There’s a meme on Facebook about a holiday dish that had been reheated four times. Apparently, it was served on Christmas Eve, there was plenty of leftover, and the family had been eating the same dish since. Reheat, reheat, reheat.
I have nothing against reheating. There are dishes that are simply too good and you want to enjoy it over and over again. Like adobo, for instance. But, after a while, your appetite and taste buds surrender.
Should you take a break and start cooking new dishes? You could. But then, there’s New Year coming up, and you’re probably going to prep and cook just like you did for Christmas Eve. For the first week or so of 2023, you’ll still be eating leftovers.
Why not create new dishes out of leftovers? We do it. Not just during the holidays but throughout the year. You could too. Here are a few examples to get you started.
From top to bottom, left to right:
Leftover roast turkey farmer’s pie: Mashed potato-topped leftover roast turkey farmer’s pie moistened with excess gravy is a lovely way to use scrap meat from your Thanksgiving / Christmas turkey.
Leftover roast duck egg drop soup: The carcass of our Christmas Eve roast duck went into the slow cooker overnight with seasonings. On Christmas day, I made it into this roast duck egg drop soup.
Honey sesame biscuits: Year-end holidays often involve baking pies. If you have excess pie crust dough, here’s an idea about what you can do with it.
Leftover Christmas ham steak: Running out of ideas on how to use leftover Christmas ham? Cut thickly, braise in butter and honey, and serve as a steak.
Creamy ham and veggies pasta: Make this exceptionally luscious creamy ham and veggies pasta with leftover Christmas ham. Cooks in ten minutes flat.
Beef brisket BBQ quesadillas: Make these with leftover barbecue, roast beef, pork, chicken, duck or turkey. Come to think of it, you could serve these quesadillas for your New Year party. Who would know they were made from leftovers?
