The Leftovers

Another reason why I cook, and what to do with all that leftover Pistachio Aioli

Epigenetics are clear and present in the way I feel about leftovers. My grandfather never wanted to repeat a meal. He would come to my grandmother, a chef destined for stars and accolades in another lifetime, (I name her as my biggest culinary influence, other than Magnus Nilsson), and ask her to make fantastical dishes he either tasted somewhere out or heard of. She would oblige, make something spectacular and he would have it then fresh, and was immediately disinclined to have to have that dish again. This makes him sound a bit like Marie Antoinette but it was more out of his curiosity for different flavors, and due to the ease of how he pulled this quirk off, I suspect he contained a whole lot more charm than an Antoinette as my grandmother, a woman who could not suffer fools, allowed it to continue.

Growing up in a household of immigrants, and being an immigrant, new to Texas, moreover, growing up in a household that values sustainability, leftovers was never a four letter word. I believe there is a certain virtue in being somebody who can have the same meal twice; it’s less frills, it exudes a sense that that individual can be secure in any aesthetic. I am not that. 

This is how I know it’s in my genes, like my grandfather, food has never been just for nutrition. Food is, for better or for worse, an event, an experience, and an opportunity. 

This need to never repeat a meal was a huge motivator for myself to start cooking early. If, like any self respecting family, there were leftovers, I would find ways to “improve “ upon those ingredients. I needed to have something new. I needed a different take. Today, when I cook a meal, I give most or all of it away. When I make a menu, I never repeat it. The flavors are constant, the quality is consistent but the actual meal will never happen again in the way it was first pronounced. 

As I write this post, in real time, I’m realizing I don’t hate leftovers, I hate the conventional nature the traditional idea of leftovers affords, (which, of course is a sickness, but the first step is identifying the issue).

 Which leads me to the crux of this newsletter; I am proud of all of the culinary ventures this Substack has created. I know I ask you in my recipes to make sauces, condiments, chili oils, fermentations and then, the next recipe moves on, while I’ll contend there are repeat ingredients here and there. 

Perhaps you are one of those who already has plans on what to do with the leftover ingredients, and perhaps you’re one of those that now has a near pint of Pistachio, Curry Leaf Aioli and needs to know what else can you make, this newsletter is for both of y’all. 

I’ll be doing these Leftover newsletters on the main feed, as a bonus for paid subscriptions on not only what you can do with the new ingredients you created from a recent past recipe, but will need to qualify in affordability and creative. I.E. we’re not creating a dressing from an aioli, (though that’s definitely delicious), rather we’ll be adding to your culinary arsenal with a more “out there” technique.  These recipes can be made either as a compound to last week’s newsletter or as a stand alone dish. 

So without further digressions, I give you a highly South Indian meets Italian American Red Sauced Bone Marrow Khozambu. 

Bone Marrow Khozambu 

Khozambu, (type into the internet how to pronounce because I took about 12 sentences to clarify how the Z needs to sound, but pronouncing it is the only difficult thing about this recipe, so please forge on), is a very very very specific sauce/gravy/sambhar proxy. Typically it is focused on a few flavors, and is about excising that specific flavor and pairs really well with one vegetable or meat. In this way, it’s incredibly similar to a Texas bowl of red or to a New American Italian red sauce. There are many colors and flavors of Khozambu, but today we are firmly in the vicinity of red and sauce as a concept. 

Why bone marrow? 

Cooking with bones is an affordable and elegant way to make the second time around with these leftover ingredients really shine. Also collagen infused sauces are nutritious, delicious and you will see in the THIRD iteration of this recipe, incredibly adept for noodles. 

Vegetarian substitute for bone marrow: 

• Summer  squashes work great 

• Whole carrots then split in the middle 

• Honestly whatever you want to use that can take an overnight marinade, you want a density to the product, (ex: less ideal is watermelon, really ideal is parsnip).

Ingredients: