The UK’s unsettling food waste statistics make me go into immediate chef mode. A fridge full of ingredients turns ‘what do I want for dinner?’ into ‘what can I make with this random selection of perfectly edible ingredients?’ I’m as guilty as the next person of forgetting about those sad carrots at the back of the fridge, or of going out for dinner rather than cooking at home. We justify such choices by saying, ‘It’s no big deal’ or, ‘I just don’t fancy that tonight’, but they eventually add up – in the UK’s case, to about 10m tonnes of food waste a year. The ripple effect of positive change, however, may be on its way, and it can all start with a bit of kitchen improv.
Chicken soup with matzo balls
This soup is a small meal in itself, and features a multi-purpose chicken stock from which the broth, meat and vegs can all be used in different ways. Save the chicken and vegetables for the next two recipes; they’re all interlinked. Save the carrot and celeriac peelings, too: they can be dusted in a little cornflour, then fried and used as a crunchy topping for salads.
Prep 25 min
Cook 3 hr 10 min
Serves 6
1 large whole chicken (about 1.6kg)
4 carrots (500g), peeled and cut at an angle into 2-3 large pieces
1 medium celeriac (350g), washed, cut in half lengthways, then each half cut into 4 chunks
2-3 parsnips (250g), peeled and cut at an angle into 2-3 large pieces
2 onions, unpeeled and cut into quarters
3 heads garlic, cut in half horizontally
20g parsley, picked, stalks reserved, and leaves roughly chopped
10g oregano, picked and stalks reserved
Salt and black pepper
For the matzo balls
140g matzo meal
⅓ tsp baking powder
1¼ tsp garlic granules
4 large eggs, beaten
70ml sparkling water
75ml sunflower oil
Put the chicken, carrots, celeriac, parsnips, onions, garlic, herb stalks, 2.8 litres water and a tablespoon of salt in a large stock pot for which you have a lid. On a medium-high heat, bring it up to a gentle simmer, then cover, turn the heat to medium-low and leave to cook for 80 minutes. Lift out the chicken and, once it’s cool enough to handle, cut it into six – two breasts, two legs and two wings, all with bone and skin attached – and set aside for the recipe below.
Strain the stock over a large saucepan, then pick out and discard the onion skins and herb stalks from the sieve. Reserve the vegetables and garlic for the recipe below.
Combine the matzo, baking powder, garlic granules and half a teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, fizzy water and oil, then tip into the matzo mix, stir to combine and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up. With lightly oiled hands, shape the mix into compact balls (you don’t want any cracks) of 25-30g each; you should have 18 in all.
Bring the strained stock to a simmer on a medium-high heat. Add a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, then turn the heat to medium-low, drop in the matzo balls, cover and leave to poach, undisturbed, for 45 minutes, until cooked through. Stir in half the chopped parsley (the rest will go into the next recipe), ladle into six bowls and serve at once.
Roast stock vegetables with caper gremolata
I am guilty of too often discarding my used stock vegetables because they’ve turned mushy. Recently, however, I’ve found that using robust root vegetables and cutting them into large pieces is the way forward. They will still be quite soft, but if handled gently and roasted at a very high heat, they are really tasty. Serve these with the roast poached chicken in the following recipe to make a complete meal.
Prep 5 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4 as a side
1.2kg boiled carrots, parsnips, onions and celeriac, reserved from the previous recipe
70ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp capers, drained and roughly chopped
1½ tsp grated lemon zest – reserve the zested lemon for the following recipe
5g roughly chopped parsley leaves, left over from the previous recipe
1 tbsp roughly chopped oregano leaves, left over from the previous recipe
2½ tbsp red-wine vinegar
Heat the oven to 250C fan (or to its highest setting). Spread out the reserved stock vegetables on a large oven tray lined with baking paper. Add two tablespoons of oil, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and toss gently to coat. Roast for 25 minutes, or until nicely coloured, stirring once halfway.
In a small bowl, mix the capers, lemon zest, parsley and oregano.
To serve, transfer the vegetables to a platter and scatter over half the caper mixture. Drizzle the vinegar and remaining 40ml oil over everything, then serve with the remaining caper mixture alongside.
Roast poached chicken with whipped garlic
Roasting the chicken after poaching it may seem unorthodox, but when cooked at a high heat and with the help of a little baking powder, it’ll get a wonderfully crisp skin. The whipped garlic was born out of a random experiment that ended up working surprisingly well. Serve this alongside the roast stock veg above to make a meal.
Prep 5 min
Cook 55 min
Serves 4
1 large poached chicken, segmented into 2 legs, 2 breasts and 2 wings – left over from today’s first recipe
¼ tsp baking powder
Flaked sea salt and black pepper
60ml olive oil
3 heads cooked garlic – left over from today’s first recipe
1 lemon (reserved from the previous recipe), halved - juice one half, to get ¾ tbsp, and cut the other into 2 wedges
3 tbsp sunflower oil
Pat dry the pieces of chicken with kitchen paper and spread them out skin side up on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper. Combine the baking powder and a teaspoon and a half of flaked salt, then sprinkle this all over the chicken skin. Leave to sit for 30 minutes, or refrigerate uncovered overnight if you’re getting ahead (in which case take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking). Meanwhile, heat the oven to its highest setting (or 250C fan). Drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil over the chicken skin, then roast the jointed bird for 15-20 minutes, or until browned and crisp.
Meanwhile, make the whipped garlic by squeezing the garlic flesh out of the papery skins – you should have roughly 100g – then put in the small bowl of a food processor. Add half a teaspoon of flaked salt and the lemon juice, and blitz smooth. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the sunflower oil and remaining two tablespoons of olive oil in a steady stream, until the mix is smooth and resembles a loose mayonnaise, then transfer to a small bowl.
Arrange the roast chicken pieces on a platter, squeeze over the lemon wedges and serve with the whipped garlic for dipping.
