Zero Waste! screamed the cover of the August issue of Delicious. Ideas for smarter cooking – for the world and your wallet. The librarycook is all about the environment, so she read on with bated breath.
And there was lots to appreciate – ways of using the whole cauliflower. The corn cob as well as the kernels. Even banana skins could be used to for caramel sauce.
And the librarycook really tried – the corn cobs were part of a chicken dish, with tarragon, garlic, and corn broth sauce. It sounded great. It promised to use 200 whole grams of leftover parmesan rind – something which seems to breed in the librarycook’s freezer. It all looked so good. But one week there was no corn to be had. The following week tarragon was unobtainable. The librarycook knows when she’s beaten, and this was one of those times.
Undaunted, the librariancook moved on. Christine Manfield is a familiar friend in the librarycook’s kitchen, and her Coconut Yoghurt Cake didn’t disappoint. Even the avowedly anti-coconut faction of the librarycook’s household came back for more, proving that if enough lime syrup is poured over it, everything is not only edible, but even delicious. And of course, baking a cake is a guarantee of plenty of reading time.
Chicken schnitzel with jalapeno, herb and mustard mayo concluded the librarycook’s peregrinations through the August issue. It’s hard to go wrong with schnitzel, and this one boasted not only a herby, parmesan-y crust, but also a mayonnaise taken to a whole new level with the addition of chopped pickled jalapenos. So good it re-appeared later in the week, with a piece of fish. Now that’s zero waste! And sadly, almost zero reading time – a few minutes while the schnitzels rested in the fridge, but otherwise the librarycook’s full attention was required.
So all in all, thought the librarycook, and despite her difficulties with the first recipe, the August issue of Delicious could not be said by anyone to be a waste of time!
