Leftovers these days have risen to preferred status. No longer is a second-day plate of turkey, ham or meatloaf relegated to a mere sandwich.
Treat your leftovers right
Safe handling By Eleanor Nakama-Mitsunaga
and they will never be
considered second-best again
Special to the Star-BulletinImagine cold roast chicken transformed into a curry-infused tropical chicken salad. Or leftover ham and leg of lamb exploding into a hoagie fit for a sumo wrestler.
Leftovers are a hard and fast reality, especially in these days of bulk Costco buying, but their mere mention can elicit frowns.
"With leftovers, there's a kind of mental block," chef Sam Choy says. "The idea is to dress it up, so it doesn't seem like leftovers. Be creative with what you have."
It's enough of a modern-day concept that Choy taught a class -- "How to Make a Leftover Not a Leftover" -- part of a culinary series he is conducting at his Diamond Head restaurant in collaboration with Kapiolani Community College.
Ming Tsai of TV Food Network fame regularly features a dish on his show, "East Meets West," that starts from leftovers. Some of his suggestions -- a Curried Shepherd's Pie made from leftover potato gratin and a Spicy Meatball Grinder made from leftover stew.
There's even a cookbook that suggests you purposely cook to make leftovers: "Cooking for the Week: Leisurely Weekend Cooking for Easy Weekday Meals" by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart and Kathleen Taggart. The book lays out 13 weeks' worth of menus, the idea being to cook big on the weekends so you can remake the leftovers during the week.
The key to true efficiency, though, is to recreate leftovers on the fly, using just what you have on hand. That requires a little familiarity with key ingredients, a little experience in using flavors such as curry so that yesterday's chicken doesn't taste like yesterday's chicken.
First step, Choy tells his class, is assessing what's in the refrigerator.
The refrigerator door opens. He stands confidently with hands on hips and scans the shelves. "OK, we have some roast chicken, ham, a nice leg of lamb, meatloaf and stew." He looks at the class, a bit perplexed, and says, "Hey, I'm shooting from the hip here. No recipe cards or anything."
Once he starts to pull things out it's as if a light bulb has gone off in his head. First the chicken, then a pineapple, orange juice and some mixed greens.
"Looks like a salad," someone shouts. "Right on," Choy replies.
He takes the chicken apart, setting the breast meat aside for another dish. The dark meat is shredded and placed in a bowl. He goes back to the refrigerator and pulls out an onion, celery, green onions and "the almighty" -- a jar of mayonnaise. "This makes anything taste good," he gleams.
Everything's diced and added to the mayo along with orange juice and a dash of curry powder. Baby greens are lightly touched with olive oil and placed in the center of a plate. The chicken mixture is spooned on top and fresh orange segments are placed around the salad. That's it -- quick but undeniably appetizing.
Presentation is the key. "Leftovers are a true test of a good cook," Choy exclaims. "The idea is to create something appetizing. That's the magic."
Experimenting and working with a combination of ingredients will often yield tasty gems, he says. His sumotori hoagie, for example, is not slathered with the usual mayo and mustard. Choy mixes poha jam with wasabi and mayo, then adds garlic chile sauce. The result Is unique and unexpected, but works well with thin slices of leftover ham and lamb.
In "Cooking for the Week," the authors suggest turning leftover roast salmon into salmon hash or risotto, grilled leg of lamb into lamb curry or lamb pizza, roast pork tenderloin into pork and cheddar subs or pork fried rice.
With these guidelines and an open mind, leftovers morph their way into tasty meals.
Combine dressing ingredients, then add to chicken meat. Mix in pineapple. Toss greens with a drizzle of olive oil. Place on plate. Spoon chicken mixture on top and place orange segments around plate.Curry-Infused Tropical Chicken Salad
Sam Choy3 cups shredded roast chicken
1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple
Mixed greens
1 orange, segmented
>> Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 celery, diced
1/4 cup onions, finely diced
4 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to tasteApproximate nutritional analysis, per serving (not including salt to taste) 440 calories, 36 g total fat, 6 g saturated fat, 80 mg cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 21 g protein.*
Combine the olive oil and tapenade. Set aside at room temperature until ready to serve.Pepper-Crusted Tuna Steaks
"Cooking for the Week: Leisurely Weekend Cooking for Easy Weekday Meals" by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart and Kathleen Taggart (Chronicle, 1999)3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup black-olive tapenade (coarsely crushed olive mixture found in specialty foods section of supermarkets)
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 cup coarsely crushed peppercorns
6 ahi steaks, about 6 ounces each and 1 to 1-1/4 inches thick
4 lemon wedgesMix salt and peppercorns and spread mixture on a dinner plate. Press each tuna steak into the salt mixture until coated on both sides. Set aside.
Grill steaks on an oiled rack, covered, 3 minutes per side.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the olive sauce over each steak. Serve 4 steaks immediately with lemon wedges; reserve 2 steaks for Nicoise Salad (recipe follows). Serves 4 with 2 steaks reserved.
Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 280 calories, 10 g total fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 80 mg cholesterol, greater than 3,000 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 41 g protein.*
Boil or steam potatoes until barely tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain, let cool, and cut each into 8 wedges.Nicoise Salad
"Cooking for the Week: Leisurely Weekend Cooking for Easy Weekday Meals"4 unpeeled small potatoes (about 12 ounces)
12 ounces green beans, trimmed
1 head romaine lettuce, leaves separated
2 hard-cooked eggs, shelled, in 8 slices or wedges
8 cured black or green olives, pitted and sliced
2 Pepper-Crusted Tuna Steaks (previous recipe) cut in 1/4-inch slices (about 2-1/2 cups)
1/2 cup minced parsley
>> Dressing:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to tasteTrim beans and boil or steam until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain, then submerge in ice water for 5 minutes, drain again and dry on paper towels.
Assemble salad as desired: Arrange ingredients on individual plates or one large platter, toss all the ingredients except the lettuce together and arrange on the romaine leaves, or tear romaine into pieces and toss everything together.
To make dressing: Whisk together all ingredients. Pour over or toss with salad.
Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 280 calories, 10 g total fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 80 mg cholesterol, greater than 3,000 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 41 g protein.*
Day 2 recipe: A pineapple-infused chicken salad.
Leftovers are only as good as the way they are handled. Safe handling
Keep 'em cool: Cool right away to prevent growth of bacteria. Transfer out of pans and cool down over an ice bath if necessary.
Keep it small: Divide food into small, shallow containers. With roasts, slice meat and portion into plastic bags.
Use it quick: Refrigerate no more than two days, or freeze.
Try: FoodTV.com, FabulousFoods.com, Allrecipes.com, CooksRecipes.com or Ichef.com for leftover ideas. Online Ideas
Foodgeeks.com: This site includes a feature, "What's in your Kitchen?" that allows you to enter your leftover ingredients and then provides suitable recipes. "Steak and rice" yielded "Spanish Rice and Beef Casserole," "Sesame Beef" and "Star Anise Beef and Rice Noodle Soup."
Two classes are left in the Sam Choy/Kapiolani Community College series: Cooking classes
Wine and Asian Influenced Food Pairing: 11:30 a.m. Saturday; $30.
Keiki Cooks!: 9 a.m. May 5; $25.
>> Classes at Sam Choy's Diamond Head restaurant. Call 734-9211.
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calendars and events.
