Plenty of my friends who celebrate Easter complain that they, too, face a daunting quantity of leftover mashed potatoes after their feast.  And why is that? My guess is that where gravy’s involved, potatoes will be plentiful.

Although I’m excited about this expendable edible recipe  Mashed Potato Pie au Gratin (aka Tourte Limousine in the “Art of French Cooking”), I want to use this post to extol the amazing virtues of a second recipe – White Northern Bean Mash – that uses dried beans for similar affect. 

But why substitute white northern beans beans for Idaho potatoes?

1. Dried Beans are cheap: Idaho potatoes (around $2.50 for 5 lbs.) aren’t expensive either, but beans are a nutritional bargain! Based on your location, you can usually buy a16 oz. bag for 85- 95¢.
2. Dried Beans have a long shelf life: They’re an excellent pantry staple.
3. Beans won’t strain your muscles or spine: Consider the relative weight of potatoes, particularly if you’re hoisting a bag large enough to accommodate a dinner party of 6-8 people. Now, consider beans – as in a cute little 16 oz. bag.
4. Beans require minimal prep-work: Mashed potatoes are labor-intensive. Peeling, cutting, washing, and cooking them is a production. But beans- you simply soak, drain, bring to a boil and simmer until tender. No obsessive checking required. Best of all, beans are fool-proof. Once cooked and drained they won’t continue to cook internally as do potatoes.
5. Beans are the more nutritious choice: Vastly more nutritious than mashed potatoes, beans contain less fat, much more protein, and even though they contain more carbohydrates, these are complex carbohydrate with the added benefit of high amounts of fiber.
6. Beans satisfy: Beans not only are filling, but they satisfy our palates with little or no butter and without the cream, milk or sour cream required of whipped mashed potatoes.

An overlooked benefit: beans’ cooking liquid

There is even more! A secondary and often overlooked benefit of cooked beans is their cooking liquid. After potatoes are done cooking, the starchy heavy water is poured right down the drain. Not so with cooked beans. The aromatic cooking liquid of the next recipe, White Northern Bean Mash, is enhanced by wine, extra thick slices of smoked bacon and a bouquet garni (peppercorns, garlic clove, bay leaf and fresh parsley tied in cheesecloth). All that’s necessary to create a tasty rich broth ideal for a soup base is to reduce the cooking liquid by half.

Mashed Potato Pie au Gratin

This expendable edible recipe that once-cooked mashed potatoes works either as an elegant casserole or a pie – depending upon the thickness of the pan and the way it’s sliced. Potatoes should be at room temperature for best results but if they’re cold, heat them slightly in a microwave. The topping of melted cheese, butter and paprika makes a divine presentation guaranteed to impress even a food snob.

Prep tip: Potato Pie can be prepared one day in advance, covered and refrigerated. If you prepare it in advance and are taking it out of a cold refrigerator,  place the dish into a cold oven and then turn oven to 325° to prevent the pan from cracking.

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. herbs, finely chopped (dill, basil, sage, thyme or combination)
2-4 cups once cooked mashed potatoes (room temperature)
1 cup shredded cheese (Mozzarella and Parmesan or a mix of your own)
1 tsp. Hungarian paprika (optional)
1 Tbsp. cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Pour olive oil into a shallow oven proof casserole small enough to allow for the mashed potatoes to be 2 inches deep. Oil the casserole evenly..
3. In a separate bowl, blend herbs and potatoes together, adjusting if necessary.
4. Press mashed potatoes evenly into the casserole, smoothing surface with a spatula.
5. Sprinkle top evenly with cheese and dot with tiny pieces of butter. Sprinkle lightly with paprika.
6. Bake for half hour or until cheese topping has melted and is golden brown.
7. Let casserole rest for 5 minutes before slicing to allow cheese to firm.

Serving suggestions:  As a side dish for an omelet; as a base for a hearty meat ragout;  as an accompaniment for chicken, fish or meat. Try it with the younger set as a substitute for the bun in “Sloppy Joes”.

White Northern Bean Mash  

Even though I will cook an entire bag of dried white beans – all 16 ounces of them – most often I’ll serve no more than half for the meal and use the remaining half as a ready-to-use ingredient for another meal.  Pureed with some herbs and a bit of olive oil this expendable edible recipe becomes a great mashed potato substitute.

