About leftovers

[autumnkate]

We had a nice local butcher joint of beef for Xmas lunch.
Yesterday we had leftover cold slices of beef with bubble and squeak. Today I told DH that I was going to make something with the leftovers (about 400/500g). I gave him the option of stew or a pasta dish. He said he didn’t want stew.

Spend hour or so making a ragu. Serve at lunchtime. DH “Is this the Xmas beef?”
Me: “Yes, that’s the last of it.”
DH: “Wow I would have expected to have it sliced or something.”
Me: “What? I told you I was making pasta.”
DH: “No, I just said I didn’t want stew.”
DH to kids: “Enjoy this kids, it will be the most expensive pasta you ever have. There’s about £30 of beef there”. (not true btw)

Am I wrong to have made it into a ragu?
Am I wrong to be really annoyed off at his comments?
Argh.

@LolaSmiles

Totally agree with Lola, and @OppsUpsSide expressed it beautifully on the bottom of P1. Cardo , you have made yourself look a bit silly on this thread.

So, to go back to the opening post, I would prefer a quality joint of meat's leftovers, sliced cold myself even setting aside the fact that it is less work , but he sounds like he needs to put his brain in gear before opening his mouth
Well said. It's a bit annoying that he decided to pass comment after, but not the end of the world.

In answer to the question what others would have done. I rarely buy beef joints and when I do it's one that does the main meal, sometimes with some cold cuts for lunch or sandwiches the following day. I don't think a beef roasting joint lends itself to being cooked more than once.

Glad you're all sorted OP.

You're in the minority there what do you think shepherd's pie is made from!

You're in the minority there what do you think shepherd's pie is made from!
Shepherd's pie is made from lamb, well it traditionally is and that's always been lamb in my family. This thread is about roast beef.

I don't mind being in a minority for thinking that a beef roasting joint doesn't do well being cooked, or for agreeing with OP's husband that it would be best as cold slices. It's one of the reasons I don't buy large joints of beef.

Shepherd's pie is made from lamb, well it traditionally is and that's always been lamb in my family. This thread is about roast beef.

Cottage pie if it's beef. Or Hachis Parmentier if you're pretentious or French

@ErrolTheDragon

I can't get my head around taking cooked roast beef and then cooking it even more?

You've never heard of cottage/shepherds pie? That's the traditional way to use leftover roast beef and lamb.

OPs DH should have asked her to save him a slice or two of cold beef if that's what he wanted. And he shouldn't have made sulky snide remarks about the cost.

Of course I have - my mum used to make cottage pie all the time out of leftover roast beef, and it was nowhere near as good as when it was made with fresh mince, so I don't use leftover good meat for that. No way would I waste leftover good lamb in a shepherd's pie! But we usually have rack which wouldn't work anyway.

A really yummy thing I like to do with left over roast, roast veges and gravy is to dice it all up and mix in the gravy. Cut a sheet of puff pastry in half diagonally. Spoon mixture on, fold into triangle and cook in oven. So yummy!

@LolaSmiles

YANBU to be mildly irritated with his comments, but I probably wouldn't use a nice joint of beef to make ragu/stew/one pot type dish and would probably lean more to your DH's expectation

I have to agree. Most people look forward to sliced beef from a costly holiday roast, even as leftovers.

@Shoppingwithmother

Cardo

Nobody has said she should have cooked something better - in fact literally the opposite - it would have been nicer just eaten cold with no cooking at all!

Exactly. Just because OP didn't "fancy" cold sliced leftovers doesn't mean the rest of the family wouldn't enjoy.

He sounds ungrateful and rude. You offered two delicious options. He should’ve cooked something himself if he didn’t like what you suggested.

Undermining you in front of your children isn’t ok either. Is he often like this?

I would kick him up his butt.
No matter how cheap or expensive the meat is, it's there, it's what's left over, you can choose to put it on a pedestal with the original bill attached and watch it spoil or use it in the ways you enjoy eating your meal.
And suggest your DH sharing the cooking, they mostly stop whingeing then. I too would be getting those "So what's for dinner?" questions? I relish in answering: " So what's your plan?"

@EerieSilence I did kind of do this. I asked him to sort out the evening meal yesterday- snacky bits. He did it (resentfully) and went to bed at 8pm.

Ragu sounds lovely and I know I’d prefer that to dry sliced up beef. And no matter how much it cost you used it up and made something tasty with it. Next time give him toast.

Cold sliced meat is great in Japanese Ramen with a soft egg and whatever bits you have (sliced salad onions, mushrooms, sweetcorn).

