Practical ways of repurposing your leftovers

“Buy less, buy whole, use it all” is the mantra of the team from Cornersmith in Marrickville. Use It All is the book from Cornersmith’s Alex Elliott-Howery and Jaimee Edwards and it is not like other recipe books, which often require lots of ingredients and a lot of time. They base a group of recipes around a shopping basket of ingredients, but also give tips for leftovers and using every bit of produce. The Cornersmith website also has recipes and waste hacks.

A great way of giving food a second life is by making stock. Chicken stock can be made using fresh chicken carcasses or the bones from your roast chicken. Simply add veggies – even the imperfect ones – like onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Add aromatics like bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme, and simmer for a couple of hours. Cool, strain, divide into one cup or two cup portions and freeze.

Stock is multi-purpose and can be used in soups, stews and braises. I go one step further and reduce a portion of my homemade stock by simmering for a further 30 minutes to one hour. Pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze for a day or so. Remove the cubes and store in a container in the freezer for your very own stock cube flavour pop for sauces.

Wollongong City Council has produced the Second Time Round Recipe Book, which has great tips for using leftovers from Wollongong residents. One of my favourites is from Mr Werakso, a Corrimal resident, who shares a traditional Polish recipe repurposing leftover cooked potatoes, pumpkin or sweet potato called Silesian dumplings. You can find his recipe below.

Silesian Dumplings

• Press leftover cooked potato or pumpkin through a potato press or sieve into a bowl.
• Add one part potato flour to four parts cooked vegetable. Add a pinch of salt and knead together with hands.
• Divide and roll into small balls.
• Cook in a pot of boiling water until they surface – about three minutes.
• Serve immediately with melted butter (and herbs) or mushroom sauce.