Tag: left overs

Beef Tostada

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I am always looking to save money.  Food is not cheap.  So, when I spend $23 on a roast, I like to be sure I get the most bang for my buck and re-heating the same ole dish night after night until the whole thing has been consumed to the point where I don’t want to think about making another roast for 3 months is not my idea of innovative left overs.  However, This tostada has transformed my left over pot roast into something completely new and delicious.  It has also enabled me to save time and money, both things I really appreciate as a busy mom of two very active toddlers.

I added exactly one ingredient to turn this beef into a Latin delight.  I then whipped up some Quick Mexican Black Beans, microwaved some rice in my Pampered Chef rice cooker, fried up some simple tortilla shells and got to work assembling.  All this was done in well under 20 minutes.  And you can’t tell me that looking at this dish, it doesn’t look a lot more time-consuming than that!  It’s almost, dare I say it, fancy looking for our Tuesday night dinner.  I put this on a plate in front of my husband and I quote… “Wow, WHAT is this?” was the reaction…. Now, tell me, when was the last time leftovers garnered that kind of reaction in your house?  Well, then maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit?

You will want to have a few things on hand of course. For me these things are all pantry staples, a can of beans, rice, Pampered Chef Chili Lime Rub, and  tortillas.  And from the fridge, some onions, peppers and sour cream.

These are 6″ white corn tortillas.

Start by heating some canola or vegi oil up to about 325°F in a small dutch oven. You want to make sure your pan will be able to accommodate the size of your tortilla and have a good amount of space between the oil and the rim of the pan to prevent over flow.

Once oil has come up to temperature, cook tortillas one at a time until golden brown, flipping half way through the process.

Drain on a paper towel or paper bag lined tray.

Salt while still hot.

I got fancy here at the end and cut a few tortillas up for garnishing chips on the top.

This is my left over pot roast. If you don’t have left over pot roast, you can always use left over steak or chicken or pork.

To serve 4 people, I picked out two good size slices of left overs.

With two forks, I shred the beef into a skillet.

I only add one ingredient to take this pot roast from Sunday dinner to Latin fiesta! My Pampered Chef Chili Lime Rub.

Add the rub in with the shredded beef and saute for a couple of minutes to heat through and bloom the spices.

Now to start building. I start with an 8″ plate. This meal does not require sides because everything is piled right up on top.

Place one shell at the bottom. This is your base.

Now add on about 3/4 cooked rice. I am using plain white rice here, it’s actually Jasmine rice because that is what I have on hand, but any kind of plain rice will do. You don’t really need a flavored rice here because you are adding on some strong flavors already and you wouldn’t want the rice to compete with that.

Now add on about 1/2 cup of Quick Mexican Black Beans.

Now for the next layer of tortilla.

Then piled on top of that is your beef.

I then top that with some sour cream. To this I will garnish with chopped scallions and my little tortilla strips.

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Beef Tostada

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Ingredients:

8 6″corn tortillas

1-11/2 cups left over roast beef, pot roast or steak

1 Tbs. Chili Lime Rub

3 cups white rice 

2 cups Quick Mexican Black Beans

sour cream (optional)

3-4 cups veg. oil

kosher salt

Instructions:

In a small dutch oven bring oil to 330°F-350°F.  Fry each tortilla seperately until golden.  Drain on paper towels and salt immediately.

In a small skillet shred beef and cook with Chili Lime Rub until heated through.

Build your tostada by placing one shell on plate, then add 3/4 cup rice, then 1/2 cup beans, then add another tortilla, then top with beef and a dollup of sour cream.  Serve hot. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Frittata Pie

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I have a family of four, two of the four happen to be toddlers.  So, when we make spaghetti in our house inevitably there are left overs.  None of us are terribly big fans of re-heating left over spaghetti, so I decided to come up with a recipe to use up that left over spaghetti in a whole new way.  Hense, I give you the Spaghetti Fritatta Pie!

This simple pasta and egg dish is the perfect solution to my left over dilemma and the funny thing is, we like the pie left over too!  I made some angel hair pasta (my kid’s favorite) with some homemade sauce and some Italian sausage (my husband’s favorite).  I hate to waste food, especially a home-made sauce, so I put it in the fridge in a Tupperware container.  8 eggs, a pie plate, a block of cheese, and just a few more staples later and wala, a brand new meal.

This may seem odd to you and to be honest, I wasn’t sure about it when I started out.  But, I love Pasta Carbonara and this has a lot of the same element, so I gave it a try.  You don’t know until you try right?

Start with a pad of salted butter in a pie plate, this one is 9″.

Use a paper towel to spread your butter.

Your pie plate should be well buttered.

This is my left over Angel Hair with Sweet Italian Sausage and tomatoes with some basil.

Add into buttered pie plate.

Fill your pie plate up with spaghetti. This is about 2 full cups of cooked and prepared left-over Angel Hair pasta.

In this shot I have 6 eggs, but for my 9″ pie plate, I actually ended up adding in two more for a total of 8 eggs.

Beat them well.

