A recent blog event, Leftover Tuesdays (see here for the most recent challenge), has presentations of dishes created from leftovers.  Great idea! Especially if you have meat such as a large roast and don't want the same thing for several nights, but it doesn't really apply to me.  I generally make dishes that have all of the ingredients mixed together like casseroles, stir fries, noodle or pasta dishes, and so forth.  These dishes tend to be four  servings and we have them for two nights.  Sure, we sometimes have a meat dish and eat the same thing several nights but I'm not much of a meat eater so this doesn't happen often.  

This doesn't mean I don't have a leftover problem - I just define leftovers differently.  To me leftovers are the remaining odd ingredients that I needed for a dish but did not finish.  Examples are a bit of cream, some chicken broth, a bit of cheese - or worse yet a funky spice or sauce that I like but only have a couple of dishes to use it in.  These types of leftovers are a challenge because either you only have a little bit left that you can't do much with or you have a lot left, such as a spice, but you wouldn't want to use much in a single recipe.  Some of the items can be frozen like the broth, some have long shelf lives like some sauces, and some are so easy to use I don't consider them something I'm using up but something I simply enjoy to eat like cheese. Yet, what to do with a 1/4 of a container of sour cream or a bit of cream?  Are these leftovers?  Well according to one on-line definition:

Leftover

• a small part or portion that remains after the main part no longer exists
• not used up; "leftover meatloaf".

As Valentines Day approaches I've been thinking back to my first date with my then to-be Husband.  Since we are Foodies it probably won't surprise you to learn that we cooked on our first date.  In fact, we cooked chili and it was his idea.  This said, it’s fitting that this weekend, just before Valentines Day, we made chili.

Many things have changed since we made chili on that first date.  For one, we no longer live in Buffalo, NY which means we have access to a much wider range of food.  Yet, perhaps for sentimental reasons, we still make the same basic recipe we made nearly 20 years ago on our first date. The "recipe" uses a chili mix called “Carol Shelby's Chili Kit”  which contains a “secret” blend of spices to produce a Texas flavored chili.  Amazingly this chili kit is not only still available but we've been able to find it throughout the past 20 years in Buffalo, Houston and now California.  We make a custom version of the chili that includes ground beef, ground turkey (a recent poke at a healthier chili), diced tomatoes, and kidney beans.  We also cook the chili a lot longer than the mixes suggested 15 minutes.  Still, the chili tastes much better the second day. 

Once the chili is prepared another series of traditions begins.  The chili must be accompanied by Round Yellow Corn Chips, cheddar cheese, and beer!  The corn chips are used to scoop out chili, although we also use a spoon it’s not as much fun.  The cheddar cheese gets sprinkled on top and the beer - well that one’s probably pretty clear it washes down the chili and cools off the palate.  After a meal or two of chili this way the tradition then progresses one step further with the addition of elbow macaronis - and yes they must be elbows left over penne simply will not do.  Why add macaroni?  Well, when you make a double batch of chili but only have two people to share it you can quickly become tired of chili.  Adding the macaroni transforms the chili into a somewhat different dish which means I can handle eating it a few more days.

It’s funny how traditions become traditions.  We don't make chili very much anymore but every time we do I remember back to that first date and get just a little teary eyed (ok so maybe the half dozen onions we put in the chili help) thinking just how important cooking and food has been in my life....

Hope ya’ll enjoy Valentines Day!

I own over 500 cookbooks, but I usually don't cook directly from a recipe unless I’m baking.  Baking is a science.  The balance of chemicals to make that cake rise is important, so I tend to follow the recipe with only minor changes.  When it comes to food in general, though, I love to look for recipes for inspiration and then strike out on my own. 

For instance, this weekend my husband and I went over to a friend’s house for dinner.  My friend and I both decided to make appetizers, and I was to bring a salad and my friend would cook some soup.  I dug out a cookbook—Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeurves Handbook—to figure out what to make.  This cookbook was the perfect inspiration—the first half of the book is filled with color photographs of every recipe in the book; you figure out what you want and like and THEN you go and find the recipe that suits your tastes and degree of difficulty. 

I wanted my dishes to be uncomplicated but delicious, so I settled on crostini and some simple toppings—caprese and some hummus.  While there were recipes in the cookbook for all of this, I was looking for ideas rather than recipes, and once I decided on my menu, I didn’t look back. 

