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boilingwater2010-06-30 07:58 pm
melannen) wrote in boilingwater2010-06-30 07:58 pm
Some Things I Have Recently Cooked
(that should not, by any rights, have turned out as well as they did.)
I have been trying to use up the "things from the fridge" because I hate wasting food but also never get around to actually cooking them. These turned out not just filling, nutritious and (reasonably) yummy, but also looked really pretty, so I share the instructions!
Tropical Peanut Rice
Base: Leftover Thai peanut chicken, that had already been twice reheated and had the good bits eaten out and then left to sit until I remembered to put it back in the fridge, so that all that was left was a few withered broccoli heads, some small shreds of carrot, and about 3/4 cup of slightly peanut-sauce-y and very tired white rice.
Add: 1. A few handfuls of stale dry-roasted peanuts (the little crumbly bits from the bottom of the can work well. As do honey-roasted peanuts.)
2. Soy sauce, garlic, and salt to taste
3. A past-its-use-by-date single-serving cup or can of fruit cocktail in juice or water, without draining.
Nuke on high, covered, stirring at 1 min intervals until most of the cocktail juice is gone or absorbed. Makes one full dinner.
...am I the only one who has, um, quite a few favorite recipes built around leftover white rice from takeout? The key is to leave the rice in the fridge, in its original paper container, for a few days to a week, until the rice is about half-dried out, and then when you reheat it, put it in a covered bowl with something liquid and flavorful to rehydrate the rice, and nuke until there's no standing liquid left. The thing is, I *cannot* get rice from scratch to come out as well using the microwave, so I am tempted to order extra takeout rice just to have some for leftovers.
Cheesy Potato Soup
Base: The potatoes that you forgot about and left laying in a corner of the kitchen until they started to go black and mushy. Cut out the bits that aren't black and mushy - this will probably leave you with bits of potato that are about 1 in to 1 cm cubed. Boil until cooked through, then drain, and put in the fridge to use as an ingredient later. ETA: You can also use canned diced potatoes if boiling fresh ones is too hard. (Other uses of the rest of the pre-boiled diced potato: Stir-fry to make "home fries". Cold right out of the fridge because you are hungry and they are there. Hot as a starch base for veggies and sauces, like rice or pasta.)
Take about a half-cup of cooked potato out of the fridge and put in a microwaveable bowl, then add:
1. The liquid part at the bottom of the glass of milk that you poured, forgot about and left on the kitchen table for two hours on the hottest day of the year, and then as it didn't smell sour, you hopefully put it back in the fridge, where it promptly iced over and you were too scared to do anything with it so you left it to freeze for another three days.
2. The remains of that block of cheddar cheese that has been sitting in the fridge so long it's started to dry out and go hard, roughly diced with a steaknife because you don't know where the cheese grater is.
3. Dried onion (minced or flaked), (artificial) bacon bits, dried parsley or celery flakes, and black pepper to taste. Add a little instant mashed potatoes if you want thicker broth.
Nuke on high, covered, stirring at 30 sec intervals until the cheese is mostly dissolved and the broth has gone orangey. (Some of the cheese might still be visible in lumps, but it will keep melting into the broth as you eat it.) Makes one full-meal serving.
Lemon Creamsicle
Take the half-can of lemon-lime soda from the hot dog stand that you didn't finish, and the half-can of cream soda you forgot about and left sitting on the counter, and pour together; then put in the fridge and forget about again until they've gone entirely flat.
Pour into a cup (preferably disposable), add a straw, and put in the freezer. Forget about it again.
A week later, take out of freezer, peel off (or thunk out of) cup, and eat like a Popsicle. It tastes nothing at all like a Creamsicle, but it's got an interesting sweet-fruity flavor. (If you use red cream soda, it passes off as "fruit punch" flavor.)
...this is why I never offer to share what I cook.
I have been trying to use up the "things from the fridge" because I hate wasting food but also never get around to actually cooking them. These turned out not just filling, nutritious and (reasonably) yummy, but also looked really pretty, so I share the instructions!
Tropical Peanut Rice
Base: Leftover Thai peanut chicken, that had already been twice reheated and had the good bits eaten out and then left to sit until I remembered to put it back in the fridge, so that all that was left was a few withered broccoli heads, some small shreds of carrot, and about 3/4 cup of slightly peanut-sauce-y and very tired white rice.
Add: 1. A few handfuls of stale dry-roasted peanuts (the little crumbly bits from the bottom of the can work well. As do honey-roasted peanuts.)
2. Soy sauce, garlic, and salt to taste
3. A past-its-use-by-date single-serving cup or can of fruit cocktail in juice or water, without draining.
Nuke on high, covered, stirring at 1 min intervals until most of the cocktail juice is gone or absorbed. Makes one full dinner.
...am I the only one who has, um, quite a few favorite recipes built around leftover white rice from takeout? The key is to leave the rice in the fridge, in its original paper container, for a few days to a week, until the rice is about half-dried out, and then when you reheat it, put it in a covered bowl with something liquid and flavorful to rehydrate the rice, and nuke until there's no standing liquid left. The thing is, I *cannot* get rice from scratch to come out as well using the microwave, so I am tempted to order extra takeout rice just to have some for leftovers.
Cheesy Potato Soup
Base: The potatoes that you forgot about and left laying in a corner of the kitchen until they started to go black and mushy. Cut out the bits that aren't black and mushy - this will probably leave you with bits of potato that are about 1 in to 1 cm cubed. Boil until cooked through, then drain, and put in the fridge to use as an ingredient later. ETA: You can also use canned diced potatoes if boiling fresh ones is too hard. (Other uses of the rest of the pre-boiled diced potato: Stir-fry to make "home fries". Cold right out of the fridge because you are hungry and they are there. Hot as a starch base for veggies and sauces, like rice or pasta.)
Take about a half-cup of cooked potato out of the fridge and put in a microwaveable bowl, then add:
1. The liquid part at the bottom of the glass of milk that you poured, forgot about and left on the kitchen table for two hours on the hottest day of the year, and then as it didn't smell sour, you hopefully put it back in the fridge, where it promptly iced over and you were too scared to do anything with it so you left it to freeze for another three days.
2. The remains of that block of cheddar cheese that has been sitting in the fridge so long it's started to dry out and go hard, roughly diced with a steaknife because you don't know where the cheese grater is.
3. Dried onion (minced or flaked), (artificial) bacon bits, dried parsley or celery flakes, and black pepper to taste. Add a little instant mashed potatoes if you want thicker broth.
Nuke on high, covered, stirring at 30 sec intervals until the cheese is mostly dissolved and the broth has gone orangey. (Some of the cheese might still be visible in lumps, but it will keep melting into the broth as you eat it.) Makes one full-meal serving.
Lemon Creamsicle
Take the half-can of lemon-lime soda from the hot dog stand that you didn't finish, and the half-can of cream soda you forgot about and left sitting on the counter, and pour together; then put in the fridge and forget about again until they've gone entirely flat.
Pour into a cup (preferably disposable), add a straw, and put in the freezer. Forget about it again.
A week later, take out of freezer, peel off (or thunk out of) cup, and eat like a Popsicle. It tastes nothing at all like a Creamsicle, but it's got an interesting sweet-fruity flavor. (If you use red cream soda, it passes off as "fruit punch" flavor.)
...this is why I never offer to share what I cook.