The television shows Chopped and Chopped After Hours have really helped me to look at leftovers as opportunities. The contestants and even more so the judges when they take to the kitchen in Chopped After Hours demonstrate how you should look at the pantry. Coming up with a bunch of ideas really quickly, weeding through them to find the one you have the time and resources to execute, and continuing to improvise and adapt when things go south. In addition to teaching the lesson of running constant scenarios, even as you are working on something, they really drive home the notion of re-purposing packaged foods. And so we come to this dish which came together for breakfast because I had some leftover beef tenderloin and had bought some sliced baby bellas to add to a packaged porcini risotto I’ve been wanting to check out.
I didn’t really want to go the ramen route, so I decided to use the instant noodles and save the flavor pack for another time. Tossed it right into the drawer with all the tiny plastic pouches of duck and soy sauce that probably won’t ever be used but I can’t bring myself to throw away. So, beef, mushrooms, noodles. Check, check, and check. I put the leftover beef and a handful of mushooms in a pot with 2 cups of Swanson’s beef broth and fired it up while I scrambled some eggs and chopped some green onions. Let it roll for a minute or two when it came to a boil just to get the mushrooms right then added the noodles and told Alexa to set a ramen timer for 4 minutes (not really ramen, but Alexa didn’t need to know that). Set the eggs and green onions in a bowl and poured the beef and broth and mushrooms over it and Voila! breakfast. But it didn’t have to be breakfast. This quickie would be good for any meal and takes so little time and effort to throw down and goes equally well with coffee, coke, or an America pale ale like Parish Envie.
