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| Lex, making Burgundy Beef for us last Christmas -- she was a wee bit nervous about setting it aflame! |
We have a beautiful beef tenderloin that will be our main Christmas dinner, and it's so big that I should be able to slice several steaks off of it before roasting it, with which I can make John's favorite Steak au Poivre another night. I don't mind cooking. In fact, I'm quite fond of it. I'm not, however, quite as fond of cleaning up one big mess after another, and I'd rather spend more of my time enjoying these friends and family, and not so much by myself in the kitchen (my kitchen only has room for one or two people at a time). So, here's what I'm wondering. What are your very favorite things to cook for a crowd -- easy things that you can prepare in advance, or which freeze well, so you can pull them out again later on and have a ready-made meal, or things from which you can use the leftovers to make something totally different, so it won't seem like you are eating the very same thing two nights in a row? My sister-in-law Priscilla is a pro at this, I know, for when she still worked full-time, she said she only cooked from scratch a couple of nights per week, but they managed to eat quite well off of it all week long. I'm hoping she will be the first to contribute some good recipes! What about the rest of you?
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7 comments:
A smoked brisket , either fresh or precooked from HEB, and a rotisserie chicken or grilled/smoked one will offer quite a few options. The meat can be offered as a meal, and the leftover meats make great sandwiches, salads (added to greens or as a chicken salad), tacos or quesadillas. So the second time around you may just need to get together sandwich or taco fixings...maybe make some fresh guacamole and/or pico de gallo instead of spending so much time in the kitchen.
I like to fix anything that leaves leftover chicken or turkey and then fix fajitas later in the week. It takes just moments to saute some onion and green pepper and then add the left-over meat to heat up. Add some flour tortillas and guac/sour cream/salsa/cheese, etc. and it's a 10 minute meal at most. And only one pan to wash afterwards.
I'm roasting chicken breasts today and will assemble a King Ranch casserole for tomorrow night's dinner. Also, I plan to bake a glazed ham for quick meals and sandwiches this week. We are going out for dinner at Brennan's of Houston on Christmas Eve and having lunch on Christmas Day at my son and daughter in law's new home! This will probably be the first Christmas in my life that I am not the chief cook and bottle washer. Make some chili, too! Enjoy!
Start this today/tonight! (Gotta soak those anchos). This recipe is sooooo worth the effort. I served it the first night over crispy tostado shells with fresh pico on top; two nights later (it ages very well) I served it over hot yellow grits topped with sour cream. Keep the sides simple; this is rich and hearty! http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-search-of-west-texas-asado.html
Start this today/tonight! (Gotta soak those anchos). This recipe is sooooo worth the effort. I served it the first night over crispy tostado shells with fresh pico on top; two nights later (it ages very well) I served it over hot yellow grits topped with sour cream. Keep the sides simple; this is rich and hearty! http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-search-of-west-texas-asado.html
Great ideas, one and all!
From my sister-in-law, via email:
Hi--here's a link to what I often do with leftover roast pork. It came from a Good Housekeeping cookbook and I made it for years starting with raw pork. When I started working F/T, I normally made it w/ leftover pork instead--still delicious. http://www.food.com/recipe/island-sweet-and-sour-pork-312095
Leftover roast beef (if it hasn't already been eaten for sandwiches) often becomes hash. I chop the meat, saute onions and bell peppers, and add to frozen O'Brien potatoes. Quick, easy and "down home" yummy.
Of course, often beef becomes soup with whatever's in the freezer plus some wine. I learned from the La Leche League cookbook to save leftover bits of veg's, pan drippings, broth, etc. in the freezer. They called it "free soup." I always keep a container marked "for soup"--generally for beef soup. I've been known to throw a little leftover pork and/or chicken into the veg-beef soup. Why not?
So there's nothing really arcane. Like I said, we usually just eat the leftovers as they are. If we have roast beef on Monday, we'll have something else on Tuesday, then the roast again on Wed. So--we had chicken roasted with potatoes and fennel last night. Guess what we'll have tomorrow night :-) Thank GOODNESS Mike doesn't mind leftovers!!!
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