- Category: blog
The Leftover Gambit is a creative approach to making delicious meals from whatever you have on hand in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. It’s all about maximizing what you’ve already got by combining ingredients in inventive ways. Start with a protein or veggie that’s nearing its expiration date, then pair it with pantry staples like pasta, rice, or canned beans. Frozen veggies or sauces can be lifesavers for adding flavor. Seasoning is key—use spices and condiments to elevate even the simplest dishes. The joy of the gambit lies in improvisation, turning what might seem like random odds and ends into a cohesive, flavorful meal with zero waste.
Stocking your pantry with essential items is key to being prepared for spontaneous, flavorful meals. Staples like canned beans, pasta, rice, and lentils provide a versatile base for many dishes, while bouillon paste or cubes can instantly elevate soups, stews, and sauces. Spices such as cumin, paprika, and garlic powder, as well as spice blends like Italian seasoning or garam masala, add depth and complexity to any recipe. Oils, vinegars, and condiments like soy sauce or mustard further enhance flavor, while having canned tomatoes, coconut milk, and grains ensure you can always whip up a satisfying meal with minimal effort. These pantry essentials give you the flexibility to cook up delicious meals even when fresh ingredients are scarce.
For instance, I was going through my end of the year routine for weeding out expired items or in my case discovering good items that I just don't use often enough! I found a bag of bulgur. Usually seen in tabbouleh, soups, pilaf or even stuffed vegetables. I just added some boiling water with some chicken bouillon paste, let the bulgur absorb all that flavor and soften up, then I shredded a piece of carrot in it, some chopped dried cranberries (found behind the bulgur!), some powdered ginger, then I found a tin of a spice blend that I hadn't ever used which was called "CousCous Seasoning" it had a very Mediterranean taste and smell, some salt, then added a drizzle of pomegranate molasses and a drizzle of honey to balance the heat in the couscous seasoning. If I had dried mint, if probably would've went in there! Long story short, it was delicious and made from tidbits here and there.
In my restaurant days I used to tell the hiring person, point out to me all the food that you will throw away tonight, your leftovers and about to die products, then I make something tasty for them! It's almost like I invented "chopped" all those years ago, because that's exactly what it boils down to. Being able to pair together, food items that typically don't go together. You know donut hamburgers are a thing right?!
- Category: blog
Organizing a kitchen can be a daunting task. First off, counter space is key to a well tuned kitchen dinner, and where's that odd utensil you only use twice a year? Our spices can get get out of hand once you enter the realm of: there's more then salt and pepper! Plates are stored where? Can you get to your fridge while your oven doors open? You may not think that something like that would or could be important, but it can be!
In the 8 years I have been at my current home, I have learned from my cooking habits what areas I need to improve on recognize what was going well, but needed some improvements if possible and what I just couldn't live with forever.
In a professional kitchen you try and design a path like a triangle between the three most sacred items in your kitchen, the refrigerator/freezer, the sink and the stove. It's when the triangle does not exist between these three that a successful "rhythm" can exist during meal times. Obviously the kitchen is what it is for most of us, thus my experience in m y kitchen with the amount of my kitchen apparatus made it challenging for the first 5 years. Hopefully one of my issues is one of your issues and maybe can inspire some organizational changes with your kitchen!
Counter space is so important, lets discuss how to get by with what little you have, which is the theme I hum to every time I get ready to make a meal.
You have to give your larger counter-top apparatus a top 5 ranking as to how often you use it and ease of storage compared to the other apparatus.
For me, I ranked my Espresso maker #1 and gave its own spot to the left of my sink (also easy access to fill with water and clean out the water drip tray).
Ranked #2 is my toaster, not too much special there, it can handle a bagel, and it sits to the right of my sink, under a cabinet which does get warm on toaster use but not too warm!
Ranked #3, not due to use but due to no way to store it properly is my deli slicer... yup got one and it rocks when you need it from slicing semi-frozen steak for cheesesteaks, potatoes for scalloped potatoes, the thinnest onions for frying and the main reason all sorts of deli meats!
Ranked #4 in my small but packed kitchen is my standing mixer/meat grinder, not used a ton, but again, is hard to store and get out when needed, I also store small things in the bowl when not is use.
