Hints on using leftovers

In a restaurant we don't want to eat leftovers but at home we treasure them! Leftover steak! Leftover potatoes! Sauces, pasta, soups all make great leftovers if you follow some principles and don't have a bad attitude about them.

1) When you cook think about what you might do with the leftovers when you make the original recipe. Making pizza? How sad to have some leftover slice tomatoes, garlic in olive oil, shredded cheese!

Good dishes make good leftovers, crappy dishes make crappy leftovers.

2) We are judicious seasoners and don't tend to use a lot of salt but leftovers frequently need a kick. You need to add salt, pepper, hot sauce, fresh herbs, something - to kick the flavor up.

Leftover rice and smoked ham? Aww.

3) Always think soup if you can. Make a simple brunoise or duxelle and add your leftovers, some wine (white or red, Marsala, Madiera, Sherry, etc) and you are there.

4) I never order manicotti or stuffed shells in a restaurant because you have no idea what's in there. But at home I do know and can use many dishes by adding a bit of tomatoes or sauce, olives, etc, to the chopped leftovers and make stuff pasta.

5) If you have a nice piece of beef or lamb or pork, eat it cold! Let it come to room temperature for a few minutes and serve with a vinaigrette with lots of Dijon mustard or fresh herbs in it.

Home made pizza!

 For us pizza is a summer food made with ingredients from the garden: tomatoes, garlic, basil, sweet or hot peppers. We keep it simple. For dinner parties we like to line pie tins with dough and let people make their own.

We chop the garlic and put it in some olive oil and wipe the oil on the edge of the pizza.

We peel great fresh tomatoes and slice them. For me a great treat is to drink the tomato water left at the bottom of the bowl! Fantastic!

We shred or cut mozzarella (not from Wisconsin, of course) and sprinkle on basil and some of the garlic. This is the way I like it, simple and delicious.

Here is one that has some browned, crumbled sausage and slice green olives added.

In case you are wondering, YES it does taste as good as it looks. So easy, so delicious!

Confession time: I do make the dough sometimes but frequently we use Bridgeford's frozen bread dough.

Lamb chops or steaks

A Fernand Point style recipe:

Make sure your chops or steak is at least an inch thick for best results.

Let them come to room temperature. Salt them but do not pepper them.

Heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan and add a thin layer of olive oil. Put the chops in the pan and cook them uncovered and undisturbed for 4 minutes. They should be nice and browned. Turn them and brown the other side. If they are not done you can turn them again or put them in a hot oven and cook them until they are just past rare. Take them out of the pan and put them on a plate.

Drain the fat out of the pan but don't wipe it out. Put it back on the heat and add half and onion chopped fine, a pinch of salt and some celery seeds, thyme or rosemary. Cook the onion quickly and add some lemon juice, a tablespoon of water and some salt and pepper and boil down until there is just a trickle of sauce. Serve it over the lamb chops.

Truffled Mushroom Sauce

I don't make a lot of sauces. I can make several dozen but we eat pretty cleanly here.

But on special occasions this kicks butt. Don't believe the snobby wisdom that canned or jarred truffles aren't worth eating. They are not the same as fresh truffles but for a sauce like this they are fantastic. I buy mine from Pistol River Mushrooms. Right now a small jar of truffle peelings (perfectly good for this) are less than $7 and whole truffles are less than $8.


1 half of a black truffle or the same amount of chopped truffles
1 onion, diced very finely
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 oz dried mushrooms, any kind
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 tablespoon Madeira or Marsala
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter

If you make the steaks in a frying pan you can take them out and make this sauce in the pan while the meat is resting.

Soak the dried mushrooms in a cup of hot water for at least 15 minutes. I start them before I cook the steaks.

Saute the onion and fresh mushrooms in the butter until the onions are just translucent and not browned. Add the truffle, tomato paste and the garlic and cook, stirring constantly for a minute.

Add the liquid from the dried mushrooms and if they are tender enough, chop and add them. Off the heat add the Madeira or Marsala then cook for another minute (being careful as it might flame up).

Add the cream and reduce everything over high heat for a minute until it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve in a sauceboat and it won't be long until the groans of pleasure begin!