I’m always looking for new ways to economise and save food waste, and I love it when I discover tasty, simple new recipes.
The UK used to be very good at it, and I have some excellent old economical cookery books, but people aren’t so talented at saving the pennies nowadays. But I get some great ideas from other countries, who can’t afford to waste anything.
So don’t turn your nose up at these recipes; give them a try.
A lot of potatoes don’t need peeling, but when I peel potatoes for mashed potatoes , I save the peelings and I put them in a freezer bag. They’re delicious baked in the oven until crispy and they puff up slightly. I oil the baking tin and I sprinkle the peelings with salt.
My family turned their nose up at them, then they reluctantly tried them and polished off the lot!
My friend used to run a pub and she said they used to sell crispy potato peelings as a first course, and it was their most popular dish!
I had the greenery from a cauliflower saved in the fridge. I used scissors to cut them into small pieces and boiled them for a few minutes until soft, with some chopped onion.
Then I drained them and divided them between a chicken stock, made by boiling a chicken carcass and stripping off all the remaining chicken, and a baking dish.
I boiled some potato peelings until they’d softened and again I put some in with the chicken stock and the rest in the baking dish.
I added a couple of mushrooms to the stock, seasoned the saucepan and cooked the soup for about half an hour.
Then I blitzed the chicken stock until smooth and when cool I placed it in the fridge to wait until we fancy some soup in a day or two.
The peelings act as a thickening agent and give the soup body.
Meanwhile I added a sliced tomato to the baking dish and two pieces of smoked fish. Then I made a white sauce, poured it over the dish and topped it with toasted breadcrumbs, which I always have in my cupboard.
The dish was emptied. It was delicious!
So don’t turn your nose up at the old ways to economise. If you’re throwing food away, you’re missing out on some delicious meals!
See my other article, Such a Waste of Food!