Was it Wagu beef? If so, even better in ramen.

You can keep dried noodles and miso as a cupboard staple as they're great for using up leftovers.

@contrmary

YABU. The point of pasta is that it uses cheap meat. More expensive beef should be enjoyed on its own.

No its not. Pasta can be a mediocre 'with cheap mince' meal, or it can be something else entirely with nicer meat.

Just like cottage or shepherds pie, which are traditionally made with leftover roast meat, there's probably an equivalent pasta dish that's made with leftover roast meat.

I had an amazing shepherd's pie once in a gastro pub, that was clearly made with leftover roast lamb, not mince and it was the nicest shepherds pie I've ever had.

Plus OP, I agree that your DH was a dick, for criticising your decision, without offering any mental or practical input himself. If you don't make any effort into the process, you get what you're given and be grateful.

If you can't make a lovely ragu or cottage/shepherds pie with leftover red meat which elevates it above a cold slice, that's a reflection on your cooking skills tbh. If you CBA, or just fancy a sandwich or salad fine, of course.

What do people do with leftover pork though? I don't often do roast pork because it doesn't appeal to me cold or in any cooked dish I can think of.

Why are people continuing making pointless comments about how they would prefer to eat cold roast beef? You weren't there it really doesn't matter how you would prefer to eat it. Some people are happy to eat cold meat for days on end, some people prefer to do something different especially when it gets dry.

If DH wanted it cold again that's absolutely fine, he should have said 'save me a few slices'. If he didn't think to listen to the conversation and make his preferences known they can't complain about it after OP's gone to the effort of cooking something. Case closed.

Two words for him, one begins with F, the other is off. If he must be such a dick in future let him cook it himself.

What do people do with leftover pork though? I don't often do roast pork because it doesn't appeal to me cold or in any cooked dish I can think of
I know some of my friends make goulash with it.
My feelings on leftover roast pork are similar to yours though.

Another use for leftover roast pork would be in a ramen noodles dish. Slice up and heat in the noodle stock and add appropriate vegetables such as greens, mushrooms spring onions.

Or maybe in fajitas or a chilli

I don't eat beef but did a rib joint. Slices for one meal; slices frozen in gravy for another 2 meals then rest curried the rest. DP said it was really nice to have a curry with really good beef. (But he thinks I don't serve enough meat for each portion- 100g is the limit, less if cooked) So I don't think it's wasted whatever you put it in. Your DP is grumping. He should have said slices when you offered stew or ragu if it was that important.

If someone cooked me a nice hot meal 3 days in s row I would eat whatever landed on my plate with a big smile. He is a moaner. Let him cook the next meal.

@autumnkate

We had a nice local butcher joint of beef for Xmas lunch. Yesterday we had leftover cold slices of beef with bubble and squeak. Today I told DH that I was going to make something with the leftovers (about 400/500g). I gave him the option of stew or a pasta dish. He said he didn’t want stew.

Spend hour or so making a ragu. Serve at lunchtime. DH “Is this the Xmas beef?”
Me: “Yes, that’s the last of it.”
DH: “Wow I would have expected to have it sliced or something.”
Me: “What? I told you I was making pasta.”
DH: “No, I just said I didn’t want stew.”
DH to kids: “Enjoy this kids, it will be the most expensive pasta you ever have. There’s about £30 of beef there”. (not true btw)

Am I wrong to have made it into a ragu?
Am I wrong to be really annoyed off at his comments?
Argh.

I made ours into a beef and onion pie.

As long as it gets eaten and not thrown away and wasted I don’t care.

I don't see why you wouldn't have it in a sauce. I wouldn't find it very enjoyable to have sliced cold beef two days in a row, its leftover so its quality is irrelevant. If you'd bought some sirloin steaks to make spag bol then I'd see his point, but you used left over beef and made a nice meal out of it.

I'd have been delighted if someone cooked anything that thoughtful. Bet it was delicious.

Leftover pork is great for sweet and sour or in fajitas.

There’s nothing wrong with using a good cut of beef in a ragu.

Using grotty old cheap mince as one PP suggested makes me shudder. A nice bit of beef in a rich Ragu sauce sounds amazing. And I’m a vegetarian!!!

2 day old cold sliced beef is boring af.

Also if he wanted that then he could have vocalised it or nipped into the kitchen to deal with it himself...

YANBU OP - I assume at some point he could have easily said “save me a bit of the beef just sliced in the fridge ta”