Add in a good pinch of Italian Seasoning blend. this is about 1/2 tsp.

Beat the seasoning into the eggs.

Add in a good pinch of kosher salt, again this is about 1/2 tsp.

Beat into the eggs.

Pour the egg mixture right over your spaghetti or in my case Angel Hair.

This is what you should have.

Slice up some grape tomatoes.

Dart the top of your pie with grape tomatoes.

Add on some Fontina cheese, I am using about 4 oz.

Hand shredding is the way to go, although I’m not sure you can find pre-shredded Fontina anyway.

Add on some shredded parmesan cheese. This one is pre-shredded.

Just add cheese right up on top.  Pop this in the oven for about 45 minutest until the middle has almost set.  Then take it out, tent with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes. The center should set right up for you and the rest will settle nicely.

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Spaghetti Frittata Pie

Serves 4-6Ingredients:

2 cups left over Angel Hair pasta and sausage (or whatever pasta you have)

8 eggs, beaten

8 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shaved

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning mix

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

6-8 cracks black pepper

1 cup left over sauce for topping

1 tsp butter

Directions:

Butter pie plate.  Place pasta and sausage in buttered dish.  Beat eggs and add in Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper.  Add in shredded Fontina cheese.  Pour evenly over pasta and sausage.  Dot with tomatoes and sprinkle with parmesan.  Bake in oven for 40-50 minutes until set.  Remove from oven and tent with foil for 10 minutes before serving.  Cut and drizzle with warmed left over sauce. Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

done3Have you ever wondered what you can do with left over steak from your fabulous weekend of grilling?  I know I don’t care for plain reheated steak, because as good as steak is right off the grill, to me, it has a funny taste in the microwave or even in the oven.  So, I came up with some creative ways to reuse it, not least of which is this amazing comfort food.  And with the steak already pre-made, you actually take half the work out of the meal!  It’s a win win.  Now I find myself making and saving a bit of extra steak to add into this creamy hearty meal.

The steak I use in this recipe is my Grilled Montreal Steak (about 8-10 oz) cooked to medium.  So, the steak is not only cooked, but seasoned.  Additional ingredients you will need are some sliced mushrooms which you can slice yourself as I did or buy pre-sliced (same price in the store, so save yourself the work!), some fresh herbs, onions, white wine, beef stock and sour cream.  And then I always like to ladle my stroganoff over some lovely buttered egg noodles, yum.

Before you get started, take your steak out of the fridge so it isn’t so cold when you need it.  Then grab yourself a nice big skillet, I am using a big 14″, but a 12″ will be fine too.  Then get your water salted and heated for to drop your noodles because this recipe doesn’t take long at all once you are prepped.

Here is my left over steak.

Here is my left over steak.

If you don’t have left over steak, of course you can still make this recipe, just grill up a steak and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Slice up the steak and set aside.

Start by dicing some onions and get them goin on the skillet over medium heat with some butter and olive oil.

Dice some onions and get them going on the skillet over medium heat with some butter and olive oil.

Prepare your mushrooms if you bought them whole like I did. Brush off any residue from the growing and just cut nice even slices. (But, like I said above, you can save yourself this step by buying them pre-sliced)

Prepare your mushrooms if you bought them whole like I did. Brush off any residue from the growing and just cut nice even slices. (But, like I said above, you can save yourself this step by buying them pre-sliced)

Now add your mushrooms in with your onions in the skillet. Saute the two for a couple minutes (don’t add salt at this point)

Now crush one clove of garlic. You can either just peel it an throw it in at this stage (then fish it out later) or you can mince it and leave it in... depends how much you like garlic, I mince it.

Now crush one clove of garlic. You can either just peel it and throw it in at this stage (then fish it out later) or you can mince it and leave it in… depends how much you like garlic, I mince it.

Chop up some thyme after removing from the stem and toss in the pan. That's the last chopping you will need to do.

Chop up some thyme after removing from the stem and toss in the pan. That’s the last chopping you will need to do.

Grab some flour. About two heaping soup spoons should do it.

Spread the flour over the contents in your skillet and add a pinch of salt at this point. Mix in to cook the flour for about a minute.

Add in about a cup of dry white wine. Cook for a minute until it starts to come to a boil.

Now, add in one small can of beef stock. If you have homemade beef stock, great! Add in about a cup and a half… but, I didn’t have any on hand, so I took some help from my pantry.  Again, cook this stirring pretty frequently until it comes to a boil. Then turn your burner down and let thicken up a bit (4-5 mins).

Add in your beef at this point. Remember your beef is already cooked, so you are really just reheating in your gravy.

Add in a few dollops of sour cream and stir. Turn off your burner as soon as you have mixed in. Crack about 4-5 cracks of fresh cracked black pepper.  Taste for salt and you’re done.

Serve over egg noodles.

Serve over egg noodles, sprinkle with some fresh ripped parsley, an extra dollop of sour cream and enjoy with a nice glass of wine!