Consulting my usual reliable source, Julia Child, her suggested use for cooked white beans is to puree the beans until very smooth, adding small amounts of the bean’s cooking liquid as needed to achieve a very even texture. Serve them as you would serve mashed potatoes.

16 oz. bag dried beans (rinsed)
Bouquet garni*
3-4 pieces extra thick sliced smoked bacon
8-10 cups cold water
1 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp. olive oil

1. In a large stock pot, place drained beans, bouquet garni, bacon, water and wine.
2. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes skimming any accumulated foam from top of beans, reduce to simmer and cook until beans are tender but not mushy, about 45 minutes to an hour.
3. Remove slices of bacon and bouquet garni from pot, straining beans through a colander placed over another clean pot. Reserve liquid for future use.
4. Allow beans to cool.
5. In a food processor fitted with a blade, place drained beans, ½ cup of cooking liquid and olive oil.
6. Pulse motor until beans are coarsely chopped. Turn motor off, scrape down sides of bowl adding more liquid if necessary, and continue to pulse until beans are smooth and desired thickness.

*Bouquet garni:  Place 6 peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, 1 unpeeled garlic clove, small bunch fresh parsley or other fresh herbs into a small piece of cheesecloth and tie in a knot.

Cooking tip:  To avoid getting any grease slick from the bacon, refrigerate the cooking liquid in a container overnight so that you can skim off any fat that might have solidified off the top.

Variation:  Puree White Northern Bean Mash and cook it with chicken stock to yield a fat-free and nutritious white bean bisque.

Serving suggestion:  Arrange a mound of mash around braised short ribs or roasted chicken or under stew. This puree is wonderful when served with anything you would serve with potatoes. Instead of polenta, substitute bean puree under a thick meat sauce.

Jeanette Chen: I was born in the United States but my parents were immigrants who fled Communist China and came to the United States to finish their education and training. My mom’s side actually came from a wealthy family but lost almost everything when they came to this country. They basically had to start from scratch. My dad still tells a story of how he really didn’t have any money in college and survived on Fig Newtons. To this day, he can’t eat a Fig Newton.

My parents didn’t throw anything out but they were both excellent cooks. Every leftover was saved. On Saturdays, Mom would pull out all the leftovers and reheat them, often using up bits and pieces of meat and leftover vegetables in Chinese fried rice or stir-fry noodles. Asian cooking is fairly simple – all you need are some basic sauces (soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil) and ingredients (ginger, garlic, scallions).

As a result of my parent’s experience, where they had to start off with nary a penny in their pocket when they arrived in the United States, they were especially mindful of using up every morsel in our refrigerator, and constantly reminded us kids of how fortunate we were to have food on our table. I still remember the watermelon rind pickles my mom used to make each summer. I actually saw a recent article that said the tart white rind of watermelons contains citrulline, an amino acid that helps dilate blood vessels to improve circulation – Mom knows best!

Play mad scientist and replicate a restaurant favorite using takeout leftover

I’ve been exposed to all kinds of ethnic foods: Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Jamaican, Spanish, Mexican and most recently Georgian (interesting  because on the border of Georgia there is Russia and Turkey and their unique cuisines). This year for the Georgian New Year we ate at a restaurant with a Georgian friend who ordered 12 courses, and every dish had walnuts in it. I asked if I could take home the leftover Chicken and Walnut Sauce dish just to replicate it. So testing is another way to use expendable edibles!

The new ketchup: oyster sauce

One of the secret ingredients I use quite a bit (and take for granted) is oyster sauce, which makes just about anything taste better. Oyster sauce has a bit of a briny taste from oysters and tastes more salty than “fishy”.   I look for brands that contain the most oyster extract and no MSG. It’s especially good with a splash of soy sauce, rice wine, and toasted sesame oil on poached chicken or any green vegetable, in stir-fry tofu, fried rice, and stir-fry noodles.

Korean lettuce wraps and sweet potato leaves

Our local CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) has taught me to appreciate all parts of vegetables. In the middle of the summer, I tend to get a lot of Swiss chard and big heads of Napa cabbage. Because of how fresh it is, I always try to use up all this good produce before the next box! I recently learned that Swiss chard stems are loaded with glutamine, an amino acid that boosts the immune system.

