Leftovers leftover

My mother was raised on Leftover night, my father was not. I love leftovers much like my mother. I find joy in not having to cook for myself another night or having something yummy for lunch at work the next day.

Well I roasted that chicken and I thought I would share my, pictureless, leftovers that I created with you all. Please note, I created all of this from what was in my house.

1. BBQ chicken "pizza"
1 tortilla chicken from the chicken-- i pulled everything off my bird and threw it in a big bag. BBQ sauce of your choice shredded Mozzerella Cheese In an oven safe frying pan, place on stove and heat on med-high and turn oven on 350 degrees. heat up tortilla, add a thin layer of bbq sauce, cheese, and chicken with a drizzle of bbq on top and pop in oven until cheese is melted.
2. Greek Pita Tostada
1 Pita or tortilla 1-2 tablespoons of Hummus chicken from chicken 1/4 cup plain yogurt 2 tablespoons Feta cheese about 1/4th cup cucumber 2-3 teaspoons cumin 1/4 cup lettuce 1/8 cup tomato diced In a frying pan, lightly as you can coat the pan with olive oil and put pita/tortilla in to lightly coat it as well. Add some salt and "fry" it up. cut a bit of cucumber up into thin and small slices, mix in with 1/4 cup of yogurt, feta and cumin. Once pita is crisp take it off pan and add chicken to warm it up. spread hummus on pita, add warm chicken, the yogurt mixture, lettuce and diced tomato!

3. Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Good Bread-- two slices Margerine or butter Cheese Chicken Any fun sauces in the fridge--pesto, spicy mustard, etc. cooked Bacon if you have it butter outside of the bread slices, put on sauce/condiments, bacon, cheese and chicken. And Fry it in a pan or use a fun Sandwich press!


4. Chicken Quesadilla
Tortilla Chicken Shredded Cheese Salsa Sour Cream Avacado is you have it Heat up a frying pan, add tortilla and get it warm, add cheese, chicken, salsa, and avacado. Fold over tortilla and heat on both sides untill cheese is melted. Let cool and cut into 3rds and serve with sour cream.




The chicken will also be wonderful in a stew as it won't have to cook all day.

Katie Kern's Roasted Chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans

One of the simplest and perhaps scariest ways of cooking is roasting. For some reason when I think of roasting, I see kitchen fires. Maybe it’s because of the DWC I’ve encountered before. Friday, I set off on a quest to roast a chicken.

This might seem complex for a new to the kitchen cook or perhaps tiring to those who are busy, but let me tell you. It is not. It is also very, very cost effective as well. Dinner, not just the bird, was around 15 dollars (this does not include the twine, jar of garlic, or meat thermometer!). And it can feed more than just one. I also have come up with some great uses for leftovers that will bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Now, I had to consult a friend on roasting. While I have cook books and the internet, it’s always good to ask a friend about roasting. I also enjoy it because they will give you their tips. I also titled this entry after her.

I knew what I needed and I went off to the grocery store after having sushi and beer. I also looked amazing that day, so the grocery store felt like being a Stepford Wife except not a robot, just looking amazing.


You will need:
A whole chicken that is good for roasting—found in the meat area with the chicken—not a fryer chicken. (Mine was 5.19 pounds and $4.36 and it was not frozen so I did not have to thaw!)
White Potatoes – I bought a 5 pound bag because it was 2.99 and 3 potatoes at market price in weight were $2.00
Garlic—you can buy fresh and mince it, or you can spend about 4 bucks and get a huge jar of already minced garlic that you can stick in the fridge—I suggest the jar as I hate mincing garlic with a passion.
Green beans—about $1.45 for a pound
Lemons- 4 will do ($1)
Can of Chicken Broth ($.50)
Twine ($3.00)
Onion ($.50)
Butter ($2.00)
Half and Half ($1.50)
Salt and pepper you should have
Meat thermometer

Heat the oven the degree that the packaging requires (mine was 350)

Pull Gizzards and gunk from the cavity and clean with water outside and in. Pat chicken dry. Soften 1/4 a stick of butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Rub butter on chicken and salt and pepper the outside skin and inside the cavity. Put a few slices of butter in the cavity. Cut 2 lemons and take one whole lemon and stuff the cavity with them. Using twine, tie the legs up to keep the cavity together.

