Saturday, April 19, 2008

Rosie's Leftovers.

The Barefoot Contessa is fond of saying, "Have ten good recipes in your repertoire and 3 variations of each." I call that, "Dealing with leftovers." I believe the Food Network's anorexic, culinarily challenged Robin Miller calls it "morphing," but I don't listen to anything she says.

I like to take yesterday's leftovers and make something new and different and good
and something that doesn't scream "LEFTOVERS!"

So, here are yesterday's leftovers today.

First, I had the leftover mashed potatoes.
What to do... What to do... ?

Well, Food Network was on in the background and Jamie Oliver was cooking up a
Crispy and Delicious Potato and Asparagus Tart.



I went out to the garden and picked some nice asparagus spears, then blanched them for about 2 minutes, then put them in ice water to stop the cooking and set the beautiful green color.




I beat three eggs, then folded in my chunky mashed potatoes from last night.



Then I added in some cream, salt and pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg.


I opened up a package of phyllo dough and added layers in my baking dish,
brushing each with melted butter.

Pour the filling into the dish.


Top with the asparagus spears.


Then I added grated cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.

Now, Jamie said to bake this in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes.
After twenty minutes, it was still watery, so I tacked on 15 more minutes.
Let set a bit before slicing.


This was quite good.


All the Little Hawthornes liked this.



Now, onto my second reincarnation of last night's leftovers.
I'll be making Cow Pie with the leftover London Broil.
In this case, it'll be Cow/Pig Pie, since I added some pork too.


Here's my set up.
Can of corn, beef broth, tomato sauce, assorted peppers,
green olives, a tomato, garlic, and onion.



And my spices are cumin, oregano, and assorted chili powders.


I chopped my onion, peppers, and garlic.


Here's last night's leftover in the container on the right.
The London Broil.
On the left is a pork loin.

Cube meat into small bits.


I coated the raw pork in a mixture of flour, salt and pepper, and Adobo seasoning, then quickly browned it in butter and olive oil.

Next, I added the beef, onions and garlic, and some beef broth, scraping up the brown bits.


I like my tomatoes skinned. The easiest way to do it is to blanch the tomato in boiling water for 10-20 seconds, let it cool, and the skin comes right off.


I peeled, seeded, and diced the tomato, and added it to the pot, along with a can of tomato sauce.



Next, I added my spices - oregano, cumin, and chili powders.
I used a Hot Mexican Chili Powder, an Ancho Chili Powder, and a regular Chili Powder, whatever that might be.
Stir all together, then turn burner to low, cover,
and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.



While my mixture is simmering away, I prepare my cornmeal crust:

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teas salt
1/2 cup cold shortening
5-6 TB ice water

I measure 1/2 cup of Crisco by adding it to the cold water and seeing how much water is displaced.
Now, Crisco has finally come up with the measured sticks. Took 'em long enough.

Cut the shortening into the flour, cornmeal, and salt mixture until you get coarse crumbs.
Then add just enough water to form a fairly soft dough.


Flatten into a 6 inch disk and cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate at least 15 minutes.



Now, back to the meat of the matter.
Here's the cooked-down, thickened mix.


Next, add in the can of corn, drained, and the chopped peppers.



And cook a bit.
And SHOOT!
I forgot my olives.
You should add green olives at the end.
I love the green olives in this.
The Hawthornelets don't, so it's OK.

Pour into the baking dish.

Now, roll out the dough.

Roll up on the rolling pin.


And unroll back down over the baking dish.
Trim the edges.


Decorate, decoratively.
And brush with egg/water glaze.
Place in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.


If you need to, turn on broil, cover edges with foil, and brown the top.
And, WALLAH!
COW/PIG PIE!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooh, you made roses with twiny things just like SLop made on her bitty pie-pan cakes. Aren't you the smartest thing on the block! Only yours are way prettier.

Marilyn said...

Dang girl. You have entirely too much time on your hands... whistles innocently...

Rosie Hawthorne said...

OK, anonymous. Who are you? You know I like you. Are you the same "anonymous" who commented about Youngest Hawthorne flexing in the bathroom mirror?

Anonymous said...

Wow, I saw the same Jamie show this morning right after Mr. xmaskatie picked a bunch of tender young asparagus, and said to myself, "self, you need to make that today." We rode the bike to get some essentials in town, and I planned to buy some phyllo dough, but alas, the piggly wiggly only had dumpling strips, which I don't think would have worked for the crust. I've got a crescent rolls can in the fridge, maybe I'll try it with that.