I often hear and read how people rely on their microwaves for reheating leftovers.  Years ago, so did I.  Eventually, however, I came to realize that dishes reheated in the microwave didn’t retain their heat and often the texture of the reheated food suffered from this method.

Consequently, I turned to other methods for reheating. As did my mother and aunt, before the microwave oven had even been invented, I turned to the oven or the stove top for the job. Sure, these methods take longer, but both the flavor, texture, as well as the aroma of  a dish are retained, if not sometimes improved, from them.

The photo above highlights a left-over braised leg of lamb reheated on the stove top and a left-over side of soft polenta fried, which I wrote about here. I used a small, heavy enameled-cast-iron Dutch oven over a low flame for the lamb. It took between 30 to 40 minutes, with an occasional stir. For the polenta, which had been stored in a square container, I used a non-stick griddle. After removing some excess moisture from the polenta with paper towels, I cut it into thick slices and grilled them on each side for about 5 minutes.  Both dishes were absolutely delicious: the lamb still juicy and tender, with  perhaps even more concentrated flavor; the polenta, which was originally creamy, now appeared in crisp and tasty slices.

Here’s a photo of the original dish:

I’m wondering what methods you use to reheat your leftovers. Please let me know in the poll below: