{"id":405,"date":"2014-04-28T12:11:09","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T17:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pcandres.com\/?p=405"},"modified":"2015-11-06T14:19:29","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T20:19:29","slug":"leftovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/?p=405","title":{"rendered":"Leftovers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none\"><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fthesoupblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D405&amp;layout=button_count&amp;show_faces=true&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;width=450&amp;height=30\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width: 450px; height: 30px;\"><\/iframe><\/div><div id=\"attachment_412\" style=\"width: 335px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Leftover-Blog-Image.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-412\" class=\"wp-image-412\" title=\"Leftover Blog Image\" src=\"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Leftover-Blog-Image-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"325\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Leftover-Blog-Image-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Leftover-Blog-Image-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-412\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Experienced&#8221; Food<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Ever felt like you\u2019re just tapped out?\u00a0 You\u2019ve been working all weekend and you don\u2019t have the energy to throw together a meal. And since times are tough, you can\u2019t afford to eat out either, no matter how many coupons you may have.<\/p>\n<p>So\u2026 it\u2019s leftovers again, which is kind of a harsh word when you think about it.<\/p>\n<p>These are foods that have already seen their glory days.\u00a0 Foods that have been shoved into cold storage as the kitchen makes room for fresh meals.\u00a0 They still have plenty of nutritional value but lack the excitement of the new and don\u2019t have much culinary status beyond that of fuel.<\/p>\n<p>(Sigh)<\/p>\n<p>Emptying the refrigerator into a soup pot is not all that inspiring.\u00a0 It\u2019s like a Kindergarten collage. \u00a0However wonderful each individual ingredient may be, it\u2019s the glue that draws your attention because that was the part of the process that interested the \u201cartist\u201d most.<\/p>\n<p>Not exactly an appetizing metaphor.<\/p>\n<p>In soups the glue is the broth or stock. All the ingredients in the pot infuse their flavors into the liquid which holds it all together.\u00a0 This can be a dangerous thing with leftovers because the foods might be already spent.\u00a0 If there is enough of a spark in these recycled foods, though, soup is the vehicle where they\u2019re most likely to catch fire again and turn into something spectacular.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what happened this past Sunday and I\u2019ve been coming back for seconds and thirds every day since.<\/p>\n<p>It started with my daughter\u2019s 10<sup>th<\/sup> birthday party.\u00a0 Despite almost two years in the midwest, she still sees herself as a Californian, and claims she always will.\u00a0 As such, she loves Mexican food. However, since she has a child\u2019s palate, we had to add extra options to engage the cousins, parents and grandparents.\u00a0 Our solution was a multi-faceted taco night with enough proteins and fillings to satisfy everybody.\u00a0 Choices ranged from carne and pollo asada to vegetarian carnitas, seasoned ground beef, grilled shrimp marinated in garlic all the way down to Costco\u2019s Mexican cheese blend (monterrey jack, queso quesadilla, mild cheddar and asadero) for those guests with delicate palates.<\/p>\n<p>It was a great success.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the shrimp sold out, but as sometimes happens, I made a bit too much of everything else so we tucked the extras into every spare nook in our refrigerator using all the glass containers, ziploc bags, and tupperware we could muster.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, completely spent after cleaning up the house, the remains found their way into the soup pot and we\u2019re back at the first paragraph, having come full circle.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with this method of soup-making is <em>reproduceability<\/em>.\u00a0 How do you do it again?\u00a0 And frankly, before I started this blog, that was always my problem.\u00a0 I tended to just make stuff up and not write down what I was doing.<\/p>\n<p>No more.<\/p>\n<p>Because these dishes weren\u2019t planned as a soup, this recipe is a bit painstaking to make, but it\u2019s awfully good.\u00a0 (Maybe you can start with a taco night too.)<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps this soup was so good because its ingredients had already lived a little before they entered the mix.