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Zero-Waste Chef

Vacaville I-80 Noah Berger AP Photo

Posted on September 6, 2020September 7, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef
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5 Buy Nothing Day Activities
Low-Waste Self-Care that Costs (Almost) Nothing
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Sourdough Crackers 2.0
Sourdough Measurements by the Cup (or Why I Use a Kitchen Scale...)
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Plastic-Free Glue (Wheat Paste) and How to Use It
Book Excerpt! The Freshest Pumpkin Pie: Full Recipe

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  • Unsure How to Eat Persimmons? Make Cultured Chutney
  • Thanksgiving Dinner for One (or Two)
  • Book Excerpt! The Freshest Pumpkin Pie: Full Recipe
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  • What I Learned Writing a Cookbook
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Pastry + leftovers = yum . Pastry is a food waste Pastry + leftovers = yum . Pastry is a food waste prevention tool. You can fill it will all kinds of leftovers, whether you had a turkey this Thanksgiving or not. My daughter MK sent me pics of this fabulous looking pastry she made for a pot pie she filled with leftover turkey and vegetables. I make this often with a vegetable filling. You sauté the vegetables, make béchamel sauce, combine everything, fill the pastry shell, comer with more pastry and bake. Make a double pastry like MK has done here, or fill a glass dish with filling and drape the top only with pastry. . A galette also transforms leftovers into a new dish. No pie plate needed. No pro pastry chef skills needed either. Roll out the pastry, place it on a baking sheet or large cast-iron pan, fill the center, fold the edges over toward the center without completely covering it and bake. Or make hand pies—sweet or savory. If you make a bunch, freeze some to enjoy them later. . Link in profile for the pumpkin pie recipe from my book, which includes a pastry recipe for one single-crust pie or a galette. Make pastry, not waste! We all do what we must 😉
Happy Buy Nothing Day! . Today kicks off the unsus Happy Buy Nothing Day! . Today kicks off the unsustainable holiday consumer frenzy not only in the US but now in countries around the world (apologies from the US). In the early 90s, Adbusters started a new tradition the day after we give thanks for what we already have: Buy Nothing Day. It's a day to reflect and to act by not acting. . During the pandemic, the big guys have only grown stronger and richer and will rake in even greater profits this holiday season than in previous years, what with small businesses being decimated by the pandemic and Black Friday sales moving online. At least no one will be trampled over a cheap TV today. . If you do see tempting Black Friday deals, remember: It's not a bargain if you don't need it. . Link in profile for some alternatives to shopping today.
I heard the writer A.J. Jacobs discuss gratitude o I heard the writer A.J. Jacobs discuss gratitude on the Ted Radio Hour this weekend. When he decided to thank everyone who made his morning cup of coffee possible, the list of people grew exponentially, from the barista who brewed the coffee, to the farmer who grew the beans, to the trucker who delivered the beans, to the workers who processed the beans, to the expert bean taster and on and on and on. His quest took him around the world to thank many of these people and he spent hours writing emails and letters to thank many more. . I thought about my own morning ritual—yoga (usually)—and how grateful I am for it. First, I can physically do it. I have a bunch of hardware in my leg from a bike (me) v car (not me) accident. I have the time to do yoga. I have the space to roll out my yoga mat. Then there is the mat itself. Someone bought me the expensive mat. Farmers grew the plants that produce the materials that other workers transformed into rubber. Sailors or truckers or both delivered these materials to the company that produced the mat. Someone delivered the finished mat to the store that sold mine. A store employee had to unpack the box and stock the shelf with my mat. A salesperson sold the mat. Oh and then there is the nice undyed fabric strap with brass findings that I bundle up my yoga mat with when I don’t use it. I could go on and on and on—and I should! (But maybe not here because I will quickly run out of space.) . “May your life be filled with both thanks and giving.” (I saw this saying on a kitchen wall sign.) Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who is celebrating it today.
My cultured persimmon chutney recipe is now up on My cultured persimmon chutney recipe is now up on my blog. Every time I post a picture of persimmons, people ask me for ideas to use them. This is one way. It’s like my fermented salsa but with fruit and is highly adaptable. In this half batch, I put the following... . 1 1/2 cups persimmons (Fuyu or Hachiya) 1/2 cup apple, diced 1/2 cup onion, diced 1 jalapeño pepper, minced (pretty hot) 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely minced 1 lemon, juiced 1 quarter preserved lemon, pulp and rind, diced 2 tablespoons preserved lemon brine or other starter 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds . Mix ingredients, stuff in a clean jar, wait. Pour in a bit of water if not covered in liquid. Burp daily to release building up carbon dioxide. This should be ready in two days. . If you don’t have—or you don’t like—preserved lemons, use another live culture to start this, like a ginger bug, whey from cultured yogurt, fermented sauerkraut brine or kombucha. You’ll have to adjust the salt in the absence of preserved lemons. Link in profile for the full recipe on my blog.
