Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Creative Use of Leftovers
I have been subsisting on a diet of BBQ ribs, corn on the cob, smoked grilled chicken, cole slaw, and potato salad since our reunion a week ago. As good as it was, I was glad to finish off the last rib at lunch today, and throw the rest of the slaw and potato salad away.
This left me with a handful of leftover ingredients to use up. I have four large heirloom tomatoes at the peak of summer ripeness on my counter, a steak in the freezer, some grilled peppers and onions, and four toasted, but now stale ciabatta rolls leftover from the soft shell crab sandwiches.
The stale rolls and tomatoes present a perfect opportunity to make panzanella, and tossing in the peppers and onions sure won't hurt. I've got plenty of fresh basil, cucumber, red onion and I can even hard boil an egg or two.
I wanted to marinate the steak. It's a London broil, so it needs something. I saw a recipe in Bon Appetit this month, and decided to alter it using leftovers I had - it's gonna rock. It's a more garlicky version of A1 Sauce.
Roasted Garlic and Balsamic Steak Sauce
Place 3/4 cup of dried cranberries in 1 1/2 cups of warm water and let them plump for 30 minutes or so. (the original recipe called for raisins. I didn't have any) Chop two large shallots and soak them in 1/2 cup good balsamic vinegar for 30 minutes. Do some laundry Pour everything together in a blender Add a large tomato - cut into wedges Add 3/4 cup roasted garlic cloves Add 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce (I happened to have exactly this amount left over from a cake my sister made for the reunion.) 1 1/2 TBL of Worcestershire Sauce 3/4 tsp of dry mustard 1 tsp of sea salt 1 tsp, or more of pepper.
Blend it all till smooth. Rock and Roll. This stuff is goooood.
The original recipe also called for adding honey and some red currant jelly, but I didn't want it to be too sweet - and the cranberries already give it a nice sweetness.
