Cooking: Basics

When I talk about Cascade Cooking, I am thinking about how the meal I am planning can use things I already have and the leftovers can be the basis of a meal tomorrow. This plan is almost never strict, I also try to leave lots of options. You'll see.

I will use a Cascade from this week as an example. I made pork chops, mashed potatoes, and rice pudding. Each of those things either used a leftover I already had or made an ingredient that I can use in the future if there are any leftovers.

Lets look at the pork chops first. I baked them in the oven and the came out tender and juicy.  We ate about half of what I made for dinner. Now I have cooked leftover pork and pan drippings!  The pork can be sliced and left for late night snacks (topping ramen, sandwiches), be tossed into a stir fry or lo mein. If I don't think I'll get to it right away I can toss the slices in the freezer to add to later meals.The pan drippings can be tossed right into the soup pot for potato soup making with the leftover mashed potatoes.

Next let's look at the mashed potatoes. Sometimes these go like crazy and I can't keep them around, and sometimes they are barely touched. So I have had some practice finding uses for left over mashed potatoes. My favorite is potato soup, my kids love croquettes. Luckily, either can be made from frozen mashed potatoes! We enjoy these two options so much I don't usually have any potatoes left for anything else, but they do make a nice thickener for other soups if you need another idea.

The rice pudding I made with leftover rice I pulled out of the freezer. Rice pudding becomes breakfast if there are leftovers.

I have gotten into the habit of looking around the kitchen or digging in the freezer, getting inspired and then projecting that at least one step further. When I make something, I keep in mind, "What can I make next?"

In each Cooking post, I will list out a main meal, with recipes, and put a > symbol in before an ingredient that can be a leftover, and a > after each ingredient that can become a leftover.  These will be discussed after the recipe itself so the cooking can go more smoothly. I will show you my One Pot Asian Rice recipe.  I will use it because it uses all the concepts in one recipe.



One Pot Asian Rice

> 1 lb. hamburger
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic pressed or chopped fine
1 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 onion chopped
3 cups shredded cabbage
2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced
1 to 2 cups other veggies chopped (celery, peppers etc.) >
1 cup dry white rice
>1/2 bag bean sprouts (or more if you like)>
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups water

Brown hamburger in a large pot or dutch oven. Keep over medium heat and add soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Stir until sauce soaks in. Add onion, cabbage, carrots and veggies. Cook 5-10 minutes until they start to soften. Add rice and stir until well blended. Add sprouts, peas and water, bring to boil stirring often.  Turn heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until rice is done and veggies are as soft as you like. 


Cascade factors:

Hamburger- the hamburger can be leftover already browned from the freezer

Chopped veggies-  If you chop extra veggies for this recipe you can use them in other meals, I like to chop extra for eggs in the morning, or just to saute as a side dish (leftover saute can be used in morning eggs, too)

Sprouts- leftover sprouts can be frozen and this is a good recipe to use them in (any time you plan to cook them until soft you can use frozen). Freeze leftover fresh sprouts promptly they go bad fast in the fridge.



I usually use this recipe after making Asian Shrimp Rolls. I often have leftover veggies, specifically sprouts that need someplace to go.

I hope this post gives a better idea of the concept and starts you thinking!  I am working on the pork chop meal for my next post.

Thoughtful cooking,
Kristin