A Southern Grace: three cheers for leftovers...

June 18, 2010

three cheers for leftovers...

Yum

...or as my stepdad says, rightovers.

Granted, the picture ain't grand, but it still conveys the awesomeness, right? Right?
And I promise--I didn't intend to flip anyone off with that rogue onion.

It's pretty exciting when you're able to clear the fridge and feast on something more exciting and delicious than each of the individual components ever were by themselves. That was the case here. The fridge was pretty full--ground turkey, mashed potatoes, cooked corn, some lingering chicken broth. What to do, what to do?

The answer was obvious to me--shepherd's pie. Actually, a quick googling taught me that shepherd's pie is made with lamb while cottage pie is made using beef. Conundrum! What if it's made with chicken or turkey? I couldn't find any reasonable answer to that, so I hereby dub the concoction coop pie.

You know how to make it, but here's my version:

Coop Pie
leftover mashed potatoes
ground turkey, browned and drained of fat
assortment of veggies, including peas, corn, and onion
salt, pepper, paprika, Worcestershire sauce
chicken broth
pepper jack cheese

In a medium skillet, cook the onion and other uncooked veggies until they soften. Add the turkey, cooked veggies, and enough to broth to moisten everything and cook until warmed through. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce.
Pour into a casserole dish and cover with leftover mashed potatoes. Sprinkle Shower the top with pepper jack cheese and paprika (for the eyes more than the palate) and bake at 350F for 30 minutes or so, or until the potatoes become brown. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before digging in.

70 comments:

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Exactly! What is a girl to do but make this! it looks scrumptious! :o

tasteofbeirut said...

I love it! I hate to waste food too and when the leftovers make an elegant dish like this, you deserve a giant pat on the back!

pam said...

Coop pie - you're very own creation! I would definitely call those rightovers!

Lisa-Marie said...

Coop pie is brilliant. I have to say, it really bothers me if someone says we are having shepherds pie and it has beef in it. I'll blog my shepherds pie recipe next week!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I like the name "coop pie". It has a certain ring to it and heaven knows I love these kind of dishes.

CC11 said...

It never dawned on me that shepherds pie was lamb and cottage pie beef - and now I know another one - COOP PIE!

FOODESSA said...

I give your 'Right-overs' an extra cheer. I don't know how I would make most of my meals without these dependables!
Right on Grace...great cooks in the kitchen!
Flavourful wishes, Claudia

Angie's Recipes said...

A 5-star left-over creation! Awesome.

Von said...

Haha- I love the name =] Unfortunately, you'll never find left overs of ground turkey, mashed potatoes and chicken broth in our household (because we so rarely eat these things), but this looks really good! I want to make this- or at least shepherd's pie!

pigpigscorner said...

yum! I love cooking with leftovers!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

I love leftovers and that is a great way of using them!

Cheers,

Rosa

Anonymous said...

Yummy shepherd's pie! It's a great use of leftovers!

lisa is cooking said...

Coop pie sounds great! I somehow never have leftover mashed potatoes (maybe because I always over-indulge when they're around), but I need to find a way to make that happen.

Sandie {A Bloggable Life} said...

Grace, you crack me up! I love leftovers (love rightovers even more) ;)

Lucie said...

Man, that onion really offended me. I'll have to make some coop pie to get over this. Given the humidity for my last day in the US, I'll go for a salad, but back in the 60 degree weather in France I'll be craving this!

hannah @ thepastrykook said...

hahaha i like how you named it coop pie! so original and soo cute!

Silver Strands said...

Funny - this is EXACTLY what I did with all my leftovers last night! (Why does yours look so much better than mine?!)
oxoxo
Denalee

oneordinaryday said...

One thing we never have in our house is leftover mashed potatoes. That pot is always nearly licked clean. If it ever happens, however, I think this is an excellent way to use them!

Lori said...

Love the name of your recipe.

Hey I learned something. I did not know about the shephards pie and cottage pie difference.

TKW said...

Love both the colorful name of the dish and the term "rightovers."

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

Now that is the perfect spoonful!

The Blonde Duck said...

I'd eat it in a heartbeat.

Barbara said...

You concocted a coop, Grace. (couldn't resist) And you got a clean fridge besides.
Sometimes our best meals are made with rightovers! My kids call often to say: what did you put in that casserole? And half the time I can't remember. Luckily, this was so good, you wrote it out for us.

marla {family fresh cooking} said...

Only you would come up with "Coop PIe" I love that. Shepherds Pie was the first recipe I ever posted on my blog. Love it, in every season! Yours looks great. xo

Lindsey @ pickyeatings said...

I love this. I was actually talking about Shepherd's Pie the other day with a friend...maybe it's a sign that I should make some.

Jennifer said...

At first glance I thought it said Poop Pie, LOL. I need glasses. That looks nothing like leftover anything to me, YUM!

vanillasugarblog said...

i
am
so
with
you
on
this
one!
AMEN!

Pam said...

I wish we were neighbors... I would love a huge bowl of that coop pie right now!!!

