Brief thing to just say sorry for no newsletter last week. I feel like Scraps only makes sense when I’m working away in the kitchen and last week a combination of ‘going to the theatre’, ‘having a takeaway’, and ‘Rob cooking dinner’ meant that by the end of the week I had nothing to write about. So I took a week off.
This week though, there’s tons to write about. Before I start, we got some press! Very excited that Scraps featured in MOB Kitchen’s guide to the best food newsletters, among some really great company like Vittles, What To Cook This Week (by the New York Times), and From The Desk of Alicia Kennedy. Thanks to Lucas from MOB for the kind words: “This is the perfect food newsletter for the person who gets emotionally attached to their parmesan rinds and wants to know how to turn day-old colcannon into croquettes.”
1. Make last issue’s risotto into arancini
Last issue’s leftovers risotto (which used a mug of prosecco in lieu of wine) proved really popular, and while I was happy having the rest for lunch the next day, I figured it might be good to suggest what to do with the leftovers. This is a recipe, remember, that I’ve been doing so long I don’t really measure anything out, and a downside of that is you are often left with an odd amount of leftovers.
The good news is arancini is also one of those ‘technique > recipe’ kind of recipes, in that it’s a process rather than anything else. I use this Bon Appetit one and it basically goes like this:
Chill the risotto in a single layer; spread it on a baking sheet and keep in the fridge.
Take it out the fridge, roll into even balls. Cram a piece of mozarella in there if you’re feeling adventurous.
Roll the balls of risotto in the following order: flour, egg yolk, breadcrumbs. Obviously panko are the best here but you can use any. This is the same dredging technique for breading chicken or fish if you’re doing tacos or whatever.
A good song to stick on while rolling out your arancini
The next step is obviously: fry the things in a molten vat of oil. If you remember me doing this with some colcannon croquettes, you might remember my small flat + food with a high burning point = disaster. If you have an air fryer, now’s the time to use it. If you have a good extractor fan, an open window, or even just a good chef’s candle for tackling the odour afterwards, even better. You can also do these in a shallow fry, like in a saucepan, before finishing them in the oven. I think if you’re a little squeamish about frying, make them smaller (like, walnut sized rather than lime sized) and they’ll need less time frying.
BA also includes a sauce made from jarred chillis; the kind they use are hard to find in my pocket of SE London so I use jarred peppers instead. All you need is a salad on the side and you’re good to go.
2.The lunch tacos
There is an ongoing bit on Scraps about rotisserie chicken. Last weekend I grabbed one so we could make chicken wraps and watch the Sopranos on a rare quiet Saturday afternoon, and since I always have a packet of tortillas in the freezer, lunch tacos were the way forward this week. I reheated the chicken in a pan with some taco seasoning (you could also make your own, I promise you have everything in already) and just added some lettuce, pickled onions, hot sauce, and a squeeze of lime. I mean, they’re not exactly proper tacos – no salsa, or guacamole – but a way better alternative to another chicken salad sandwich.
On tortillas; Komali ones are really good – they have a slightly chewier texture than supermarket options. I also love the ones from Tacos Padre in Borough Market. You can buy them online! I have one drawer of the freezer that is for leftovers, and one for pantry items like this. Fish fingers gently broken up into tortillas with shredded cabbage = a very rudimentary fish taco.
You could also make your own tortillas – I use this Bon Appetit recipe for bacon fat tortillas, which is an ideal job for a slow Sunday afternoon. If you don’t want to fry bacon, Iberico pork fat is good. Or! Just use olive oil and make them veggie friendly.
The Recookables
Spicy Sesame Noodles With Chicken and Peanuts (NYT Cooking)
Steamed Fish with Sichuan Sauce and Greens (The Guardian)
Caramelised Pork and Cucumber Stir-Fry (Bon Appetit)