On my never-ending quest to reinvent leftover food I was recently faced with a dilemma.
To be honest, the root of the problem can be traced back to me. I made two large pizzas for three people. What was I thinking?! All of the leftover pizza was portioned in sets of three slices, wrapped in foil, and placed in the refrigerator. And, there it sat, practically untouched, for three days.
It wasn’t bad pizza…at least I didn’t think it was bad. The problem was, there was too much of it and I shouldn’t have expected people to eat leftover pizza for days on end. If I was still in college, then yes, leftover pizza might be all you get. Be happy to have something to eat. Live with it.
So, I either had to eat all of the leftover pizza or figure out a way to reinvent it.
Pizza Salad
(serves 3)
Ingredients:
3 slices of leftover pizza (with various toppings)
Iceberg lettuce (one third of a head of lettuce, rough chopped)
1/3 cup Kalamata olives
¼ cup Dried Parmesan cheese
Vinegar and Oil dressing, to taste (I used store bought Italian dressing)
Directions:
Slice the pizza toppings away from the crust with a knife. Allow the pizza topping to warm to room temperature.
Cut the thick crusty edge from the pizza and toast briefly in an oven.
Fill serving bowls with cold chopped iceberg lettuce.
Drizzle salad dressing on salad.
Rough chop the toppings and scatter them across the salads.
Add chopped Kalamata olives and top with parmesan cheese.
Serve the salad cold with warm breadsticks (formerly known as pizza crust).
Here’s one of my many mottos: If it’s spicy, there’s a good chance I will like it.
Having lived most of my life in the South, I have had the joy of eating some excellent Tex-Mex and Cajun food. Both cuisines tend to lean toward the spicy side and I like to make it lean just a little bit more!
Etouffee and gumbo are similar in that they are both served over rice but gumbo is more like a stew, comprised of various types of seafood, meats and vegetables. Etouffee usually only has one type of meat and the sauce is thicker than gumbo. Crawfish Etouffee is the quintessential Etouffee but don’t rule out the shrimp or chicken versions. Use what you have in your kitchen.
Etouffee, which means “smothered” in French, is a classic Louisiana dish. There are two basic types of Etoufee: Creole and Cajun. The Creole variety uses a dark roux and the flavors are deep and complex. The Cajun variety uses a light roux and is spicier than the Creole version.
30 minute Crawfish and Shrimp Etouffee
Yes, this only took 30 minutes to cook from start to finish. But, here’s the catch. I did a lot of prep work a few days before I made this dish. Previously, I cleaned and de-veined the shrimp, parboiled them and stored the shrimp in the refrigerator. I peeled the steamed crawfish and stored them in the refrigerator.
I made stock reductions from the crawfish and the shrimp and then I made compound butter using the crawfish and shrimp reductions. All of that work took a considerable amount of time, but it was worth it.
The rest was easy.
Ingredients:
1 ounce compound shrimp butter
2 ounces compound crawfish butter
2 garlic cloves, mashed
1 Tbs unsalted butter
½ onion, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
2 ounces flour
3 green onions, chopped
2 Tbs tomato sauce
1 ½ Tbs Cajun seasoning
1 cup water
½ lb raw shrimp (peeled and deveined)
½ lb crawfish meat
Directions:
In a large skillet, add the shrimp butter and crawfish butter. Turn heat to medium/low.
As the butter melts, add garlic and sauté for about one minute.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter and the onion and continue stirring for another minute.
Add the celery and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the flour and whisk or stir, to form a roux.
Add 1 cup of water and stir until a thick sauce forms.
Add tomato sauce, green onions and Cajun seasoning. Stir to combine.
Fresh shellfish can be pricey so I like to get as much bang for my buck as possible. One of the easiest ways to extend the value of shellfish is to make a stock from the heads and shells. Once the stock has been made, it can be stored for later use and can be used in many different dishes. The unique flavor of shellfish can turn a mediocre dish into something exotic.
Making stock can be as simple as boiling the heads and shells in water and then straining the solids and reserving the liquid. Spices, herbs or vegetables can be added to give the stock extra depth of flavor.
I plan on making some seafood pasta dishes so I made stock from shrimp and crawfish shells. I bought one pound each of crawfish and shrimp. One pound of crawfish results in a paltry amount of crawfish meat and the majority is shells and heads. Shrimp produces a little more meat but you’d be lucky to get half a pound of cooked shrimp from a pound of whole, raw shrimp.
So, with that in mind, I made crawfish butter and shrimp butter. The flavorful compound butter can be stored in the refrigerator for several days, or in the freezer for months.
Ingredients:
1 lb fresh shrimp (these were Gulf shrimp)
1 lb steamed crawfish (crayfish, crawdads, mudbugs…whatever you wish to call them)
½ cup unsalted butter, divided in half
Directions for the shrimp:
Remove the heads from the shrimp. This can be done by gripping the head and pulling away from the rest of the body. If you are squeamish about this sort of thing, get over it. It becomes an automatic process after a few decapitations. Toss the heads into a bowl and set aside.