Anonymous said...

This is exactly how leftovers should look! YUM!

Carol said...

Leftovers ROCK! And so doesn't your pie, Grace.
I love the name......it's got a nice ring to it.
I would love a dish right about now. :)

cookies and cups said...

This looks perfect! My kids love anything with mashed potatoes :)

maybelle's mom said...

i kind of really like your stepfather.

Carolyn Jung said...

I live for leftovers. Seriously! They make life easier and tastier.

Gloria Baker said...

look yummy!!! gloria

shaz said...

I think this may have been the first time I have been (almost) flipped by a rogue onion :) It is definitely an awesome way to use leftovers. Yum!

Erica said...

Yum, yum, yum. This looks awesome.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

I say coop pie and sound stupid. You say coop pie and you're a funny genius! :)

Happy Friday!
~ingrid

Unknown said...

haha...ya Ive heard the lamb / beef thing before. whaaatever. its meat topped with potatoes which equals shepherds pie LOL...but coop pie is hysterical!

~~louise~~ said...

Rightover, that's priceless!

Anyway you say it, coop pie, any pie that uses leftovers is A-okay in my book!!!

Thanks for sharing, Grace.

If you have a sec, drop by my blog. We're playing the Picnic Game!!! Wanna Play???

Joanne said...

I have a serious love of leftovers! Coops pie...got a nice ring to it. Looks delicious!

Sarah said...

I made this with beef this week. Maybe I could call it cow pie! Eeew...it just doesn't have the same ring.

Kitchen Butterfly said...

I have a whole page on my leftside bar dedicated to leftovers and the beauty of them. And I so love rightovers....your step dad is brill!

Kerstin said...

What a great way to use up leftovers! Such a comforting meal.

cooking rendez-vous said...

I love these leftover recipes. They're often the best ones. Your recipes seems yummy. I will try it. I sometimes make a similar "hachis parmentier" with marshed vegetables (like carrots, zuchini and potatoes). A good way to make kids eat vegetables.

Abby said...

Leftover potatoes are gold! We often make potato pancakes or hashbrowns with ours. This is a great idea!

La Bella Cooks said...

Coop pie looks pretty darned good to me!

pierre said...

yummy I love it !! bravo Pierre de Paris

MaryBeth said...

we love to toss together left over's and make something new. This looks fabulous !

Unknown said...

Coop Pie. Trademark it girl! That's sooo original:-)both the pie and the name

Jannett said...

Love comfort food.... :)

Marjie said...

Coop pie is a great name!

Julie M. said...

I love creating meals with leftovers in the fridge. And it's especially rewarding when it tastes better than the original intention! That's a beautiful looking coop pie, rogue onion and all. Hope you had a great weekend!

Penny said...

What a great use for left (or right)overs. You could also call it Gobbler Pie. Now my mind is going to go on and on with this one.

Lyndas recipe box said...

Leftovers are a gift- you've made the most of these tasty treasures Grace. I like the name Coop Pie!

Deborah said...

That's a perfect way to use leftovers
! Love the name, too.

kat said...

yum, yum, yum!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Best use of leftovers ever!

Juliana said...

Wow, what a perfect way to use the leftovers...look so yummie!

sweetlife said...

I love leftovers, sometimes it seems to turn out better than expected...yum

sweetlife

scrambledhenfruit said...

Leftovers are awesome. Now that I'm almost an empty-nester I'm having leftovers for the first time in a while. :) I like all things coop related- this pie is no exception I'm sure. Thanks for sharing!

LyB said...

Yes indeed, leftovers are a great thing! I made "Sorta Fajitas" with leftover steak last night, it's so great to have a great meal without having to slave over the stove! ;)

Laura said...

LOL! Awesome, coop pie. My neighbor made cottage pie for me when I had my gall bladder out this spring, and when I called it shepherd's pie she (is Australian) most definitely corrected me. Who knew?

~~louise~~ said...

Hi Grace! I was waiting for your next post to ask you whether you were going to be able to play the Picnic Game this year but it seems the days are speeding by and I don't want to wait too long. I do hope you will "play." It was such fun last year. Won't you please join us if you're not too too busy...Hope to "see" you there, Louise

Peabody said...

So kind of like shepards pie...looks good.

Nutmeg Nanny said...

What delicious looking leftovers! Feel free to send me a piece :)

Mimi said...

I think the girls in the coop next door would be offened by your pie, but I think it delcious.
Mimi

Trissa said...

That is just amazing - it looks hearty and delicious - and no one would ever think that it was leftovers.

The Teacher Cooks said...

You crack me up! A great way to use leftovers. I love the peas and potatoes.

LilSis said...

I've never made shepherds pie because I'm not a lamb eater and I never thought of making it with turkey. I substitute turkey for just about every beef recipe these days, so I'm sure it's great in this recipe, too. I'll have to try this on my family if we ever have leftover mashed potatoes.

grub said...

yum yum!! i made something similar to this with beef mince instead of lamb. it still tasted great!