New life for old ingredients
Cook and writer Tamar Adler on how to use up literally everything in your kitchen
Picture this: It’s 5:30 pm. You just came home from a long day of work and you’re searching for something, anything to eat. And, surprise, nothing your refrigerator looks like it can make a meal.
This happens to lots of people. But not to Tamar Adler, a cook, writer and queen of leftovers.
Why do I call her the queen of leftovers? Well, throughout her career, as a cook at Prune in New York City or Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Tamar has emphasized cooking with economy: using stale bread to make delicious panzanella or breadcrumbs. Or using cheese rinds to flavor a soup or stock. She has shown over and over that cooking simply and minimizing waste doesn’t mean less delicious or less elegant dishes. On the contrary!
Now Tamar has a new cookbook out: The Everlasting Meal Cookbook, Leftovers A-Z. It’s called a cookbook, but it’s really an encyclopedia of 1500 ideas of how to use up pretty much anything: expired milk. An empty jar of almond butter. Even old hotdogs.
On the show, Tamar and I talk about her career–Tamar, like me, is very impulsive. And we discuss how she stretches the limits of food and even what can be considered an “ingredient.” (It’s not just broccoli stems. Tamar even thinks stale bagels are a useful ingredient!)
Listen in and please send me messages in the comments about how YOU use up leftovers. I’m always looking for new ideas.
Never met a leftover I did not like. First, I store celery and fresh herbs in glasses of water in the fridge. Last much longer. All peelings and end pieces of veggies go in a bag in the freezer. Used to make veg stock. Crushed up crackers at the bottom of the bag go in a jar--now I have a full jar of cracker crumbs--perfect for toppings. I just made vinegar from apple cores and peel (My new go to book is The Zero Waste Chef--lots of ideas there.) I save water from my tea kettle to water plants. Any mushy vegs that were overlooked in the fridge go to the chickens or to compost. Last night's roasted vegetables are today's salad lunch. a roasted chicken is dinner, then chicken salad, then the bones make broth. The skin can be crisped in a skilled with a little olive oil and used as a salad topping. (Thanks, Jamie Oliver.) Love reading all the other great ideas, too!
I do a big weekly Slöw Casserole, makes One meal - and 6 half portions for the deepfreeze. To each of these I add a simple, different bulk (rice, lentils, sweet potato, whatever...) and a different spice or sauce... Mmmmmm......... Left-0vers rule OK, beats a McCrap anyday. Peace Maurice.