So what have you done with your leftovers?

I have not gone to the grocery store or farmers market since before Thanksgiving. At that time, I was primarily shopping for, well, Thanksgiving. We ate left overs as they were left. The turkey did not go into any tettrazinni, spring rolls, enchiladas or casserole. (In all truth, with 8 of us, all above the age of 16, there wasn't much in the turkey bin). The mashed potatoes, of course, went first, and then the leek tart, and bit by bit other items. There are still a couple bites of veggies, a little taste of cranberry & plenty of stuffing. The sweet potatoes, which I found very tasty, were made to serve 12, but untouched the under 20-crowd (as well as some of the over 20 crowd) and had sufficient amount to be served with another meal, so into the freezer they went. And now that you have the status of my leftovers, we'll continue on.

Last night's dinner was a definite departure from the holiday meal. I made a big pot of black beans & rice. I sautéed some onions & shallots in pot, added some hot & some sweet turkey sausages (I'm a turkey sausage girl, not into the fatty pork stuff) and sautéed some more. I added that to my big pot of pre-soaked beans along with a little stock, and some cumin & some ancho powder & the regular salt & pepper thing. After about an hour, I went down to taste. It was pretty good, but something was missing. It had the spice end right, but needed just a touch of sweet. So, into the fridge I went. And into the pot went the last bit of my caramelized onion gravy. It was sweetened with wine while cooking, and had the sweet of the onions. It also served to slightly thicken the broth in the beans and create more of a stew than a soup. The result was a richer flavor in the beans, and one less container in the fridge!

Did you know that in many Spanish & Latin American cultures, black beans & rice were called Moros y Cristianos or Christians & Moors, with the beans representing the dark-skinned Moors and the white rice representing the lighter-skinned Christians. I believe my Uncle told me that, and now you know too!

Now, if I could only figure out what to do with the stuffing (another item I made too much of!) Any one up for dumplings?