How Do You Use Foods Past Their Prime?
[Fruit just past perky? Cook into jam. Photograph: Robyn Lee]
On the Times's Diner's Journal blog, Julia Moskin notes the ways that Portland grocers managed to turn past-peak produce into edible eats.
"When the local concord grapes on the shelf are past their prime, they go into the commissary kitchen and come out as Zippy Grape Jam. Bananas turning brown? They are peeled, dipped in chocolate, and sold frozen—and local kids eat them up."
We've all heard of brown bananas getting worked into banana bread, but we can get a lot more creative. My roommate uses chopped day-old French fries as an omelet addition—hey, they're just potatoes, right?—and I've made some pretty decent soup out of less-than-crisp spinach.
What about you? What creative ways have you found to use foods past their peak?
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24 Comments:
I was shocked last night, when my sister was planning to throw out the uneaten turkey legs, leftover dark meat, and the rest of the turkey carcass from our holiday dinner. I took everything home and am simmering up some delicious turkey stock right now.
salpico at 5:41PM on 09/20/09
Slightly overripe fruit like peaches are awesome pureed in the blender then used in bellinis or other fruit-based drinks. Or add some sugar syrup and put into the ice cream maker for sorbet. Uncrisp apples can be turned into applesauce or cooked with oatmeal.
I periodically make multi-fromage mac and cheese when the random bits of cheese need using.
A couple days ago, I discovered you can make a sort-of bouillabaisse with the sushi & sashimi you couldn't quite finish. If you add the rice too it soaks up the broth and makes it more stew-like.
I've started a zipper bag in the freezer to save small portions of not-quite-fresh produce like mushrooms and parsley and carrots and onions to make soup stock with. Soups or stews are great at absorbing whatever slightly wilty vegetables you have. I make a non-authentic rice and diced tomato "jambalaya" that also works well with random ingredients.
And of course, if you have chickens, they consider any of these things treats. ;-)
patricium at 6:03PM on 09/20/09
Any sort of fruit that's overripe can be turned into a dessert sauce. Veggies go in the stock pot if they are good for that. Leftovers can almost always get reheated for lunch or used in something else. Meat in sandwiches, potatoes get fried up with some eggs, soups, stews, and chili get frozen in little bowls to thaw for a quick lunch.
I have chickens so wilted leafy veggies often to to them, they appreciate the treat and I appreciate the eggs.
Noadi at 6:36PM on 09/20/09
I agree about the fruit. It's either frozen for smoothies/breads or baked into a cake or crisp.
Whenever I have lots of veggie leftovers I make stock.
I'm looking to invest in a compost bin to lower the smelly waste/leftovers that I have no use for (egg and nut shells, garlic peels, etc) so that at least my trash will end up feeding the plants at least.
gingercookiewithlime at 6:49PM on 09/20/09
That doesn't sound like using something past its prime. That sounds like redefining what "prime" is. Using something past its prime is like cooking chicken that smells funny or toasting bread with mold on it. Sorry - no.
shoneyjoe at 6:56PM on 09/20/09
I do "oops it's about to go bad I need to use it asap" dishes all the time.
I stir-fry lettuce when it becomes too old for salads.
I also "recycle" leftovers to make different dishes (for example, leftover pasta -> torta di pasta).
hmw0029 at 7:10PM on 09/20/09
Wilting veggies -- even lettuce -- always get turned into soup at my house. Stale cereal gets baked into muffins or crisped up in the oven for trail mix. Overripe tomatoes become sauce or stew. Sour yogurt, like after it's been open a week, replaces buttermilk in baked goods. Mushy apples go into apple sauce or crisps.
piccola at 7:20PM on 09/20/09
I once used wilted basil to make a basil oil to dip bread in and it was delicious
foodieteen at 8:52PM on 09/20/09
Eat it before it gets worse!
cycorider at 9:01PM on 09/20/09
My mom was very late in harvesting one of her apple trees this summer, and by the time she pulled the fruit it was dark and alcoholic! The apples made fabulous apple butter, though. I cooked them briefly before sending them through a food mill. After about 15 hours in a crockpot, you can't tell the difference!
myrnie_twin at 12:30AM on 09/21/09
Veggies get cooked in some way - stir fried or added to soup.
Fruits don't usually have a chance to get past their prime; they're more expensive and I'm more careful about getting them used. It takes a lot for a banana to be too ripe for me. Banana bread's a given, but I also like bananas mashed with a little sugar. big comfort food. Apples go into applesauce. I find red grapes last longer than green grapes without getting the little brown ends, so I almost always buy red.
