Why I love leftovers

I've never understood people who don't like leftovers. Whatever their reasons may be--that the food they prepare will never taste as good as it did when it was made fresh, that they get sick of eating the same thing (no matter how delicious it is) two or three times in a row, that they simply don't have the refrigerator space--I don't get it. I love leftovers. Leftovers, actually, sort of define my cooking style. I don't often follow recipes, preferring to rifle through my fridge (and freezer), taking stock of what needs to be used up and how it would best be transformed into something else. Leftovers don't bore me; they inspire me.

I even like leftover food that I didn't make in the first place. Working at a food magazine and also in catering, I'm often sent home with extra food that might otherwise get thrown out. Such was the case last weekend when I worked a fancy, exclusive party on Fire Island. A ton of perfectly cooked, expertly seasoned filet mignon remained unserved at the end of the night, and I packed away two particularly succulent-looking steaks to bring on the bus ride home. They made their way onto my dinner plate a few nights later when Gideon (of Snackin' with Steinberg fame) came over to eat. While he made his excellent rendition of guacamole, I sliced the steaks thinly and laid them over a salad of soft romaine and slivers of red onion, heaped them with fresh cilantro and chopped salty peanuts, then dressed the whole with a mixture of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and vegetable oil. And so out of distant French origins, a delicious Thai beef salad was born. You still don't want your leftovers? Pass 'em over to me.


















Thai Beef Salad with Lime Dressing
Serves 2

1. Wash and dry two generous servings of romaine or red leaf lettuce, about half a large head. Tear them into large pieces and divide between two plates.
2. Thinly slice 1/2 of a large red onion and divide it between the two plates, distributing it evenly over the lettuce.
3. Thinly slice one medium to large portion of rare, seasoned steak--the cut is not that important as this is a dish to make with leftover meat--and fan the slices out over the salads.
4. Take a good handful of fresh cilantro--stems and all--and tear it up, sprinkling it over the salads.
5. Coarsely chop a large handful of roasted salted peanuts and sprinkle them over the two salads.
6. Make the dressing: in a small bowl, combine the juice of two limes with about 1 tsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. fish sauce, 1 1/2 tsp. sugar, a pinch of salt and about 3 tbsp. vegetable oil. Whisk mixture and taste; you might need to adjust the ingredients if the dressing is too sour, too sweet or otherwise unbalanced.
7. Dress the salads, drizzling the dressing evenly to ensure that all the ingredients are well coated.

Eating locally

Undoubtedly the hottest topic in the culinary world today is that of the importance of eating local, sustainable food. For several months now, I, too, have been trying to eat locally--but in a different sense than people like Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver advocate. What I've been attempting to do is to incorporate more of the distinctive ingredients for sale in my neighborhood into my cooking. I live in south Park Slope (South Slope to us locals), an area with a large Latino population, and ever since I moved here in September I have--slowly but surely--been modifying what I cook to include a wider variety of the foodstuffs I see in my nearby grocery stores and supermarkets. Corn tortillas, for example, are now a staple that I keep in my freezer at all times. On a rarer occasion, I might, say, slow-roast a huge pork shoulder in the common Puerto Rican style. I think it's important to adapt your habits--including your shopping and cooking--to where you live. Personally, putting this idea into practice makes me feel more a part of my neighborhood, and more in touch with the people who live in it.

I kept this mantra in mind when, looking to satisfy an intense steak craving, I went shopping for my dinner earlier today. I found a nice-looking skirt steak--an inexpensive and reliable cut of beef--and decided to marinate it in a mixture of olive oil, lime juice, cumin and salt, then sear it, slice it, and fold it into the aforementioned tortillas resting in my freezer. I wanted to make a quick tomato salsa to crown the tacos with, and as I instinctively reached for the bunch of cilantro in the produce section of my local Associated supermarket, I noticed its more seldom seen cousin, culantro, lurking nearby. I had heard of culantro on the PBS cooking show Daisy Cooks!, and knew that it made an acceptable, if stronger-tasting, substitute for cilantro in recipes. In my continued effort to try out new ingredients, I decided to purchase it in cilantro's stead. Here's what it looks like:

















Before I put it into my salsa, I tasted a bit of it. For me it's similar to cilantro, but more peppery-tasting, with a stronger bite. Its leaves are also a bit thicker than cilantro's, and lent a more substantial textural element to the finished salsa:

















And, finally, the main event: skirt steak tacos with avocado and fresh salsa. Local eating at its best.

