Cooking with Kitchen Scraps

catho_monster

Given the new bin charges, this article jumped out of my Twitter feed at me this morning

http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/cook-with-kitchen-scraps

I already keep all my parmesan rinds and use the kale stems in a slow onion/butter fry and the beginning of whatever recipe it is, but not much else on the list.

Does anyone have any other ideas for cooking with things we'd normally throw into the compost bin?

BuffyBot

Peel the tough outer skin from a big stem of a head of broccoli after the florets are gone. It's tasty and goes great matchsticked up in stir fries.

CJhaughey

BuffyBot wrote: »

Peel the tough outer skin from a big stem of a head of broccoli after the florets are gone. It's tasty and goes great matchsticked up in stir fries.

Its my favourite part of the Broccoli, really sweet.

catho_monster

CJhaughey wrote: »

Its my favourite part of the Broccoli, really sweet.

I've made this recipe before, grilling the whole broccoli and it was gorgeous. No broccoli stalk wastage...

http://ladyandpups.com/2015/09/21/amazing-broccoli-steaks-w-red-chili-sambal-romesco/

LaChatteGitane

From that list I wouldn't throw anything out except the olive pits.
I use a lot of onions so obviously I don't always keep the skin.
Us humans get first pick. What's left gets divided between dogs, chickens, pigs and compost heap.
In effect nothing goes to waste in this house.:pac:

IvyTheTerrible

Use peelings and tops of carrots etc to make stock.

Dial Hard

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Use peelings and tops of carrots etc to make stock.

This. I keep a bag in the freezer and throw carrot, onion, leek and garlic tops into it for stock. Ditto the bones off thighs (which we eat a lot of) and before you know it, you've the makings of a whopper batch of stock.

As someone else mentioned, I always freeze my parmesan rinds, they're great for soup.

We mostly only buy broccoli to make soup with so the whole head goes generally goes in as it's being blended anyway.

The dog takes care of most of whatever waste is left. She won't eat egg shells (my last dogs did) so I put them in my herb pots to keep slugs and snails away.

IvyTheTerrible

If you have space, a composter is great for vegetable scraps you can't use for anything else (teabags, coffee grinds and eggshells go in too).

Fruit that's too soft or going off can always be made into a crumble or put in a cake.

catho_monster

Dial Hard wrote: »

This. I keep a bag in the freezer and throw carrot, onion, leek and garlic tops into it for stock. Ditto the bones off thighs (which we eat a lot of) and before you know it, you've the makings of a whopper batch of stock

I like the idea of using used citrus halves for sugar syrup, do you think they'd freeze ok in the same way? Have one sitting on my counter now but it's not enough to start a batch with...

Dial Hard

catho_monster wrote:

I like the idea of using used citrus halves for sugar syrup, do you think they'd freeze ok in the same way? Have one sitting on my counter now but it's not enough to start a batch with...

I can't see why they wouldn't. Oftentimes the biggest problem with freezing is the change in texture when defrosted but that wouldn't be an issue here as it's only the flavour you want. Only one way to find out!

What I usually do with squeezed citrus half is throw them into the dishwasher, they make a great natural rinse aid :-)