Double Duty – Cook Once, Eat Twice (plus a giveaway!)

March 16, 2012  •  Best of the Food Web,

There are lots of ways to save time in the kitchen. I know some people who get together with friends and make a bunch of meals to freeze – kind of like the homesteading days when neighbors helped each other out. I know others cook only on Sundays, getting most of their meals ready for the week. My style is more double duty. I’ve never quite scaled back on the volume of meat I cook, even though we’re empty nesters now. That’s turned out to be a great strategy, as I almost always get two meals (or more) from the same cut of meat. Here are some great examples with recipes for you to try.The other night I made Perfectly Pan Seared Pork Chops (btw, that’s the number one most visited blog post I’ve ever done by a long shot, and I also continue to get thank you notes after people try my technique) along with some simple cooked barley. The next day I cubed the pork and used it along with most of the leftover barley to make a soup – I simply threw in some kale, tomatoes, stock, and a Parmesan rind to round it out. Kind of like this recipe. I even had enough soup/stew to freeze two containers for another lunch.A Roast Chicken or pan seared chicken breasts becomes a great Chicken Chili with White BeansLeftovers from your Roast Beef with Gravy from your Sunday Supper is perfect for making Beef Enchiladas with Poblanos.And finally, turn any leftover Flank Steak into Beef Stroganoff by simply using diced flank steak instead of ground beef in the recipe. You get the idea – it’s easy really.

Do you have some great double duty recipes of your own? Leave a comment with your idea below and I’ll pick a winner to receive a signed copy of the cookbook I put together for my CSA farm – Farm Fresh, Recipes from the Monroe Organic Farm CSA. It has a wide variety of recipes to use all of the vegetables our farm produces. I look forward to hearing your comments – post them no later than 5pm on March 19th to be entered!

Comments

8 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Melissa Calvin says:

    Meatballs – Good in soup and with pasta. Can be easily frozen. Thanks

  2. Barbara | Creative Culinary says:

    I’m with you Michele and I continue to cook like I always did, just not as often. I think leftovers are like gold and love having them in the fridge. I think the thing I do most is make a pasta from leftovers. Most combinations of meat, veggies and noodles work for a quick meal.

  3. kellypea says:

    I am SO long overdue for this visit you should send me to a corner! Apologies : /. Love double duty meals a bunch. I have scaled back and we still have left overs of some dishes but I’m working on it — especially with veg when I get carried away at the farmers’ market. One of my fave double duty meals is meatloaf. The sandwiches the next day are the main reason I make the meatloaf! Gotta check out your pork chop technique now…

  4. Cindy says:

    We LOVE leftovers…..I double-cook almost every meal. Todays grilled shrimp (in the shell) will be tomorrow’s shrimp in romesco sauce over orzo. I find making fresh sauce a quick and easy “new” treatment for leftovers.

  5. Monica says:

    A great double duty meat (get it on sale- or in a location where it is about as cheep at lean ground beef– near south America) is beef tenderloin. My mom browns it (often with no salt Old Bay seasoning) and grills it (or bake) and serve as an the entree adding your veggies + starch/ bread if desired. I like grilled/baked sweet potatoes. A little salad with fresh parmesian cheese and sliced almonds. The meat is very tender and most especially when cooked medium rare. Leftovers can be sliced up to add protein to a salad with orange slices, dried cranberries and a yummy curry dressing. The beef tenderloin slices can also be used to make a delicious sandwich with lettuce,tomato,avocado and spicy mustard.

  6. Tamara Fugere says:

    Tony recommended I read this article because I hate leftovers so much. Great ideas…thanks for the inspiration!

  7. Deanne Frederickson says:

    Love using leftovers for another meal, just last week used the leftover leg of lamb for pastitio the next night. Delicious!

  8. Eliza Cross says:

    I love all the ideas you posted, Michele! Our most common Double Duty meal has to be a roasted chicken. The leftover chicken can be used on a Chicken BBQ pizza, Arroz con Pollo (chicken and rice with veggies and a pinch of saffron), chicken tacos or burritos, Chicken Tettrazini, etc. Then I cover the chicken carcass with water, a little white wine, onions and aromatics to make a batch of homemade chicken stock. Would that make it a Triple Duty meal? 🙂 Great post.