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 ingredients the recipes in this issue may have brought into your kitchen.
Avocado Oil
This oil, pressed from avocado pulp, is full of heart-healthy omega-9 fatty acids. When cold pressed, it tastes mildly of avocado and has nutty, grassy notes. This version can be drizzled over salads and into soups like extra-virgin olive oil. Commercially refined avocado oil has a high smoke point, making it a good fat for deep frying.
Calais Flint Cornmeal
Calais flint is a staple corn cultivated by the Abenaki Tribe, members of the Wabanaki Confederacy, in now-ceded territory in northern New England and southern Canada. As a crop, it thrives in climes with short, wet growing seasons. As an ingredient, it is richer and more flavorful than other industrially produced corns. Farms growing Calais flint and selling stone-ground cornmeal from it include Fairwinds Farm in Bowdoinham and Songbird Farm in Unity.
JONAH CRAB HUSH PUPPIES
Combine 1 cup Calais flint cornmeal, ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon each of baking soda and kosher salt. In a measuring cup, combine 1 egg, 1 cup buttermilk, and a couple dashes of hot sauce. Add wet ingredients to dry, stir to combine, and fold in 4 ounces picked Jonah crab and ¼ cup chopped green onions. Heat 2 inches of oil in a pot over medium-high heat. When the oil hits 350°F, gently drop tablespoon-sized balls of batter into it. Fry until golden brown. Drain fritters on a brown paper bag, sprinkling with sea salt while still hot.
Unrefined Coconut Oil
Sometimes called virgin coconut oil, this product is simply pressed from coconut meat. It is solid at room temperature, making it a fine 1:1 substitute for butter in baked goods. It does have a coconutty smell and taste, so use it in desserts with similar or complimentary flavor, like in a flaky crust for a coconut cream pie or the batter of a German chocolate cake.
Linguiça
Linguiça (pronounced lin-GUEE-zah) is a slender, dry Portuguese sausage. Ground pork is seasoned heavily with garlic and mild, sweet paprika, after which it’s stuffed into slender hog casings and smoked. Chouriço (pronounced shure-REET-zo) is linguiça’s more popular, spicy cousin. Chouriço is juicier and, because it’s stuffed into larger beef casings, also fatter. Use up leftover linguiça slices on a cheese plate, in a bean-and-greens soup, or on a pizza.
Pernod
This star anise–flavored aperitif from France carries with it an $80 price tag. Less expensive liqueurs with a close-enough taste are pastis (for cooking seafood), Greek ouzo (added at the tail end of the cooking process as it has less alcohol than Pernod), and Italian white sambuca (which is sweet, so suitable for making dessert).
PEKING COCKTAIL
Combine 2 ounces white rum, ¾ ounce lemon juice, and 2 dashes of grenadine in a cocktail shaker with ice. Give it a good shake, strain it into a martini glass, and garnish with a lemon peel and a cocktail cherry.
Preserved Lemon
Preserved lemon is a condiment made by cutting fresh citrus most of the way—but not all the way—into quarters and stuffing the pieces into a jar with salt to sit for a month or so. You can easily make it yourself or find jars of it in specialty food stores. To use preserved lemon, scrape the slimy innards from the peels with a spoon. Finely chop the peels, as a little goes a long way when making dishes inspired by north African and Middle Eastern cuisine. Preserved lemon serves up a surprising, pickled pucker and can be mixed into spicy stews, salsas, and even fresh lemon desserts.
DOUBLE LEMON SALSA
Slice off the pith and peel of 2 fresh lemons and remove the fruit in segments. Toss with 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons each of chopped, preserved lemon peels and flat-leaf parsley, ¼ cup diced seedless cucumber, and 2 teaspoons rinsed, small capers. Let the salsa sit 20 minutes before serving it atop grilled bread, broiled swordfish, or roast lamb.
Tahini
This creamy paste is sometimes called tahina. Eaten plain as a dip for vegetables and mixed into myriad Middle Eastern dishes from savory hummus to sweet halva, it derives simply from grinding hulled, toasted sesame seeds. Use it as you would a runny peanut butter, understanding that it has a strong, earthy flavor with a slightly bitter edge.
TAHINI HOT CHOCOLATE
Heat 2 cups milk and 3 tablespoons honey in a small saucepan until steaming. Add 3 tablespoons tahini and 2 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate. Whisk until smooth and pour into warm mugs.
