Quickies: Homer Murray Shares the Best Way to Upgrade Leftover Rice

In our cooking series Quickies, we invite chefs, bartenders, and other personalities in the world of food and drink who are serious hustlers to share their tips and tricks for preparing quick, creative after-work meals. Every dish featured in Quickies takes under 30 minutes to make, but without sacrificing any deliciousness—these are tried-and-tested recipes for the super-busy who also happen to have impeccable taste.

When the average Brooklyn restaurant re-opens under a new name and invites a guest bartender in for the inauguration party, The New York Times, CNN, US Weekly, People, The Independent, and pretty much the rest of the international media world don't usually cover it.

But that wasn't the case when restauranteur Homer Murray opened his restaurant, 21 Greenpoint, and had his dad—the massively famous actor Bill Murray—act as a bartender for the night.

So how did the now infamous night come about? At the suggestion of Peter Kelly, a chef who's a friend of the Murrays.

"He knew my dad likes to bartend and suggested we do it. I always swore to myself that I would never do anything like that, but it just seemed like a nice coincidence and good timing."

A couple of days after the night that had all of Brooklyn and beyond in a frenzy, Homer and Sean Telo—who helms the kitchen at 21 Greenpoint—stopped by the MUNCHIES Kitchen to shoot the shit and put together a killer fried rice dish that wears its Portuguese influence on its sleeve. It's the perfect after-work, "I'm exhausted, famished, and not in the mood for anything fancy" dish. Although it can take around an hour to make if you're starting from scratch, that time is more than significantly reduced if you are using day-old or takeout rice from your fridge.

"I usually cut out early at around 10:30 or so, grab a drink at the bar, and then go home and walk my dog, Meg Ryan—she's the only thing that keeps me sane," Murray says. Murray clearly shares his father's notoriously dry sense of humor. He has cooked his whole life—"I even sold knives door-to-door in high school"—but when the choice came down to attending culinary school or art school, he chose photography, "which was obviously a bright idea," he says sarcastically. A few years later, though, he turned back to food: "After four years of photography, my friend who was the chef at the Roebling Tea Room, asked if I wanted to go over there and work the morning shift. I quit photography the next day. Going out to eat has always been a very special thing for me and I wanted to be able to be a part of that and do it for others."

Murray's indoctrination into the food world really started at Murray Bros. Caddyshack, the St. Augustine, Florida restaurant owned by Bill Murray and his five brothers. Its motto is "Eat, Drink and Be Murray." Homer Murray says, "I worked there for a summer when I was 18, making Caesar salads and shrimp cocktails. It was great!"

Homer eventually opened a restaurant called River Styx—which has now morphed into 21 Greenpoint at the same Brooklyn location. Chef Sean Telo helms the kitchen and as Murray says, "Obviously the food is going to be better because I don't do that anymore."

When he is off work, Murray explains, he prefers to keep things simple. "I'm not really cooking for myself at night. I'm more focused on other things. I normally like to cook something eggy for my girlfriend in the morning before we leave for work."

We could totally see this Portuguese sausage fried rice, which combines Linguica sausage, vegetables, and jasmine rice—and is topped off with a couple of eggs—as the ultimate brunch indulgence. Once you have your rice ready to go, simply fry up some sausage, garlic, celery, and onion; fry with the rice until crispy; crack a couple of eggs on top; and pop it back in the oven.

Boom: an easy, super-satisfying meal that you can enjoy for a late-night dinner or the morning after.

And don't forget, workaholics—that rice from last night's delivery Chinese food will do in a pinch.

Fried rice is, after all, the ultimate use of leftovers. Come to think of it, we could eat it like every day was Groundhog Day.

Homer Murray and Sydney Silver's 21 Greenpoint officially opened last week. The kitchen is being helmed by former Extra Fancy chef Sean Telo.