menus, November 7,2012

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” 

          Calvin Trillan

I asked those gathered round the table tonight
"what did your mom do with leftovers?"
and you know what I realized? that I was (probably) the only one in the room old enough to remember a time when leftovers had to be recooked, on the stove, because they couldn't be reheated in a microwave.
Because, you know, there were no microwaves.
Mr. Menumuse's mother once confessed to me her best leftover advice: cover last night's dinner with a layer of cheese and bake til melted.
It's pretty good advice.
I do wonder though, what makes leftovers so unappealing. (except leftover thanksgiving green bean casserole. That's amazing)
I'd thought about whether leftovers communicate some sort of depressing message of neglect to our psyches- whether on some subterranean level, leftover eatin' feels like leftover lovin.
So I asked the internet.
And the general opinion of the internet is quite simply, that leftovers are boring.
But maybe not this week-

If this guy can get interested
in using leftovers,
so can I.

Wednedsday: Meatloaf and baked sweet potatoes
I'll be making a pretty biggish meatloaf, and using the leftovers tomorrow, and not just that! I'll be baking extra sweet potatoes as well.
Thursday: shepherd's pie
Here's a double challenge- using meatloaf leftovers. Because really, isn't there something about meatloaf that seems like leftovers even when they're firstovers?
The recipe gets rave reviews though, and I think it's worth a try
Friday:roast chicken and green beans
My very favorite roast chicken recipe-the potatoes are, well.Amazing. Not like a trip to Paris amazing, but still really good.
I'll be using bone in, skin on chicken breast, and roasting as many as will fit in the pan- two leftover chicken nights coming up!
Saturday:chicken enchiladas and salad
Look at this super easy recipe! The sort of thing you can pull out when you forgot that friends are coming over for dinner, and you really need to spend your time hiding the laundry (and toys and unsorted papers and craft supply bits and taking that shower you didn't have time for this morning) instead of in the kitchen.
Sunday:chicken and dumplings
Carbs and chicken soup. a comfort food dymamic duo
monday:pulled pork  and roast sweet potato salad
If you decide to do this (and I'm going to, though I may shift it to Saturday)
remember that the meat has to soak in a brine (a seasoned saltwater) overnight, so pop it in it's little ziploc sleeping bag the night before.
I'm super interested in this recipe- one of my kitchen frustrations?
How meat can cook in liquid- stew, soup, whatever, and still be dry and stringy.
dry meat. In liquid.
I mean, how is that possible?
I think I'll see if Alton Brown and/or America's test kitchen can explain it, then try the pulled pork, and share the research results on Sunday.

Hey gang, you know what we're doing here, right? We're taking  bits and pieces that in themselves, to most people, would seem stale, uninteresting, used up, and we're transforming them into something beautiful and nourishing.
I hope you feel the power in that.
I hope you feel that power in the (sadly inevitable) moments of your day when you wonder if you yourself are the stale,uninspired, used up thing that sits on the back of a shelf in the fridge.
Because, you know, even if it doesn't happen every day, or all the time, the power to turn boring into beautiful, uninspired into interesting, and stale into nourishing is the power of an artist.
so. go practice your art, you artist you. whatever it is.