I’ve been cooking what I can in advance for Than I’ve been cooking what I can in advance for Thanksgiving so I can relax a bit on Thursday. I had taken sourdough bread off of the menu and replaced it with focaccia but realized I need breadcrumbs for my nutloaf so I started two small loaves yesterday (and I’ll still make sourdough focaccia). The scrap vegetable broth is done (also for the nutloaf) and I have purée ready for my pie. I couldn’t find a pie pumpkin so I bought a kabocha squash instead. . In my stories today, I posted pictures of my chutney. I had planned on making fermented cranberry-pear chutney with dried cranberries and then had a 💡 moment—I can’t find loose cranberries but persimmons are all over the place and also seasonal. Why not make persimmon chutney???!!! 😮😋🤤 I’m working on writing up that recipe. (I cook faster than I can write.) . Link in profile for my Thanksgiving menu for one (or two).
My kids are gone and I don’t want to travel or m My kids are gone and I don’t want to travel or mix households so I’ll cook Thanksgiving dinner for one and Zoom friends and family when we eat. More than the thought of spending Thanksgiving alone, I dreaded the idea of shopping for my meal. I love our farmers’ market but so does everyone so it’s VERY busy. Yesterday I went early and missed the bigger crowds (and I do feel safer shopping outside). I also hit the one bulk store in town that hasn’t shut down it’s bins (it happens to be on the same street as the farmers’ market). . After many Canadians spent Thanksgiving—it fell on October 12th this year—with their families, the country saw a huge spike in Covid cases two weeks later. (Swipe to see a graph of that horrifying spike from the Canadian government.) My sister and kids stayed away from my elderly mother, which sounds depressing, but they helped increase the chances that she will be around next Thanksgiving. . Keep in mind that 1) Canadians don’t travel all over the country for Thanksgiving. As a Canadian living in the US, I can assure you that the holiday is big up there but not nearly as big as it is here. 2) Canada’s Covid numbers hadn’t been spiraling out of control before Thanksgiving like they are in the US now. So imagine what our ensuing spike will look like. . If you are on the fence about traveling this year, you might want to stay on your side of that fence. If you do travel, stay safe! . Link in profile for a new blog post “Thanksgiving Dinner for One (or Two).”
Sunflower seeds soaking for a variation of my cult Sunflower seeds soaking for a variation of my cultured cashew cheese . A few people asked me if sunflower seeds would work in place of cashews for my recipe. Yes, that works! . I meant to soak these for 4 or 5 hours but life happens and I didn’t get to them. So I put them in the refrigerator overnight and processed them this morning. My inexpensive secondhand blender took its time to transform the sunflower seeds into a smooth paste and they required a tiny bit more liquid than the cashews. This batch contains leftover kimchi brine to kickstart the fermentation. It smells heavenly. I’ll add some nutritional yeast later to adjust the flavor if it needs it. . To ferment food, you basically stuff food into a jar and wait. The process never fails to fascinate me. The good bacteria in the kimchi brine will work their magic and transform my purée into cultured cheese likely by the end of the day. I’ll let it sit for an extra day or two to develop more tang. While I wait for it to bubble to life, I’ll try not to stare at it all day like a kettle boiling. . Link in profile for the adaptable cultured cashew cheese recipe.
I’ve been topping sourdough discard pizza with c I’ve been topping sourdough discard pizza with cultured cashew cheese this week. It’s very good! But now I’m almost out of cheese and completely out of cashews. Luckily I have sunflower seeds so I’ll start the next batch with those. . After spreading the cheese onto the sourdough pizza dough, I topped it with leftover ratatouille. Delicious! If you don’t have a cast-iron pan, bake the pizza on a cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal or on a baking stone if you have one. Link in profile for the pizza dough recipe, which includes the link to the cheese. Happy Friday, all!
Just in time for Thanksgiving! Reveal on my blog o Just in time for Thanksgiving! Reveal on my blog of the full recipe, “The Freshest Pumpkin Pie,” from my upcoming book. . You need to know a couple of things about this recipe before getting started: 1) Once you bake a pumpkin pie made with fresh pumpkin AND fresh ginger, you simply cannot go back to their shelf-stable counterparts and 2) Although I have revealed the recipe for you on my site, do not feel obligated to divulge the secret ingredients to your friends and family when they ask—and they will ask. . For my vegan followers, although this is not a vegan recipe, I have included the pastry recipe, which works extremely well with chilled coconut oil (let it soften a tiny bit before using it). Several people have asked me in the past for a vegan pastry recipe and this is pastry season! 🥧 . Happy almost Thanksgiving. Link in profile for the recipe. . Photo credit 📸: Ashley MacLaughlin @edible_perspective
“Our biggest moral debt is to the environment. T “Our biggest moral debt is to the environment. Take-take-take, nothing given back.” — Margaret Atwood . Happy birthday @therealmargaretatwood 😍
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