chicken

Inspiration From the Pantry

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I recently finished reading My Pantry by Alice Waters. I picked it up because I was curious about what she keeps on hand. It gives me a little thrill that we stock some of the same things—beans, tahini, yogurt, spice mixes (including za’atar, which I love sprinkled on fried eggs and greens).

It’s unlikely that I’ll start saving apple cores as she does to make my own apple cider vinegar. But after my first season having a vegetable CSA last year, I’ve been collecting ideas for preserving, as well as for using stems and peels and scraps. I made pickles (cucumbers, using Bon Appetit’s brine recipe, and watermelon rind, which is surprisingly good with cheese on whole-grain crackers, and daikon radish). Also sauerkraut. There’s a gallon bag of carrot peels, leek greens, mushroom stems, and those leafy celery tops in my freezer that I’ve been using for stock. I owe it to myself to try Waters’ recipe for salt-preserved kumquats.

The book, along with a comment from a friend about cooking through the odd jars in her pantry, sent me to take inventory. For a week, I based dinner on at least one pantry (or freezer) ingredient. Here’s a list, and the dishes that included them:

  • Panko crumbs: Pan-fried chicken cutlets breaded with panko crumbs. It occurred to me after I made this that it is similar to the chicken schnitzel my mother used to make. Make cutlets from two large chicken breasts. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Beat an egg. Dip each cutlet into the egg, then dredge with panko crumbs. Fry in a neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola, turning once. Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.
  • Potato rolls, chiles: Lucky Peach Lamb Burgers. In the fall, the CSA put out the last of the chile harvest in a “take all you want” bin. So I did. After a few months in a vacuum-sealed bag in the freezer, they’re too fragile to use raw, but they’re still perfect for cooking. I had the ground lamb in the freezer, too.
  • Red lentils: Masoor Dal with rice. Half the recipe feeds 4-6. It’s less complicated than it looks. And it goes pretty quickly once you’ve made it a couple of times. I served it this time with the pickled watermelon rind in place of chutney.
  • Pesto: Pesto Orechiette with Chicken Sausage. I can never find orechiette, but this recipe is good with any short pasta, (medium shells work well). Also with any Italian-style sausage. I used bulk turkey sausage. The ground meat isn’t pre-cooked, so I sauté it in step 2. This dish nearly finished off the stash of pesto that I made and froze back in September with basil from the CSA.

If you have some extra red lentils, they’re great over a baked potato for lunch. (In fact, the first time I had Masoor Dal, before I knew what it was called, may have been at SpudULike, the British potato restaurant, when I was in college). If you have pesto leftover, spread some on top of a slice of cheese pizza.

 

 

 

 

If You Give a Kid a Cookbook

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When we renovated our kitchen a few years ago, one critical question was where to store the cookbooks. We ended up building a shelf into the island, where we do most of our prep when we cook. In practice, this means there are always cookbooks (and also cooking magazines) on the counter. This morning, when my daughter came downstairs for breakfast, the binder where I keep magazine clippings was there, open to the recipe for the sweet potato and kale stew we had last night.

She doesn’t like kale. Her brother doesn’t like sweet potatoes. But my husband and I do, and so sometimes, they have to eat what we like, even if it comes with a side of complaining. Especially when it’s food that we think they should love. It’s not so important to me that they like the turkey liver mousse I make on Thanksgiving.

She started flipping pages. Pointed to a recipe for cucumber soup. “How come you’ve never made this?”  A couple of pages later: “Can you make orange chicken? How come there are all these things here you’ve never made?”

This is a change, from asking for what’s familiar. Better run with it.

What we’re eating this week:

Sunday night we broiled some steaks rubbed with salt and pepper, which we served with skin-on mashed potatoes. I also tried a saute of chickpeas and spinach, tweaking the seasonings in a recipe I have. I’d never made it the prescribed way, though, so didn’t really know exactly what I was doing to it. You know how some experiments go. On Monday we went out for Greek food. And last night, I made the sweet potato and kale stew, but with mixed olives and served over brown rice and topped with feta.

For tonight, to thread the needle between late afternoon and early evening lessons, appointments and sports practice, I’m defrosting some chili left over from a couple of weeks ago (recipe soon, I promise) and will serve that with a green salad and some bread.

On Thursday, it’ll be cheese quesadillas with refried beans, rice and, I’m thinking, steamed broccoli. ‘Cause we like broccoli. And it’s easy. And I need easy right now.

Friday, we’ll have chicken soup. Last weekend my daughter had to cook a meal to earn a Girl Scout badge. She chose sweet and sour chicken. The CSA packages chicken legs whole, and we only used the thighs, so I had six drumsticks and nothing to do with them. I baked them and put them in the freezer. There may not be quite enough meat for four servings, though, so I think soup is the best option. I’m having a sudden craving for Thai, but I would need to get lemongrass and some other ingredients.

Saturday we’re hosting a sleepover. Stay tuned.