If I someday just stop blogging without a word of notice, it probably means that I fell victim to my über-full pantry. Possibly all the bags of grains and legumes decided to fall onto me and bury me forever. Or maybe the dried fungi decided to start to grow and take me hostage.
Do you remember when I told you about my crowded pantry? I mean, I mentioned it here and in other posts, too. I always adapt recipes to fit what I have, because there is no way I can go out and buy even more stuff.
How do you deal with it? I always want to try out new things and then end up with bag after bag after bag half full with things I tried once, or even ones that I left unopened until now.
Do you have any tricks on how to be more resourceful about these things?
The last recipe I posted fortunately used up quite a bit of the farro I bought last autumn in Genoa.
In my attempt to also empty my freezer, I adapted this weeks Food Matter's Project, chosen by Jennifer, from simple & amazing, to use the frozen blueberries, the remnants of the blueberry syrup I made only a week or two ago.
You probably don't have already cooked and sweetened blueberries in your fridge, so I wrote down what I did, and then how I would have done it with whole frozen blueberries.
The chocolate wafers I use here are left-overs, too. They were created for my chocolate caramel cheese cake. But you can use bought wafers, too, or use the recipe that I used if you want to make your own. For one or two ice cream sandwiches it is probably not worth the effort, though.
Blueberry-Gin Ice Cream Sandwiches
250 g frozen, sweetened blueberry jam
1 tbsp gin
zest of 1/2 lemon
chocolate wafers
In a food processor, mix together the frozen jam, the gin and the lemon until smooth. Put in the freezer to let it freeze and harden a bit.
Eat it as it is, or spread a tablespoon or so between two chocolate wafers. Eat them straight as they are, or freeze them for upt to a day to soften the wafers. (If you are like me you can't wait and have to eat them right then and there and end up with a bit of a mess. They are delicious, anyways)
As adaptation from the Bittman recipe:
1 pound frozen blueberries
1/2 cup yogurt
3-4 tbsp sugar
1-2 tbsp gin
same as above: Process everything in the food processor until smooth, serve immediately or freez to use later.
Blueberries and gin... yum! They look beautiful, too!
ReplyDeleteDo you ever watch the show Chopped? It's really helped me to get creative and use up all those odds and ends in my pantry :) Beautiful sandwiches!
ReplyDeleteOh fellow pantry-hoarder I am so glad to see that I am not the only one with a stuffed pantry. My hubby says I cannot help it when there are new products out there, I get curious as a cat and have to have it. I used blueberries too because I still have about 2 kg left from last year.
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem with my pantry! I thought that I had plenty of space when I moved in, but now my pantry is overflowing. I've been avoiding cleaning it out for a while now. Speaking of which...do you have any ideas for using up amaranth seeds?
ReplyDeleteBlueberries and gin sound like a great combination. I'm not sure that I have the time to make ice cream sandwiches right now, but I could definitely see myself pulling together a quick jammy sauce to spoon over ice cream.
I actually did not like amaranth that much, so I don't have many suggestions. I used it in a breakfast cereal mix, together with other grains and seeds, which I used in this recipe: http://www.mrsgarlichead.com/2012/04/baked-grains-with-apple.html
DeleteMaybe the suggestions here could also help you: http://mynewroots.blogspot.ch/2012/02/pumpkin-pie-amaranth-porridge.html
Besides the porridge Sarah Britton also mentions mixing it with millet and quinoa for a pilaf.
We did a long-distance move a year ago and that has really trained me to use things in my pantry. I couldn't stand the thought of throwing away SO much food, so for months beforehand, I made it my mission to use up every single thing. There were some obscure sauces that I ended up having to throw away, but I did pretty good. :) And now I'm completely reformed!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the ice cream sandwiches look perfect! I love using wafers and cookies to make them--instant portion control.
Haha, we should all post comparison photos of our overflowing pantries. I've started switching over to storing things in glass jars and that's helped me get more organized, but I still have loose things hiding everywhere. I am intrigued by the gin and blueberry jam combo, and those ice cream sandwiches are making me drool! Nice job ;)
ReplyDelete