Ranked #5, this habit comes from working in the restaurant industry, I like to keep my industrial sized aluminum foil and plastic wrap on my counter, it serves a dual purpose at my house, it's situated on a a counter edge closest to my kitchen window mainly so the kitties do not get on the counter from the window sill! Plus I know how much easier it is using the larger industrial sized version to get clinging to your food with balling itself up! And who wants to run out of foil in the middle of wrapping and piece of meat for the grill or smoker or oven. Plus industrial size foil is actually thicker then the tiny "thinner" wraps at the local supermarket.
So with my top 5 kitchen gadgets ranked I still had to find places for the other 258 gadgets! Just kidding... I think... On top of my refrigerator is home to a dehydrator (I love making large batches of spicy beef jerky) also on the fridge is two different sizes of crock pots. living on top of the cabinets near my sink, coffee French press, potato ricer, whipped topping maker/canister, a laser thermometer (you need one; here's a link to the one I got, vital for deep fryer accuracy and double checking your oven temperature.) Let's see there's also a spaghetti strand drying tree, hey what can I say, I'm 1/2 Italian! There's a three tier bamboo steamer, two transparent beverage dispensers I use at parties, a large popcorn glass bowl and a thermos for when I commute to work, well, because coffee!
On top of the counters across from my sink, lies a treasure trove of pots and pans and tart pans and pizza peels! In my garage I store my chaffing dishes and insert trays for catering and parties. One small place next to my stove was a few small shelves which could not really fit anything worth while. and it only took me five years to realize I can take the removable pegs under the shelves, removing the shelves and now having an area I can store all my sheet pans, pizza stone and the shelves inside! My daily use pots and pans still have no place and get stored either next to the stove or top of the stove under a constant shuffle.
I have a rolling cutting board cart I have ni had for ten years with every intention of using it in my kitchen... but the kitchens too small. So it sits outside the kitchen in technically the dining room. It fits just under where there should be stools opposite my stove. But alas, its mainly a storage cart for all my cats gear. Their cases of wet cat food, the giant storage bin for 30lbs of their dry kibble, a bag holding spare catnip stash, extra jingly balls, flea meds, and their cat vet records. Yeah perfect place to store those. :shrug:
But the epiphany came to me, I can make room in my kitchen, if only, Craig's List... what... they are calling it a hutch! This is what I need! It will solve many issues and they are practically giving away hutches/buffet hutches on Craig's List. Then I looked a a new hutch from a local Lowes I think and they can go for not too much new if you need something basic. I am looking to (to alleviate the clutter and relocate some it from the kitchen to the "hutch". If I move my liquors to the hutch, that's a whole cabinet free (due to how tall the bottles are!) I could then fit my mixer in that and alleviate counter space for more places to drop down a cutting board which will definitely help speed meal time up if I don't have to have an apparatus shuffle to make room!
I could also relocate many of the "top of the cabinet" crew to the hutch and have room for more bulk shopping items that I don't always purchase due to no space, like a case of water for emergency grab and go! And possibly dedicate a cabinet to cat products so my chopping board cart can be used as intended (sorry kitties!)
After I paused a couple days in between writing this article, I noticed I had a pretty large bread machine on my counter, that I don't use a lot, I instantly relocated it under my mobile cutting board, now I can slide my deli slicer closer to a corner so its not on top of my electrical outlet. More room!
During my time at this house I ended up getting these very handy and awesome space saving baskets, can racks and shelves. 
$30 - Stackable 2 Tier Sliding Basket Organizer Drawer
Although it looks like the spices are organized, to me its organized chaos, because I have larger bags of spices and then bags of different dried chilies and so I end up with three areas of spices, still haven't figured that one out yet.
I learned from my Mom to always rotate the stock, meaning just bought cans of say soup, are placed behind cans of soup already stored, oldest out first in food!
These three organizers have made my kitchen life much much easier!
Not pictured: $25 - Shelf Organizer, Expandable
- Category: blog
There is a like a bazillion recipes for everything you want to cook, the challenge is how to sift through all those recipes for a "good" one! Here are some guidelines I go through when researching a recipe.
Currently I am looking for a fairly simple recipe: Harissa.
Harrisa is a ground spice blend originating in the north African region of the world. Specifically, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. It is used to flavor meat, stews, couscous, tagines, shwarmas and a multitude of other uses that I love to experiment with in my cooking.
