{"id":25203,"date":"2022-04-01T01:10:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T05:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/?p=25203"},"modified":"2022-01-30T17:59:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T21:59:19","slug":"the-kitchen-witch-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2022\/04\/01\/the-kitchen-witch-40\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kitchen Witch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Using Leftovers ~ Fried Rice<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

We all have leftovers. I have lived with people \u2013 men, mostly \u2013 who have refused to eat leftovers. But I come from a family who don\u2019t waste anything at all \u2013 not food, not clothes, not anything <\/i>at all \u2013 and I am the same way. And honestly \u2013 if you throw away food \u2013 you\u2019re throwing away money. That\u2019s how I look at it. And I do not <\/i>like to waste money. Of course \u2013 some people think I waste a lot of money \u2013 buying books the way I do \u2013 but we all have our addictions! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I have a three-day rule \u2013 if the cooked food has been in the fridge for more than three days \u2013 I don\u2019t eat it anymore. Ever since I had thyroid cancer in 2012 and had radiation therapy, my gut can\u2019t put up with a lot of food that I used to love \u2013 once upon a time, I had a \u201ccast-iron stomach\u201d \u2013 but those days are long gone. I no longer can eat the hottest chicken wings \u2013 I can\u2019t eat deep-fried foods at all. I have to be really careful with tomato sauces \u2013 and I love sauce! I get heartburn like you wouldn\u2019t believe \u2013 I chew antacids like candy. I can\u2019t eat leftover meats the way I once could \u2013 I can\u2019t freeze leftovers and thaw them for later \u2013 they upset my stomach. So I have to eat them much quicker than I once would have. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One thing I always have leftover is rice. There\u2019s no way to make a little bit of rice. I\u2019ve tried \u2013 it doesn\u2019t cook well if you cut the recipe in half \u2013 it\u2019s one of those things. So the smallest amount you can cook is using a cup of uncooked rice and two cups of water, a tablespoon of butter or olive oil and a dash of salt \u2013 which will yield three cups cooked rice. I always use an old Revere Ware pan that was my grandmother\u2019s \u2013 it makes perfect rice every single time. My sister insists that the Instant Pot makes the best rice. However you cook your rice, if you\u2019re not making it for at least six people, you\u2019re going to have leftovers. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I used to just put rice into soups or into casseroles but in the past few months, I started making fried rice. One of the reasons I started doing this is because I moved out of my old neighborhood and I no longer have a fast-food Chinese restaurant to order from and I wanted to be able to be able to create the fried rice that I used to get with my favorite lunch special. But also \u2013 I wanted a way to use up my leftover rice.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Like all stir-fry recipes, the best way to go about this is to have all your vegetables chopped and ready before you start cooking. I like to have a base of garlic, onions, celery and carrots to start with. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I saut\u00e9 these in olive oil until they are just beginning to get fragrant \u2013 you don\u2019t want them to get soft. The trick is to cook them but keep them with a bit of a crunch. So you want a high heat and to keep them moving \u2013 stir, stir, stir! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

After this, you add your meat, if you\u2019re adding meat. I personally think leftover pork works the best \u2013 chicken is second-best. Shrimp is third \u2013 but if you\u2019re adding shrimp \u2013 I use cooked frozen shrimp \u2013 you add that at the end \u2013 and it\u2019s best to thaw the shrimp before adding it \u2013 I like to remove the tails, since I don\u2019t like pulling out the tails as I\u2019m eating. But that\u2019s just me. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This time, I used leftover pork. I rarely eat pork but every now and again, I have a taste for it. And of course \u2013 it\u2019s not necessary to add any meat at all. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Again, you want to have the meat chopped into small pieces before you start the cooking process. This was one small pork chop that was leftover from a previous meal \u2013 I had planned to use it for fried rice! I personally think pork works best for fried rice. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

After you add the pork and you stir that around for a while \u2013 stirring in all your good intentions, of course! \u2013 add the leftover rice. I never measure \u2013 I\u2019m bad that way \u2013 but you want about a cup or so of rice. Maybe a cup and a half. You don\u2019t want to crowd the pan.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

