How far will you go to get every last morsel?

[Jpan99]

I had a really good cupcake this weekend. There was a lot of cake residue left on the paper and a crust of frosting encircling the rim. I got out a butter knife and scraped along the paper getting up as much moist goodness as I could. Then, I folded the paper into a cone, squeezed at the bottom and pushed up, licking off ever last bit of cake and frosting that I could. *sigh*

[beevod]

Black & Decker cordless vacuum cleaner works for me.

[whs]

My husband chews my bones after I chew em.

[sunshine842]

LOLOL....that sounds so bizarre, on so many levels.

[whs]

as Claus von Bulow said, "you have no idea..."

[ChristinaBambina2]

My mom grew up very poor. We were out to dinner once and she and her brother were both scraping their plates to get every drop of some sauce. It was extremely noisy and uncomfortable for us, but they didn't even notice.

At home I just use my finger on the plate if a sauce or gravy is particularly good.

[FoodFuser]

And what of those wonderful kidneys of chickens?

They are housed, on both thighs, right next to the vertebrae.

They rest at the bone, in a streak about two inches long.

Sometimes a thumb is sufficient for scraping that oh so delicious string of dark-colored organ.

Mayhaps, in small chickens, one must make use of the pinky.

These methods of kidney extraction work well with both roasted and fried chickens.

Sometimes the thighs are so tiny that it calls for removal with chopsticks.

Whatever the method: peel them to their full length, and savor them.

[huiray]

You mean chicken oysters. The kidneys are something else. :-)

[FoodFuser]

Nope.

I mean chicken kidneys. Located adjacent to interior spine. Perhaps this will help:
http://www.ca.uky.edu/poultryprofitability/Production_manual/Chapter3_Anatomy_and_Physiology/Chapter3_excretory.html

The kidneys are an organ, and sorta tough to get to, but well worth the effort. No "urine-smell" at all, as opposed to mammalian kidneys.

The cook's oysters are easy: a gluteal muscle on exterior pelvis (illium). i don't call them "chicken butts", but that's what they are.. Way, way too easy... and this thread seemed to be about the joy of the more difficult extractions.

Here's a quick diagram of those Illial Oysters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_(...

Shall we continue discussion on that prize most posterior: the Parson's Nose? A nubbin of cartilage and fat, designed to receive those active tail-feathers. They require extra attention of some good extra broiling.

[huiray]

OK. I did think you *were* referring to the oysters, from your description: "They are housed, on both thighs, right next to the vertebrae", although the following "They rest at the bone, in a streak about two inches long" did seem a little odd in terms of how "long"/large they were.

[FoodFuser]

Yep, I'm such an old fart, and chewed so many hens, I sometimes get clouded in my descriptions.

[vil]

My daughter's grandfather had been in the army, and is diligent about not wasting food. Every meal that I am there, I would see him wipe off any remaining juices and sauces on the plate with a piece of bread (which is a stable at his table).

[dave_c]

Aren't bread and biscuits provided and used for sopping every bit of gravy off the plate?

I've had waitresses comment that I'm a member of the clean plate club.

They think it's very funny... until they see their tip. lol!

[njmarshall55]

Even at a buffet, I make sure I "clean my plate." This is especialy true with rice. In oriental culture, rice is considered almost sacred. I make sure every grain is gone. Even with chopsticks!

[bobbert]

I am very good at picking up individual grains of rice with chopsticks.

[huiray]

"This is especialy true with rice. In oriental culture..."
--------
That depends. Varies with specific nation/culture/occasion/circumstances/"traditional" or "modern" customs. Do a google search and see for yourself.

If one is talking about stuff on the shared plate in the middle of the table different rules also apply depending on where in the "Orient" you are.

For myself I grew up being taught the notion that you left a piece of food on the center plate and/or your own plate to symbolize that there was always something more, that there would still be food to eat (for the future).

[laliz]

who licks the top of the yogurt container and the cottage cheese container?

[grayelf]

Used to, till they started sealing 'em with tinfoil. Hello lacerated tongue. Now I scrape with rubber/teflon spatula so as not to waste.

[Jpan99]

Nobody has mentioned knife licking. How do you NOT lick the peanut butter knife? Jam and Nuttella too!

[kattyeyes]

Guilty as charged. Butter knives only, however! :)

[HillJ]

Or spoon :)

[kattyeyes]

Mm-hmm!

[Vidute]

I do not allow my sharp knives to escape with any goodness! I turn the knife sharp side up, lick my thumb and index finger and then pull the knife between those two fingers collecting every last bit. I then lick my fingers clean. I still have all my fingers. ;)

[kattyeyes]

AYEEEEEEEEE! Trust me, not with the new knife I have--there'd be bloodshed! But glad you are intact. :)

[Vidute]

I grew up in Baltimore, katty, where weilding a paring knife is the preferred method for transporting food to mouth when eating steamed crabs. :)

[njmarshall55]

Slowly raises his hand...

