I comprise a fearsome resolve to make use of all the by-products in my kitchen and it’s a dedication that drives me to innovation. As soon as, whereas I used to be mixing parsnip tops for a deviant pesto, my English former roommate declared my undertaking: “Very medieval.” I feel she at the moment lives in Berlin (with everybody else attention-grabbing), however I want she was right here to see how far my waste-less worldview has taken me. My newest trick: frying my eggs in leftover fat.
My first and favourite surplus oil—and to this point the best crowd pleaser—is the stuff left over in jars of sun-dried tomatoes. Figuring out me as you do, you’ll be able to think about how my sentimental spirit twitched, seeing shimmering orange oil lingering after the supposed stars of the present had exited stage left. All dressed up with nowhere to go! Out of kindness and thrift, I gave the leftover oil a second likelihood by coaxing it right into a pan and dropping in an egg to fry on prime. The whites turned a wild shade of pink-orange (very ’80s South Seaside). They usually tasted simply as optimistic, luxe, and filled with sunshine-y heat—blessed with tangy, springy tartness from the sun-dried toms.
Taste apart, what I like a lot about this apply is that it requires no effort. Spilling out leftover sun-dried tomato oil is not any extra pressure than hacking off a knob of butter or drizzling some olive oil. Generally, relying on the model, you don’t even want so as to add salt! It is a deeply one-step occasion. After it’s cooked, slide the surplus oil and fried egg over a slice of sourdough or a hearty tangle of arugula and also you’ve bought the sauce and the showstopper in a single. So don’t be stingy with the oil. In spite of everything, it’s leftovers. You’re already saving one thing that may have been wasted, so contemplate that permission to be profligate.
Like many individuals, the precept to preserve scrumptious fat is a part of my cooking origin story. Once I’d grown tall sufficient to see over a kitchen counter, my then-best buddy was from a New Orleanian household, and, naturally, there was all the time a hazy jar by their range with a lid completely askew. Once I realized this was bacon fats—and also you saved it and used it to cook dinner all the things, so make it easier to God!—I used to be transfixed and instantly informed my dad and mom we should act accordingly. From the get, I used to be a staunch, self-appointed acolyte of the Bacon Fats Preserver Society. Although it took a long time, my fervent safety of this meat grease has lastly expanded outwards into a whole philosophy: fat are valuable and should be saved.
Have there been failures? In fact! The oil-packed olives debacle of February 2022 was a catastrophe. I feel there was some water content material within the oil, which singed the eggs awfully and brought on them to pinch up like clenched little fists—and I completely couldn’t hold with the saltiness. The oil round habanero chilis was a superb, fervently spicy addition to the egg. Nevertheless, I did poison the kitchen with noxious, peppery air till I remembered to activate the fan. (Not earlier than inflicting teary eyes on two candy houseguests.)
