I felt a tinge of horror as I read the T-shirt logo: SAVEFOOD, with links to the websites of Boroume (= we can) of Kalyteri Zoi (= better life). Cutting down food waste has been a rule of life for me for a long time.
Ventures like these are of course an outcome of the crisis, although I would argue that the effects of the crisis would not have been felt so strongly if we had always believed in a better life, with an emphasis on cutting down waste of any sort.
The Kalyteri Zoi site leads to a pdf e-book entitled: ΔΕΝ ΠΕΤΑΜΕ ΤΙΠΟΤΑ! (= we don't throw anything out), containing 25 recipes submitted by home cooks on how to use leftovers in a new meal, again something I'm well versed in; I've had a leftovers label on my blog since its inception. (And again, I can't help thinking that no one was listening when they should have been.)
The recipes include fritters made from leftover boiled potato, savoury loaf filled with whatever's on hand and carbonara made with leftover bifteki (meat pattie), to cite a few recipes. What's more, some of the recipes include English names, eg αμπελοφάσουλα reloaded, never the same pie and harlem cake. There is a clear emphasis on making something new with something old, based on the desire to keep life interesting despite its sameness.
Cooking with leftovers has never frightened me. I find it a very challenging way of being creative int he kitchen, together with finding free food sources. Last Sunday, after making spanakopita (spinach pies) both for eating and freezing, I had some leftover mixture which I couldn't use because I had run out of pastry. (Pie-making is one of those things where you may end up with leftover pastry or leftover filling.) I turned it into a dinner for two that evening, adding some kitchen staples.
You need:
2 cups of uncooked spanakopita filling (spinach, herbs, seasonings, onion and soft white cheese - I rarely add egg to the mixture, but it may contain some)
1 egg
3-4 tablespoons of flour
3-4 tablespoons of water
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
Mix the leftover spanakopita filling witht he egg, flour and water. Mix in just enough water and flour to make the mixture sticky but not doughy. but don't worry if you add too much flour or water; the end result will either be a pancake (if you add too much flour) or a filling omelette (if you add less flour). I think mine came out to something in-between.
Heat the oil in a medium shallow frying pan till it's very hot. Spoon the mixture over the hot oil, spreading it to cover the whole pan. Let it cook on high heat on one side, then turn it over to cook on the other side. Becauce the pancake-omelette will be too thick to flip, turn it out onto a plate, then turn the plate over back into the pan. Don't worry if it breaks up - it will reshape and stick back together in the pan.
All you need to go with the pancake-omelette is some bread and wine. And even if you don't have that handy, this leftovers meal will still taste like one of the best meals you have ever had. And if the spinach came from your garden, and the eggs came from a local farmer, such a meal will also be one of the most localised, seaosnal and frugal meals you have ever eaten.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
Ventures like these are of course an outcome of the crisis, although I would argue that the effects of the crisis would not have been felt so strongly if we had always believed in a better life, with an emphasis on cutting down waste of any sort.
The Kalyteri Zoi site leads to a pdf e-book entitled: ΔΕΝ ΠΕΤΑΜΕ ΤΙΠΟΤΑ! (= we don't throw anything out), containing 25 recipes submitted by home cooks on how to use leftovers in a new meal, again something I'm well versed in; I've had a leftovers label on my blog since its inception. (And again, I can't help thinking that no one was listening when they should have been.)
The recipes include fritters made from leftover boiled potato, savoury loaf filled with whatever's on hand and carbonara made with leftover bifteki (meat pattie), to cite a few recipes. What's more, some of the recipes include English names, eg αμπελοφάσουλα reloaded, never the same pie and harlem cake. There is a clear emphasis on making something new with something old, based on the desire to keep life interesting despite its sameness.
You can make Greek pies the lazy way by rolling out just two pastry sheets and using one layer of filling as listed here. In this way, you will get more than one pie (one for eating and the others for the freezer), as each pie turns out thinner.
You need:
2 cups of uncooked spanakopita filling (spinach, herbs, seasonings, onion and soft white cheese - I rarely add egg to the mixture, but it may contain some)
1 egg
3-4 tablespoons of flour
3-4 tablespoons of water
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
Mix the leftover spanakopita filling witht he egg, flour and water. Mix in just enough water and flour to make the mixture sticky but not doughy. but don't worry if you add too much flour or water; the end result will either be a pancake (if you add too much flour) or a filling omelette (if you add less flour). I think mine came out to something in-between.
Heat the oil in a medium shallow frying pan till it's very hot. Spoon the mixture over the hot oil, spreading it to cover the whole pan. Let it cook on high heat on one side, then turn it over to cook on the other side. Becauce the pancake-omelette will be too thick to flip, turn it out onto a plate, then turn the plate over back into the pan. Don't worry if it breaks up - it will reshape and stick back together in the pan.
All you need to go with the pancake-omelette is some bread and wine. And even if you don't have that handy, this leftovers meal will still taste like one of the best meals you have ever had. And if the spinach came from your garden, and the eggs came from a local farmer, such a meal will also be one of the most localised, seaosnal and frugal meals you have ever eaten.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
Maria, I arrived at something very similar from "the other end" - originally a recipe for Korean style pancakes made from egg, flour, water and some sliced spring onions. Over time I've been adding more and more cooked and uncooked vegetables each time I make it.
ReplyDeleteSending care and huggles from an Autumnal Wellington, Michelle
wonderful ideas, created from next to nothing
Deleteand delicious too!
Deletewhy the 'tinge of horror'?
ReplyDeletei always feel terrible when i hear that good food is being thrown away - it's something that horrifies me
Deletecomment by email:
ReplyDeletethere has never been anything wrong with using leftovers, throwing them out is wrong. I looked at your ingredients & thought as I looked at the picture, leaving out the flour you have a fritatta. I remember Mum using left over veggies from the Sunday roast including peas & cooking them up in a frying pan, all mashed together & called 'Bubble & Squeak', the Poms call it a 'Fry Up' as 'Bubble & Squeak' is something different to them, or the left over leg of lamb went into a shepherd's pie or Cornish pastie (which I'm having tomorrow for lunch at a local Brit style bar). We grew up with someone is starving somewhere in the world, I'm preaching to the choir aren't I!
I never have leftovers in my house, I don't understand the concept. Ok, I have leftover bread that goes stale after 3-4 days which if I don't turn into avgofetes I put in the freezer and add to keftedes mixture. Or more rarely fresh milk just after past date I turn into rice pudiing. We all know it lasts more than the 5 days written on the carton. We generally eat what's in the fridge before it goes bad and then we shop for more, eg. cheese, salads. Apart from the unethical side of throwing food, shopping is a very consuming task and carrying food in your house and then throwing it away is wasting ourselves not just our of money.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem also arises from people sticking to expiry dates before an item goes bad. Expiry dates on eggs when we all know that an egg is OK if it doesn't smell bad. The same goes for milk which curdles if it goes bad, etc. The less we know about food the more likely we are to throw it after expiry date.
food wastage is mainly a first-world problem where most people are far removed from the food chain and they rely on third parties to inform them about what they can or should eat
ReplyDeleteZito ta pleonasmata!
ReplyDelete