Peel and devein the shrimp. Rinse the shrimp under cold water and store in an airtight container. Add the shells to the bowl containing the heads.
Put the heads and shells into a skillet. Cover with water and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring and pressing the shells occasionally.
Strain the solids and discard. Pour the stock into a container and refrigerate or freeze, if desired.
Directions for the crawfish:
Unless you go gigging for crawfish, which is to say, catching your own live crawfish, you will either get them freshly steamed and seasoned or refrigerated, after they were seasoned. Either way, they are probably going to be seasoned with Cajun spices, and that’s a very good thing.
I prefer to eat steamed crawfish while they are still hot, but this time I only snacked on one and used the rest for an Etouffee.
Remove the heads from the crawfish and peel the shells. Reserve the meat.
Not a lot of meat, but ohhh, it’s so good!
Add the heads and shells to a skillet and cover with water. Simmer for 30 minutes and strain the solids. Discard the solids.
Save the stock in the refrigerator, or freeze.
Making compound Butter
If you want to make compound butter with shrimp stock or crawfish stock, simmer the sauces further. Simmer at high heat and whisk constantly. Reduce the sauce until nearly all of the moisture is gone.
I reduced the shrimp stock down to about 3 tablespoons and I reduced the crawfish stock down to about ¼ cup.
Turn the heat off and add ¼ cup butter. Whisk to incorporate. Pour the butter into a small bowl, cover and refrigerate. Once the compound butter solidifies, turn it out on some plastic wrap. Fold the wrap over the butter. I like to add extra layer of plastic wrap to get a good seal. Refrigerate or freeze until needed.
As I mentioned recently, my wife and I are working for “essential” industries. We are still putting in regular hours at our respective companies. Working in an environment that involves close human contact at a time like this can be nerve racking. Sure, when we are at work, we focus on the jobs that need to be done. But, when we come home we think of the risks we take each day we go to work.
We are not exceptional. Many people are experiencing similar types of anxiety. We all deal with it in our own ways.
A few days ago, after a mere 4 hours of sleep, my wife awoke at the crack of dawn and went straight to the kitchen. She spent the next 10 hours baking. When my wife bakes, or cooks for that matter, the result is always impressive. This particular baking marathon was fueled by her love of our family and her need to occupy herself with something meaningful. It surely wasn’t fueled by a good night’s sleep!
It was therapy. It was determination. It was well-honed skill mixed with passion and promise.
I hate to say it but, it’s the weekend and I have too many leftovers in the refrigerator. That’s a great thing for a weekday, when time is precious for us working folks, like us. Yes, my wife and I have been deemed “essential” by the powers that be, but it drives me nuts when the weekend arrives and I discover that leftovers have overtaken the fridge . This is my weekend crisis, along with worrying about the ever-expanding, impending virus.
A good weekend, for me, is when I get to play in the kitchen and make some food that can turn into leftovers for the upcoming week.
But, today, it’s necessary to scoop together a meal from all of the leftovers.
How could I possibly tie all of these leftovers together to make a single, cohesive meal? There’s shrimp in a garlic butter sauce with noodles, scalloped potatoes with ham and a chicken salad, intended for sandwiches. Three mish-mash leftovers with only one or two servings each, among them.
I say, tie them together with some fresh bread. Garlic bread should work. Half of the bread for a small bread loaf and the other half for garlic knots, or in this case, a braided garlic loaf. Add some fresh lettuce and we have a brand new meal! Leftovers can always be boosted by adding a splash of something fresh.
Garlic Bread / Garlic Braid
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 Tbs yeast
1 tsp olive oil
3 cups flour
2 Tbs garlic powder
Pinch of salt
1 quart prepared shrimp with pasta, with garlic butter sauce
1 pint prepared ham and scalloped potatoes
1 pint prepared chicken salad
Fresh lettuce, (any kind will do)
¼ cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves
Directions:
Prepare the bread dough by warming a cup of water and adding yeast and olive oil. Set in a warm place to allow the yeast to activate for 20 minutes. Add water and yeast to a large mixing bowl and add the flour and salt.
Mix and knead for a minute. Sprinkle garlic powder over the dough ball, cover with a towel and allow the dough to rise for 15 minutes in a warm place.
Knead dough again to incorporated the garlic powder. Cover and keep warm for 30 minutes.
Heat an oven to 400°.
Knead the dough and divide in half. Set one half aside.
Take one half and divide into thirds. Roll each third into ropes, making one rope slightly larger than the other two.
Lay the ropes of dough on a clean surface, with the longest rope in the middle. Braid the dough in a French braid.
Lay the braided dough on a baking sheet and bake in the oven.
Take the remaining dough and form into an oblong loaf. Place on a baking sheet and place it in the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes.
While the bread bakes, add chopped garlic to the olive oil and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute. Carefully remove the olive oil and set aside.
Pull the braided loaf out of the oven and leave the other loaf in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Heat the shrimp and pasta in a covered pan, with a little splash of water.
