ANNABEL LANGBEIN
Clever ideas make gourmet eating possible on a budget
Finger on the pulse
In my late teens I acquired an unsuitable boyfriend and, with him, an assortment of his motley friends. A couple of them would disappear into the bush, possum trapping for months at a time, leaving their tribe of Dickensian children with an old alcoholic called Sparky. Before each trip, they would head down to the local Wattie’s factory and fill their truck with cases of damaged, unlabelled cans, which the factory sold for next-to-nothing.
One year the entire hoard, all 40 cases that had been purchased, was canned beetroot, not one case or can of anything else. Sparky and the kids spent the first week opening can after can in the hope there might actually be something else to eat like baked beans, spaghetti, or corn. I have no idea what happened after that, but miraculously everyone lived to tell the tale.
It took a while for the unsuitability of my paramour to sink in, but when I found myself collecting empty bottles for the refund to get enough money together to make his four small children lunch, I knew that this was not going to be my own life’s journey. However, I learned some really useful skills about being resourceful.
To this day I hate waste. If there are bread crusts left over after dinner, I throw them into the oven to dry out, and the next morning I crumb them up finely and store them in an airtight container. They keep fresh for months and are great — not just as a coating or topping but also as a crunchy sprinkle over a hot pasta dish just before serving. If it’s an artisan loaf with a coarser crumb, I like to tear it into smallish pieces and then toss these in some garlicky oil, a sprinkle of salt and sometimes a little dried oregano or rosemary. Baked until crispy (160C for 20-30 minutes), they make fabulous chunky croutons for soups and salads and also keep well in an airtight container.
If we’ve had a roast, I’ll boil up the leftover bones or carcass to make stock or use as the starting point for a soup. I like to add the tough green tops of leeks, tying them into a loose knot before adding them to the pot, so they can easily be taken out (leek tops may be tough but they have loads of flavour). Herb stalks and the peelings of carrots and other vegetables are also great for stock, provided they are not mouldy or rotten. If you don’t make stock very often, collect them in a plastic bag in the freezer until needed.
I like the way using leftovers turns you into an inventive cook, rummaging through the fridge to see what you can put together. Some leftover white sauce can be mixed into cooked mushrooms and piled on to thick slices of bread with a grating of cheese on top, then baked until bubbling and golden for a simple weekend lunch.
The art of turning sows’ ears into silk purses is the backbone of most ethnic cuisines around the world. And at the heart of this cooking, the powerhouse of protein and goodness are pulses — lentils and beans, peas and other legumes. Lentils are also one of the cheapest of high-nutrient foods. Rich or poor, I’d hate to cook without them.