Two of my local grocery stores have a multi-tiered cart in the corner of produce with reduced veggies and fruits. Often it's something like a package of 6 peppers where one has started to get a soft spot. I typically buy bananas when another store reduces them to 29 cents a pound.
lemonfair at 6:17AM on 09/21/09
out-of-date bacon is useful in cooking botulism stew
redfish at 6:58AM on 09/21/09
i throw it away.
carriebwc at 9:04AM on 09/21/09
I mix up leftover spaghetti and sauce, then layer it with shredded cheese and bake it. I like it better than the original.
Here's another vote for chopping up the leftover french fries into a breakfast omelet; I also reheat theme in the oven topped with chili and cheese. So many restaurants automatically serve a big pile of fries that I don't want at the time, but I've gotten over feeling silly bringing them home because they can be so handy.
Veering off topic, I also bring home and freeze leftover rice from Chinese restaurants. It's more a convenience issue than one of cost.
ChloeA at 9:31AM on 09/21/09
Stale bread is great for panzanella; the other ingredients moisten and flavor the bread in a way that you wouldn't know it wasn't several days old.
crisp444 at 9:36AM on 09/21/09
Correction: "wouldn't know it WAS several days old."
crisp444 at 9:38AM on 09/21/09
moldy foods get tossed, bananas become banana bread, other fruits/veggies get composted.
j at 10:01AM on 09/21/09
Regarding out-of-date bacon, I've occasionally stretched food safety rules for most of my 60 years and don't know of a single instance when I went too far. Given all the preservatives in most bacon, It's pretty easy to tell if it's actually spoiled or not--it gets a horrible sticky/slimy texture and an odor that says "you're insane to even think about eating this." In my experience, that doesn't usually happen for a week or two after the use-by date. Take this commentary with a grain of salt, though :)
ChloeA at 10:22AM on 09/21/09
I take peaches or apples or other fruit that's going a little past their prime and puree them in the blender (with or without a little simple syrup). Process them to the consistency of baby food (very smooth) then spread them out thin on a silpat sheet and put in the oven. Turn oven on warm (lowest setting) just until it beeps then turn off and leave oven closed. If you are home all day just turn oven on and off 3 or 4 times until you have fruit leather. So good. I also do this with fruit that we've canned in syrup and we've neglected to eat.
peanuty at 10:28AM on 09/21/09
I try to use leftovers creatively, whether it's making coconut milk rice pudding with leftover plain, white rice or cooking leftover nachos with eggs for breakfast. Since I've got some leftover lentils and rice from dinner this weekend, I'm thinking of making them into little patties with tomato paste and pan frying them.
Otherwise, overripe fruit and leafy greens get tossed into the blender for green smoothies, and overripe veggies get stir-fried or made into soup!
Lorena at 3:02PM on 09/21/09
I have some LARGE red peppers that are not quite as crisp as they once were. I'm planning to roast them tonight, but was wondering if anyone has suggestions for storing them. I'd prefer not to use olive oil for cost reasons. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
Kerosena at 3:32PM on 09/21/09
Veggies slightly past their prime are at-home in stratas (an eggy stale-bread casserole!) and frittatas...
when in doubt, mix into ramen, pasta, soup or rice. ;)
effingfoodie at 4:46PM on 09/21/09
Fruit with spots gets chopped up and put in my freezer for later mead making adventures.
I use leftover fried foods to make migas instead of using tortillas.
Stale bread pretty much always becomes pomodoro.
hannah_phi at 8:00PM on 09/24/09
@shoneyjoe, Carey isn't redefining either the phrase "past its prime" or the term "prime." The prime for any food is when it is at the peak of its deliciousness; as a general rule of thumb, you just want to eat it out of hand (not for raw meats, obviously).
These foods are past their peak eating condition in that they're a little softer when they were once crisp, stale when they were once toothsome, etc. However, none of these foods have gone so far down the spectrum to be truly inedible or unsafe. It's a bit of a sliding scale for everyone between "past prime" and "dangerously high bacteria levels," and where to draw the line of what can be salvaged.
To answer the question, I've been making a lot of jams and steeped fruit with my excess CSA goodies. Another popular trick is using trimmed greens on pizza. The high heat renders the prime and post-prime greens equal.
urbanruralist at 5:34PM on 10/07/09