Heat the scalloped potatoes and ham in a microwave oven for a few minutes.
Add the chopped lettuce to individual serving bowls. Top the lettuce with the chicken salad.
Cut the braided loaf into bite sized portions and put the pieces in a mixing bowl.
Pour the garlic and olive oil over the bread pieces and toss.
Place the braided garlic bread pieces in a serving bowl.
Slice the bread loaf into 1” slices.
In a large pan, heat about 1/3 of the scalloped potatoes and ham, with a little water.
Add the sliced bread to the pan and let the bread absorb some of the liquid. Turn the bread over and turn the heat off.
Assemble individual serving plates by adding portions of the shrimp and pasta, along the with the scalloped potatoes and ham on bread slices, and braided garlic bread. Serve with the a side of chicken salad and a sample of the daily news.
Well, it’s official. Our worldwide dilemma has caused the train to jump of the tracks. The Catholic church announced that we can stop abstaining from eating meat on Fridays for the remainder of Lent. At least, that is what one bishop from New Jersey has decreed.
It seems that we have suffered enough. Maybe a delicious hamburger and fries will pick up our spirits.
Lent is one of those old-world traditions that I actually appreciate. Fasting and simplifying our lives through meditation and reverence for 40 days each year seems like a healthy practice.
So, let’s prepare a nice salmon filet, shall we?
Ingredients:
2.5 lb fresh salmon filet
3 Tbs Dijon mustard
3 tsp lemon juice
3 tsp mayonnaise
1 ½ tsp chili sauce (spicy ketchup)
¼ cup capers
Directions:
Set oven to 375°.
Lay the salmon, skin-side down, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Combine Dijon mustard, lemon juice, mayonnaise and chili sauce in a small bowl.
Spread the mixture across the top of the salmon. Make sure to coat the entire surface to prevent the fish drying while baking.
Sprinkle capers across the top of the fish.
Bake uncovered at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.
First, I predict that when the Oxford Dictionaries and Merriam-Webster reveal their word of the year, they will choose “social distancing” as their ‘word of the year’. I know that might come as a surprise to some people because “social distancing” is actually two words, but that sort of rule-breaking has not swayed scholars in recent years.
Secondly, “social distancing” has become a popular phrase that I am already tired of. The phrase, ‘social distancing’ reeks of Orwellian creepiness. To me, it is misleading and confusing.
“Quarantined” is a very elegant and succinct word, and it more accurately describes what we are experiencing now and it ties us to our past. Not so long ago, if you contracted malaria, you were quarantined. If you succumbed to bubonic plague, you were quarantined. If members of society wanted to inhibit the spread of disease, you were quarantined, or you could choose to quarantine of your own accord, if you were concerned of spreading a disease.
Let’s investigate the origin of the word quarantine, shall we?
Quarantine: From Latin quadrāgintā
From Italian quarantina (“forty days”), the period Venetians customarily kept ships from plague-ridden countries waiting off port,[1] from Latin quadrāgintā (“forty”)
A period of 40 days. A sanitary measure to prevent the spread of a contagious plague by isolating those believed or feared to be infected.
Is that too much to ask?
Be safe, be prepared and stay in touch with those you hold dear. This time will pass and we will have new challenges to occupy our time.
Oh no, I forgot to get jalapeños during my weekly trek to the toilet paper store, er, I mean grocery store.
The good thing is that I have some fresh jalapeños and vinegar and sugar. Pickled jalapeños only take a few minutes to make and they can be just as good as store bought.
Ingredients:
3 Tbs white vinegar
3 Tbs water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 garlic clove, smashed
2 fresh jalapeños, sliced
Pinch of salt
Directions:
Combine the vinegar, water and sugar in a small microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave until the mixture begins to boil. Carefully remove the bowl and add the garlic, jalapeño and pinch of salt. Wait 10 to 15 minutes and enjoy some tangy peppers!
I was reading a post from Ella at thewackyspoon.com recently and she mentioned a “Well Stocked Spice Cabinet” and that made me think about my ten essential spices. It didn’t take me very long for to come up with my ten. These are the things I use nearly every day. I’m taking a certain liberty by adding some dried herbs because I treat them like spices.
salt
black pepper corns
garlic powder
chili powder
cumin
cayenne pepper
oregano
basil
cinnamon
rosemary
I believe many of these would find their way on many cook’s essential 10. What I find interesting (and sad) is what didn’t make the cut.
onion powder, bay leaves (laurel), paprika, turmeric, parsley, mint, sage, chocolate (yes, chocolate!)… The list goes on and on.
Spices and herbs are the things we, as cooks, use to make mundane food exceptional. All manner of vegetables, fruit and meats are heightened by the spices we add. What would our world be without our favorite spices?
Thank you, Ella for giving me something to ponder!
I am adopting a new kitchen motto:
Keep it simple, but add lots of spice!
I’m interested to see what others might offer for their top ten…
Toothpick Tales 