Much of the produce I get in my CSA Box or from the farmer’s market comes with leaves: the beets and radishes come with tops. The cauliflower comes with leaves. Last summer, I was treated to some sweet potato leaves which were soft and tender like spinach, and cauliflower leaves that were crunchy and sweet.

The challenge becomes how to use up all this beautiful produce, top to bottom. Now in fried rice, I might add a little bit of roasted or poached chicken and extra vegetables from my CSA box. But because of the abundance of vegetable “tops” and “leaves” that often arrive in my CSA box, I like to stir-fry them or use them in Korean lettuce wraps. I serve lettuce wraps with a medley of stir-fried vegetables and meat.  For instance, I might sauté some Garlic Scape Pesto and brown some ground chicken in a bit of olive oil. Then, I would add some chopped Swiss chard leaves (and stems, chopped) and zucchini to the wok, and add a stir-fry sauce. Any leafy green leaves I don’t use I keep in separate, labeled baggies in my freezer to be used in soups at a later date.

Throughout the summer, I also get fresh herbs in my CSA box and from the local farmer’s market which I wash, chop and freeze in tablespoon size portions. Often, I turn these herbs into pesto and freeze them in ice cube trays so I can pull them out for soups and sauces.

DIY gluten-free breadcrumbs, croutons & crostini from old bread

I started to buy gluten free bread for my son who is allergic to wheat, and found it to be really expensive. So now, whenever I have the time, I try to make my own homemade gluten-free bread. Whether the bread is homemade or store-bought, I keep all the little ends of bread in the freezer so I can make croutons or breadcrumbs whenever I need. I also love making garlic crostini. I brush olive oil and garlic on stale bread ends and sprinkle with some Fines Herbes mix and toast them. It makes delicious crostini. I’ll grab the bread ends either from my kitchen counter, or right from the freezer. During the summer, I spread some fresh pesto and tomatoes on top of these crostini and serve it as an appetizer or snack.

Rice porridge enhanced by “reducing” chicken carcass in a pot

One of the things I always do as soon as my roast chicken is eaten down to the bone is put it in a pot, with onion, ginger, bay leaves, and peppercorns, and cook it for a couple of hours. Then, I add some leftover rice and make a rice porridge or congee that is common in Asia. One tradition that I grew up with was making congee the day after Thanksgiving using the leftover turkey carcass. Congee is a rice porridge which becomes very thick from long, slow cooking, and the addition of glutinous rice (which is round and sticky when it breaks down, creating the perfect, thick texture when mixed with regular rice). You cook down the turkey stock, bones and rice for a long time – it’s wonderful.

I still remember one year, my family and I were out of town for Thanksgiving and I was really bummed that I couldn’t have my turkey congee. So I actually froze the turkey carcass and lugged it home in my suitcase so I could make it at home!

Soups and stews have no rules

I have an embarrassing collection of cookbooks. If I have different things in my fridge, I flip through some of my favorites for recipe ideas and think of substitutions I can make using whatever I have on hand. I often have a baggie in my freezer with leftover vegetable pieces like leek greens, celery tops and bottoms, onion ends and carrot tops that I throw into a pot to make soup stock. Soup is the perfect canvas for using all the bits and pieces of vegetables.  It’s easy to substitute vegetables – red peppers, green vegetables, cabbage. These vegetables can all be sliced and diced into soups and stews.

Broccoli with a yellow crown is not yellowing broccoli

I recently found out that when broccoli crowns are yellow it doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be eaten. Last summer, I received a crown of yellow broccoli in my CSA Box. The farmer told me that broccoli crowns are supposed to be green but on occasion you’ll get some overripe broccoli. The color threw me a little bit but he was right; the yellow broccoli tasted fine. I blanched it until just tender, and sautéed it with a little olive oil, toasted garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

 “Clean-out-the-fridge-or-freezer” smoothies

Before our family leaves for an extended vacation, I’m pretty good at cleaning out the fridge by making smoothies out of produce I won’t be taking along on the trip. Any fruit we don’t finish before we leave on vacation, such as bananas or strawberries, is put into freezer bags for smoothies to enjoy at a later date.

I’d say my meal planning, especially on the weekends, often revolves around leftovers. If we’re going to have roasted potatoes I know I can turn any potato leftovers into hash browns the next day. If we have a loaf of bread with just one day more of life in it, I’ll plan to make French Toast or crostini.