Step one is to gather recipes and possible unique ingredients. I search in three to five of the major cooking sites I like, and for me that's, in no particle order, https://www.epicurus.com/ (everything food), https://forums.egullet.org/ (researching techniques and more), https://www.foodnetwork.com/ (recipes in general), https://www.vahrehvah.com/ (for Indian recipes), https://www.food.com/ (formerly geniuskitchen.com) and also use google search to search another 3-5 sites that pop up, which I sometimes choose based on the "image" search:
https://www.daringgourmet.com/harissa-tunisian-chile-paste/
https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-harissa-2355473
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/homemade-harissa
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/104403/tunisian-harissa/
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/harissa-51185010
I notice in many of the Harissa recipes they use 2 kinds of peppers, coriander, cumin and caraway, garlic and in some there's lemon juice. I look on Wikipedia to see if there's anything culturally unique about the Harissa recipe, which tells me, they traditionally use a pepper called Baklouti or Serrano peppers. That's handy as I always have Serranos in my fridge as it is a great spice level for my taste buds. Also learn that in Tunisia they add lemon juice, Algeria, Morocco and Israel they do not. I like the idea of lemon juice and from the harissa's I have had in the past I want my recipe to have it also.
I also look on YouTube and see a guy has a video describing the Baklouti pepper. So I watch to see if there's any additional flavor profile that I could adapt my Serranos to mimic. I learn the pepper is sweet and juicy. It also has a Scoville Heat Units of 1,000 to 5,000 SHU where as the Serrano has 5,000 to 23,000 SHU. Which tells me I should probably deseed my Serrano peppers.
So for sure my recipe is going to have the following:
Serrano peppers, deseeded
Dried Guajillo peppers, reconstituted (for the sweetness I'm missing from authentic Baklouti peppers)
coriander seeds, toasted (toasting the seeds of most spices releases their oils, thus a more pronounced flavor)
cumin seeds, toasted
caraway seeds, toasted
olive oil
lemon juice
garlic
salt
Now to adjust the actual amounts I am going to first make my test batch of Harissa with amounts from an already published recipe that is close to my ingredients.
Right away from the 5 sites above I notice they vary on their amounts spice wise, at allrecipes.com I notice a typo, 2 cups of caraway seeds? What!! Can't be right. I decide, equal amounts of each spice and 3 cloves of garlic. along with a 10 Serranos and 5 Guajillos.
So now my preliminary recipe looks like this:
10 Serrano peppers, deseeded
5 Dried Guajillo peppers, reconstituted
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
1 tsp caraway seeds, toasted
2 tblsp lemon juice
2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
I looked on my jar of Harissa spice mix from WholeSpices.com and because it is a dry mix they had citric acid, which would be the substitute for lemon juice, that sour puckering flavor. So if you want something for your spice drawer you make it with citric acid and granulated garlic instead of lemon juice and garlic.
I will report back after the first batch is finished and eaten with any changes to be posted!
I had originally made, without any research at all, what I was calling Harissa, which was ground up chilies with olive oil. Oh boy here comes the flavor train, watch out Guy, passing through flavor town at breakneck speeds!
Thanks for reading,
Robert
- Category: blog
Sushi 101
Expensive to eat out, but dirt cheap to make your own!
I actually took a sushi class with the daughter of a good friend of mine. We had a blast, learned a lot and brought home a boat load of sushi, all for about $50 bucks! Alas, perhaps you don't live in the cultural mecca of San Francisco, then you better read on!
Tuna, Unagi, hamachi + shrimp cocktail
How impressive would serving a platter of beautifully rolled sushi to your guests that appreciate seafood?! I put together the platter to the left in under 2 hours. With the right prep work you can minimize that time! There are four essential steps to making sushi at home. Mind you the way the Japanese make their rice will differ from me, because I gave up on their method when I failed 4 times in a row (and I went to class remember!) So obviously cooking the correct kind of rice, in addition to the method used, will effect your final product.
Get your ingrediants prepped!
A search of sushi rice types give me the impression that "Nishiki" brand rice is one of the better brands. Having a package of good nori wraps is essential. I just recently learned a fast technique that helps ensure a crisp nori skin for your sushi! Toast it again before you roll it! Just use a hot fry pan and toss the sheet in, one at a time, and flip after a few seconds, then remove. Also having a mixture of rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt all dissolved and ready to go over your finished sushi rice is key. And with that being said, having the freshest piece of fish or whatever it is you are rolling up into sushi is required! Otherwise just fry the fish and don't waste it for sushi! Lets recap: Fresh fish, toasted nori, Nishiki rice, prepped ingredients... yup that's sushi!
