On Sunday we put together a taco feast to celebrate Father's Day and Son
Donald's birthday. The goal was to make enough food so everyone could also
have leftovers on Monday, so when it was time to serve the island had a stack
of soft tortillas, hamburger and chicken taco meat, a bowl of mixed
black and pinto beans, cheddar and queso fresco cheeses, homemade pico de
gallo, shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, cilantro, and roasted broccoli spears
(nontraditional, but very tasty). Dessert was a blackberry crumble topped with
whipped cream.
We ate until we had enough, then I divided the savory leftovers and sent half of them home with Donald. (He's not a big dessert guy.) Monday night Tony and I made plates from our portion and heated them up in the microwave. Again we ate until we were full, and then finished off the dessert.
At the end of the meal there was still a smattering of food remaining-approximately a cup of mixed meats, the same amount of mixed cheeses, a splash of pico, and a large handful of cilantro.
We took a break from Mexican food last night, but today when I got home from cooking staff lunch at the parish office I had to think about putting together a dinner for us. Somehow I came up with the idea to mix all the leftovers (plus a can of drained black beans) into cornbread batter and bake it for an entree. My favorite cornbread recipe is from the early 1980's version of Betty Crocker's Cookbook (New and Revised Edition). Since I was only making four servings I halved the recipe. I mixed all the ingredients in, poured the batter into a loaf pan, and baked it until a skewer came out clean.
After it was cooled I cut the loaf into eight slices-four to use tonight and four for tomorrow. I chopped up the last of the lettuce and decided a tomato would be a good accompaniment. There wasn't any in the house, so Tony and I walked up to the grocery store. When we got home he made a simple tossed salad to accompany the corn bread. I spooned some salsa over my portion; Tony chose hot sauce for his.
Some of my cooking experiments are just edible, but this one was really good! It was like a meat loaf with a lot of filler, but in a good way.
Unfortunately, if I wanted to make the dish again I might be able to come close but I won't be able to replicate the exact set of ingredients again.
Five years ago today: Motor Driven Two-Wheeler
Happy Birthday to Tony and Donald, well celebrated
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday and God bless you all.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to your Hubby and Son! Keep up the good work with food; it sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteThat's a very creative use of leftovers!
ReplyDelete"but I won't be able to replicate the exact set of ingredients again."
ReplyDeleteA true mad scientist at work!
:-)
DeleteDoes this mean you're back in business?
DeleteNot totally yet. I still have lots of programs I have to download and prove that I already paid for them. And I'm still hoping I'll run across some of the files I'm looking for in some old backup.
DeleteSounds like a great day and plenty of yummy leftovers is always a bonus.
ReplyDeleteI treasure the days I just have to heat up a meal instead of cook it.
DeleteThats a good way to use things up and not waste food. I do that a lot. My kids used to, before they would take a bite out of a new recipe, ask me what did it used to be - They became leery but I won them over a few times. But you're right - it's hard to repeat the exact recipe.
ReplyDeleteSince I tend not to follow recipes exactly, when my kids would ask what they were eating I'd ask if I should tell them what it said in the book or what was on their plate.
DeleteYou may not be able to replicate this again, but I bet you'll come up with something else delicious.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great way to think about it!
Delete