Hmmmmm… You’ve all been taciturn and have not left any comments with awkward leftover foods… That means I’ll have to supply one for myself.
So, here it is: French fries.
Leftover French fries are just the worst. If they’re fresh and of excellent quality, then perhaps they can be reheated in a toaster oven or the “real” oven, and a mere wisp of the original magic might be recaptured… Perhaps. But we all know that fries are meant to be consumed fresh from a fryer, a bit oily, and so hot that they burn the roof of your mouth just an eensy bit.
And the only fries you’ll find at our house ARE leftover fries, meaning we splurged and went out to eat. I’ve fought the good fight and have held firm; there will be no deep fryer in this house. It’s a petite dwelling; there’s not enough room to safely store regular items, let alone used oil. Not to mention that if we actually possessed a fryer, I suspect we’d use it more often than we currently eat at a restaurant, and fried food is incredibly unhealthy and makes your home stink like grease. So.
I honestly haven’t found a way to reuse leftover French fries. If you can’t successfully reheat and re-crisp them, you might as well compost ’em—and that’s not a suggestion you’ll see from me too often. However, French fries are made from potatoes, and those, my friends, get along great with so many other foods that they might as well be the adorable, affable class president of the edible world.
Allow me to share a sad truth about leftover potatoes: they will never achieve greatness again. Homemade tends to become flat and dense, while instant mashed becomes watery. The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to turn mashed leftovers into soup. That’s pretty simple, because potato soup can be anything it wants to be! Leftover mashed can also be used to thicken other soups and sauces, or if you’re clever you can dollop them on top of shepherd’s pie or even try forming and frying some potato pancakes. If you go the potato soup route, then prepare fewer chunked fresh potatoes and drop in your mashed just when your fresh potato pieces are softening up.
Potato soup is potatoes in water or broth, plus milk, plus whatever else you like in your potato soup. , Even the less starchy red and gold potatoes are still plenty starchy enough to thicken your soup all by themselves. You can peel the taters, or not. Honestly, it’s up to you. I never peel my little red or yukon gold potatoes unless I’m making the soup for someone who is anti-skin for whatever reason. The big russets have rougher, thicker skin so I do try to peel those—a quick parboil makes that much easier to do. Then, chop your taters into 1-inch cubes or smaller, and just barely cover with water in a low boil. Be patient, because potato breakdown takes a while; flavors and textures take time to develop!
I like chunky potato soup, so I’d probably start with at least one chunked-up potato to combine with my mashed leftovers… Almost everyone likes cheesy potato soup, and that can be as easy as dumping in a cup or two of shredded cheese when your taters are cooked through and beginning to come apart. If there are any larger pieces still intact, I’d recommend squashing them a bit with a manual masher before adding cheese. I suppose you could drag out the immersion blender—but you don’t need to. Cheddar is nice, sharp is better, and shredding your own will always taste better and be creamier than the pre-shredded bags. (No one wants cellulose soup!) Either way, stir frequently so your cheese doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot! And if you love another fromage? As long as it melts, it's game.
But wait, there’s more! Remember that leftover ham from the last entry? Here it goes again, getting stirred into the soup as it simmers on the stovetop! If you have a substantial amount of ham, then the cheese is entirely optional because ham + salt + pepper plus a dollop of sour cream at the end makes plenty of flavor without cheese.
(Another great thing about ham is that it’s pretty much interchangeable with any other salty cured pork, especially when you’re talking about forgiving dishes like potato soup and fake frittata. Think bacon, prosciutto, even some cured sausages—they’d all work wonderfully in potato soup.)
A fabulous thing about cooking like your great grandparents means you’re much more flexible. Can you use almond milk instead of dairy? Sure, as long as it’s not sweetened. What if it is? Add curry, or garam masala, or both, and finish with some wilted spinach—suddenly your soup has a middle Eastern flair! No ham, but tons of corn? Make parmesan corn chowder! No meat or corn, but just potatoes? Supplement with tons of pre-sautéed celery, onion, garlic, and herbs that you adore!
Somewhat bland foods, like potatoes, are perfect blank canvases for your gastric creativity. The only caveat I’d add is that once potatoes have been prepared in a particular way, it’s hard to change their form. For example, leftover boiled reds with butter and parsley won’t make as good a soup because that butter has already changed the surfaces of their sliced edges. Scalloped potatoes can’t really ever be anything but what they are (although who in their right mind would ever want to change them?!) Already baked-and-cooled russets can turn into mashed, but they’ll likely be lumpy—you’re better to just slice or chunk them and fry them in a pan for breakfast.
No matter what you add when you travel the creamy soup road, remember this: just like when tinting paint where it’s easier to darken the color than it is to lighten it? It’s much easier to thin a soup than it is to thicken it—so go easy on the milk. You can always add more when you reheat the next day, if needed.
The hard truth is that all of this cooking takes practice. Each time you step into the kitchen and take some risks, you’ll learn. You won’t just learn how much milk is required to make a soupy consistency; you’ll learn whether or not you even like curry… And isn’t that the point? Most of us are cooking for ourselves or our loved ones, and when it comes down to it, “good” food is what we like—just like “good” wine.
Remember the goal: Eat it all. Wasting food is criminal. Using and re-using what you have on hand is MUCH easier to do when you begin to build a happy little diagram of “food families” in your mind… but we’ll save that for next time! Until then, remember, I’ll always welcome suggestions of tough leftovers in the comments section!
P.S. All potatoes and potato products are better with salt. Lots of salt. And a pinch of pepper. Think of this, though: even being liberal in your salt app at home is loads better, and lower in salt, than the processed garbage that’s filled with sodium. Start reading labels, even of “healthy” prepared foods, and be horrified at the amount of sodium in them…
