Leftovers can be the delicious heart of something new and tasty, write the folks at Love Food Hate Waste.
He ngakau whakaute ki nga hua o Rongo — For the love of food. Let’s show our food some aroha, by using up every bit, storing fresh produce and leftovers in the best way, and getting creative so we don’t waste it.
From bread ends and crusts, leftover cooked rice and potatoes, to half eaten apples and overripe fruits, save them. The freezer is a great place to store them in the meantime until you have time or have enough to transform the food items into a new dish — and there are plenty of ways to give them a makeover.
Try making rice pudding with leftover rice and add a bit of cocoa powder or pieces of chocolate, use the bread crusts and ends to make chocolate bread muffins, make fruit salad muffins or fruit pancakes with soft or overripe fruits, and transform leftover mashed potatoes into Boston buns, or these mashed potato scones!
Quick tip: when freezing fruit we recommend chopping it and removing any seeds, pips, and, if the fruit has been bitten, the area surrounding the bite, before placing into a labelled bag or container and into the freezer so it is ready to be added to a smoothie, cake or crumble.
Find the recipe ideas mentioned here and many more at www.lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz or @lovefoodhatewastenz on Facebook and Instagram.
Mashed potato scones
Ingredients
1 cup cooled mashed potatoes, about 235g
1 egg
250g sour cream
3 cups flour
115g butter, cubed
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Pepper, to taste
½ cup cheese, grated (about 75g)
Method
1. Heat oven to 220degC bake or 200degC fan bake and grease a baking tray or line with a baking mat.
2. Combine mashed potato, egg and sour cream in a bowl and mix. Set aside.
3. Rub flour and butter in a large bowl until it begins to look like wet sand. Add the remaining dry ingredients and grated cheese and mix until it is evenly combined, make a well in the middle.
4. Pour wet mixture and mix with a butter knife or a wooden spoon until it comes together and then knead lightly with your hands to form a dough.
5. Roll out onto a lightly floured work surface to about 4cm-5cm in thickness, cut into shapes using a cookie cutter or using a knife. Transfer onto the baking tray spaced evenly.
6. Bake for 5 minutes at 220degC then turn the oven down to 180degC and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
Cooking tips
Swap the grated cheese with soft cheese chopped into small pieces or crumble in the mixture — a great way to use up small amounts of leftover cheese. The cheese can also be omitted from the recipe if preferred.
For other savoury flavour variations try adding chopped deli meats, bacon, fresh or dried herbs and spices, and chopped spinach or salad greens.
Chilli prawn fritters
Transform a bowl of easy-to-cook prawns with green chilli and coriander, Angela Casley writes.
These crisp, hot fritters make a great starter or as an addition to dinner. I like to serve them with this refreshing and light lime dipping sauce.
Makes 12
2 slices bread, torn
¼ cup water
500g raw prawn meat
½ onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 green chilli, seeds removed
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp lime zest
½ cup roughly chopped coriander
½ tsp salt and few grinds pepper
Flavourless oil for frying
Dipping sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp chopped coriander
1. Soak the bread (crusts and all) in the water for 5 minutes, then squeeze it out, discarding the water.
2. Into a food processor place the bread, prawns, onion, garlic, chilli, ginger, zest, coriander, salt and pepper. Blitz it in small bursts until just combined; leaving a few chunks of prawns is fine. Take heaped tablespoons and roll into rough balls.
3. To cook, heat 1cm oil in a frying pan to a medium heat. Cook a few at a time, 3-4 minutes on each side.
4. For the dipping sauce, combine the lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and coriander in a small bowl.
5. Serve the fritters hot with the sauce.
viva.co.nz