OK!! LISTEN TO ME!! Especially if you\u2019re using a cast-iron pan like I do! It\u2019s gonna stick! Don\u2019t worry about it! Just keep stirring it! Scrap it up from the bottom if you have to. It\u2019s no big deal. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After I add the rice, I grate in some ginger root. Now \u2013 if I was making a normal stir-fry, I would have grated the ginger root at the beginning and saut\u00e9ed it with the crushed garlic in the olive oil before I added anything else but this is different \u2013 I\u2019m not sure why \u2013 but it is. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You want a decent piece of ginger root. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Take your grater and grate the ginger root right into the pan. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

After this, you can add whatever else you want \u2013 I usually add broccoli if I have it \u2013 but peas are always good \u2013 or baby corn if you got any \u2013 or whatever leftover veggies you have. The thing is, you don\u2019t want to have too many things in the pan \u2013 because the rice will get soggy and you don\u2019t want that. So keep it simple \u2013 keep the vegetables at a minimum. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This is when I add the soy sauce for seasoning \u2013 I use San Jay \u2013 I think it\u2019s the best \u2013 but use whatever brand you are partial to. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

After this, I put the cover on the pan to steam the broccoli a little bit \u2013 if the broccoli is already cooked, this step can be skipped. I like my broccoli to be crunchy \u2013 I like all my stir-fry veggies to be a little crunchy \u2013 so the pan doesn\u2019t have to be covered for very long. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

And then it\u2019s done!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Wow, you can just about smell how great that is, huh? That ginger and garlic and that rice and veggies fried so perfectly in extra-virgin olive oil \u2013 that\u2019s kitchen witchery right there!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All that\u2019s left is the joy of eating it!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Whether you\u2019re making this for yourself or for some friends who stopped over to visit, this is a quick meal \u2013 or a snack \u2013 that is sure to satisfy. It\u2019s nice and light \u2013 plus it uses up those leftovers!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

