The Art of Cooking with Leftovers: A Creative Approach to Chicken and Broccoli Pasta

When it comes to cooking with leftovers, some people tend to stick to the same old ideas. However, our host has a different approach to taking advantage of those often-overlooked ingredients. They start by combining chicken and broccoli, two ingredients that are often considered staples in Chinese cuisine, with pasta. The result is a dish that's both familiar and excitingly new.

To begin, the host takes out the noodles from their packet and cooks them according to the package instructions. They aim for an al dente texture, which they believe will help absorb the flavors of the sauce better. Next, they add the chicken and broccoli to the pot, along with some soy sauce, spicy mustard, and duck sauce. The combination of these three ingredients creates a sauce that's both sweet and savory, with just the right amount of heat.

One of the unique aspects of this dish is its ability to infuse flavors into the noodles during cooking. By adding the sauce to the pot before draining off the excess water, the host ensures that every bite will be infused with the delicious flavors of the chicken, broccoli, and pasta. And if you're worried about having too much leftover pasta, don't be – this recipe is designed to feed a few people, making it perfect for those nights when you want something new but still familiar.

Of course, no meal is complete without adding some protein or extra flavor. In this case, the host adds an egg to the mix, which adds richness and creaminess to the dish. And if you're feeling adventurous, try adding some sesame seeds on top – it's a game-changer! The combination of flavors in this dish is truly unique, with each bite offering something new and exciting.

But that's not all – our host also shows us how to create another delicious dish using leftover ingredients: steak and mashed potatoes. Who says you can't make a cake out of mashed potatoes? By adding some flour, egg, and cheese to the mix, the host creates a crispy, cheesy ball that's perfect for serving alongside a juicy steak. And if you're feeling extra fancy, try adding some mushrooms on top – it's a great way to add some extra flavor and texture.

To make this dish come together, our host takes some sliced steak and adds it to a mixture of mashed potatoes, cheese, and spices. They then shape the mixture into little balls and fry them until crispy, creating a delicious snack that's perfect for any occasion. And if you're worried about making these balls look like, well, balls – don't be! With a little practice and patience, you'll be flipping these babies in no time.

Finally, our host adds some greens on top of the dish to give it a pop of color and freshness. It's the perfect finishing touch for this delicious meal, and it adds just enough brightness to balance out the richness of the cheese and potatoes.

The most important thing to remember when cooking with leftovers is to be confident in your abilities. Don't be afraid to experiment and try new things – after all, that's where the magic happens! And if you're feeling a little uncertain, take a cue from our host: just assert your dominance over your food, and trust that everything will turn out perfectly.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enchicken and broccoli definitely a go-to always ends up being a leftover you can eat it cold yeah you can take it out of the fridge eat a little bit pack it in there's always so much more you're like that's not that much and you put take it out of the thing exactly so we're taking advantage of two insanely delicious ingredients chicken and broccoli we're going to bust it up a little bit turn it into a pasta Bust It Up what are we doing some noodles hanging around cook a few of those up take the delicious packet that they give you the Chinese takeout we got soy sauce we got spicy mustard and then we got the Duck Sauce these three together I figured would make an insane delicious sauce for our pasta if you're not from the east coast of America you probably don't know what duck sauce is if you are from the east coast of America you probably don't know what the is either so the noodles are done cooking over here or they're almost done they're a little Al Dente which is perfect because we're going to add the sauce and Infuse that into the the noodle cooking process but we're just going to drain them off real quick and add them right back in there don't worry if they're not perfectly drained then we're going to take our chicken and broccoli and I'm going to just film mik so you guys can see in close pretend these are my eyes add that to the mix and then of course we're going to add our sauce packets you know what I'm going to add some sesame seeds to the to the pot wasn't part of the deal man I know if you don't have them don't worry about it look at I said you know it's not about what you have just about having fun and being creative with leftover the noodles had about minutes to really Infuse with the sauce the nice thing about this I just realized is typically if you're making leftovers like you're not going to have that much left over it's like a little half maybe a quarter of a chicken and broccoli if you're adding pasta now this is going to feed a few people exactly pretty genius let's get that egg on there oh throw on that egg you made before look at that look aie cookie chicken cookie just this is take a taste oh wow that is unlike anything I've ever experienced in my mouth before that's the cool thing about this process we're creating new flavors I love the spicy mustard in there can't deny that egg needs a little salt it's really interesting cuz it kind of is almost like honey mustard for some reason I have no idea why but the Duck Sauce spicy mustard that's what it is it's the sweet duck with the with the spicy mustard all right Mike what do we got steak and mashed potatoes not only a classic leftover from the restaurants but maybe your mom made this on Sunday and it's lying around but drawing them out would be a mistake and so we're going to create a cake with the mashed potatoes fry that off and then make a little mixture to put on top of it with the steak so you can work on that I'm going to take the steak out we got the mashed potatoes in a bowl they're a little wet if they're not wet you can probably throw them right in the pan and fry them off but what we'll do is we'll add a little cheesy goodness no no you don't add cheese I'll show you what you do oh I this guy thinks he knows it all take a little flour wet your hands first get let's get a pan hot son of a bastard all right pan hot you don't even do that you don't even know you can mix a little flour in but what I actually think might work is flour the outside right no h I think I don't know what were you thinking about the cheese oh well I'll show you give me a little more flour I was thinking about just mixing the cheese right in yeah that's why they call him the younger brother not cuz he was born 3 years after me because he thinks you just mixed the cheese into the croat I think they're called croates actually Mike so what you do you get the cheese chees oh I see what you're saying if I wet my hands it should do something to help me all right flat give me give me it that's that's a good amount of cheese Jesus Jesus Christ that's a lot of cheese you kind of you know try to get the cheese in the inside that way when we fry them we get like a Cheesy ball bastard so there's these things called Aaron chinis or something Aaron eronini arini I don't know but it's basically like a risotto ball this is kind of a similar concept you're just taking mashed potatoes and you're making like a fried ball you could bread these sometimes people actually do like the flour egg bread Chrome mixture now that is freaking awesome but you know we can't afford these things will you actually Pat those down I'm I'm going for the more cake cuz I'm going to add something on top them down like push them down so they're pit thought we're making balls of course we have to do something with this steak and I figured you know we could just put steak right on top of these cakes but we'll make a little mixture slice those up keep slicing keep slicing but we're going to cook up some mushrooms add that to the steak create a little mixture a little topping for the little pancakes we're making thank you look at that turns out I do know what I'm doing guys me when it comes to this stuff you just got to be confident you know you just got to be like I can do it and I can flip it and you do it it's good if you're being like kind of a little ass and in the kitchen it's going to show you know you just have to assert confidence and dominance over your food you're in control you're the master all right mushy's in there Mike is filming cuz we can't afford a film crew they stole our budget actually we never had a budget all right steak goes in little bite and the steak is already cooked you only need to cook the steak for a couple seconds you're not even cooking you're just kind of heating it up don't forget that just kind of plate this up stack on some Goods Jamie Oliver ladies and gentlemen all right sprinkle on some greens little garnish always looks nice that's what you're missing that looks beautiful it we don't need a sauce we did this let those turn beautiful look at that steak and mashed potatoes turned into mashed potato fritters with steak and mushroom your friends are all tripping out late night and you look in your fridge and you B out something like that are you kidding me\n"