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Don’t scrap those scraps! Give your leftovers a delicious makeover instead.
Fall is in the air and it’s time to start thinking about what we will cook for our family and guests during this festive time of year. It’s easy to get a little carried away, with all of the dinners, parties and pot-lucks; our refrigerators and pantries will soon be bursting at the seams.
It might be tempting to just throw away all the bits of this and that taking up space. But don’t! As we learn from the chefs in Layla Khoury-Hanold’s piece “Waste Not, Want Not,” page 114, cooking creatively with scraps can yield impressively delicious results.
Coffee Syrup Affogato
Makes 2 desserts.
Leftover morning Coffee = Syrup
Make Affogato, an Italian dessert made with ice cream and coffee syrup. Affogato means “drowned” in Italian.
You can make your Affogato as plain or fancy as you’d like. After pouring the coffee syrup over the gelato or ice cream, drizzle with chocolate syrup and top with toasted crushed almonds or macadamia nuts and whipped cream. A bit of Amaretto or Frangelico poured over the top of this dessert is a delightful treat!
- 1 cup leftover morning coffee
- ½ cup sugar
- Ice cream or gelato
Place coffee in a small saucepan. Add sugar and stir. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in ½ teaspoon vanilla. Allow to cool. (Coffee syrup can be kept covered in a mason jar for several days in the refrigerator. Reheat the syrup to make the Affogato.)
Place a scoop of vanilla or chocolate gelato or ice cream in heatproof dessert dishes, then “drown” it in hot coffee syrup.
Mary Ann’s Adult Mac and Cheese
Makes 8 entrée servings or 12 side dish servings.
Cheese Odds and Ends = Cheese Sauce
My friend Mary Ann gave me this ingenious tip for using up all the little bits of cheese leftover from holiday entertaining. Brie and camembert from a fancy cheese tray, grated parmesan from that big tray of lasagna and feta, Swiss, cheddar, you name it, it’s in your refrigerator cheese drawer. Here’s a delicious way to use up all those bits of cheese – make Adult Mac and Cheese. The children may not like it because it doesn’t taste exactly like the mac and cheese that comes out of a box, but adults will love the spicy, peppery, cheesy flavors.
TIP: The Murray’s cheese section at our local Kroger often has a $5 cheese “remnants” area where fancy cheeses can be purchased at a reduced price.
- 8 ounces elbow macaroni
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 large shallot, chopped
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
- 3 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
- 1½ cups leftover bits of cheese, grated or cut into small pieces (brie, feta, mozzarella, camembert – the only cheese I would not recommend is cream cheese because it can taste “chalky” in this dish. Cheeses such as feta and goat cheese will give the mac and cheese a stronger, sharper taste, so if you like a milder mac and cheese use milder cheeses.)
- 3 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cook macaroni in salted boiling water. Drain, set aside.
Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add shallots and stir until shallots are wilted and beginning to brown slightly. Add flour, stir over medium-low heat until flour is absorbed into the butter. Add one cup milk, stir and reduce heat to low. Add sharp cheddar cheese and continue heating and stirring until cheese is melted. Add two cups milk, then pepper jack cheese and leftover cheese, stirring after each addition. Reduce heat to low and stir in Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper and parsley. Remove from heat.
Place one-half of cooked pasta in a 9” x 9” baking pan. Pour one-half of cheese sauce over the macaroni and smooth sauce over macaroni with a rubber spatula. Place the other half of the macaroni on top of the sauce and cover that macaroni with the other half of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over the top of the sauce and dot with butter. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour or until the top of the mac and cheese is evenly browned.
Pickled Tri-Color Herb Stem Cherry Tomatoes
Makes 4 servings.
Leftover pickle juice = Marinade
What is always left in a pickle jar once the pickles are gobbled up? Pickle juice! Save the juice to make these spicy colorful cherry tomato pickles to serve with roasted meats or on a cheese or charcuterie tray for your holiday table.
TIP: Purchase dried herbs and spices by the ounce at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op or Earth Fare.
- 30 tri-color cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup spicy pickle juice (leftover from spicy pickles)
- 8 oregano stems
- 8 basil stems
- 40 whole black peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons mixed pickling spice
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Poke cherry tomatoes with a skewer or toothpick. Place tomatoes and oregano and basil stems in a mason jar. In a small bowl, combine pickle juice, peppercorns, pickling spice and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Pour pickle juice mixture over cherry tomatoes. Seal jar and shake. Place in refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.
Honeycrisp Apple Bourbon Smash
Makes one cocktail
Fruit Scraps = Cocktail Syrups and Garnishes
TIP: Autumn weather is the perfect time for a crisp spiced apple bourbon cocktail. This “smash” uses the peel and the fruit, so nothing goes to waste.
- ¼ Honeycrisp Apple, peeled and cut into very small pieces (peel the apple wedge in strips so you can use it for garnish)
- 1 ounce Winter Citrus Simple Syrup
- 2 ounces Bourbon
- 2 ounces Hard Apple Cider
- Slice of Honeycrisp apple with peel + apple peeling from muddling, cinnamon stick and Star Anise for garnish
Muddle Honeycrisp apple pieces in an Old Fashioned glass. Add Winter Citrus Simple Syrup and Bourbon. Stir to combine. Add ice and top with 2 ounces Hard Apple Cider. Gently stir and garnish with a Honeycrisp apple slice, apple peeling, cinnamon stick and star anise.
Winter Citrus Simple Syrup
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 star anise
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 cardamom pods, crushed
- 12 cloves
Juice and zest of one-half of lemon (zest and juice the other half and freezer for later use).
Peel of one orange (enjoy the rest of the orange as a snack).
Place all ingredients in a saucepan and stir. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and continue to heat and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and cover. Allow the syrup to steep for one hour.
Place in a mason jar, covered with jar lid, in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
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