No Curry For Old Men

Lousy with leftovers, and more than annoyed that I couldn't take a walk this afternoon- it was another perfect fall day, with an impossible cerulean sky making all the crimson, yellow, and vermillion leaves pop like mad- I cobbled together a two-course fake Indian meal that ended up better than I expected and used up most of the various remnants in the fridge. Besides soup, which is clearly the best leftover vehicle there is, I'm a big fan of frittery things as the new bodies in which to reincarnate past meals. We had lentils that I made for lunch the other day, some of the mustard/kabocha ravioli filling from the TNS post, and a bit of the celeriac/butternut soup from yesterday. I took the lentils and ravioli filling and mashed it all together with an egg yolk, various spices, and a little flour, then formed the paste into little patties and rolled them in panko. Meanwhile, I heated the soup with a few cardamom seeds, 5-spice, and yellow curry, until it thickened, then strained it to get that luxe velvet texture. And that was it: a fritter with soup sauce and a little of the peach-habañero chutney we canned the other week.


























Then, some wild Alaskan salmon cooked gently with zucchini from the Plant That Will Not Die, shredded collards, tomato paste, more various spices, and minced lemon peel, then baked as little shepherd's pies with mashed sweet potatoes on top. And more panko. Because when I remembered that I had some, I pulled it out, and now it's going on everything. Milo dug the appetizer, but this got him into one of those eating zones where he just focuses on putting it away. He ate two. I would have so loved to pop a Riesling for this, but the only one I have on hand is a 1990, which is too special. Plus, I have to get up early tomorrow.