the Friday Feeding; VOL. 108

Boxing day. The day after Christmas when all those with means sent their left-over feasting foods to the less-fortunate folks.

Well, the day after Christmas for most of us does mean left overs but in the very best way. Boxing things up is a nice idea but bits of this and dabs of that used up together make the best dishes because the flavor of each is deepened with that second-time-around cooking. Add a bit of fresh to it and it becomes something spectacular.

Dave and I treated ourselves to a special Christmas dinner out last week to enjoy the season…twinkly lights, festive cheers and a little dressing up [no baker’s wild-clipped hair for me and no pizza splattered shirts for him].

My meal was a bean and bacon stew topped with pan seared cod. Very rich and (probably because of all the appetizers I ate first) I could not finish it. I am never too proud to take good food home in a box so the next day I sautéd some celery, onions and red bell peppers in a little olive oil then added the bean stew with more water, simmered it for an hour then in the end added the cod broken into bite sized pieces. It was a spectacular soup accompanied by dunking strips made from Sunny Field bread doused in Russell’s Grateful Garlic sautéd in butter and baked for 15 minutes at 350.

Reusing your left-overs into another dish s not an original concept. Christmas Day trifle for example—which I made this year—uses left over bits of cake layered with jam (I made a cherry blackberry compote with orange instead) and custard sauce. And the 1950’s Back Burner soups were made using up the bits of cooking from the day before.

And a casserole was the original idea made 1950’s-modern with the addition of canned soups, sour cream and mayonnaise plus new ingredients. But a casserole in its purest original sense was great fodder for wasting not and wanting not, appreciating what we have and honoring the effort of laborious cooking over the hearth.

The key to a good casserole is the sauce that binds all the layers together. If you are not a canned soup kind of person, let me offer you the sauce basics to build your own left-overs dish.

These are variations on the classic béchamel sauce. The key to this sauce is low heat and patience.

Heat/melt in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium/low heat:
2 T fat
Add to this stirring constantly with a whisk and cook for 1 minute:
2 T flour
Slowly add whisking well on low heat:
1 cup of liquid
Seasoning to taste
Whisk and cook until sauce gets thick, about 10 minutes.

Turkey and stuffing left overs
Layer turkey, stuffing, frozen peas and cranberry sauce in alternating layers spoon sauce on top of each layer. Finish with sauce. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350’ until the top is slightly browned.
Make your sauce with butter for the fat and milk adding salt and pepper to taste and 1/4 tsp Bells Seasoning. I also like to add 1/2 tsp of chicken bouillon paste. Double this recipe if you are doing a full casserole.

Mashed potatoes and/or root vegetable left overs
Layer mashed veggies with layers of uncooked or cooked greens like chopped kale or spinach and feta cheese. As above pour sauce over each layer finishing with sauce and sprinkling of cheese. Bake uncovered 30 minutes at 350’ until the top is slightly browned.
Make your sauce with extra virgin olive oil for the fat and vegetable broth for the liquid. Add 1/4 tsp each of nutmeg and granulated garlic.

Cheers!

Jane and Dave

New art show opening Monday January 5th! WINTER IN BLOOM. Featuring the artwork of Lauren Propere

Artist reception Friday January 9, 5-6PM