Ideas for not throwing away food
One of my favorite pastimes
Sadly, more 9-day travel blogs are not on the horizon for me, for the time being. Back to regular-not-so-regular programming of random thoughts on food et al.
As we’re now into the season of agricultural abundance, I can get a little bit enthusiastic at the market. Thus, I am prone to ending up with too much in my fridge and larder (both of staples and of fun seasonal flair). Luckily, I’m also somewhat obsessed with using things up. If you are too, here are some of the techniques I regularly turn to in order to make room.
Superfluity: Fruit rinds/peels/trimmings → Solution: Simple syrup
First things first, always zest your citrus before juicing. Even if you’re not using the zest immediately (whatever needs juice is usually improved by zest anyway), you can easily freeze it for later. Then, you’ll have hulls of de-zested, de-juiced citrus to play with. Squish them into a jar with an approximately equal weight of sugar. Keep in the fridge for a few days, shaking periodically, and after straining you’ll end up with a lovely lemon syrup for drinks etc.
The same method works with any fruit trimmings, from peach skins and pits to bits of bruised strawberry. Any part of a fruit that you were going to throw away can probably give you a syrup first.
Overabundance: Eggs → Solution: Yorkshire pudding variations
Some of the easiest, most delicious things you can make in your kitchen are variations on “several eggs plus lots of a milk and a little bit of flour baked in a hot oven”. In summer, I do clafoutis; in winter, I do toad-in-the-hole. I always jazz up the former with different combinations of fruit, spices and alcohol—a recent favorite was sour cherry clafoutis with marsala, lemon zest and loads of nutmeg in the batter.
Surfeit: (Sour) milk → Solution: Farls
I have a big soft spot for chef Paula McIntyre and her segment on the John Toal show. Even though I think she complicates most things too much for the home cook, there are several of her recipes I always come back to, including this rice pudding (skipping the flaxseed brittle and rosehip syrup, of course).
Another is the humble Irish soda farl, which is probably my favorite thing to whip up from milk that’s on the—or past the—turn. Farls are truly simple griddle cakes that make for the perfect breakfast when accompanied by salted butter, jam and tea. Replace the buttermilk in Paula’s recipe with soured milk (or milk + vinegar).
Fancy going to a smidge more effort, i.e. about six ingredients instead of three to four? It’s gotta be American biscuits (again, used the soured milk instead of the milk in the recipe). They’re like scones but…better.
Glut: A tea you don’t like → Solution: Try it cold
I drink a lot of tea and consequently tend to buy a lot of teas to try. Occasionally, I hate them (usually because of unprecedentedly artificial flavors). The best thing to do before gifting such a tea away is to try two other methods of preparation: boiled and then chilled in the fridge for iced tea, or directly cold-brewed (4-6 tbsp of tea per 1L cold water) in the fridge overnight. These cold versions of an inferior tea can often taste much nicer, making sense of excessive fruitiness etc.
Excess: Veg/herb trimmings → Solution: Stock bag
This is nothing new, but it’s really worth doing: stick your onion peels, parsley stems, soggy celery or carrots, etc in a zip-loc bag in the freezer. Then, you’re ready when there are bones left over from a roast chicken. Homemade wholesome and delicious stock made from nothing but leftovers is a glorious thing.
Overage: Stale bread → Solution: Croutons
Again, this seems obvious, but I just wanted to share my method of making croutons, as I haven’t seen it written down before. As best you can, tear your bread into roughly crouton-sized chunks (if it’s too hard, you may just need to cut it). Fry in a pan in a generous equal amount of olive oil and butter. Keep going until they’re really crispy (or the butter gets too brown). Toss in salt and seasonings (dried herbs, your favorite Trader Joe’s seasoning blend, smoked paprika…) and use immediately to avoid sog. Makes a great snack alternative to crisps &c.
Enjoy!
