Rummaging through the freezer

I'm thrifty, and I hate wasting food, so I always freeze bits of leftover food: the vegetable skins and chicken bones for stock, which I frequently make, but is never the same. Doesn't matter. It comes out flavorful and adds taste and nutrition to any meal it goes into.

On Sunday I rummaged, and here's what I found:

1 cup frozen liquid from cooked beans and a smoked pig shank


1 baggie frozen corn


1 cup frozen chickpeas in their cooking liquid


1 last "ice cube" of frozen pesto (I freeze pesto in ice cube trays, then pop them out and store them in baggies)


3 ice cubes of frozen tomato pesto (cherry tomatoes and blanched almonds, whizzed in the food processor with a little garlic and olive oil)


Pancetta, about a 2 oz. portion


1 small pork pattie, made a few months before as part of a batch for Bahn Mi-- it was flavored with a little caramel and lemon grass





From the pantry:


1 can black beans


1 small smoked pepper, maybe chipotle? medium spicy


1/2 an onion


Spices: cumin, cayenne, tumeric


In other words, enough to approximate a batch of black bean (AKA Black and Gold) chile.