Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I Don't Like To Waste



I'll say this-you simply haven't lived until you've experienced having your eyelids swell to twice their normal size. I have a face like an ass at the moment-aren't you glad I'm sharing this? Actually, I look like a space alien-with an ass for a face-you get the idea.

I gave up and let my husband and son feed themselves the past couple days. Fortunately, Danny is the kind of kid who is happy eating a plate of lima beans and brown rice (then again, with enough butter and salt that is kind of heaven on a plate) as long as he gets a bowl of yoghurt with blackberry jam mixed in-so papa had it easy preparing dinner.

Before the full-extent of my current misery was to become known, I'd bought a few produce items that were sitting in the fridge needing attention. It looked like today was going to be the "use-it-or-lose-it" day so I headed into the kitchen completely uninspired.

First up were the baby artichokes. Thankfully, they are easy to prepare and don't require all the trimming of the larger ones. I plopped them in a big pot of water with a tablespoon of lemon juice and let them boil away half covered for about 20 minutes. That was easy. I trimmed the leaves away (to eat later with some of that homemade mayonnaise) and placed the trimmed chokes in a bowl with 1 cup chopped Kalamata olives, ¼ cup small cubes of Pecorino Romano, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar and some thyme. This will be served with crotons made from stale sourdough and some salad greens. There you have it-a first course.

Next up were the beets. That was easy as well. I washed them and placed the unpeeled beets in a covered casserole. I baked them about 1 hour at 400 degrees F. and then let them stand, covered for another 25 minutes before wiping off the skins with a paper towel. Great, the beets are ready to be eaten with salads, or cheese through the week. That was easy too.

Ah, the rhubarb. I live for the first rhubarb of spring. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a damned thing to do with it beyond baking it. Turns out, that was a good call and I'll look forward to pouring it over vanilla ice cream or custard if I can summon the energy to make some. The syrup from cooking is excellent stirred into a nice cold glass of seltzer water. To roast rhubarb:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut rhubarb into 1 inch slices. Cover with granulated sugar (about 1 cup sugar to 4 cups cut rhubarb). Add about ½ cup water and bake until soft. That's it. Delicious.

I have some tofu marinating in spices and yoghurt (yeah, that's what I thought too, but I'm more open minded when I'm not eating it (heh)) and some Japanese eggplants waiting to be turned into something. Overall, I think I did a pretty good job of using what I had without waste. Mama hates waste. Hates it.

Film at eleven-if I can stay awake long enough to serve and photograph the meal.

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