\u00a0 All that life experience adds lots of flavor and texture. It\u2019s common knowledge among cooks that soups and stews get better the day after they\u2019re prepared. Maybe that\u2019s something that should be understood outside the kitchen as well.<\/p>\n<p>You probably don\u2019t want to keep any food in the fridge long enough to reach its tenth or even its second birthday.\u00a0 (Wine is another matter).\u00a0 For the rest of us, birthdays are a good thing\u2026<\/p>\n<p>But only if you keep celebrating them.<\/p>\n<p>FYI:<em> If you\u2019re interested, I know quite a few well-seasoned ingredients who bring a lot to any table and I\u2019m not just talking about myself.\u00a0 Email me.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Leftover (Taco) Soup<br \/>\n<\/strong>(serves 6-8)<br \/>\n\u2153 lb, skirt steak<br \/>\n1 boneless chicken thigh<br \/>\n\u2153 lb, ground beef<br \/>\n2 bell peppers, seeded and sliced into 3\u201d strips<br \/>\n2 cups slivered onions<br \/>\n4 oz. green beans<br \/>\n6 cups beef, chicken or vegetable stock<br \/>\nMarinades:<br \/>\n\u00be cup fresh cilantro, chopped<br \/>\n1 cup onions, chopped<br \/>\n3 cloves garlic, minced<br \/>\n\u00be cup lime juice<br \/>\n\u00be cup vegetable oil (I used canola)<br \/>\nTaco seasoning, to taste<br \/>\nSalt &amp; pepper to taste<br \/>\n1 cup refried beans<br \/>\n1 cup mild to medium salsa<br \/>\nMexican cheese blend<\/p>\n<p><em>Carne Asada:<\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Marinate the skirt steak in a marinade of \u00bc cup cilantro, 1\/3 cup onions, one minced clove of garlic, \u00bc cup each of lime juice and vegetable oil, from 2 hours to overnight<\/li>\n<li>Drain the meat, but don\u2019t wipe off the garlic, onion or cilantro, and grill or broil until well browned.\u00a0 Set aside to cool.<\/li>\n<li>Chop the steak into small pieces.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Pollo Asada:<\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Marinate the chicken in a marinade of \u00bc cup cilantro, 1\/3 cup onions, one minced clove of garlic, \u00bc cup each of lime juice and vegetable oil, from 2 hours to overnight<\/li>\n<li>Drain the chicken, but don\u2019t wipe off the garlic, onion or cilantro, and grill or broil until well browned.\u00a0 Set aside to cool.<\/li>\n<li>Chop the meat into small pieces.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Vegie Carnitas<\/em>:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Marinate the slivered onions, peppers and green beans in a marinade of \u00bc cup cilantro, one minced clove of garlic, \u00bc cup each of lime juice and vegetable oil, from 2 hours to overnight<\/li>\n<li>Drain the vegetables, but don\u2019t wipe off the garlic, onion or cilantro, and grill, broil our saute until well browned.\u00a0 Set aside to cool.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Seasoned Ground Beef<\/em>:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Saute the ground beef with 1\/3 cup onions, salt, pepper and Taco seasoning until browned.<\/li>\n<li>Drain the meat and set aside to cool.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Soup<\/em>:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Add steak, chicken, vegetables and ground beef to a 3 quart sauce pot together with stock, refried beans, salsa, salt and pepper.\u00a0 Bring to a boil.\u00a0 Reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes to one hour.<\/li>\n<li>Serve warm garnished with shredded cheese blend accompanied by warm tortillas, quesadillas, or tortilla chips.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>After all these steps a beer might be good too.\u00a0 But that\u2019s your call.<\/p>\n<p><em>Image Credit: \u201cExperienced\u201d food and container sculpture photographed by the author.\u00a0 It\u2019s art, people!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Treat your leftovers with the respect they deserve.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let them die in your refrigerator.\u00a0 Use them!\u00a0 They will surprise you and you might just surprise yourself.\u00a0 Either way:\u00a0 Tell me about it.\u00a0 Thanks for reading.\u00a0 Thanks even more for commenting or helping out your neighbors.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be reading <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and<\/span> responding.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever felt like you\u2019re just tapped out?\u00a0 You\u2019ve been working all weekend and you don\u2019t have the energy to throw together a meal. And since times are tough, you can\u2019t afford to eat out either, no matter how many coupons you may have. So\u2026 it\u2019s leftovers again, which is kind of a harsh word when [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,113,15,64,8,70,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beans","category-beef","category-cheese","category-herbs","category-poultry","category-spices","category-tomatoes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2226,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/2226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}