Food for Thaw
April 22, 2013
I am often amazed at what cleaning out the freezer can do in the way of providing the just right ingredients for supper, so bright and early before anyone was up I was taking inventory, discarding stuff too old to use and delighting in those foods for thaw way back in the freezer that had long been forgotten.
I had a half container of squid, some baby Maine shrimp, some kale, corn that I had diligently taken off the cob last summer, a piece of pancetta and some parsley. Looked like a fish chowder coming on to me. In the fridge I had a half an onion, some hot red pepper paste and some celery and carrots that were going limp.
I got to worksauteing the onion in the pancetta that I diced along with 2 diced carrots, ditto on the celery and added a tablespoon of that red pepper paste. I cut the squid into thin rings so they would cook fast and added them, then the kale, corn and frozen fish stock that I always have on hand. I let this go for about 5 minute over low heat then added those baby Maine shrimp, parsley and two cups of light cream, but milk works ok too, just won’t be as rich. I added the chives last and let everything just snooze on simmer for a few minutes. Who knew dinner could be ready on Sunday morning from a much needed clean out of the freezer.