Recently someone pointed out the difference in people’s basic attitudes toward leftover food. In Britain, for instance, these foods are called “carry-forwards.” That seems like a much more positive approach which does not leave any doubt that surplus food will go uneaten. A good attitude, to our way of thinking. It could pay off if you take another look at what is being thrown out in your food service areas.
Back in 1964, at one of the first NSAA conventions in Caberfae, Michigan, a very enterprising operator brought the house down when he described a particular food economy practised at his ski area. He said they saved up their leftover donuts until they got very dry and hard, and then they ground them up into coarse crumbs and sprinkled them on the new batches of freshly-baked and frosted donuts. The new version was dubbed “Frosted-Donuts-With-Crushed-Nuts,” and they charged 5¢ more for them!
I am partial to donuts with chocolate frosting topped with crushed nuts, and have probably eaten a hundred or more since that Caberfae meeting. To tell the truth, I’m not always sure if the topping is made of nuts or not. All a matter of skillfully mixing textures, no doubt. Knowing the technique, you might go one better on this idea and mix the crushed crumbs with chopped nuts, or coconut and the crumbs could be flavored with some walnut oil or almond extract to reinforce a nutty flavor. The topping wouldn’t have to be limited to sprinklings on donuts. It would be very good on pies, in cookies, over whipped cream, etc. Due to a chronic shortage of leftover donuts in the SAM test kitchens, we have been limited in our full development of crushed donut crumb ideas…
In these days of rising food costs (how many times have you heard that phrase recently?) no one can afford to toss out any unsold or leftover food. Chuck Tower, a wonderfully responsive and innovative restaurateur who serves between two and three thousand meals a day in his High Alpine Restaurant atop the mountain in Snowmass, makes excellent use of surplus bread ends and pieces. He cuts the bread—any mixture of white, rye, wholewheat, or pumpernickel can be used—into crouton-size cubes, deep-fries them in the french fryer and sprinkles the warm croutons with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, (easy on the salt if the cheese is salty) garlic powder and sometimes other seasonings that are at hand. Other seasonings could be any combination of parika, chili powder, powdered dill, cumin, toasted sesame seeds, or dried green herbs such as oregano, dill, etc.
There is always a big bowl of freshly-made croutons at the end of the food counter at High Alpine, and skiers are free to use them on anything that suits their fancy. They are so popular with Snowmass skiers that they often buy a bagful to take home on their last run of the day. So far, the croutons on the food counter are free for the taking for lunchline skiers, but that might change if Chuch Tower has to buy bread to make his popular snacks. We will tell you more of this creative chef’s food ideas and philosophy in future columns.
Do you have an interesting way with “carry-forwards” or even leftovers? We invite you to share it and your other food ideas with us in this column, along with your culinary thoughts and problems—with their solutions, please! (Well, maybe if you have a really interesting problem, we’ll put it up here for general solving.) Those of us who really love food, have a hard time not talking about the subject, so let us hear from you. (Your columnist has been authorized to reward those whose ideas are used in SAM not only with the fame of editorial recognition, but also with an appropriate, Cuisine-oriented gift. Ed.)