You can see from the picture to your right, that you need to be organized, otherwise you will be rolling up your sushi and then suddenly you remembered you wanted to have a dab of wasabi inside the roll but it wasn't out on your counter to remind you! In the back from right to left you see: White sesame seeds, Nori, Curry Croquettes, Kerage Chicken (on the cutting board) Tempura shrimp, Tuna, Cucumber slices, Unagi and a sharp knife.
One of my favorite sushi rolls is the Dragon Roll. Inside is tempura shrimp and cucumber, outside is unagi and tuna. Although my attempt looks, probably, less appealing then a sushi pro, I can guarantee you that my version still tastes like a pro!
Bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap
Because sushi rice is so sticky, due to the nature of the rice itself and to the mix of sugar salt and rice wine vinegar that's mixed in, it will allow us to adhere the rice on the nori and flip the nori upside down also allowing us to fill the middle and have a finished roll with rice on the outside! Leaving a small edge without sushi, lightly press your rice to a thickness of about ½ inch high. Sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds. Gingerly, flip the nori sheet around so the rice is now touching the bamboo rolling mat, add a thin line of wasabi paste if you like, place the cucumber and tempura shrimp on the roll and roll it up using the bamboo mat at the bottom to start your rolling process.
Key is to line up the nori at the very bottom of the bamboo mat and when you finish the roll to "tuck in" the edge of the mat then pull it out to seal the nori. Also you may need/want to shape the roll a bit using the bamboo mat by firmly tucking the mat around the sushi and pressing down or around the sides to make it either a circle or square. When you have a finished roll and are ready to cut it, make sure your knife is sharp, the blade itself is straight edged (not serrated or scalloped) and wet the blade before cutting. Do not saw at it, cut it in one swift slicing motion. I make it through half the roll before I need to re-wet my blade. But that's me! This is a $30+ dinner at any sushi place.
Sushi rice on the nori with sesame seeds
While I have spare ingredients to make more, it only cost me about $15 a batch, yes initially you have to shell the cash out for the bamboo mat ($3), can of wasabi powder($3), package of nori($3) and bag of rice($6). But all these last longer then one batch! Chop sticks extra~
One (ugly) yet delicious Dragon Roll
The finished dish
- Category: blog
Makin' Bacon
Mmmm bacon... drool-drool-drool
There's a reason the smell of bacon can awaken a sleeping stomach from 200 yards, the cured pork sliced thin and fried or baked crisp is the Pièce de résistance of many a meal. From Breakfast, bacon and eggs, to lunch, a B.L.T. and soup, to dinner, a bacon wrapped filet mignon!
Pork belly being divided into thirds
If you find the taste and smell of bacon intoxicating and delicious, and have the drive to git to makin bacon, then you will never buy mass-produced store bacon again! The beginners finished product is so superior to the store bacon, it's like comparing the tortoise to the hare: NO CONTEST.
I started with 13.5 lb slab of pork belly with rib meat attached. (When I do this again, I will probably trim the rib meat) I divided it into three sections, each section weighed in at 4+ lbs.
Honey and Molasas Bacon before being sealed
After coating it in special curing salt and spices, (I made 3 different cures), see the image above where I add the marinade to the top of the meat and work it around the meat the best I can before it was packed and sealed and left in my fridge for about 9 days. I turned the packages over twice a day to ensure they cured evenly.
All 3 flavors, seal-a-mealed up
I decided on a 'honey and molassas', a 'pepper and garlic' and a 'pepper, bay and thyme' trifecta! I also used seal-a-meal bags (god I love that machine!).
Pepper and garlic slab being dusted
After removing and rinsing the bacon of its curing salts and drying it off, I really wanted an authentic "slab-o-bacon" so I decided to rig my oven into a smoker! Granted I did not get as much smoke to penetrate the flavor of the meat, but apparently I got just enough to hint at smoke and it had a great flavor!
Slabs about to be smoked
Luckily my oven had a removable shelf floor between the oven and the broiler below. I removed that panel and put the canister of wood shavings on top of the broiler element, on the mid shelf I had a steel bowl of ice water to keep the bacon from reaching the max smoking temperature for as long as possible and that happened to be 3 hours. I read it should be closer to 10 hours, but hey, you make the best with what you have. On the top rack is the three slabs of bacon with my digital thermometer in one.
The finished product! I gifted some out, and regret it! Mine mine all mine! mwa ha ha... err nevermind.
Molassass bacon slab after smoking
A slice of the smoked bacon