OMG

We ate it all!No Leftovers!

It was “Lemon-dill marinated flank steak” (Better Homes and Gardens, March nineteen ought ninety-one, continued from page 143). Accompanied by a 2019 George Wyndham Bin 555 Shiraz, which, by the way, has been de-listed by the Yukon Liquor Corp. Hmm. First it was Screech and then it was Bin 555. I sense a conspiracy against Carl’s favourite stuff.

Next time I’ll buy a bigger steak. There needs to be leftovers! Otherwise, if I was still working it’d mean a boring lunch tomorrow. Since I’m not, it means I hafta go to the “reserve supply” for my snack tonight.

So what do I do when there’s no leftovers? I’ve learned to avoid the snack-famine by laying in a supply of something called “beef rib finger meat”. It comes in civilized quantities (read: kilogram plus) in a cryovac bag. Marinated in Ponzu sauce, sprinkled liberally with garlic salt, and barbecued to medium rare they become foot-long srips of tangy, garlicky, salty snack heaven.

If I cut ’em into three pieces each and freeze ’em they’re just right for accompanying that last dram and that last chapter before bedtime. I don’t even have to thaw ’em. Just gnaw ’em.

And if I chop one piece up it’ll make my midday Sapporo soup much more robust and beefy.

But the quintessential source of leftovers is, of course, turkey. Think: soup, sandwiches, stir fry, tetrazzini, chow mien… or just sneaking into the fridge in the middle of the night to gnaw on that leftover wing. All that great stuff.

The family has learned after forty-plus years that the drumstick is mine dammit! All mine! I chew it down as far as I can stuff myself, then wrap the rest up for later. “Later” being after my tryptophan induced nap.

For family dining we usually cook half a turkey. That’d be ONE (1) drumstick. We try to buy locally, if they’re available, and get it sawed in half by our favourite butchers at TumTums Black Gilt. We’ve learned to stuff the half, invert it onto foil, and gently lower it into the roasting pan.

Another thing I’ve learned concerns guests for any celebration involving turkey. I once politely passed the tray down one side of the table where one drumstick got taken, then up the other side of the table where the other one got hijacked!

I might have to start checking for spare parts in the poultry aisle, depending on how many folks we’ve invited for dinner. On the other hand we could just serve Dr. Seuss’ roast beast and have our own half a turkey the next day.

Meanwhile, while browsing in TumTums: “Hey Carl, we’ve got some oxtails…”

Oh my.

“I took a look in The Joy of Cookin…” the Good Book, from around the 1970 edition or so, page 154 “Oxtail Soup”. Man does that make good leftovers!

Well, tonight we had Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya, Canadian Living’s Best Chicken 1994, page 34.

I figure you can look stuff up yerself. These are not my original recipes, so credit where credit is due. Go for it!

Local chicken pieces and fresh Chorizo from guess where? Mustn’t sound too much like an ad, but damn! these people are good!

Normally you’d see beautiful photos of recipes ready to eat. Tonight I’m going to show you a photo of what’s really important.

Leftovers!

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