0800

I bought a box of frozen puff pastry. I live alone. Please help me make it into delcious meals for one, preferably with leftovers I can bring for lunch the next day (so, serves 4 might be ok). Savory and sweet. (I'm already hoping an apple thing, and maybe an apples/walnuts/cheese thing) Recipes with amounts preferred so I don't drown or over dry my precious pastry, but not absolutely required. So. What do you do with puff pastry?

I'm an opportunivore, but working in an office I'd prefer not to bring fishy leftovers into our microwave.

Vegetarian options are fine, and I can make a pretty ok cream sauce, just not sure if it has a place in puff pastry.

(also, if you just toss 'regular' sandwich ingredients into your puff pastry, can you give me and idea of what those 'regular' ingredients are, and how long you cook them?)

I did google this, on an iPhone. Google gave me lots of pillsbury sponsored sites. And they were too hard for me to navigate on the phone.

What to do with leftover duck?

pipti — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:24:30 -0800

Leftover smoked duck breast should be used...how? A pasta sauce? I bought a smoked duck breast to slice and serve over salad. There's about half left over, plus all the fat I cut off the half we ate. It was rather expensive and I don't want to waste any of it. I'm thinking it would be good to flavor a tomato sauce for tomorrow night. What do you super-duper chefs think? Anyone have a recipe for a duck ragu? The simpler, the better--I am not an intuitive cook.

I hope every delicious bite was tainted by the shame of what a selfish person you are

yellowbinder — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:57:21 -0800

A woman caused a scene and walked out with a significant amount of food at my parents anniversary party. Should I write her a scathing email? We had an anniversary party for my parents the other day, and since then almost all discussion has revolved around the actions of one woman. She is the wife of one of my dad's friends who he hasn't seen in years.

She was rude to me and my family members throughout the evening, literally yelling at us to take her picture, demanding to see said pictures immediately, etc. But things really got crazy when dessert was served.

She somehow managed to get a box from the staff, and started loading it up with chocolate covered strawberries. She'd make a trip to the dessert table, pick up three or four, put them in her box, and repeat. She must have taken at least 15 - 20 of them, and many people did not get any, including both my parents. After seeing this a few times, I mentioned this to my mother. She decided to play it a little passive agressive, and asked the woman if she'd like to take any food home.

The woman played dumb, wondering how she'd transport it home, and wherever could she get a box? When one was brought to her by the staff, she demanded a larger one, and immediately started loading it up, including an entire tray of 12 miniature hamburgers. She must have walked off with well over $100 worth of food.

I stepped outside, and when I returned I saw her and her husband on the way out. She asked her husband if they should say goodbye, he said nah, and they walked out into the night with loads of our delicious, expensive foodstuffs.

I wish I had said something then, or grabbed the box of strawberries and triumphantly returned them to the party. Although people have been joking about this ever since, I'm actually really angry about it. Some people have even suggested it ended the part early, as once people saw her grabbing food, the frenzy for leftovers was officially on.

I have her email address, and my parents have made it clear these people have worn out their welcome and will not be invites to any future events. Should I send the nasty email I've been composing in my head ever since?

Well, you could just drink it

Burhanistan — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 21:06:54 -0800

So, I have about 30 cups of brewed spiced tea (Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla Chai to be precise) leftover from a gathering at my house today. It was made in a percolator and is on the strong side and is sitting in a pitcher in the fridge awaiting its fate. Besides hydrating for the next few days with homemade iced chai lattes (not the worst thing in the world), are there any good uses for this?

When are leftovers given new life?

Brodiggitty — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:25:50 -0800

What are some meals that depend on what you cooked the night before? Allow me to clarify. You want pea soup? You pretty much have to cook a bone-in ham first. Not absolutely necessary, but one generally leads to the other. Hash needs cold potatoes from the night before. Chicken soup often begins with a roast chicken dinner. Christmas turkey becomes turkey tetrazzini.

I'm just looking for some other examples where you use leftovers to create an entirely new, unique meal. Bonus points for examples of this from world cultures, or it can be something you only do in your family.

making use of leftover jarred liquid

ifjuly — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:44:42 -0800

Tips for making use of the leftover liquid contents of jarred goods (like roasted red pepper juice, pickle juice, cherry and lemon juices, etc.), please. I'm hoping this isn't too naive or Ask Heloise for y'all, but I'm wondering about general tips for making use of leftover liquid in jarred goods--any jarred goods at all, specifically this or that, it's all good.

I finally got around to making muhammara thanks to an AskMe post last month about the best vegetarian dip ever, but I cheated and used jarred roasted red peppers. Whenever I use the jar up I always feel weird throwing out the colored, salted greasy juice the peppers have stewed in--it seems like it ought to be useful for something, but I have no idea what. This is true for pickle juice, preserved lemon juice, cherry juice, etc. etc. and I'm hoping for some recipes or ideas for using these things up. For example, it seems like making condensed cocktail syrup might be a possibility with fruit juices, but I don't know any specifics.

I'm pretty sure pickle juice might have been done before on AskMe, but I'm looking for tips on any and all jarred liquid, beyond pickle juice.

And yes, I'm aware of reusing wide-mouth glass jars as homemade vinaigrette shakers and storage containers. But other unusual tips for the jar's reuse are welcome too, I suppose.

No ham sandwiches, please.

onhazier — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:21:17 -0800

What to make for dinner tonight using the last of the Christmas ham? I'm out of ideas for tonight's dinner. After a full week home with the kids thanks to 2 feet of snow and cooking for the holidays, I don't know what to do with the last of the Christmas ham for tonight's dinner. Give me your ideas. If they're quick, easy or kid-friendly, I'm even more interested.

We have not been eating ham since Friday. We actually sent the majority of it home with our guests. So, this will be the one and only meal using left over ham.

The ham was glazed with a dark honey, ginger, mustard mix and is more sweet than salty. So, throw your best left over recipes at me.