CHUSday and Leftovers
Okay, in unison now. Gr. . oa. . n. All that food. Turkey, ham, shepherd’s pie, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans in every incarnation. Fruitcake, Christmas cookies, latkes and applesauce. Are you full yet?
And now we have leftovers!
I love taking whatever’s left of a turkey and making gumbo. Turkey gumbo, well, its even better than chicken, richer, deeper flavor. I add the leftover gravy and any broth I have left from the giblets. If you “really” want my recipe, you’ll find it if you go to my book page and click on Rising Tides. Iron Lace has the broth recipe. Just think turkey and go from there.
No turkey at our house this year, and the leftovers we have belong to my daughter-in-law, who patiently cooked the feast. But waiting at home are the remnants of Christmas morning chili puff casserole ready to be reheated after we trek back. No one loves leftovers quite as much as the cook who created the original.
We’re nearing “leftovers” for CHU (Cookbook Hoarders United), too. It’s been great fun. Some of you have participated by sending in comments for recipes you tried. We’ve had monthly winners and now we’re heading toward our final prize, a $50 B&N gift certificate, another silly kitchen gadget–an egg scoop for rescuing boiled eggs–and an autographed novel for the grand prize winner.
You still have a few days to enter. Everyone who comments with recipe name, where you got it and how you liked it, by December 31 at midnight will be entered. Remember the recipe must be new to you–one you hadn’t tried before. If you’re already entered, enter again and increase your chances.
Now, excuse me while I go upstairs and raid the refrigerator. There’s a honey-baked ham calling me. Sweet potatoes and my daugher-in-law’s fabulous tomato pudding. And there’s family around the table. Really, does it get better than that?
Leftovers here as well, but not much in the meat department since we went to brother-in-law’s and daughter’s houses for Christmas gatherings. Our contributions were celery casserole, broccoli-rice casserole, veggie pizza (demolished in a few minutes by 8 adults and 5 hungry kids), Watergate salad, ambrosia and poppy seed bread. There are still remnants of all but the veggie pizza that I will enjoy reheating and bringing to the table again – hopefully DH feels the same way!!
Tomato pudding and chili puff casserole both sound intriguing – any chance the recipes for those could be shared??
Enjoy the rest of your time with the family.
Our leftovers are gone — We had brunch here with 3 out of the 4 kids and their families and had leftover Spinach Casserole (which was dinner last night). We spent dinner at the my son’s house and didn’t bring anything back with us.
I just updated my copy of MasterCook primarily because it now has an Import Assistant to allow me to bring in all those wonderful internet recipes.
I’m always off the week between Christmas and New Year’s and, as always, it will be about trying new recipes to work into the next year’s menus. Let me see what I come up with today to possibly enter!
Have a great week!
I LOVE cookbooks, and have over 100 to prove that fact. I especially love Southern Cooking, as all of my relatives are from Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, Mississippi, etc. I recently tried a new cake recipe from Paula Deen which is to die for…her Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake (and it is). The funny thing about this cake is that it was made as a specific request by my grown son, a tough LAPD cop, who is secure enough in his manhood to want a pink strawberry birthday cake at age 27! (He is a Christmas baby). So much fun!
After Christmas love leftovers and a good book. Especially a Emilie Richards book. :))))) You are a awesome writer.
I tried this recipe for Cauliflower Gratin http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cauliflower-gratin/
I made some changes. I was making this for a party where they didn’t like cauliflower so I changed to Broccoli and doubled the recipe and added an extra cup of cheese and french herbs along with the garlic and I mixed the sauce together first and then added to the broccoli in a casserole dish. It was eaten up.
We love leftovers!!! It is such a waste to throw out!! I love reading all your books and would love to win this one!! Thanks for the chance!!!
i tried a recipe for scalloped ham and potatoes. it came out curdled just like my mom’s always did and i really didn’t care for the green pepper in it. it has you layer raw potatoes and ham, sprinkle with flour then fill the dish with milk and bake. i like my method better to precook the potatoes until just tender then layer and use a white sauce. i save any left over gravy and add it to the white sauce too. it makes a big mess in the kitchen, but worth it.
When my book group to our home for the December meeting, I tried a new recipe. I had seen Louisiana Red Velvet Cheesecake Bars in the holiday 2011 issue of Food and Family by Kraft Foods. It used Oreo cookies and butter for the crust. I was surprised when my husband brough the Oreos home — they had red filling for the holidays! Using 3 pkgs. of 8 oz. cream cheese with semi-sweet chocolate, 3 eggs, sugar, and vanilla, one makes the next two layers. The filling is split — to one melted chocolate and red food coloring is added and spread over the crust. Then the plain batter is spread carefully. After baking and cooling, it is refrigerated. All agreed that it was delicious and that the recipe should be kept! If you can’t find the publication, check kraftfoods.com. My husband like it also — so it was eaten to the last crumb!
We have Black Eyed Peas (canned) every year for good luck. This year I decided to go with a recipe for BEP which included soaking them. First time I’ve done this and it worked out well. I really like them this way. Although, I don’t expect to use the recipe more than once a year!
Happy New Year!