As you can tell in the picture, I used my fantastic little chili/soup pot rather than a roaster. Pour a little chicken broth in the bottom of your roaster/pot just to cover the bottom, place chicken in pot and put in oven for the time per pound that is needed (mine was 20 minutes per pound)

Let the chicken cook and then 30 minutes before it’s to come out—start on the potatoes

Fill a stock pot, half way up with water and put 4 potatoes in. What? No Peeling? Well if you’d like you a peel and dice them up like I did. But after reading in Cooking Illustrated that boiling potatoes whole and unpeeled produced better mashed potatoes… well hell yeah I am going to do it next time. Add salt and garlic to the water, set it to med-high and wait for it to boil. Boil until potatoes are tender. Drain and peel—use a fork rather than your hands to hold the hot spuds. Put in a bowl and dice up a bit. Now… melt ½ stick of butter and add to the spuds—butter first! Mash up or in my case use a hand mixer. Now had ½ a cup of half and half and mix…. Salt to taste. And cover to keep warm.

In a pan or the pan you used to melt the butter, add a little butter and slice up the onion. Add onions and cook until they are caramelized. This will take a bit of time; I suggest starting it when the potatoes are boiling and almost done.

5 minutes before your chicken buzzer is to go off:
Pull chicken and stick the meat Thermometer into the thigh of the chicken—thickest part—see if you have hit the temp the chicken said was needed (mine was 185 degrees) to be cooked—if not put it back in, if so, pull it and let it rest for 10-15 minutes…

To the caramelized onions: Add garlic and sauté. Add Green beans and sauté. Add ½ cup of chicken broth and let it boil and then bring it back down to a simmer for about 8 minutes.

Carve up the chicken and dinner is served!

Kat and I ate the bird and it was tasty. I then pulled all the meat off the bird to be used for leftovers this week. mmmm.... leftovers.

Roastin' Birds

Now, I am the woman who made thanksgiving in under an hour an a half. So tonight, I am roasting a chicken. Monday you shall have that adventure as well as my ideas of other meals to create with the left overs.

This afternoon I have to find twine. One would think the grocery store would have it, but alas... no.
Last night I baked cookies after getting sushi and having a beer. They were good, but I think I expected too much from an Bon Appetite. I added walnuts and they did not detract nor add to the cookies. I still think the best cookies I ever made were the chocolate white chocolate chip and almond ones. I didn't have Vanilla so i used smoothie mix and I didn't have white sugar so I used brown and I also used Axtec Cocoa so they were spicy.

Ok this was just an update so everyone knows what I going on. I'll post picks and the recipe for the cookies tonight!

Super, Super Easy Enchilladas

Amazingly easy. This is the type of recipe that gets people in the kitchen and saves a busy person from ordering in chinese for the 6th night in a row. It's not authentic what so ever, but you can add in homemade salsa (which I do) and even roast your own chicken for it. Plus it works great with chicken, beans, veggies, or beef. It's also a great way to get those in your family with bland tastebuds to try something new. Serve it up with a salad and there ya go!

Easy Enchiladas

Ingred:

1 jar of Salsa

8-10 Tortillas

1 bag (2cups) of Mon. Jack Mixed Cheese

Half a Rotisseri chicken-- about 2-3 cups--Shredded. (i do by hand but you can use forks too.)1 roma tomato diced

Set oven to 350.

In an oven safe pan (I used my chili/soup pot as it's oven safe), pour some salsa in to just coat the bottom. Take each tortilla and fill with chicken and cheese and roll up and place seam side down in the pan on top of the salsa. Once all are in, cover with rest of salsa and cheese. Cook for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbley.

Cilantro would be great to top it with and a little sour cream never hurt anyone. Salad or some spanish rice on the side would be great. Also carmelizing some onions to go inside the enchiladas with peppers would be wonderful as well, but this was simple and easy to start getting you all in the kitchen!