[sunshine842]

I figured that it was such a default for this conversation, it sort of went without saying....

[John Francis]

Why throw good stuff away? We've nothing to lose but our dignity. :-)

What surprises me is when TV chefs don't scrape everything out of a bowl, but leave quite a lot behind that goes to waste. Maybe it's just because TV time is precious, though it may also come from restaurant kitchens where the cooks must always be in a hurry, but it sets an example. I don't follow that example - I get every drop I can of beaten eggs or pancake batter out of the bowl and into the skillet. What do professional cooks do when they're at home? I'd be interested to know.

[kattyeyes]

I'd be willing to bet it's a timing thing and also bet they are better scrapers at home!

I'm a shameless batter licker from childhood days. So disappointing, my mom would always scrape EVERY LAST BIT of whatever out of the bowl and off of the beaters (she still does!), leaving very little for the licking. Alternatively, her friend Peggy was much more generous in what SHE left behind. I especially liked making cookies at Peggy's house 'cause that meant more cookie dough for me! :) Thanks, Peg!

[lcool]

We are better scrapers at home,it's not just a time thing.
The entire portion control and storage thing changes.Add on the fact there isn't a wage serf to clean up our mess.My husband and the spouses of chef friends are at best limited help.As a teaching,consulting chef my habits aren't really the "restaurant" kitchen.

OP Husband and I likely to leave only fumes.Whatever is still left is liked off by a cat or dog.Saves me,the dishwasher and the grey water drain.

Personal favorites,the bits in a meat pan before deglazing,the raw smears of cookie or cake batter,BROWNIES and little crusty dry bits after hash,stuffing,mashed potatoes etc.

[Crockett67]

Anything on a bone, I strip it clean. But my whole family does this. (I swear my family did feed me growing up.) It kind of weirds some people out how little is left from my basket of wings or plate of ribs.

I also love the nobby bit of gelatin on the caps of stewed oxtail. That's my cook's treat as I shred up the meat.

[Motosport]

Don't come near me when I am gnawing on a nice Porterhouse bone!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!

[RichardinJP]

Oh I gnaw, suck and scrape those things clean.

[Motosport]

When I get a truly great Italian lemon Ice in the paper squeeze cup at Court Bakery in Brooklyn I will literally squeeze out all of the lemony goodness and then suck the flavor out of the paper cup and even chew on it. I know, it sounds disgusting.

[kattyeyes]

Shhh...I do that, too, but at Vecchitto's Italian Ice in Middletown, CT. ;) Not disgusting.

[cgarner]

Where I grew up, that's exactly HOW you ate an Italian Ice...

[HillJ]

Just about every pudding I can think of eating involves licking the bowl to the last. Growing up my sister had the electric beaters covered on cake batter and I had the hot pot & spoon on pudding batches. It was lovely sibling diplomacy.

[JungMann]

When we were young, one of our favorite dishes was our father's mutton curry. When all the meat was gone, all that would be left were the bones with a thick pool of gravy barely clinging to them. We would pick up the bones with our roti and suck on them like straws, pulling in our cheeks to force out the marrow. Once the marrow was gone, we attended upon the gravy, which we would finish by lazily dragging our bread through pools of brown sauce, blotting roti into the puddles left here and there on our plates, licking the scent of cardamom and ginger off our fingers to the very end.

[sunshine842]

YUM.

[Vidute]

The best part of the chicken, the cartilage and skin at the bottom of the drumstick.

[RichardinJP]

And the little bits of meat between the rib bones.

[Baskerville]

I've only recently discovered this carnal pleasure. My favorite part is the backbone, personally. But that little cartilage/skin bit is close behind.

[huiray]

That too. Oftentimes I strip the remaining partially eaten whole chicken (from something like a Hainanese Chicken prep) of the flesh from all over the carcass and bones - by hand, of course - and use the gathered meat and gelatin in a chicken-and-hardboiled-eggs aspic, or as additions to a ramen bowl etc for future meals.

[Tripeler]

Huiray,
The aspic sounds really tasty!

[huiray]

See here for an example... http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/8599...
;-)

[cgarner]

I am a turkey "giblet pack" eater

my mom would put the stuff that comes in the giblet pack into a saucepan with onion, carrot and celery and some salt and a few peppercorns and she'd simmer it for ages...

the neck bones would literally fall apart, giving up those little pieces of meat that are so sweet and tender
then I'd steal the liver yes totally over cooked but still, that poultry, liver flavor has always been a draw to me, so I'd slice that up with some salt and move on
Since I was a kid, everything in that giblet pack has been the "cooks treat" for me!!

