What's the Problem with Leftovers?

I hear some people say that they don’t eat leftovers, like this is a philosophical stance they’ve adopted. I don’t understand it. Now, either these people are such expert cooks that they always make exactly the right amount of food and therefore don’t have leftovers, or they just throw the leftovers out. If they have money to waste food like that, that’s their business, but I personally find it physically painful to throw away perfectly good food. In fact, in my quest to not be wasteful, I’ve probably served my family some questionable food. Throwing food away is the same as throwing money away in my book, and I just can’t take it.

That being said, there are some meals that don’t pan out the first time, and then what do you do with expensive organic chicken that came out too dry? If it wasn’t good the first time, can you possible recook it and make it better?

Why, yes, you can!

Last week, I made a recipe that I’ve made often before, but for some reason, it just didn’t come out. The chicken was dry, the flavors were off; we barely ate it when it was fresh, so how could I possibly adapt it? I couldn’t take the thought of simply throwing it away, so I shredded it and popped it in the fridge. A couple days later, it occurred to me…chicken pot pie! I strained the liquid from the chicken, made a roux, a crust, added some veggies, popped it in the oven and voila! Leftovers transformed!

Now I say that like it was super easy…it was not. Each component was easy enough to make, but making a pie crust and rolling it out with a crabby 3-year-old and baby in tow is not without its drawbacks. For that reason, the next time I make pie crust, I’m going to double it and store the extra in the freezer to put myself ahead of the game.

Anyway, I felt good that I managed to salvage an otherwise unpalatable meal, and do so using completely homemade ingredients.

A couple notes:

If you don’t know, a roux is a gravy base make of equal parts butter (or other fat) and flour. Melt the butter, add the flour, stir until well-combined, add liquid, bring to a gentle boil and you’ve got gravy. I used the liquid I strained from my chicken plus a splash of milk to loosen it.

Also, homemade pie crust is easy but time consuming to roll out…I use my KitchenAid mixer (the thing is a godsend). Mix ½ cup butter (or vegetable shortening), 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ tsp. salt and ½ cup cold water. First mix the flour and salt, then add the butter, let it mix until it’s the constituency of cornmeal. Then add the water until it sticks together. Divide in half, and roll out each half into something that resembles a circle. You may need more flour when rolling it out. It’s an art, not a science, despite what Martha Stewart will tell you.