Better the second day

[FairyChatMom]

I just finished some leftover lasagne - I'd made it for dinner last night and brought a hunk of it for lunch today. As anticipated, it tasted better today than it did right out of the oven. Same with spaghetti sauce, beef stew, and stuffed cabbage - they gotta sit overnight to permit the sublime comingling of ingredients.

What do you make that's ALWAYS better the next day? Have you ever made something deliberately a day in advance so your first taste would be the aged delicacy?

mmmmm - stuffed cabbage - haven't made that in a while... <drool>

[Homebrew]

Pinto beans.

[Kiki]

Homemade vegetable beef soup and homemade chili are better the next day. It just has a better flavor after sitting in the fridge overnight.

So what is stuffed cabbage? I make cabbage rolls, is that the same as stuffed cabbage?

[FairyChatMom]

Kiki, probably the same thing - a meat/rice/onion/seasoning mixture wrapped in a cabbage leaves and cooked with chunks of potato. At least that was my grandmother's recipe...

[Zappo]

Mmmmmm. . .homemade lasagna. Definitely better the second day.

As are red gravy ("spaghetti sauce" to those of you who ain't lucky enough to be Italian and from Fluffya, Pee-Ay), chili and roast beef. Once it's cold and the juices have soaked back in for awhile, it's heaven.

Zap!

[istara]

Any home made soup - it gets better with age (until it moulds...)

[Why A Duck]

My mom makes this traditional Polish dish called kapusta (Polish for cabbage) that ages very well. It's got onions, corned spare ribs, sauerkraut, and tons of cabbage. Cook for several hours and it becomes this brownish nirvana. Also useful for driving away small rodents and pesky neighbors due to the pungent smell it produces (both before and after). It's quite good on the first day, but it you let age for a couple of days, it just knocks your socks off.

[Kiki]

Originally posted by FairyChatMom
Kiki, probably the same thing - a meat/rice/onion/seasoning mixture wrapped in a cabbage leaves and cooked with chunks of potato. At least that was my grandmother's recipe...

The stuffing sounds exactly like mine except I put the stuffed cabbages in a pan and pour tomato soup over them and bake them. If I ever get to make them again I'll try it with the potatoes... that sounds good too. My SO doesn't like cabbage so I haven't made cabbage rolls for almost 3 years. :( Ahhh, the sacrifices we make for love. :)

[Morgainelf]

Ditto on the vegetable soup and beef stew! Also, coq au vin is heavenly the following day. As is jambalaya and cornbread dressing (stuffing for you northerners).

I may be the only person in the world who thinks this one is true, but I much prefer yellow cake with chocolate frosting the second day. It seems moister to me - something about the frosting having time to seep into the cake.

This thread is making me hungry. :)

[cercaria]

Pizza and lo mein, especially homemade. Not sure why; it's probably because I don't heat it up all the way the second time, so all the fat doesn't melt off. Yum, fat.

[bibliophage]

As someone else mentioned, soup is almost always better the second day. But that is especially true of chowders (clam, fish, or corn). Clam chowder is the only dish I purposely make a day ahead, but I often can't help but eat it up as soon as it's finished cooking.

Damn, I'm getting hungry.

[Sophie]

And Spaghetti!

(glad to see you're feeling better!)

[Seven]

Tuna salad sandwich stuff.

Always tastes better after a night in the fridge.

[Spritle]

chili

[FairyChatMom]

I just remembered, my mom makes a pound cake that is infinitely tastier if it "rests" a day. I think I have the recipe. I think maybe I need to make one...

[scotth]

There is a velveeta and macraroni salad I make that gets better and better over the course of a week. When I make, I make a ton of it so it will last a while.

Real, homemade cheesecake should not have the first bite taken out of it until it has been aged 10 days.

[auntie em]

Quiche.

When I make it, it never tastes like it has enough salt until the next day. Also it's too juicy at first.

[poohpah chalupa]

homemade fried rice.

...and, errrr....Rice-A-Roni

[Chekmate]

Chop Suey. Gotta let the sauce soak into the rice... MMM...

[Medea's Child]

Chili and the veggie dip that my friend Judy gave me the recipe too. Its easy stuff, but it needs to age for about three days before the flavor really starts kicking. And then it is addicitive.

[JavaMaven1]

Homemade salsa
Cheesecake
Adobo (Filipino chicken dish)
My white bean & ham stew
Tamales

[smaft]

I have a recipe for brownies made with German chocolate cake mix, chocolate chips and caramels that I always make ahead of time. They're not nearly as good the day they come out of the oven.

[shannybonanny]

Originally posted by smaft
<snip>...German chocolate cake mix, chocolate chips and caramels...<snip>

Oh. My. God.
*drooll*

[Spavined Gelding]

PUMPKIN PIE!


:D

[Stinky]

Gumbo most definately made a day ahead. Or better yet make a large batch and freeze the left overs,aaaa eeee!!!

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Cold fried chicken....Mmmmmmm...cold fried chicken [drool]....

[evilbeth]

Beef stroganoffand my homemade cheeseball.

[Sylkyn]

My homemade tuna salad usually tastes much better the second day. Same goes for my world-famous spaghetti sauce and my husband's marvelous chili.

I also think roast beef is great the day after...providing there is any left. Which is just about never.

Oh yeah! Red beans and rice. In fact, I don't really like them very much the first day. No matter how you spice them up, they always taste bland right after they're made. The second day they are perfect. Of course, I always have to toss a little more tobasco sauce on mine...just for improving upon the perfection. ;)

[SlightDistrurbance]

Egg salad and Deviled Eggs.
Gives the mayo or whatever you put in it time to mix and meld together...... mmmm.

[lesa]

Banana bread.

[nightshadea]

anything italian or chienese is usually better the second day

Also anything diary based like cheese is good also