Quick Recipes with On-Hand Ingredients

Barbecue sauce

Puree baked beans with spicy mustard, dark brown sugar and chicken broth, then slather onto pork tenderloin while it's roasting.

Ground beef patties:

Add drained baked beans, finely chopped bell pepper and onion to ground beef and shape into burgers or meatloaf.

Bean appetizer:

Spread mashed baked beans on a flour tortilla, sprinkle with spicy shredded grilled chicken, roll up into a pinwheel and slice into two-bite pieces.

Pancakes:

Swap beer for half the liquid in pancake batter. The pancakes will be extra-fluffy, with a rich, yeasty aroma. Add a little ground ginger, too, and serve with real maple syrup.

Beef Stew:

Braise beef in beer with chicken or beef broth and lots of caramelized onions. Serve the stew over egg noodles.

Sundae:

Simmer equal parts beer and store-bought dulce de leche sauce until thickened. Serve over vanilla ice cream and top with fresh pineapple.

French Toast:

Stuff thick slices of brioche bread with canned cranberry sauce and cream cheese; prepare like french toast and sprinkle with sugar.

Ribs:

Melt canned cranberry sauce with crystallized ginger, soy sauce, mustard and brown sugar and use to glaze ribs.

Semifreddos:

Whisk heavy cream and grated lime peel into canned cranberry sauce and freeze into single-serving cranberry semifreddos.

Scotch Eggs:

Shape a thin layer of uncooked bulk breakfast sausage around peeled hard-boiled eggs, dip in beaten egg, roll in breadcrumbs, then deep-fry. Cut into wedges and serve.

Egg Pasta:

Cook equal parts butter and flour for 1 minute, then whisk in milk and simmer until thickened to make a cream sauce. Whisk in mashed hard-boiled egg yolks, then toss with hot pasta, fresh herbs and steamed asparagus.

Egg Sandwich:

In a jar, cover peeled eggs with 2 parts apple cider vinegar, 1 part sugar, a generous pinch of salt and a few bay leaves. Refrigerate for 24 hours (or more), then slice and stack onto a ham or turkey club.

Fried Eggs:

Serve farina grits-style: Stir in cheddar cheese, butter and crumbled bacon and serve as a side dish for eggs.

Chicken Wings:

Dust wings with seasoned farina (try onion salt and cayenne) and bake at 400°.

Pudding:

Whisk milk, sugar, vanilla, eggs and butter into farina and simmer into a pudding.