Beef: it's what's for dinner

And thank god for that. Working in a vegan organic restaurant three times a week and consuming a wider range of tofu and tempeh products than I ever knew existed, I find myself visited, on occasion, by the sharpest and most intense cravings for red meat. Probably a response to my body's decreased intake of iron, they're impossible to ignore. I experienced such a craving one night last week while trying to figure out what to cook for dinner for me and my roommate. When she called to ask what to pick up at the store, I had to restrain myself from just shouting "MEAT!" into the phone, instead composing myself and asking for a few red bell peppers, some light green, mild Cubanelle peppers, a bag of frozen peas, and a couple of pounds of a quick-cooking cut of beef like sirloin. With these ingredients--plus a bag of onions that I already had--I would make a sort of beef, peppers 'n' onions saute to be served over rice; it's not the type of thing I usually cook, but earlier in the day I had seen a coworker heating up the remains of this kind of dish for her lunch. It smelled really good, and the idea must have stored itself in my head.

When my roommate got home, grocery bags in hand, I got to work. First I sliced the beef into thin strips--I used a long, flat piece of sirloin tip, though something like flank or skirt steak would have worked well, too--and placed it in a bowl of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce to marinate. Then I sliced two red bell peppers into slender strips and did the same with two or three Cubanelle peppers. Small and thin-skinned, Cubanelles have a more mild flavor than green bell peppers, which I have a huge aversion to, especially when cooked. Actually, cooked green bell peppers are just about the only food aversion I have, so that's saying a lot. But I digress. The point is, by using the Cubanelles I was still able to get some variety of texture, flavor and color into this dish without having to use the dreaded green bell pepper. I completed my mise en place with about two large white onions, sliced.

To execute the dish I first drained the meat of its marinade, seasoned it with a little kosher salt and a lot of freshly ground black pepper, then sauteed it in a large pan to near-doneness. I then removed it from the pan, added a little more oil, and fried the onions and peppers, along with three cloves of minced garlic, over medium heat for a good amount of time--you want to get the vegetables soft and caramelized. As they wilted, I seasoned the vegetables with soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Finally, I added back the beef and its accumulated juices as well as a good handful of frozen peas, for some color and sweetness. At this point I needed a little cooking liquid to pull everything together, and, lacking any chicken broth or an open bottle of wine--either of which would work well in this dish--I found myself reaching for the bottle of pale ale that I had been sipping throughout the cooking process. I used about half a bottle of it and it coalesced the flavors wonderfully. After all, what's a more perfect union than beef and beer?

















Steak, Pepper 'n' Onion Stirfry
Serves 4

1. Select a 1.5 - 2 lb. cut of quick-cooking beef, such as sirloin tip or flank or skirt steak. Slice the meat against the grain, creating long, thin strips. Place the meat into a large bowl and add equal amounts (about 1/4 cup each) of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, creating a marinade. Stir to combine.
2. Core 2 large red bell peppers and 3 Cubanelle peppers (or substitute 2 large green bell peppers). Slice them into long, thin strips. Halve 2 large white or yellow onions, then slice those, too, into long, thin strips. Mince 3 cloves of garlic. Set the vegetables aside.
3. Drain the beef of its marinade and season it with a little salt and a lot of freshly ground black pepper. Heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a large, wide, heavy-bottomed skillet set over medium heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring, until nearly cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Remove the beef from the pan and set it aside.
4. Add a touch more oil to the pan; keep it over medium heat. Add the onions, the garlic and some kosher salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have wilted, about 5-6 minutes. Add the peppers and continue to cook, stirring, until all the vegetables are quite soft and have begun to caramelize, about 10-12 minutes more. Season them with balsamic vinegar and soy sauce to taste; you should be aiming for about a 1/4 cup of each.
5. Add the beef and its accumulated juices back to the pan, along with a handful of frozen green peas. Stir to combine. If some cooking liquid is needed, add some chicken broth, dry white or red wine, or light-bodied beer to the pan, about 1/2 cup. Continue to cook until most liquid has evaporated and a thick sauce has formed, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over long-grain white or brown rice and garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.

Indoor grilling

I don't use the broiler setting on my oven for many things; it's usually reserved for the very specific task of browning cheese on a pizza. If I'm cooking meat, I generally like to sear it in a cast-iron pan, or, even better, grill it outdoors. That way, I have continuous access to whatever I'm making and can more easily judge when it's done. But I always prepare this simple recipe of kofta kebabs--one of my favorite weeknight meals--using the broiler. I don't know why, but it comes out best that way. The meat browns but doesn't char. and it cooks up plump and juicy.

Kofta (or kofte) kebabs are just one example of the myriad (and usually delicious) Middle Eastern meats-on-a-stick. Though Turkish restaurants serve them most often, you can find them on Greek, Lebanese and Palestinian menus, too. What sets this dish apart from your run-of-the-mill cubed-meat kebab is that this one is made with ground meat, and because you can easily incorporate many seasonings into the meat itself--instead of just sprinkling them on top--you end up with something that's incredibly flavorful.

