Leftovers does not have to be a bad word.
And leftovers can be quite wonderful.
Case in point:
my Southwestern filling I used for the stuffed pepper.
And Marilyn,
here's an idea for you,
since your palate-challenged family
doesn't like peppers.
I was making my lunch yesterday,
after serving 3 breakfast courses
since the Little Hawthornes
are all on different schedules
and I actually accomodate them.
The Little Hawthornes had eaten breakfast
and headed out in different directions
to points unknown.
I had just fried up 3 of these tortillas,
anticipating their return.
I was hungry since I hadn't had time for breakfast yet.
As I was finally preparing
to top my tortilla,
two of the Hawthornes of course returned
with huge appetites and one took a big bite out of
my lonely little tortilla sitting on the counter
with no toppings on it.
No. No. NO!
Let me fix a proper tortilla for you.
OK, Mama.
I asked the other Hawthorne if he wanted one too.
No. I don't think so.
So I made one tortilla with the toppings
and served Middle Hawthorne.
Then Youngest Hawthorne looked at his brother's tortilla.
Well, I believe I will have one after all.
So I fixed another.
Now, I'm finally getting ready to fix mine
and Daughter Hawthorne arrives on the scene.
Ooh Mama. That looks good.
Can I have one in a burrito?
So I fixed one in a burrito
and melted cheese on top.
And she told me it was the best burrito
she'd ever had.
And I finally got around to fixing my tortilla.
I made some more of the Southwest stuffing
with black beans, rice, corn, tomatoes, chilies,
green onions, and cilantro
and piled that on top of my tortilla,
then topped it with some jalapenos and shredded Pepper Jack cheese
and put it under the broiler.
This truly hit the spot.
I love the flavor of beans and corn together
and every now and then I'd get
the bite of the jalapeno and
the earthy, refined pond-scum taste of the cilantro.
Yes. You read my description of cilantro correctly.
Cilantro is one of those things
you either love or you hate.
There is no in-between.
In fact, there's actually a website,
I Hate Cilantro,
devoted to people's hatred of this devilweed.
The site even includes haikus
people have sent in
proclaiming their disgust of this noxious herb.
There is actually a theory that
people are genetically predisposed
to either like or hate cilantro -
no middle ground.
And most people who hate it
describe it as tasting "like soap."
I'm not so sure about this theory
because years ago when I first tried cilantro,
I too hated it.
I didn't describe the taste as "soapy" though.
I described it as "tasting like pond scum."
And, yes, I know what pond scum tastes like.
And, no, I don't eat or serve my family a platter of pond scum.
If you must know, when I was little, I used to go swimming
in the pond at Daddy's farm and the alga that formed on the surface
had a particular aroma
to which I likened the taste of cilantro.
However, that did not stop me.
I continued throughout the years
to taste cilantro.
Because I really wanted to like it.
And now, finally, I love the stuff.
Hey, I used to hate bleu cheese too.
Now, I love it.
But I think that's more of an acquired taste.
Even the grande dame of cuisine,
Julia Child despised it.
I heard her once in an interview with Charlie Gibson
on Good Morning America,
and he asked her was there anything she didn't like to eat.
And Julia was never a food snob.
She openly admitted loving Burger King french fries.
(Or was it McDonald's? I forget.
But BK's fries run circles around McD's.)
Anyways, when asked that question,
Julia immediately trilled in the way
that only the inimitable Julia could trill,
"I despise cilantro. If I see it on my plate,
I pick it up and throw it on the floor!"
So, if you're a cilantro hater,
I still love you,
just substitute parsley.
And later on,
I fixed a cold meatloaf sandwich with butter
on an Arnold's Whole Wheat Thin Sandwich Slice.
This is comfort food for me.
I always let my meatloaf sit
for a day before slicing it
because I like the almost pate-like texture
of the aged loaf.
When it comes out of the oven,
it's still good,
but the texture is too crumbly for my tastes.
But this sandwich?
So simple yet so good.
As I said ... comfort food.
Thanks for the suggestions on serving options.
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