Weird and Inventive Concoctions

[SiouzQ.]

I had half an eggplant left, more zuchini and yellow squash, and mozerella cheese. I am really getting sick of all of the zukes and squash from the garden but hate to waste food. I got the bright idea of making eggplant parmesan for the first time and looked up some recipes. I didn't have most of the ingredients and didn't want to go to the trouble of going to the store and doing all the laborious steps to make it the "right" way, so this is what I did.

Slice eggplant into 1/4 discs, dip into beaten eggs, place on oiled cooking sheet. Sprinkle with dry cous-cous (as I had no breadcrumbs in the house). Bake at 375 for 10 mins. Carefully peel them off baking sheet (guess I didn't use enough oil). In an oven-proof dish, layer eggplant discs, egg-dipped zuchini and squash, another layer of cous-cous, shredded mozzerella, healthy sprinkle of parmesan cheese, pour in pasta sauce (which I didn't have either so I used a can of diced tomatoes instead with basil sprinkled within). More mozzerella and parmesan, then bake covered at 475 until all bubbly.

Kind of weird, kind of good ~ with a bit more tweaking, it would be something I'd maybe offer to a guest! Any other mad kitchen scientists out there and what sorts of things have you invented?

[danna]

Often a little mad! lol
I regularly make connoctions with what is leftover or on hand but, not as smart as you to keep track; to try and tweak it so often can't be repeated even when really good.

One dish I started making for Sunday breakfast when we use to camp has become a family fave. The point was to clean out the fridge so things didn't spoil or need to be dragged home.
In a tin foil layer reminds of veggies from the night before chopped in bite size pieces the best are peppers, tomatoes, green onions, zuccini you get the idea,
leftover baked potatoes work too but I prefer then fried up with onions and peppers.
then add fresh herbs at this point
Then a layer of whatever meats you have left like; sausage, steak, pork chops, wieners chopped; all work
Then top the whole thing with a slice fresh tomatoes/more fresh herbs/salt/ and lots of pepper and cover the pan with tin foil and pop on the BBQ while
DS cooked bacon and eggs for everyone. Amounts and availability made it different every time.


Another breakfast fave for our kids which they learnt from a neighour was to take leftover over spaggetti and fry in oil then serve with sour cream.
Again all leftovers from camping suppers.
We almost always had spaggetti one night and then a BBQ of Steak/Sausage, Baked Pot., sour cream and veggies platter so we came up with recipes to use up the leftovers.
A good thing.

[JaneV2.0]

Synchronicity! I did this yesterday, dipping eggplant slices into egg wash, then parmesan and layering it with leftover pizza sauce, pizza cheeses, olives and ground beef with garlic, onion, and peppers.

[frugal-one]

Didn't have bread so used pita pockets for tuna fish sandwiches, no lettuce so used thinly sliced cukes. Pretty good.

[loosechickens]

We have friends who still talk about the wonderful BBQ sauce I made once when they came to supper.......the problem is that I was never able to duplicate it, as I'd used everything from usual ingredients to some apple butter left in a jar, and even some blackberry jam........

We are so inventive, often, that we end up with creations that are wonderful, but doomed, like the BBQ sauce, never to be repeated........

recipes are only a guideline anyway, and once you learn to cook and have some idea of proportions in ingredients, etc., you can experiment to your heart's content (and the contents of your refrigerator and leftovers) to come up with yummy stuff......

[Mrs. Hermit]

I got tired of the kids answering "Food" or "I don't know" when I asked them what they wanted for supper. So I invented dishes named "Food" (leftover beans, boiled potatoes, zucchini slices, onions and tomatoes) and "I Don't Know" (leftover ham with eggs and salsa baked over a biscuit base)! We actually do still do renditions of these dishes when the mood and the leftovers strike!

[Gregg]

Mixed left over cut up green beans with left over chopped up hamburger patties. Stirred in a can of tomato soup because I didn't have any left over pasta sauce and didn't want to open a new jar just for this. Added Tabasco, pepper, garlic powder and a pinch of salt. Topped it with left over mashed potatoes. Bake till the sauce from below bubbles up through and the potatoes start to brown. The kids call it "goop" and request it fairly regularly now. Not a totally original dish at all because my Mom did something similar when we were kids, but sure cleared a lot of tupperware out of the fridge!

[Blackdog Lin]

Shoot, I go "mad scientist" with a meal creation every 2-3 weeks to get rid of all those bits-n-pieces of leftovers in the freezer (we freeze ALL leftovers that sit over 48 hours in the fridge). There are basically 3 categories: our favorite one is "casserole surprise", then there are also "sandwich surprise" and "soup surprise".

Soup surprise is pretty self-explanatory, throw everything suitable in with canned broth or homemade stock and seasonings. Sandwich surprise is to pretty much finely chop all meat pieces together, add any suitable available veggies, along with hard-boiled eggs, relish, and mayo to make a sandwich spread. But casserole surprise, that's the one that's fun. Depending on what's available I decide whether to go with an Italian theme, or Oriental, or Mexican, or "plain". I always make a layered casserole (don't know why), and the layers always consist of 2 each starch layers (rice of any kind, or pasta, or potatoes), veggie layers, meat layers, and "goup" layers (pasta sauce, or any leftover sauces mixed with canned cream of 'shroom-chicken-celery soup, usually with some sour cream mixed in). Herbs and seasonings are usually added to the goup, and chosen based on the theme.

The casseroles are always very edible, and sometimes downright delicious, but of course I can never duplicate the great ones. I'm lucky in that DH actually LIKES my casserole surprises. We have fun with them.