These items aren’t difficult in the first place, but I went to the store to try to make it something a little special.  I found a rustic kalamata olive bread and decided to make it into the crostini instead of the plain baguette.  I found some marinated mozzarella and some Splendido tomatoes from Mexico.  Yum. 

For my salad, I wanted something with substance, so I decided to make a roast chicken salad.  I picked up a couple of roasted chickens at Costco to make my salad construction easy (if you haven’t tried these, you should—they’re fat, tasty and very juicy).  I also found some really beautiful blackberries, some candied walnuts and some blue cheese.  Along with my own citrus balsamic vinegarette, I was all set.

The nice part about these dishes was the prep work ahead of time.   I wanted to spend time with our friends socializing—not cooking.  I grilled the olive bread with a bit of olive oil and prepared all the ingredients for the crostini and the salad hours before the party.  I assembled and broiled the caprese (mozzarella, tomatoes and a chiffonade of basil after broiling) within five minutes of arrival.  I gently heated the chicken breasts in the oven while we were enjoying the appetizers, and when I was ready to plate, I just tossed the salad greens with the vinegarette I had made earlier and assembled the salad.  Easy.

We had a great time munching on our goodies and sipping on Mumm’s Napa Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine.  I had tasted this at the Mumm Napa cellar some years ago, but had forgotten how pleasant and fruity it can be.  The blush pink color was pretty in the glass, and the hint of cherry and the slight sweetness of the wine gave it a softness that you don’t often find in sparkling wines.  It went well with the crostini—enhanced by the sweetness of the tomatoes—and was gone very quickly.

I have noticed that many people cook directly from recipes, while I tend to improvise with what’s on hand, what’s fresh, what can provide a little personal touch.  Recipes are chefs’ personal interpretations of a particular dish or flavor…don’t be afraid to put your personal touch in everything you make. 

Wow! I've just returned from my first visit to the Fancy Foods show and I am still amazed.  For those of you who haven't heard about it, the Fancy Food show is a 3-day event where more than 1000 specialty food companies exhibit their creations.  That's a lot of food and a lot of eating.  I think I've seen and tasted more variations of olive oil, olives, tea, chocolate, sauces and spreads than I ever imagined possible. The sauces and spreads, with so many diverse tastes within each, quickly overloaded my senses. 

The show also had an enormous variety of cheeses but since I am particularly drawn to cheese I did not mind at all tasting so many. Many of the cheeses were outstanding.   Two that were my favorites include one from Ireland and one from Wisconsin. The Irish cheese is Cashel Blue, a cheese I’ve wanted to try for a while. Blue is probably my favorite cheese and this one did not disappoint.  The Wisconsin cheese, from Sartori Foods, is a domestic Parmesan called Sarvenccho Parmesan. Generally, domestic Parmesan's do nothing for me and are often simply not good. As a result, I generally will not buy domestic Parmesan.  The Sarvenccho Parmesan, however, was exceptional and surprisingly had many of the characteristics and flavors of the imported Parmesans

A few of items simply caught me as particularly tasty.  Among these were some new all-pork sausages from Niman Ranch.  First, I must admit I didn't know Niman Ranch produced sausage but now that I do I want more!  The new sausage products included a Gouda-cheese apple pork sausage and a spicy cheddar sausage.  I wish I had more of the Gouda sausage - it was so well balanced it practically melted in my mouth. Yum - hopefully it will be out soon so we can grill it once the weather turns. 

While a lot of sauces and spreads were present I was drawn to Sting 'N' Linger.  The creation of Ken Smith in Tempe Arizona, they  have a variety of salsa's and you can really see and taste his passion in them. 

The last item I want to mention is a candied nut with a twist,  from Nutorious. It is called Cha Cha Chipotle and consists of a walnut, almond, and pecan mix encrusted with a Chipotle confection.  It did not overpower either in sweetness or heat and I really liked it.

Looking back, the show was great.  I not only got to taste some really good items but I also learned a lot. Sadly, I probably also missed some really neat and great things because at some points I got tired of tasting! I know, hard to believe a Foodie who can't eat but I do think the show got the better of me in that respect.  Well - I'll just have to practice so next time I last longer...