Overripe kimchi is a delicacy

From what I understand, Koreans actually prefer overripe Kimchi (basically over-fermented cabbage which has turned a little bit sour). One of my favorite soups is made with chopped overripe Kimchi, garlic, dashi (a Japanese broth made with bonita flakes and seaweed), go-ju-jung  (Korean red pepper paste), and tofu or leftover canned tuna. On occasion, I’ve also added sticky rice sticks (they’re shaped like gnocchi and are said to be a good luck thing).

I also like Asian noodle soups with rice noodles or soba noodles. I buy a lot of baby bok choy and shitake mushrooms, so on many days, my lunch consists of soup, noodles, some leftover chicken or a hard boiled egg. You can even poach an egg on top – as long as the soup boils for 2-3 minutes, you’re good. If I have leftover noodles, even better. I’ll toss them into the soup and let it simmer just enough to heat up.

Use cereals that bomb for a crunchy breading

My kids aren’t big on cereal, so when I buy cereal that they ask for and they don’t eat it, I get annoyed why no one is eating it! So the other day, I didn’t have any gluten-free breadcrumbs. Many of the brands are too hard to make into fine breadcrumbs. But I did have half a box of gluten-free rice krispies in the pantry that was made of brown rice. What I did was crush up the rice krispies cereal and used it to make a crunchy breading for chicken tenders. I just dipped the chicken in coconut milk and then pressed it hard into the (now ground) rice cereal. I added some garlic powder and onion powder, and a spice mix from one of our favorite Colombian restaurants. My children loved it! It’s challenging enough cooking for a child who’s developed food allergies later in life, but it’s even more challenging to cook foods in a different form for teenagers who are particular about eating foods a certain way.

Spicy chili bean dip from black bean chili

Another super simple idea for repurposing expendable edibles happened when I made a black bean chili this past winter. I was going to freeze it, but ended up making it into a hot chili bean dip for Football Sunday. I basically put the bean chili in a frying pan, reduced it and then served it with shredded Mexican blend cheese melted on top. This would have been equally tasty served as a base for nachos for my kids.

Further reading:

Check out these recipes on Jeanette’s Blog (http://jeanetteshealthyliving.com) that use up tops and bottoms (for example, garlic scapes, Swiss chard stems and beet greens):

Summer Pestos from Garlic Scapes and Swiss chard

Vegetarian Stir-Fried Garlic Scapes with Five Spiced Pressed Tofu

Summer Vegetable Korean Lettuce Wraps

Pasta with Sauteed Swiss Chard

Pasta with Roasted Beets, Beet Greens and Pine Nuts

Day One:

Bought a rotisserie chicken at my favorite Warehouse Club six days ago. But with social events, dinner parties, and my husband Larry–not much of a fan of rotisserie chicken – never got to it. That left poor Mr. Chicken in the fridge for 3 days! Now Larry’s left on a business trip and I’m left with the whole bird. Stuck Mr. Chicken into the oven at 375° for 30 minutes to heat and crisp up. With Larry gone, there’s no one to fight over the super crispy skin. For dinner, had chicken with salad and Brussels’ sprouts: super fast and tasty good!

Day Two:   Chicken Salad with Capers and Feta Cheese

Went cross-country skiing and didn’t get home until 2:00 p.m.  I am starving. Took chicken leftovers out of fridge, cubed about 1 cup, and tossed chicken with a teaspoon of capers, mixed spring greens, toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) , crumbled feta, chopped scallions, and a handful of Zante currants. Drizzled chicken salad with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Another great, fast, super healthy meal.

Day Three:   Sesame Chicken Noodle Soup with Broccoli

Had a package of vacuum-sealed ready-to-use Asian noodles in the fridge. Mixed together 1 cup hot water, 1 tablespoon miso paste until dissolved, a splash of soy sauce, fish sauce and my favorite hot sauce. Poured everything into a microwave-safe glass bowl and tossed well. Topped with 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds and (you guessed it) about 1 cup cubed rotisserie chicken. Added into the bowl some fresh broccoli, broken into small pieces.  Nuked bowl for 60 seconds. Voila: dinner and a movie.

