Use every part of the chicken soup with schmaltz-roasted potatoes
Chicken soup schmaltz roasted potatoes Image by @foodaism
By Rob Eshman January 29, 2021
We all have to do our part to end America’s food waste addiction, right? Some 40% of food grown and prepared in this country gets tossed. Putting aside our growing problem with hunger and food insecurity, that food waste means the water, land, energy and labor that went into producing it all does to waste too.
But beyond the resources, we need to see food waste as — I’m going to use the ‘S’ word — a sin. All cultures bless food, either before or after eating it. There’s plenty of anthropological evidence that the idea of blessing, prayer and religion began, in fact, around food. So trashing food is throwing away your blessings, literally. People act more from emotion, from feeling, than from thinking. And you should feel lousy next time you scrape your leftovers into the garbage.
That fat you skim from the top of your chicken soup is a good place to start feeling better. I toss it with par-boiled potatoes, salt and pepper and oven-roast it. Instead of greasy waste, you’ll end up with the best-roasted potatoes you’ve ever had. And you’ll feel good.
Top-of-the-chicken soup schmaltz-roasted potatoes
4-5 potatoes, scrubbed (unpeeled), sliced into cubes or wedges
fat skimmed from the top of the chicken soup
olive oil or additional oil if needed
2 fresh or dried bay leaves (optional)
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring a quart of water to a boil. Toss in potatoes and boil until barely beginning to soften, about 7 minutes.Drain the potatoes and let dry. Toss with shmaltz that you’ve skimmed from cooled chicken soup. (Butcher shops and some markets may offer chicken fat for sale too). If there’s not enough fat, supplement with oil
Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer, add salt and pepper and bay leaf, and roast until brown and crispy, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to crisp on all sides. Remove and serve hot! Makes 4 servings.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
