First off, I am a fiend when it comes to mixing leftovers up
to make new dishes. Basically I hate to waste food. So that extra broccoli from
two nights ago gets added to last night’s pot roast and potatoes and all of
them get diced up and added into an omelet. Pretty normal stuff. Not terribly
original but it works.
The second thing you should know is I’m not really an ice
cream person. Sensitive teeth. So I like to make ice cream sundaes sans the ice
cream. Most of the time I use a bowl of cereal as my base, usually Honey Nut Cheerios, and
then pile on the toppings: banana, chocolate syrup, strawberries, nuts, and
lots of whipped cream. And NO CHERRY! Those things are nasty. My husband pounds
down cereal by the truckload each week so oftentimes I find my pantry out of
stock of my regular sweet tooth fix. Enter spaghetti. Actually it was macaroni
elbows but pasta is pasta. I had leftover noodles in the fridge, but none of my
usual ingredients. I did however have some real maple syrup, a jar of pumpkin
butter that was about to expire and whipped cream.
Taking my cue from Buddy the
Elf, I poured on the syrup but instead of M&M’s and marshmallows I added a
couple of dollops of pumpkin butter, sprinkled it with chocolate chips, pecans and
topped it off with LOTS of whipped cream. And then for good measure I added a
bit of cinnamon. It was amazing! And I’ll explain why it makes so much sense.
Plain pasta is amazingly versatile. It’s basically just
starch and has no preference in the battle of savory versus sweet. Rice,
another simple starch, is a great example. Rice pudding is an internationally well-loved
dessert and chicken and rice soup makes a nice change from typical chicken
noodle. Or just think of the versatility of bread. Peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches are just as popular as grilled cheese. (Actually I prefer almond
butter and Nutella but that's besides the point.)
Then there is maple syrup. I’m not talking about the brown
colored corn syrup Mrs. Butterworth calls syrup. I’m talking real Grade A maple
syrup preferably from Canada. In my humble opinion maple syrup is the best
product we can obtain from trees. (I mean who really needs shelter and oxygen?)
And what do we usually put maple syrup on? Waffles. Pancakes. In other words
starches. I will ignore for now the joy of maple bacon. (If you’ve never tried
maple syrup on bacon or sausage you are not living a full life.)
Pumpkin butter is a truly amazing thing. Sweet and spicy and
so holiday! My sister and mom actually sent me some from my favorite store in
San Diego last year for my birthday. It’s smooth and sticky and spreads easily.
It forms a wonderful “sauce base” for the noodles, getting into all the elbows.
Whipped cream. Need I say more? Well I’ll just say that the
dairy fat helps balance out all the sugar so far adding some richness. And
chocolate chips and pecans added a much needed textural component to all the
soft ingredients. The judges on Chopped would be pleased. Finally, the dash of
cinnamon just looks damn pretty. And of course it complements the spicy pumpkin
butter very well.
By breaking this dish, which I will dub “Ode to Buddy”, down
to its components, it makes so much sense why this works so well. I really
don’t know how I never tried this before. But I urge you to head to the grocery
store and get everything you need right now! You won’t be disappointed. I
promise.
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