Green Bean Thing

This was written October 6, 2008, but never posted. I was probably waiting to upload a picture? Who knows... 

I love it when the main course is leftovers, so I have time to make a more-complicated side dish. Tonight's dinner was leftover boneless roasted leg of lamb, which was rather underdone to begin with, so I simmered it in leftover saucy summer vegetable Thing (I just throw stuff together, and if it grows together, it tastes good together, and this did, but it was sort of a semi-solid ratatouille almost-sauce.)
So what'd that leave me time to make? Green beans with mushrooms and onions. And garlic. And bacon fat.

Om nom nom!

Start out by putting a big pot of salty water on to boil. While it's heating up, snap the ends off your fresh green beans. How many? I don't know. How many do you have? How many do you want to eat? If the two answers aren't the same, either buy more beans, steal some from your neighbor's garden, or if you're really lucky, stick the extra blanched beans in the freezer for later.

Blanching is easy. In the case of beans, just put 'em in that pot of boiling, salted water for a few minutes. When they turn bright green, they're ready, usually only takes 3-4 minutes. Your beans may vary. While boiling, fill a large-ish bowl halfway with ice water.

Scoop the blanched beans out of the pot and directly into the bowl of ice. Stir 'em around a bit, then drain.

Now... heat a tablespoon or so of bacon fat in a skillet, add half a large red onion, sliced, and cook that over medium-low heat. That lets it get kind of caramelized and soft, but not burnt. Chop some crimini mushrooms (or white button) into quarters, and toss in with the soft onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes. Add a teaspoon of minced garlic from a jar, or a few cloves of fresh garlic, pressed. Stir around and then add the beans. Cook just long enough to heat the beans, as they're basically cooked already. Salt generously, to taste, and enjoy.

Iron Chef Mom!

That's what I am... I am Iron Chef Mom. "Mom" counts as a cuisine, I think. It summates what I do better than any other single word I can come up with at the moment. I dare any professional chef to create healthy, tasty meals from Whatever's In The Fridge while mediating sibling disputes, holding a crying (angry, not limply hugging) preschooler, stepping around half-melted ice cubes, and (oftentimes) watching a really interesting football game.

Tonight's secret ingredient was Leftover Roast Chicken with Paprika. Bonus points for also using up the leftover snack-tray veggies from New Year's Eve. I also had a lot of hummus left from New Year's Eve. I wielded my google-fu and found that there are such dishes as Chicken and Hummus, so my gears began to crank.

Ingredients:
3-4 tablespoons fat of your choice (bacon, coconut, AND butter this time)
about 1 carrot, cut into sticks, and then into dices
about 1 celery stalk, done the same
1/2 an onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 handfuls fresh raw broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
leftover chicken (in our case it was the breasts and wings)
about 1/4 cup prepared hummus
about 1/4 cup white wine or vermouth
about 3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cilantro
2 shakes red pepper flakes (one pinch)
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat the oil/butter in a large skillet (with a lid) over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, onion, and pepper, and cook until starting to soften. Add garlic and cook another minute or two. Toss in the chicken (in bite-size pieces). Add seasonings to hummus, and stir in the wine and broth. Pour into skillet and stir to coat. Add broccoli on top (to steam a bit). When "sauce" begins to boil, reduce heat to lowish, smack on the lid, and simmer for about 20-30 minutes.


Serve over rice, garnished with more hummus, paprika, and parsley. Really... ok, you don't have to get fancy schmancy with it, but... more hummus and paprika really make it taste goooood.

Geek Sweeps?

I think it must be Geek Sweeps Week. I've just watched Alton Brown get "stranded" on a tropical island and now there's a MythBusters marathon with the theme of "supersized myths." I'm in heaven.

We ate our proscribed lucky meal last night...

Collards and onions in bacon fat, vermouth, and chicken broth, with some leftover smoked pork... and rice with coconut milk and chicken broth... and blackeyed peas (from a can, I confess) warmed in chicken broth. Healthy, wealthy, and happy... that's what our new year will be.
Yumm-o.

Today was Leftover Day. Because we have a fridge full of fabulous leftovers. Lunch was potato skins, onion dip, veggies, hummus, shrimp, and cocktail sauce. Dip whatever you like into whatever you like. Delicious.

Dinner was...I don't really know what to call it. Like so many wonderful meals, it was born of leftovers, with a little new stuff added. In our house, with the microwave used only by The Grill-Master (Grill-Geek, Geek, whichever) for his Jimmy Dean breakfast sammiches, leftovers aren't a way to save on cooking time or dirty dishes. They are simply something one uses to ensure no good food is wasted. So... I cooked up another mess o' greens (my biggest pan is too small for a true "mess," so some of last night's greens had to wait) with bacon fat and onions and vermouth and chicken broth, and cooked some rice pasta shells. The main event was some of the Solstice Roast Beast, with it's resulting gelatinous broth, and a sploosh of crushed tomatoes. Then I decided to toss them all in a bowl together. I'm guessing it's sort of Italian.