We spend a lot of time cooking great foods and we always have leftovers, and sometimes we will reheat them in the microwave or oven and when we do, it is critical for us to get the food to the correct reheat temperature to keep it safe and make it delicious. For any reheated food it must be reheated to 165℉(73℃) for fifteen seconds to make sure any food borne bacteria or viruses are killed keeping the food safe.
Today, we are looking at taking leftover roast, potatoes au gratin, and corn and repurposing them into a new dish. This dish is delicious, satisfying, and is so easy to make following a few simple steps and monitoring the temperature with the ChefsTemp Finaltouch X10 Instant Read Thermometer.
Mississippi Roast Cast Iron Skillet Pie:
- Fifteen 9-inch pie crusts, enough for a fifteen-crust pie
- 10-inch cast iron skillet, seasoned
- Left over Mississippi roast
- Left over Potatoes Au Gratin
- Left over corn
Take your left-over roast and dice it up into bite size chunks, place it in a mixing bowl and add the left over au gratin potatoes, corn, and the left-over gravy. Place one of the pie crusts into the cast iron skillet and fill the pie crust with the left-over roast mix. Even it out and place the remaining crust over the top and fold the edge and pinch it as you would for a regular pie. Place it in a pre-heated 375℉(190℃) oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is browned and the filling reaches a minimum of 165℉(73℃) for fifteen seconds. I cooked this one to 186℉(85℃) to ensure the crust was fully baked. Every oven is different.
Once you get the pie cooked to the correct temperature, it is necessary to allow the pie or any casserole style dish to rest for 20 minutes to normalize. This allows the juices to return to the middle, allows any possible cold spots to reach the desired temperature, and allows the flavors to fully combine.
For this dish we are making a side dish of Pineapple Coleslaw.
Pineapple Coleslaw:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 can of chunk or sliced pineapple, drained (if you use sliced pineapple, cut it into chunks)
- 4 cups shredded cabbage
In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar and whisk it together until smooth. Add the cabbage and pineapple, mix thoroughly, and refrigerate for one hour.
Pineapple coleslaw has the perfect blend of sweet and tangy and goes well with any dish but especially with dishes which hearty and heavily spiced.
Leftovers can be made into some amazing dishes. They must be handled correctly to keep them safe, and as with any other food, time and temperature are the key factors to using them. A lot of people use the microwave or the oven and simply reheat them. But even doing this, food safety still requires reheating them to 165℉(73℃) and the temperature must hold for a minimum of fifteen seconds. If you are reheating in the oven, cover them with foil, add some liquid to help keep it moist and reheat at 350℉(176℃) until the food reaches a minimum of 165℉(73℃). this is necessary for the food to stay safe. Take temperature readings in several unusual places with the ChefsTemp Final Touch X10 Instant Read Thermometer to make sure it is heated fully throughout your dish. When using the microwave to reheat foods, you must heat it long enough to reach 165℉(73℃), then it must rest for at least two minutes to allow the food to normalize. Then you retake your temperatures and if it is not hot enough, return to the microwave for additional cooking time, and retake your temperatures.
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When making casserole type dishes, it is important to keep in mind that you are often combining leftovers with fresh food, and all the food together must be heated to the same temperature, it must reach 165℉(73℃) for at least fifteen seconds to be served. This rule applies to any foods that are reheated as well, from soup to casseroles, all reheated dishes must be heated to 165℉(73℃) and must hold the temperature for at least fifteen seconds.
Once you have your food reheated to the correct temperature it is then safe to serve it once you allow the casserole to rest for twenty minutes. This is a crucial step. It ensures the food will have reached the safe minimum temperature throughout the dish and will have killed any food borne pathogens that could cause health related concerns and food borne illnesses.
It is also critical to keep in mind when you combine fresh foods with leftovers that it may be necessary to cook the fresh food before combining it with the leftover foods to make sure that it cooks and heats evenly. Some ingredients like potatoes and rice need to be cooked first before being added to casseroles, they will not be fully cook otherwise. Some pastas also need to be cooked first as well, they absorb liquids in your dish, and they will not be fully cooked when the rest of the dish reaches 165℉(73℃).
Casserole dishes are made by combining vegetables, grains, pastas, root vegetables, potatoes, and meat with sauces or broths, cheeses, dairy products, tomato sauces, and then cooking them, usually done in an oven, until all the ingredients are done, and the dish has reached 165℉(73℃) for fifteen seconds and then it is ready to be served.
Most casseroles are baked between 350℉ to 425℉(176℃ to 218℃ ) depending on the ingredients used and whether it has a crust, or other things on top to help hold the moisture in the dish.
In Summary:
Always make sure you cook your casserole fully and take temperature readings in several areas to ensure that it has reached 165℉(73℃) throughout the dish and holds the temperature for at least fifteen seconds, then let it rest for twenty minutes before serving.
