Full frig heaven. What about a leftovers thread?

[EFerrari]

I love the day after TG Day because it's the one day in the year when we usually have too much food in the house. There have been some very, very lean years including one where there was no house and no frig, lol, but that isn't true today, TG.

There's some leftover pie crust dough, a bunch of cheese and some eggplant. Maybe a quiche? I've never made one but
found this recipe for basic quiche:

Ingredients

* 4 eggs
* 2 cups half-and-half cream
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 4 ounces Jarlsberg cheese, shredded
* 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
* 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and half-and-half. Season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Place shredded Jarlsberg and mozzarella in the pie shell. Pour egg mixture over cheese.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake for 25 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is set. Allow to set 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

* * *
Maybe reduce the cream by 1/2 and substitute some (already sweated and seasoned) slices of eggplant, some sundried tomatoes, olives? Would that work?

[beac]

1. Just got home tonight. We flew, so no leftovers,

:(

I might have to make some stuffing and mashed potatoes this week. ONE day of them is NOT enough.


Speaking of pie dough, my mom used to take the leftover pieces of uncooked crust and brush them with melted butter and then dust them with cinnamon & sugar and bake. The most glorious treats ever. :)

[EFerrari]

2. Oh, definitely. They have to be eaten together!

There was a crepe place up in Ben Lomond that made the very best turkey crepe in the world -- it was stuffed with turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and cranberries. (I still don't know how they put all of that into one crepe. :) )

[Irishonly]

11. I do that too

Turkey day breakfast. My mom always did it too.

[grasswire]

3. why reduce the cream by half?

It's already half and half!

Seriously, your egg to dairy ratio is important in the quiche if you want a nice custard. If you are worried about the fat content, just use one cup of half and half and one cup of milk, or even 2 percent milk.

I have made delicious quiches using artichoke hearts (not marinated) and sun dried tomatoes that I caramelized in a bit of butter and minced garlic in a saute pan. I put down a layer of fontina (you could use any other nice-flavored white cheese -- fresh mozzarella would be yummy) in the crust, arranged the artichoke hearts, tomatoes, some kalamata olives, torn basil leaves. Poured in the custard, topped with some cubed cheese, and baked. Rave reviews. Trader Joe's has artichoke hearts with stems in jars; not too expensive and very pretty.

Quiche is so fun to improvise!

[EFerrari]

4. I was more worried about overflowing the pie pan.

I've never made quiche before so am trying to figure out how to add stuff and keep the consistency. :hi:

[pengillian101]

5. Quiche sounds good! Great for leftovers.

I never make pie crust - but a simple adaptation is to use frozen potato hashbrown shreds to line the pan with. I do that all the time. Butter and then line the pan with hashbrowns, brown that in the oven for a bit, add whatever already cooked meat and vegies you want, sprinkle with shredded cheese and then cover with beaten egg and 1/2 and 1/2 (or milk) mixture. Spice as you like. Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 or so.

Variations are endless.

Simple as pie ;-)

[EFerrari]

9. Do you think smashed potatoes would work as well?

[pengillian101]

14. Sure worth a try...

I'd still butter the pan and just use a fairly thin layer of mashed spuds for the crust then bake it till it's a little crispy, then fill as for quiche. Sounds good to me - let us know if you try it. :-)

[hippywife]

6. We love a good quiche!

Usually with spinach, onion, mushrooms, feta and cheddar. Used to put crisp bacon in it and cook the onions and mushrooms in the grease, too. An old roommate used to do a fresh tomato and onion pie. It's all yummy.

To keep your quiche from overflowing, add the heavy ingredients to the pie shell and pour your eggs over them. To make sure that there are the other ingredients throughout, add half of them to the pie shell and pour half the egg over, then the other half of the ingredients and the rest of the egg. When using feta, I make sure there is some throughout the entire mixture and then top with shredded cheddar. I have even put a layer of the shredded cheddar in the bottom of the crust before adding anything else. Any way you do it, quiche is really quite a satisfying meal and you'll soon be experimenting to find a favorite.

Enjoy! :hi:

(Pssst! I have even used plain old milk, instead of cream or half and half, to good effect. I think the creaminess of the feta helps there.)

[Warpy]

7. Quiche is good

but if you've got a lot of extra protein and veg, think turnovers. You can make a cream gravy to serve with them and it's fancy enough that it doesn't shriek "LEFTOVERS!"

However, if you decide on quiche, use any clean out the fridge stuff that plays well together. Your combo sounds fine.

Decreasing the cream will make the pie set more firmly. Think about whether or not you want that part.

[EFerrari]

8. Turnovers was my first thought but there's so many half pies

sitting around, I thought people might just see them as more pie. lol

But, definitely turnovers maybe on Monday. Adding gravy is great idea, Warpy.

[EFerrari]

10. This is how it came out.

I sauteed some cubed unpeeled eggplant in onion and garlic with a little paprika and chile powder, a few sunflower seeds in olive oil. Layers from the bottom: cheese, spinach, eggplant mixture, a little more cheese, some sliced green olives and a little more cheese. Now all I need is a victim. lol

[hippywife]

12. Looks excellent!

I'd volunteer. :D

[blaze]

13. Yum!!

'nother volunteer here!! :)

[beac]

15. I'll gladly be your victim! A slice of that looks like just the thing

for the endless hunger my airplan-caught cold has produced. Please mail me a slice ASAP!! :)

[EFerrari]

17. PMing you a slice is probably against DU rules somehow.

How are you feeling, beac? That airplane thing used to happen to me nearly every time.

[beac]

18. mr beac and I were taking herbal anti-cold lozenges earlier in the trip,

but in all the hubbub of the holiday we kind of slacked off. We also visited a children's museum during our trip, so that could be the source of the virus too. ;)

I'm just glad I made it home to my own bed. Wallowing in misery is so much nicer at home. :)

And your dish is at the top of my list to try once I'm back on my feet. :hi:

[eridani]

16. Pasta with leftovers

Amounts depend on how many people at the table.

Cooked pasta
Olive oil
Leftover green beans with mushrooms and onions
Leftover turkey
Sliced kalamata olives