I'm not sure how many of you grew up in an upper working class family like I did. It seemed that there was always a night that would come around that was affectionately referred to as "Clean-Out-the-Fridge-Night." This was a magical time when things that had been neglected for who knows how long would make there way to the dinner table. Sometimes it would take the form of a conglomeration of side dishes. Though I didn't know it at the time, this is known in parlance as "tapas" and people pay a lot of money for this kind of experience. Other times it would arrive in the form of one large dish, evenly distributed to the masses. Oliver Twist was familiar with this situation. I think our musical friends from Glee would call it a "mash-up." Well, I'm happy to say that in my household (of one at the present time), we (the royal "we," that is) have decided to revisit the time-honored tradition once again. However, this time it is received not with a begrudged moan, but with a barbaric yawp!
Feast you eyes on this feast:
One whole onion, diced, sauteed until golden brown
One green pepper, diced (somewhat soggy, but who cares, it's being cooked anyway)
One green onion (because they were a bundle for a buck)
Three plum tomatoes (better use them quick before they become "red" paint on the fridge shelf)
One handful of celery (the parts that weren't soggy from sitting in the fridge for a week)
One handful of green beans (because they were in the bottom of the drawer and until now, no one thought to cook them in anything else)
LOTS of taco seasoning (purchased from a really nice lady in the City Market who probably has some idea how desperately a single male needs to cover up the taste of poorly cooked food)
Shove together in one large fry pan, cook until warm enough, add some rice from a couple of days ago and POOF! one happy bachelor who has just enough fuel in him to go the studio and make more work in one night than he has all week!
Isn't it remarkable how the lingering memories from childhood can come back to you in a instant? I'm thinking that if this Ceramics thing doesn't work out, I'm gonna start edging in on Paula Dean's market. Looks like I better start stocking up on lard.
Or you could apply for a cook job at Arrowmont--Maxine does wonders with the Blue Plate Special. In my family, we called leftovers, "Mus'Go", as in, "We're having mus'go tonight."
ReplyDeleteWith enough Taco seasoning I think you could give Paula a run for her money.
ReplyDeleteWe once discovered an unidentifiable meat in my dad's freezer. After much debate we name it "Chork". We scraped off the freezer burn and tried to eat it. That was one time that I wasn't part of the clean plate club.