Does anyone have a use for the big leaves on the outside of cauliflower? The little, tender ones are fine as is. Right now, they just go in the compost.
Don't discard that part!
- Thread starter spork
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I make veg stock all the time. It is quick, easy, uses all the trim, and flavors anything better than anything canned or boxed I know of. (I also make fish and chic stock all the time too, as bones come available.) Roasted tomato soup with a veg stock base with a touch of ginger background is heaven! But so is butternut squash ...
I thicken with pureed potato or brown rice quite often (so I make extra when I cook them.) I use little cream or butter so much of this is low cal or fat and very healthy. That being said, I use real cream and butter when called for because it is real food.
I have a whole new appreciation for seasonality, freshness, and produce of all types in general since I began seriously cooking this way. I also maintain my weight much more easily (not an issue for everybody, but for some of us.)
I thicken with pureed potato or brown rice quite often (so I make extra when I cook them.) I use little cream or butter so much of this is low cal or fat and very healthy. That being said, I use real cream and butter when called for because it is real food.
I have a whole new appreciation for seasonality, freshness, and produce of all types in general since I began seriously cooking this way. I also maintain my weight much more easily (not an issue for everybody, but for some of us.)
Some of those tougher leaves have not been part of the human diet for quite a while I would expect.
My friendly neighborhood organic free range pasture farmer expects to use such as compost or feed for livestock. Whatever I can't use I drop off and somehow it gets properly "recycled" .
Not everyone can do this,but even a small compost will feed your flowers and reduce your waste nicely.
sparrowgrass
Head Chef
I make my chicken stock in the pressure cooker. By the time the stock is done, the bones are soft. I put all the bones/veggies into a freezer bag and dole it out bit by bit to the dogs for a treat. (Not all at once--causes digestive upsets. Ask me how I know.)
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I save some veggie leftovers in the freezer. You can't buy just enough celery for a mire poix so I buy the least expensive offering, usually a whole bunch with leaves, and freeze the leftovers for stock, mirepoix, soup, etc. The same goes for carrots and parsley stems.
I save chicken bones and scraps for stock just as most of us do.
If I had the energy, I'd never buy anything but whole chickens and turkeys on sale and butcher them myself. Where I shop, whole poultry is always the cheapest per pound and we eat all parts of the chicken (white and dark meats).
I save chicken bones and scraps for stock just as most of us do.
If I had the energy, I'd never buy anything but whole chickens and turkeys on sale and butcher them myself. Where I shop, whole poultry is always the cheapest per pound and we eat all parts of the chicken (white and dark meats).
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
You do the opposite from me, making small batches frequently. I don't make stock until I can fill a 20-quart stock pot with bones. I guess I'd rather gear up to do it once in a great while. Personal preference.
Save mushroom stems, chopped roughly and freeze to use as filler for meatloaf. Much tastier than the canned (YUK) rubber ones.
I don't use the chicken bones for stock any more. When I need stock I fill a 3 quart pot with water and add a frozen chicken thigh, season the water with salt, a celery stalk from the freezer along with bay leaf. a chopped onion and garlic. Afterward I have chicken meat already cooked to put in the freezer for later use, chicken stock for my current need, and more stock to freeze for next time. The bones I just throw away.
If I had a whole chicken or turkey carcass, then I'd make my stock using the bones along with any bits of meat clinging to the bones.
I don't use the chicken bones for stock any more. When I need stock I fill a 3 quart pot with water and add a frozen chicken thigh, season the water with salt, a celery stalk from the freezer along with bay leaf. a chopped onion and garlic. Afterward I have chicken meat already cooked to put in the freezer for later use, chicken stock for my current need, and more stock to freeze for next time. The bones I just throw away.
If I had a whole chicken or turkey carcass, then I'd make my stock using the bones along with any bits of meat clinging to the bones.
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Well, the compost is where they go now. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a better use for them, like the radish greens.