To prepare the kebabs, all you have to do is dump some ground meat into a bowl--you definitely want to use ground lamb if you have access to it, but if you don't a lean ground beef, like ground sirloin, will work just fine--and mix in chopped onions, minced garlic, and a good amount of strong, fresh seasonings. You can put in whatever you like; I tend towards using Middle Eastern spices like cumin, coriander, and cinnamon, but spice blends like curry powder or even five spice would also be delicious--it just depends on what you're in the mood for. The key to this recipe is to season aggressively--you really want the meat to be fragrant with spices. This is not a subtle dish.

After you mix in your spices--along with a lot of salt--shape the meat into vaguely ovoid logs. Don't make them too thick, as they'll take forever to cook though; this is one of the rare examples of a meat dish that I cook to medium or even well-done (forgive my pun). You want the meat to have a firm texture through and through, and that only comes about when there's no more pink inside. At this point you can slide skewers into the kebabs, if you wish; that's a step that's aesthetically pleasing, perhaps, but serves no real purpose when the meat is being cooked in the broiler or on the grill. (The reason kebabs are skewered is because they were traditionally roasted over indirect heat, and the metal running through the center of the meat heated up and cooked the kebabs through.) Then, place the kebabs on a hot grill or on a preheated broiler pan and cook them, turning once, for about 6-8 minutes a side, depending on their size. The kebabs will be hot, spicy and juicy, so take that into consideration when choosing a side dish; some sort of rice pilaf is traditional, but I went for a cooling salad of chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and parsley dressed with olive oil and lemon juice; another nice option would be a cucumber salad with yogurt and fresh mint.



Kofta Kebabs
Serves 4

1. In a large bowl, combine 2 lbs. of ground lamb or ground sirloin, half of a large white or yellow onion, very finely chopped, 4 garlic cloves, minced, salt and freshly ground black pepper, and about 3-4 tbsp. of spices of your choice, such as ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, red pepper flakes, and dried oregano. Mix to combine, but do not overmix; shape into 8 ovoid logs.
2. Place kebabs on a preheated broiler pan and cook under the broiler for 12-16 minutes, turning once, or until kebabs are just cooked through. Alternatively, grill kebabs on a charcoal or gas grill.

Some recent dinners

I'm a working woman now (at least for the next few months), and, like many working women, I don't really want to be in a hot kitchen for any amount of time when I get home in the evening. What this means is that I have, for the most part, been eating some low key, no fuss dinners lately--some bread, good cheese, a handful of olives and some sliced tomatoes--and maybe a glass of wine--is just about all I need these days. But there have been a few rare occasions when I've actually cooked, so I thought I'd show them to you.

First up we have a salad of mixed greens, shredded duck meat, sliced green apples, dried currants and toasted pecans, with a homemade honey-mustard dressing with fresh thyme. OK, so I didn't really cook this (my parents get the pre-cooked duck--which is tender and delicious--at Costco), but I did compose it carefully:

















Here's something I actually did cook: marinated flap meat with a side of roasted bell pepper salad with olives, capers and fresh herbs, and some (purchased) spinach-feta pies:

















OK, I know what you're thinking: flap meat?! What the hell is that? And you'd be right to ask that question. I don't know what flap meat is either (apparently the San Francisco Chronicle does, though: click). My parents have been buying it at Costco (I guess they get a lot of stuff there) for the past few years, but I've never seen it in any supermarket, or, god forbid, on any menu. The name is highly unappealing, but the meat is great: similar to hangar or skirt steak, it's marbled with plenty of fat and cooks up nice and juicy, with great texture. I marinated the meat in olive oil, soy sauce, and Montreal steak seasoning, which you buy at the store: it's a mixture of dried garlic and coarsely ground black pepper. Then I grilled the meat on a cast-iron pan until medium rare, about 4 minutes a side. I let it rest under tin foil for about 5 minutes (please rest your meat, people! It makes all the difference) and then sliced it up.

I roasted those peppers myself, by the way (also on a cast iron pan, for about 15 minutes or until they're wilted and the skin is thoroughly charred), then put them in a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap to cool. At that point the skin will slip right off. After I cleaned and sliced the peppers, I tossed them with olive oil, red wine vinegar, chopped black olives, capers, salt, pepper, and minced basil, parsley and chives.

And, finally, a chicken dinner. I marinated the drumsticks in a mixture of soy sauce, whole grain mustard, honey and minced garlic, then grilled them (for about 8 minutes a side) along with some pineapple. If you've never grilled pineapple, you should--it's sweet, smoky and addictive. You don't need to grease it or season it or anything--just lay it on the grill for about 3 minutes a side (it's just as good on top of a bowl of vanilla ice cream as it is with dinner). A simple avocado and tomato salad rounded out the meal:

















And that's how you do weeknight dinners.