Day Four: Coq Au Vin Soup

Could I ever get sick of Mr. Chicken? Well, yes but I still have half of a chicken left and I am leaving town tomorrow. Stuck Mr. Chicken – the whole carcass, skin, meat and even the gelatinous aspic that accumulated on the platter – into a large stock pot. Poured in one-third of an opened bottle of white wine plus one-half box remaining chicken broth that’s in the fridge. Cleaned out the tastiest herbs and veggies we can’t take on the road with us. Here’s what the recipe looked like:

Leftover chicken (carcass, skin, meat and aspic)
½ bag baby carrots
1 bunch parsley, rinsed, stems removed
3 stalks parsley, rinsed with leaves
½ bulb garlic
1 bunch tarragon, rinsed
2 onions, peeled
1/3 bottle Chardonnay or other dry white wine
1 Idaho potato, scrubbed not peeled
½ can drained garbanzo beans or whatever beans are on hand
2 whole tomatoes, rinsed

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil, turn to low, cover tightly and let it cook all day.
2. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain, keeping chicken pieces for soup (or if you have a dog as I do, be a sport and add it to their regular food).

So, how is that for Mr. Chicken’s last stand? Tomorrow I’m making matzo balls to go into the Coq Au Vin Soup I strained and froze to take along on our road trip. Most motor inns have microwave ovens in the room. We’ll nuke our matzo balls, heat up the soup, and watch a movie I downloaded before we left.  Beats going anywhere after driving 725 miles in one day.

I think I got my mileage out of Mr. Chicken, don’t you?

Renee Baumann: “I so love talking about this special corner of culinary landscape where thriftiness, ecological consciousness and delicious recipes overlap. I really care about food, and my cooking is rooted in respect for food. Throwing food away or seeing something go to waste kind of hurts my heart. Especially when you’re working in a kitchen and you see that kind of thing multiply.

My parents were both teachers and with three kids it was a tight household. Definitely they were stretching pennies. So rooted in their thrifty food philosophy we grew up eating a lot of tongue and organ meats. My Grandmother was French and always had an amazing, big garden. A love and respect for food (even less fancy cuts of meat), seasonal vegetables was definitely passed down with those French roots.”

Gelee and jelly from surplus ripening fruit

“Lots of pastry kitchens serve gelees* at the end of a meal. I got used to cooking gelees by feel—basically boiling down fruit trimmings with water and sugar and seeing how the pectin was responding -because it’s hard to get consistent results. It’s a great way to use up fruit that’s ripening quickly. I cook leftover apple trimmings (like skins and the core) with just enough water to cover them, strain the mixture, add sugar and then cook the whole mixture down until it reaches either a regular jelly consistency or a thicker gelee texture. (You can add additional fruit purée or juice in the second step if you like). What’s not negotiable is the sugar concentration. If you’re making an 8″x8″ pan of gelees, you’ll want about 2 cups sugar and 3 lbs. of fruit. Drip a little of the mixture onto a chilled ceramic plate to see what texture you’re working with. The little drip will cool off and let you know if you’ve got a syrup, a jam, or something firm enough to be a gelee.

* In Europe, there is more of a distinction between a “gelee” and “jelly.” Gelees are available in both sweet or savory thickened with gelatin, while jellies are typically a kind of paté de fruit (a confection of fruit pureé and sugar thickened with a bit of pectin). In America, we tend to use these words interchangeably — referring to a gelee or jelly as any fruit spread thickened by gelatin, pectin or some other thickening agent.”

Spiced apple jelly from aromatic hops

“If you ever make your own beer, you’ll find yourself with negligible quantities of aromatic hops. These are great for spicing up apple jelly.  Depending on the hops you use,  you get an incredible flavor combination. I used Cascade hops, which add acidity (like lemon juice would) but with a lively citrusy floral profile. And it’s a perfect jelly to pair with cheese.”

Tip: Learn how to cook up your own (inexpensive) pectin to use in homemade jams and jellies:  http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/The_Forager/pectin.htm.

Crisped potato skins: from pan to oven

“To get really crispy potato skins, I’ve had the best success using a two part cooking. First,  I sautépotato skins in oil so that they really absorb the oil and don’t just get coated with it. It gives the potato skins a jump start so they don’t dry out. Then I throw them in the oven to get fully crisped.”