**<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Polly MacDavid<\/b>\u00a0lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan but she gets along with a few of the masculine deities. She loves to cook and she is a Bills fan. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She blogs at\u00a0<\/span><\/span>silverapplequeen.wordpress.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span>. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Using Leftovers ~ Fried Rice We all have leftovers. I have lived with people \u2013 men, mostly \u2013 who have refused to eat leftovers. But I come from a family who don\u2019t waste anything at all \u2013 not food, not clothes, not anything at all \u2013 and I am the same way. And honestly \u2013 if you throw away food \u2013 you\u2019re throwing away money. That\u2019s how I look at it. And I do not like to waste money. Of course \u2013 some people think I waste a lot of money \u2013 buying books the way I do \u2013 but we all have our addictions! I have a three-day rule \u2013 if the cooked food has been in the fridge for more than three days \u2013 I don\u2019t eat it anymore. Ever since I had thyroid cancer in 2012 and had radiation therapy, my gut can\u2019t put up with a lot of food that I used to love \u2013 once upon a time, I had a \u201ccast-iron stomach\u201d \u2013 but those days are long gone. I no longer can eat the hottest chicken wings \u2013 I can\u2019t eat deep-fried foods at all. I have to be really careful with tomato sauces \u2013 and I love sauce! I get heartburn like you wouldn\u2019t believe \u2013 I chew antacids like candy. I can\u2019t eat leftover meats the way I once could \u2013 I can\u2019t freeze leftovers and thaw them for later \u2013 they upset my stomach. So I have to eat them much quicker than I once would have. One thing I always have leftover is rice. There\u2019s no way to make a little bit of rice. I\u2019ve tried \u2013 it doesn\u2019t cook well if you cut the recipe in half \u2013 it\u2019s one of those things. So the smallest amount you can cook is using a cup of uncooked rice and two cups of water, a tablespoon of butter or olive oil and a dash of salt \u2013 which will yield three cups cooked rice. I always use an old Revere Ware pan that was my grandmother\u2019s \u2013 it makes perfect rice every single time. My sister insists that the Instant Pot makes the best rice. However you cook your rice, if you\u2019re not making it for at least six people, you\u2019re going to have leftovers. I used to just put rice into soups or into casseroles but in the past few months, I started making fried rice. One of the reasons I started doing this is because I moved out of my old neighborhood and I no longer have a fast-food Chinese restaurant to order from and I wanted to be able to be able to create the fried rice that I used to get with my favorite lunch special. But also \u2013 I wanted a way to use up my leftover rice. Like all stir-fry recipes, the best way to go about this is to have all your vegetables chopped and ready before you start cooking. I like to have a base of garlic, onions, celery and carrots to start with. I saut\u00e9 these in olive oil until they are just beginning to get fragrant \u2013 you don\u2019t want them to get soft. The trick is to cook them but keep them with a bit of a crunch. So you want a high heat and to keep them moving \u2013 stir, stir, stir! After this, you add your meat, if you\u2019re adding meat. I personally think leftover pork works the best \u2013 chicken is second-best. Shrimp is third \u2013 but if you\u2019re adding shrimp \u2013 I use cooked frozen shrimp \u2013 you add that at the end \u2013 and it\u2019s best to thaw the shrimp before adding it \u2013 I like to remove the tails, since I don\u2019t like pulling out the tails as I\u2019m eating. But that\u2019s just me. This time, I used leftover pork. I rarely eat pork but every now and again, I have a taste for it. And of course \u2013 it\u2019s not necessary to add any meat at all. Again, you want to have the meat chopped into small pieces before you start the cooking process. This was one small pork chop that was leftover from a previous meal \u2013 I had planned to use it for fried rice! I personally think pork works best for fried rice. \u00a0 After you add the pork and you stir that around for a while \u2013 stirring in all your good intentions, of course! \u2013 add the leftover rice. I never measure \u2013 I\u2019m bad that way \u2013 but you want about a cup or so of rice. Maybe a cup and a half. You don\u2019t want to crowd the pan. OK!! LISTEN TO ME!! Especially if you\u2019re using a cast-iron pan like I do! It\u2019s gonna stick! Don\u2019t worry about it! Just keep stirring it! Scrap it up from the bottom if you have to. It\u2019s no big deal. After I add the rice, I grate in some ginger root. Now \u2013 if I was making a normal stir-fry, I would have grated the ginger root at the beginning and saut\u00e9ed it with the crushed garlic in the olive oil before I added anything else but this is different \u2013 I\u2019m not sure why \u2013 but it is. You want a decent piece of ginger root. Take your grater and grate the ginger root right into the pan. After this, you can add whatever else you want \u2013 I usually add broccoli if I have it \u2013 but peas are always good \u2013 or baby corn if you got any \u2013 or whatever leftover veggies you have. The thing is, you don\u2019t want to have too many things in the pan \u2013 because the rice will get soggy and you don\u2019t want that. So keep it simple \u2013 keep the vegetables at a minimum. This is when I add the soy sauce for seasoning \u2013 I use San Jay \u2013 I think it\u2019s the best \u2013 but use whatever brand you are partial to. After this, I put the cover on the pan to steam the broccoli a little bit \u2013 if the broccoli is already cooked, this step can be skipped. I like my broccoli to be crunchy \u2013 I like all my stir-fry veggies to be a little crunchy \u2013 so the pan doesn\u2019t have to be covered for very long. And then it\u2019s done! Wow, you can just about smell how great that is, huh? That ginger and garlic and that rice and veggies fried so perfectly in extra-virgin olive oil \u2013 that\u2019s kitchen witchery right there! All that\u2019s left is the joy of eating it! Whether you\u2019re making this for yourself or for some friends who stopped over to visit, this is a quick meal \u2013 or a snack \u2013 that is sure to satisfy. It\u2019s nice and light \u2013 plus it uses up those leftovers! ** About the Author: Polly MacDavid\u00a0lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic. Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan but she gets along with a few of the masculine deities. She loves to cook and she is a Bills fan. She blogs at\u00a0silverapplequeen.wordpress.com. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10006],"tags":[13580,10025,10027,13576,10028,13578,10077,10550,13577,11663,13579,10194,10026],"class_list":["post-25203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crafting-articles","tag-asian","tag-cooking","tag-delicious","tag-fried-rice","tag-kitchen","tag-leftovers","tag-magick","tag-recipe","tag-rice","tag-vegetables","tag-veggies","tag-witch","tag-yummy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25216,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25203\/revisions\/25216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}