{"id":830,"date":"2010-08-04T22:46:07","date_gmt":"2010-08-04T22:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=830"},"modified":"2017-11-08T15:43:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T15:43:12","slug":"bits-pieces-cooking-an-evening-with-eugenia-bone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/bits-pieces-cooking-an-evening-with-eugenia-bone\/","title":{"rendered":"Bits & Pieces Cooking: An Evening with Eugenia Bone"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Unbored Cooks Know that Bored Cooks Don’t:\u00a0 Trash Can Be Treasure<\/h3>\n

More than helpful food preservation know-how turned up at a talk last week by Eugenia Bone, author of Well Preserved (Clarkson Potter 2009) and the <\/em>Denver Post’s Well Preserved Blog.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I’m on a “travel quest” these days, not necessarily to faraway places, but simply to new <\/em>places and\/or new <\/em>experiences.\u00a0 So last week I traveled to Denver’s magical Botanic Gardens (all of 30 miles away.)\u00a0 The Gardens alone were a treat (memo to file: when April’s dark days get me down I’m heading to the Gardens for a cheap tropical thrill.)\u00a0 Better yet, however, was a lively talk by Eugenia Bone.<\/p>\n

As Eugenia is a food preservation expert, I wasn’t surprised to reap a treasure trove of know-how on capturing the season’s bounty for the cold days of winter.\u00a0 I was delightfully surprised, however, to learn how strategic food preservation can also be harnessed as a tool to beat boredom at the dinner table.<\/p>\n

Long-time newsletter readers know that beating mealtime boredom is a common theme of mine–and for good reason:\u00a0 Boredom is the #1 mealtime barrier for countless people.\u00a0 Time after time, a well-intentioned home chef gets lured into dialing for takeout, just because she’s tired of making the same old thing!<\/p>\n

That’s why I’m always on the hunt for boredom beating strategies, and Eugenia shared a good one.\u00a0 Not surprisingly, it revolves food preservation, but not in the usual sense, i.e., Aunt Sue putting up 48 quarts of tomatoes to last until the next tomato harvest.\u00a0 Eugenia’s definition of food preservation is far more liberal, encompassing a wide range of food combinations, preserved in many ways, for anywhere from a week to a year.<\/p>\n

She might make a fresh mayonnaise and store for just a week, oil-preserved zucchini that can last two or three weeks, mushroom stock that can be frozen for months or a tomato chickpea side dish that is good for a year.\u00a0 The key to her boredom beating strategy lies in using up whatever bits and pieces she finds around the kitchen, whipping up creative concoctions, then preserving them in small <\/em>batches.\u00a0 Then she’s perfectly situated for boredom-defying meals.<\/p>\n

When dinnertime rolls around, she simply heads to her refrigerator, freezer and cupboard pantries and starts mixing and matching.\u00a0 Here’s one of the many creative (but easy) meals she described:\u00a0 Chicken breasts with a frozen wine reduction, complimented by the canned tomato-chickpea dish and maybe a simple green salad with fresh mayonnaise dressing.<\/p>\n

Here’s the key takeaway:\u00a0 Trash can be treasure. <\/strong> In other words, what un-bored home cooks know that bored cooks don’t, is that some of the best flavor in the kitchen comes from leftover bits and pieces that most people would pitch.\u00a0 Use those bits and pieces immediately or go one step further by transforming them into creative preserved foods that add easy pizazz to later meals.<\/p>\n