Frozen trimmings into bouillon cubes 

When your bag is full of carrot skins, celery stems, potato skins, ends of onion, fill a pot with enough water to submerge your trimmings and simmer the mixture for an hour for a great vegetable stock. Your freezer is the best tool for gathering enough trimmings to make a big pot of stock. You don’t have to go really crazy with ingredients and seasonings either. You can add a little ground coriander, a good mix of root vegetables and sweet potato skins. On the fresh side maybe some cilantro and parsley stems – and finally a handful of dried mushrooms and garlic. Strain and boil the mixture way down until its very concentrated, even syrupy, and freeze in ice cube trays to make concentrated stock cubes.” 

“I studied abroad in Florence and it was there that I awakened to the wonders of candied citrus peel. I collect orange peels in the freezer until I’ve got enough to candy them. I think candied citrus peel also makes the best panforte, a traditional Italian fruitcake from Sienna– chock full of fruit and nuts. Sugar and honey are cooked together to softball consistency, and then mixed into a huge mass of fruit and toasted nuts along with just a touch of flour and plenty of spices. For spices I like to use lots of toasted black pepper and cinnamon and just a little allspice and cocoa powder. Then you press the whole sticky mass into a shallow pan and bake it. After baking, the panforte gets dusted with cocoa powder and painstakingly sliced into thin sheets.

I find that the flavor of fruitcakes, scones, breads and cookies made with candied citrus peel is always better when I’ve made it myself. It’s less sweet. The fruit flavor of store-bought candied citrus peels is never quite as citrus-y. The flavor difference is enormous.” 

“When I need breadcrumbs, the quickest way to make my bread go stale is putting it straight into the freezer. An amazing ingredient for breadcrumbs is sour dough bread. I cut the crusts off a crusty loaf and let the crusts dry separately from the soft interior. It’s actually easier to turn the interior of bread into breadcrumbs than the crust. Crusts stay solid and they’re harder to work with, but if you dry them out separately, you can successfully turn them into crumbs too.

• Toss bits of stale bread with butter or oil in a pan, toast it in the oven and then pulse it in a food processor. Substitute these toasty crumbs wherever you would use chopped nuts.

• Toast breadcrumbs with a little butter and throw them in the food processor. Process into a coarse meal, and you’ve got a poor man’s almond flour.

• Substitute salted breadcrumbs for graham cracker crumbs to make a delicious, savory/crumbly pie crust.“

“As someone with pastry training, I’ve got a lot of experience trying to jazz up sub-par or past-prime fruit.  I’ll often take plums, apples and pears that just don’t look great to eat out of hand and roast them with the skins on. Right after roasting, I’ll cut the fruit and sprinkle them with sugar and vanilla.

Tip: Vanilla beans can be reused and dried out to make vanilla powder. Dry them out on top of the oven and then pulverize in a coffee or spice grinder.

Other spices I’ll use while roasting fruit are lemon or orange zest with seasonal herbs. For example, I might combine roasted red plums with thyme. Depending on size and how ripe it is, I will babysit my roasting fruit until it gets caramelized on top. For a large apple or pear I will roast the fruit at 375-400 degrees F for at least 20 minutes to 1 hour. Just keep checking; different varieties of fruit will take different times to cook.”

“When I poach past peak fruit in a hot liquid, it usually contains wine, seasonings and sugar. I cook the fruit just below boiling until tender – a great way to carry over the intense fruit flavor. The other day I made blackberry thyme syrup from blackberries that didn’t look so great which I just poached with thyme and wine. (No need to be overly strict with measurements; just taste and keep adjusting the amount of wine and herbs in your mixture.) Now I refrigerate my syrup and use it to make flavored soda water or cocktails!

“One of the most convenient desserts with the laziest preparation has got to be Chinese Takeout rice pudding. All I do is add cardamom, cinnamon and coconut milk (enough to cover the rice) and cook the mixture down until my “pudding” has a nice texture. Raisins? They’re controversial, but I add them anyhow.”

“It’s especially sad for me when dairy goes bad. I love dairy! With things like cottage cheese, crème fraiche or cream, when the flavor is just going off – I find that if you transfer it to a clean container avoiding the problematic part on top, you can extend its life by a day or two.”

Slow roast tomatoes, Greek-style

“My parents live in northern Nevada and always grow an amazing garden, so they often have a surplus of tomatoes on hand. I like to slow roast the tomatoes on parchment paper, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and cook them down for a good hour in the oven at 250 degrees F. Before serving, I throw on some feta cheese crumbles.

Another treatment I use is turning excess tomatoes into a chutney or relish by adding some vinegar, sugar, onions and spices.”

