Friends and Leftovers

It will take a while to connect the two subjects, but bear with me. It will be fun.

I will admit up front, without guilt and without shame: I HATE leftovers. I try to be noble and to save what we don't eat during the week, and then use it later, either in lunch, or something for dinner, but I never do. The days of pouring a can of cream of mushroom soup over "whatever" and cooking it on the stove are gone, maybe that's good, and maybe it's not.

Yes, I know, there are many more interesting things to do with leftovers than 'what's that " pudding, but it's a character flaw: I don't want to know anything about them. Perhaps it's a Buddhist thing and I don't want to get 'attached' to any one food, or maybe I'm just a snob, but it is what it is.

Now, this doesn't mean that "planned excess" is something I stand in opposition to. What I mean by that is this: sometimes, when I'm cooking something, there will be extra room in the oven, or I'll have an idea that I can use it later in the week, so I'll make two of whatever I'm making. Go ahead, and try to resolve that with my detestation of left overs. It makes perfect sense to me, but if I heard anyone else tell me that, I'd say "basket case." Again though, it is what it is.

So, this past week, I was roasting a chicken for Guy and myself for dinner. I make the chicken according to Judy Rogers recipe in "The Zuni Cookbook," which is one of those books that everyone should have. It's a cookbook that literally did change the way I cook, and I use it often. The bird called for is small: 3 pounds, so there was room for a second one. Is there anyone who does not like roast chicken?( If there is, you shouldn't be reading this essay, and you should stop thinking "WOW. No leftovers? Something's wrong with HIM"). So, I had a second bird, with a vague thought that "i'll do something with that over the weekend..

And I did. You will read more about our friends at the farmers' market and the Saturday lunches we prepare for them, and there's where the chicken came in.

These are our FRIENDS. I don't want to give them leftovers. These are the people who make me look good with their incredible produce, like vegetable goddess Nivea, or the Poseidon of Montauk, Phil, who sells me our fish. No, they deserve the best I can give them. But they also need to eat on the run, since they're working.

The following came to me in a flash. I had been thinking "quesadillas," but the recipe changed a little as I went along. And it sure is good.

As with all of my recipes, you should feel free to change things. I used zucchini, because that's what I had. And monterey jack cheese, too. But use what you like.

I'm also going to go against the rules here, with stuffing the tortillas. Every recipe I've seen for tortillas, and that sort of thing has a line like "don't be too generous with the filling" I'd like to know WHY NOT? Because when you pick it up and eat it with your fingers, you might drip some? AW. If you're worried about that, eat something other than a tortilla. Fill 'em as full as you want.

Now, to friends. Just the day before I wrote this, my friend Dave was telling me about how he had bought a roast chicken with some side dishes and was going to use that for dinner on Friday night. He called me from work at 6:30. I was watching a sunset, Dave was working. He and his partner, Peter, are ALWAYS working. And they're working for the general good of all of us: Dave, to fill our space with music, Peter, to get rid of discrimination. They are both dear to my heart. One of my fantasies in life is to someday, buy a huge brownstone, and fill it with people whom I love. Dave and Peter have a lock on one of those apartments. Whenever they want.

And this recipe seems to be right up their alley. Peter is learning how to cook, and he's good at it. Dave is one of the few people who was brave enough to cook for me, without excuses, without fear, and it was GREAT. I had to stop myself after the fourth helping of his pasta, because I knew there was more coming, but Dave, I'd eat your cooking any day of the week. So, this recipe is for them. Hope you guys make it a and I hope you like it.

So here it comes. I don't know what to call it. Fajitadillas? Torsedillas? Who knows. Just make it. It's good.


1 3 pound roasted chicken
12 flour tortillas
3 medium sized zucchini
One red onion
1/2 pound of monterey jack cheese.

First, do the prep work, which is much easier than you'd think. Using your fingers , a knife, or whatever is easiest, rip the meat from the chicken, into little pieces. Make sure you get the skin, too. Grate the cheese , preferably on the tear shaped hole of a three side grater. Cut the zucchin in half, so that a 6 incher is now two three inchers, and then cut that into cubes. Cube the onion.

Preheat your oven to 400, and then heat up some olive oil in a pan and add the onions. Toss in a sprinkle of salt, and then add the zucchini. Cook these for about five minutes, and then toss in the chicken and stir just to warm it. There's your filling.

Tortillas need to be warmed before you work with them. If you're braver than me, wave each one over an open flame for a few seconds. If you're not, heat a small frying pan, dry, and cook them on each side for about ten seconds. Put the warmed tortillas on a baking sheet and add a nice pinch of cheese. Then a GENEROUS bit of your filling, followed by another pinch of cheese. If you have a good barbecue sauce around put some of that on too (I used American Spoon's cherry barbeque sauce). Fold the tortilla over the filling, and just keep on doing this until you use them up. I got twelve done this way.

Put the baking sheet into the oven, and cook until the cheese melts and begins to run out, probably in five minutes or so, and that's it.

Twelve tortillas is a lot of tortillas. Two is plenty, with some salad or something else, and three will fill up even the hungriest among us. So again, here's another excuse for telling your friends that you appreciate them. Get some beer, or some of those wonderful , brightly colored mexican sodas, put out a bowl of fruit, and everyone will smile (Especially the people who won't eat the pasta because "there's too much FAT in it.).