Waste not, want not. It’s a basic tenet for sourcing, cooking, and eating sustainably. Here, the edible MAINE staff serves up ways to use up any special ingredient the recipes in this issue may have brought into your kitchen.
ANCHO REYES LIQUEUR
This spicy, smoky liqueur is made from ancho and poblano chiles in Puebla, Mexico. It’s a good addition to any margarita. Other places it belongs in are chocolate truffles, pineapple upside-down cake, and caramel sauce.
AUSTRALIAN SOFT BLACK LICORICE CHEWS
Australian licorice is known for its chewy texture and intense flavor, which comes from having both licorice extract and aniseed oil in its recipe. Because wheat flour and molasses are also in the mix, the licorice has a smoky, earthy tone. Using up a bag of these chews can simply mean offering them as a palate cleanser between courses. Alternatively, you can throw a finely chopped chew into a pot of braised lamb to deepen the sauce, toss them into simmering sweet potatoes to intensify the earthiness of the tubers in the final mash, or sprinkle them over vanilla ice cream with a shot of aniseed liqueur like Sambuca to finish off an Italian feast nicely.
CHOCOLATE BITTERS
This unsweetened chocolate product is made from fermenting cocoa nibs—crushed cocoa beans—with alcohol. Like all bitters, this chocolate variety cuts the acidity of drinks (think citrusy cocktails) and adds chocolatey depth to desserts (think chocolate pudding). Just remember, a drop or two does the trick!
FRESH FENNEL
This bulbous vegetable has a sweet, mild licorice flavor when raw and cooked. Though its stalks and leaves (called fronds) are edible, most fennel recipes call for just the bulb, which gets diced or thinly sliced before being tossed with citrus in salads, pasta sauces, or soups. Save the fibrous stalks for stock and use the fronds, chopped, for garnishing any fennel dish.
FENNEL CREAM SAUCE
In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add 1 cup sliced fennel and ½ cup chopped onion. Cook until vegetables are soft, 6–8 minutes. Add 1 cup white wine and reduce by half. Add 1 cup heavy cream and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over baked salmon, grilled trout, or seared scallops.
LUXARDO MARASCHINO LIQUEUR
Add this clear, cherry-flavored Venetian spirit to any sweet or savory recipe where cherries go. Stir it into a pie or cobbler filling or soak dried cherries in it before making a warm sauce for grilled duck breast or pork loin.
PIMENT D’ESPELETTE
Piment d’Espelette is a mild dried chile powder whose taste is fresh and fruity. The chile itself made its way from Mexico to Europe in the 1600s, and the Basque region of France proved to be a great climate for these small, elongated, bright red peppers to grow. Due to its moderate nature, this chile powder is good wherever you need a hint of heat—sprinkled over a dish of cool melon, mixed with salt on the rim of a cocktail glass, or stirred into chocolate brownie batter.
DELICATA SQUASH SAUTÉ
Cut a delicata squash in half, clean out the seeds, and slice the flesh thinly. Heat 1 tablespoon each olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons minced shallot and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add squash to pan, toss to coat it, reduce heat to medium, and sauté until it’s just tender, 5–6 minutes. Season with salt and piment d’Espelette. Garnish with minced parsley and serve warm or room temperature.
STAR ANISE
Star anise originated in southern China and has been used as a spice in Asian cuisine for over 3,000 years. It has a strong, distinct flavor that is warm, sweet, and spicy all at once. It is sold in whole pods or ground into a powder. As the weather cools, star anise pods can be used like cinnamon sticks to flavor apple compote, mulled wine, and meat braises.
BRAISED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH STAR ANISE
Season 4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in an 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken, skin side down, in the pan and cook until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate. Add ½ cup chicken stock, ¼ cup each sherry and orange juice, 2 star anise pods, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon each chopped ginger, garlic, and honey. Stir to combine. Return chicken to the pan, cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 20 minutes, turning the chicken halfway through. Turn the heat to high and reduce the braising liquid slightly. Remove and compost the star anise pods. Spoon sauce over chicken, garnish with sliced scallions, and serve hot with steamed rice.