“If you ever contemplate whether it’s worth scraping out the last bits of flesh from a cantaloupe … well, it is. Strain out the pulp, toss with its own juice and you’ll definitely notice the enhanced sweetness and flavor in your melon.”

Personally,  I don’t mind eating things that are a little bit ugly. But honestly, to me leftover snippets of cooked vegetables are just a gift in the kitchen because half your preparation is already done for you!  Eggs are a good pairing for those small tidbits because eggs cook at a low temperature, so you won’t overcook your already-cooked vegetables.  I love frittatas – they’re my go-to, last minute meals, because I can always throw in some leftover asparagus, shred some cheese and whip up a satisfying dinner quickly.

Figuring out how to use foods people normally throw away is definitely a form of creativity. You never know what food is going to fall into your lap, so boning up on general food knowledge and skills enables to you to rise to the occasion.  I think sharing these kinds of stories does just that. It’s empowering.”

Further reading:

Visit Renee’s blog, Kitchen Table Scraps and try out two of her expendable edible recipes: Pappa al Pomodoro recipe and Vegetable broth from vegetable trimmings. 

Or take one of Renee’s recreational cooking classes:

•  Cooking Matters (NYC) organized by City Harvest
•  Skillshare (NYC)

That’s when it struck me: the New Year’s bounty discovered in the depths and recesses of your freezer and fridge had all the makings of a Spanish-style potato bisque! And not any bisque, but a Potato Bisque (aka potato leek soup) topped with crumbled Basque chorizo. (This is the firmer Spanish chorizo which gets its smokiness and deep red color from dried smoked paprika instead of chili peppers, found in the traditional squishier Mexican chorizo.)

I served my creation to a high end group at my dinner party and they proclaimed it “totally amazing!” So what was the excitement over the soup? Just before serving, I peeled one potato, diced it finely into Lilliputian-sized cubes and micro-waved the cubes in a heat-proof glass filled with water for 3 minutes.

Guests loved the contrast of flavors, colors, complex aromas and above all the presentation: a creamy colored bisque garnished with well browned, finely crumbled chorizo, tiny cubes of cooked potatoes and a dab of crème fraiche on top. Impressive looking? Very, yet much simpler than the much misquoted, “simple as pie.”

Happy New Year’s!

Potato Bisque with Chorizo

6 to 8 past peak potatoes, peeled, cleaned of eyes, and finely cut
6-8 cups chicken broth
½ cup dry white wine
2-3 leeks, rinsed, green portion trimmed, split and finely chopped
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 limp celery, peeled and finely chopped
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. parsley, finely chopped
2-3 soon to expire Basque chorizo sausages
2 Tbsp. butter, olive oil or mix of the two
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup whole milk (or half & half)

Cookware needed: immersion blender*

1. In a large heavy bottom pot, heat butter and olive oil until bubbling but not smoking
2. Add onion, shallots, leek and cook until soft and translucent/
3. Add chopped potatoes, stir to coat, and cook 5 minutes tossing periodically.
4. Add wine, increase heat and bring to boil for 2-3 minutes (to allow alcohol to cook off).
5. Add chicken broth and parsley. Continue to boil 2-3 minutes, stirring.
6. Turn heat to low, cover pot tightly.
7. Cook for 1 hour.
8. While soup is cooking, cut casings off of 2-3 sausage links. (Using kitchen scissors to cut the casing down the center makes it easier to pull off the casings.) Scrape meat from casings.
9. In a small coated skillet, crumble sausage cooking on medium until well browned.
10. Drain cooked sausage on paper towels.
11. When sausage is cool, chop finely with sharp knife or in a mini-chopper.

To serve:

1. Remove soup from heat and puree until smooth.
2. Add in milk or half and half, salt and pepper to taste, blend and return to heat.
3. Serve soup in heated bowls, topping with browned crumbled chorizo and a sprinkling of tiny cubed potatoes.

Cooking tip: To achieve a very smooth bisque, strain soup through a fine sieve reserving liquid in a bowl. Puree only the solids* until smooth and recombine into the pot for final heating.

*My new obsession is an immersion stick blender.  I’d been resisting the impulse for quite some time until finally my son gifted one to me. I honestly haven’t a clue why I held out for so long, especially given their reasonable price and phenomenal results!