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
it's past the season for this year, but chicken necks and backs are great for crabbing.
lol, or from what i've seen on swamp people on the history channel, they're good for alligators too.
but seriously, my adopted grandfather always kept a bag in the garage freezer of any leftover chicken necks and backs.
tie them into a trap and drop it next to a grass patch in about 3 to 5 feet of water when the tide is changing. you'll see the crabs move out of the grass and onto the chicken in no time.
as the water gets deeper, you'll be able to see bits of chicken and oil float to the surface indicating there's crabs on.
and then go home, clean them, and toss in basil and gralic tomato sauce just before you call me for dinner.
lol, or from what i've seen on swamp people on the history channel, they're good for alligators too.
but seriously, my adopted grandfather always kept a bag in the garage freezer of any leftover chicken necks and backs.
tie them into a trap and drop it next to a grass patch in about 3 to 5 feet of water when the tide is changing. you'll see the crabs move out of the grass and onto the chicken in no time.
as the water gets deeper, you'll be able to see bits of chicken and oil float to the surface indicating there's crabs on.
and then go home, clean them, and toss in basil and gralic tomato sauce just before you call me for dinner.
The only way to catch crabs here in Montana is down at the hole in the wall bar...
Not as good as a lobster on your piano...
Don't you get crayfish in Montana?
Claire
Master Chef
I, too, put chunks of peeled ginger in sherry/port/sake /vermouth and keep in a jar in the fridge. When I'm through, the liquid is great when soy, garlic, and cornstarch are added to thicken a stir-fry.
Another thing is retrieving bones from dinner for soup. Even a pork chop bone, or leftover rib bones, etc, can turn into really good stock. One of my most infamous (and often repeated) soups came from having tons of leftover chicken wings that were too hot for most of our fellow diners at a restaurant. I took them all home, along with the celery and carrot sticks that were sitting there, and made a hot-and-sour soup that was to die for. Now I always order extra chicken wings and take home all that our friends/family cannot eat. Wonderful soup.
Another thing is retrieving bones from dinner for soup. Even a pork chop bone, or leftover rib bones, etc, can turn into really good stock. One of my most infamous (and often repeated) soups came from having tons of leftover chicken wings that were too hot for most of our fellow diners at a restaurant. I took them all home, along with the celery and carrot sticks that were sitting there, and made a hot-and-sour soup that was to die for. Now I always order extra chicken wings and take home all that our friends/family cannot eat. Wonderful soup.
Some people think that is icky, but after simmering for hours, there aren't any live microbes left.
In Edna Staebler's More Food That Really Schmecks she mentions a friend who does that. Her kids call it garbage soup, but they love it. We had chicken "garbage soup" tonight.
Not that I have noticed. I don't fish, I just watch and our last fishing trip is not fit for here but in the Off Topic Forum, if anyone is interested I'll post it there.
4meandthem
Half Baked
it's past the season for this year, but chicken necks and backs are great for crabbing.
and then go home, clean them, and toss in basil and gralic tomato sauce just before you call me for dinner.
The crabs or the necks......LOL
silentmeow
Senior Cook
How do you save the leek greens, whole or chopped? I've always tossed mine out as I'd heard that they were too tough to eat. Do you just use them for seasoning and then pull them out? This would be great, I really hate throwing away food.
OP
OP
spork
Head Chef
The stinkier the bait, the more likely to catch crabs.The only way to catch crabs here in Montana is down at the hole in the wall bar...
I always core and trash my cabbage hearts. I have no reason why I don't dice and toss it into my breakfast hash.
I like the whole idea of using discards for production, bones to bag crabs, maybe putting my green onion ends into a pool of water to see if it grows instead of trashing it...
I remember one day walking down on the pier at work and there were some guys crabbing and their chicken necks were floating in the water. They had bought chicken necks from the meat case that were partially frozen and were trying to crab with them.
CookLikeJulia
Senior Cook
For me, others that it should not be in a dish like roots, damage leaves, stems etc..
I make the a stock. I use as my water base for any dishes and it is really tasty.
I make the a stock. I use as my water base for any dishes and it is really tasty.
