Revisiting the Greats (aka leftover time)

Over the past few days I've been revisiting the pork with tomatoes and potatoes I made last week, trying to take the pieces and make them better as leftovers. I first attempted to make those potatoes that I thought I would love more than I did...more lovable. I tried a few things that people suggested - adding some onion, cooking them a bit longer to get a better texture - and it all helped. But to be honest the best thing I did for them was to reheat them with gorgonzola cheese sprinkled on top. I sometimes feel like adding cheese to things is like cheating because often the food will just take on the taste of the cheese, especially if it has a strong flavor like gorgonzola. Nevertheless, I would now definitely recommend replacing sour cream with the big G when trying to spice up baked potatoes.

The tomatoes I didn't really know what to do with. They tasted pretty yum on their own with the herb/breadcrumb mix. So I just reheated them for a snack/light lunch when needed. I did take the leftover herb mix and added it into some sautéed mushrooms with a little EVOO to try and make a side. It turned out that the mix was too thick, so I added the pork (chopped up into bite sized pieces) to it with more EVOO to make it a sauce for pasta. It was leftovers so it wasn't very pretty...

3.5 out of 5 on Yum scale.

...but it was pretty tasty. The herbs plus EVOO had enough flavor to carry the noodles and the pork still tasted pretty good. MC [Ms. Childs] noted in Mastering that marinating the pork for the extra time would lead to better leftovers and I totally agree.

I also have been ruminating on an idea for the past few days and it is semi-related to leftovers. I know once I start working I won't have time to make such complicated food, but I also know that at the end of a hard day a burrito form Qdoba just isn't going to satisfy me (good as they are). So, I'm going to take a stab at laying out a plan for how I can still make 2 nice meals a week based on these recipes while working. Something like a shop/prep list on Sunday, then just a quick morning marinade before I go to work and a well orchestrated cook when I get home that night. It might be a pipe dream, but I think it's worth a shot to have good food while working my tail off. What do you think?