Recipe for Beef Stroganoff:

(Serves 4)

1 8-10 oz. grilled steak, sliced

1 cup sliced Baby Bella mushrooms (or white is fine too)

1 medium onion, diced

1 clove of garlic (either crushed or minced)

1 tsp. minced fresh thyme

1 cup dry white wine

1 small can of beef stock or 1 1/2 cups home-made beef stock

1 Tbs. butter

2 Tbs. olive oil

3 Tbs. flour

5 Tbs. sour cream

4-5 cracks of fresh cracked black pepper

Kosher salt to taste

Fresh ripped parsley over top

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt in butter and add oil.  To this add onions, saute for a minute.  Add in mushrooms, saute for a few minutes.  Add in garlic, saute for one more minute. Add in thyme. Add in a pinch of salt and flour. Stir and cook for an additional minute.

Next, add in wine,  bring to a boil. Add in beef stock, bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Add in steak and sour cream.  Cook just long enough to heat steak through.  Shut off burner.  Taste for salt, add if needed.  Sprinkle with parsley.  Serve over warm buttered egg noodles with a dollop of sour cream in each plate and enjoy!

Split Pea Soup

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I don’t know about you, but I always have a ton of left over ham after Easter or any holiday really.  But, I don’t mind because I love me some Spit Pea Soup and there is nothing like a homemade ham roast to make a great Split Pea Soup with! Spring is beautiful and it’s nice to see all the winter snow melting away, but there can still be some pretty brisk and chilly weather.  What better to combat that than a nice steaming bowl of soup? Yum!

For this recipe, I used my Pineapple Honey Glazed ham and turned it into this creamy deliciousness. If you didn’t make ham or don’t have any left overs, you can always make this recipe with some deli ham, just ask the deli to cut you some thick ham or you can grab a ham steak too. Here’s how I did it:

split peas

I start off with one bag of split peas, any brand is fine. Wash them and set them aside.

onions1

Dice some onions. I like a lot of onions, so I use two medium onions and give them a medium chop (maybe the size of a dime).

whole carrots

I trim my carrots next (sometimes I don’t peel them, but this time I did, so its up to you).

carrots

Then chop them to about the same dimensions you did your onions… so for me they are about the size of a dime.

onions and carrots

Now add the onions and carrots into a large pot and sautee with some olive oil on medium heat.

garlic

Take a couple of cloves of garlic and mince (or use a garlic press). Add to your onions and carrots after they are tender. You want to make sure your garlic doesn’t burn, so add it in toward the end of the sauteeing phase.

ham halk

Now it’s time to trim up the ham hock. Add this to your vegies.  Admittedly, this is not the pretties thing ever, but it is super tasty and adds a hearty dimension to your soup you can’t get with anything else… still if it freaks you out, or if you already threw out your hock, just leave it out.

chicken broth_edited-1

Add in chicken stock, here I have homemade stock that I made earlier in the week. (If you don’t have homemade stock, just add in an extra large can of low sodium stock.) Also, add in about the same amount of hot water. And one chicken bullion or one packet of bullion powder.

chopped ham

Dice up about a cup of ham… if you have more or less, then use more or less to your taste. I chop this about the size of a quarter, I like chunky ham, if you like more delicate, then give it a smaller chop.

 

Bay leaves

Add in one bay leaf. If you have fresh, that’s great… I only had dry on hand.

thyme

Chop up about a teaspoon of fresh thyme and add to the pot. (If you only have dry that’s o.k., just reduce by half and add it in when you are sauteeing your onions and carrots)

salt and pepper

Now add in a few cracks of black pepper and a good pinch of kosher salt. Also, add in a dash of white pepper if you have it on hand.

soup in progress

Add in your split peas now and stir. Bring the liquid to a boil on high and then reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 1 hour stiring periodically. When the soup starts to thicken and you can no longer see the shape of your split peas, then you know you are ready for the next and final step. (this could take up to one additonal hour… so keep your eye on it!

pasta

When your soup is just about done… You can remove the ham hock and add in about a cup of dilatini pasta (or whatever your favorite soup pasta is ie. elbows, stars, orzo etc)

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And you’re done! Enjoy!

Split Pea Soup

(serves 8- 10)

1 package split peas, washed

1 ham hock, trimmed

1 cup diced ham

2 medium onions, chopped

4 medium carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. fresh thyme, chopped

1 bay leaf

14-16 cups of liquid, chicken stock and water

1 chicken bullion or bullion powder packet

kosher salt to taste

fresh cracked black pepper to taste

dash of white pepper

2-3 T. olive oil

Directions:

Pepare all ingredients. Sautee onions and carrots in olive oil until tender over medium heat in a large pot.  Add in garlic.  Add in ham hock and liquid.  Add in all other ingredients except the pasta.  Cook on high until boiling.  Turn down to a medium/low boil or simmer on medium/low heat for about an hour, stirring periodically.  Check for dissapearing of peas in soup and thickening of liquid.  This could take up to an additional hour.  When liquid is thickened, add in pasta, cook an additional 20 minutes or so until pasta is done.  Taste for seasonings.  Enjoy!

note: This can very easily be made gluten free by omitting the pasta or using gluten-free pasta.