The Leftovers
Let’s start with the word leftovers. Something left over is, at best, unintentional and at worst, unwanted. I’m tempted to rename the whole concept, but just like ice cream with freezer burn, I’d rather respin it.
A seasonal kitchen runs on cycles. Daily, weekly, annually. There is directionality and flow. It’s about swimming with the current. It’s not so hard to make a salmon salad sandwich when you have bread, mayonnaise, and roasted salmon on hand.
Cooking is easier when you have things to cook with.
We take family meal pretty seriously. Feeding the staff before service is a major responsibility of the kitchen. Nearly every restaurant walk-in has a dedicated family shelf. It’s filled with old menu items, sad-but-definitely-still-edible vegetables, recipe testing results…ya know, leftovers. Deciding what to make for family meal almost always begins with a rummage through the walk-in. What do we have to cook with?
Once I identify a few ingredients (let’s say pulled chicken thighs and some broccolini that looks a little floppy), I start leafing through my mental playbook of ingredient delivery systems. This is my term for versatile, established structures like pizzas, pasta salads, sandwiches, pot pies, fried and baked rices. Vehicles for conveying a variety of ingredients. I like making pie crusts. It’s easy for me to keep a few crusts on hand, roll them out, and fill them with whatever proteins or vegetables find their way onto the family shelf. Mac likes making focaccia pizza.
Eating leftovers doesn’t have to mean microwaving yesterday’s dinner. Our approach is about using leftovers as ingredients to create something new.
We’ve built our Meal Plan around this framework. Every week, the first meal is a starting point. Key leftovers become ingredients and simplify your prep for the rest of the week.
The more you practice, the more you’ll see new ways to make creative use of leftovers.
We’re glad you’re cooking with us.
Cheers,
Sten and Mac
Chef Snacks
Cooking Tip
Refrigerate leftover rice in a thin layer. Leftover rice is a gift, not a burden. I love fried rice. But it only works if you have old rice. Fresh rice is not dry or hard enough. (Also why ruin the glory of fresh rice by frying it?!) Most importantly, it’s difficult to fry rice in big clumps. The grains must be (mostly) separated.
When you’re done with dinner, spread your hot rice in a shallow layer on a sheet pan or baking dish. Refrigerate it uncovered (to dry out). By the next day, it should be pretty easy to crumble with your hands. If you’re not frying it up the next day, store it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for a couple of months.
Aster Pantry’s Meal Plan
The launch is almost here! Signups open on Monday, May 5. The first plan drops in your inbox on Friday, May 9! Tell your friends!
Around the Sound
Tickets are on sale for our summer Solstice Dinner at A&K Alder Farm. Want to spend the longest day of the year eating a multicourse meal in a beautiful orchard? Email us for more details!
