We might not get everything eaten up before it goes past the peak of perfection.Our poor onion looks like it's trying to shuffle off this mortal coil. Maybe it's reaching for heaven.
I don't actually have plans for it, so it will probably end up in a pot with any other items in the crisper that are ready to surrender their ghost for a little vegetable broth — which will then go into the freezer. Sigh.
The freezer is now rid of much of the leftover meat. All that's left is two chorizos, some Kentucky ham, a small amount of duck and a nice, useable amount of chicken. Oh, wait, and the marrow bones.
(What has she been eating while she boasts of this Ice Harvest, you wonder?)
We made a nice, bastardized gringo version of a Caldo Verde, using leftover greens and the pot likker, a frozen chorizo, and some dried beans from the pantry instead of potatoes (and I've decided beans are just little potatoes anyway).
We made a brilliant tomato soup from frozen tomato sauce and some spring onions (brilliant in both taste and color; I've discovered I'd rather not add cream to tomato soup).
Most of the dishes we come up with are soups or stews, but tonight I'm making a gaijin version of a sushi platter, with seasoned rice and the pickled turnips and radishes. And even there, we're once again hauling a dry ingredient out of the pantry in order to achieve a logical, appetizing dish.
It's very hard to simply eat up all the fresh and frozen food otherwise.
But I will confess I'm not playing fair. Yesterday I had an egg-salad sandwich — a purchased egg salad sandwich. And for lunch today I had a burrito made with beans from a can (wouldn't you think I'd had enough beans by now?).
OK. Fire up a pot of water, boys. I'm going rummaging again.
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9 comments:
I am so inspired by you -- and other bloggers -- for your brave-hearted experiment in freezer diving. It reminds me of when I was in university and a friend's father showed up at our off-campus digs with boxes of canned goods. Trouble was, they were all unmarked and we never knew whether we were opening corn niblets or tomatoes or --- quite the Russian Roulette approach to college dining.
Meanwhile I am checking out contents here and find great weirdness because I always stick promo products into the freezer -- everything from Brazilian cheese appetizers to excellent sweets. I also use it for grits and black walnuts and pecans. Found some "various cheeses", tads I saved a la Julia, to grate. Little meat but some fish, which I should use soon. Alas, the refrigerator is worse and it's time for soup again.
Keep up the good work. This could almost me a cookbook in itself, this project.
BE, be --- not me!
Oh, Kudzu, we're *thisclose* to blowing this experiment. Still plodding along, but I looked in the freezer today, and it hardly looks any different from Day 1. :(
Not insurmountable, though. The main pile-up in there is frozen vegetable broth (and yes, I made another pot of it today -- we've decided not to freeze today's batch; just gulp it up ASAP).
The solution is to Be Aware of what's in there, and to drag it out, thaw it and Use It!
I love your collegiate canned-food confusion! Crazy Soup!
You two are such hearty souls. I keep opening my freezer and thinking that I really should make that stock with the turkey bones that I saved. Actually it's a carcass. And then there is the gumbo I froze because per usual I made too much.
I am proud to say that in the last couple of weeks, I have only purchased one meal -- a turkey sandwich at a place on Bancroft.
"Beans are just little potatoes"
Ha!
I looooove caldo verde. An excellent choice.
I had noodles with butter for dinner. With bourbon.
You gots fortitude. I'd probably just toss everything and start over.
Biggles
I'm about there, Biggles.
Mm... bourbon and buttered noodles! I'm comin' over.
i'm really digging what you're doing with this food reincarnation. 100% is a lofty goal, so I wouldn't be too bummed. It's a hell of a lot better than my efforts. i forgot about some Dungeness I left in the fridge. It looked fine (but so past its due date) in its plastic container. Then i opened the bugger and was greeted with a pungent odor and flesh that had decomposed into goo. not fun.
Thanks, Vanessa. I'm coming around to that point of view. The best part is the fridge is almost completely under control now, and what's still in the freezer is safe.
(Ew! Crab goo.)
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