[sunshine842]

last Thanksgiving, I cooked up all the necks and giblets for gravy, picking all the meat off the necks, giving the gizzards to the very-thankful dog, and chopping the livers into the gravy (a handheld blender does a nice job here - velvety-smooth gravy)

My BF's daughter came into the kitchen just as I was getting ready to get rid of the neck bones...they got carried home in a ziploc bag and dried for show and tell....

[Vidute]

ahem......WOOF! WOOF!

[sunshine842]

I eat gizzards, too, when properly cooked -- but they're just too tough after this sort of treatment to whiz up with the blender - you just get odd little rubbery bits in the gravy that aren't all that appealing....

...and he'd been a good boy all day, staying out from under my feet...

[cgarner]

may not be the 'proper' way to cook a gizzzard, but simmered in the liquid for hours, they get kind of 'shreddy' and still they're tasty!
(my husband is the turkey butt eater! he loves him some turkey tail)

[Vidute]

That was my mom! Woe be the cook who did not bring the butt to the table.

[Vidute]

But, I've been a good girl all year. Does that put me ahead of your pooch? :D

[sunshine842]

If you want those gizzards now...um, you're welcome to them. :)

[Vidute]

Your mom and mine had the same recipe....except we'd buy additional giblets. Those additoinal giblets were my "warm-up to Thanksgiving"meal. A few raw ones were also roasted along with the turkey for my Thanksgiving meal.

Sometimes a craving just comes upon me and I have to run out and buy gizzards, turkey or chicken. Ah....the chewie yumminess.

[sunshine842]

I can't tell you how nice it is to live in a place where sopping up every last drop of lovely sauce with a piece of bread is not only accepted, but encouraged!

[huiray]

France, right?

Well, the Queen of England has been known to mop up the sauce on her plate - in public - with a piece of bread. Speared on her fork, of course, not with her fingers. :-)

[sunshine842]

yep-- if you're at home or with friends, you can use your fingers.

If it's more upcale, you use the fork to steer the bread around.

I never have quite figured out why it's completely acceptable on this side of the pond to sop sauces...and so utterly horrible on the other.

[ipsedixit]

I've often combined the crumbs at the bottom of the bag from cereals (Honey Bunches of Oats, Granola, Cap'n Crunch), Wheat Thins, and potato chips (Salt & Vinegar, Doritos, Sun Chips) to make my own "Ghetto Chex Mix" ...

It's sweet, salty, crunchy and perfect washed down with a cold beer.

You don't really have to chew -- because it's all crumbs anyway -- but you can't help but chew because the more you chew the more of a sugar and salt bomb you get on your tongue. Good stuff.

[vil]

What a lovely idea. Do you keep a jar at home for this purpose?

[ipsedixit]

No, a bag!

[Motosport]

This is starting to remind me of that scene in "Fatso!"

[Isolda]

I once stuck a straw into a bottle of something called fig molasses (really, it was just a delicious fig syrup) to make sure I got every drop. Then I added a little water to it, swirled it around and drank it.

[Jpan99]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha :-D

[Motosport]

I am an avid plate licker when I am home!

[Jpan99]

I'm not an avid plate licker except for when I make blueberry pancakes. I use fresh picked blueberries from my garden and real maple syrup. When the pancakes are gone (which doesn't take long) the plate still has blueberry juices and maple syrup and I can't help but lick up every bit of it!

[Motosport]

Yessssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blueberry juice, maple syrup and melted butter!! Does it get any better? Would not want to waste a drop.

[mucho gordo]

I love to "deglaze" a pan with whatever implement is handy, including fingers. Delicious burnt, salty morsels.

[cgarner]

Ooohh, I'm not the only one that does this!

my favorite is when you roast chicken thighs in the oven and the juices concentrate and turn into that lovely thick and/or crispy layer on the bottom of the pan

[mucho gordo]

Exactly, I sautee boneless/skinless thighs for my dog but the bottom of the pan is MINE.

[Samalicious]

My partner's cousin is voracious about getting every last bit of everything. The last time we visited her in SF we ate dinner out and ordered a pate appetizer. When it was "gone" she discreetly picked up the ramekin and ran a quick finger around the inside and popped it in her mouth. Her comment - "There was a lot left." I won't be surprised if she licks her plate next time. It's all good.

[Baskerville]

When I'm at home with the fiancé, I'm a shameless plate licker. I made that pan sauce, dammit. I'm not going to waste it!

[cgarner]

Dad would go to jail for this today.. but here goes

when we were little in the winter after sledding my father would give us a little cordial glass and fill it about half way with amaretto or sambuca to "warm up" (and then take a nap)
we'd sip the boozy, sweet goodness ouf of the coridal glass, and then when it was all gone, we'd literally stick our tongues down into the glass and turn the glass to get out that last miniscule droplet of liquid from the glass

(Sorry, Pop, I had to out you...FWIW I think the statute of limitations for giving alcohol to minors has passed)

[Isolda]

Your dad is safe! Parents can legally give their own children (but not their friends) alcohol in their own home. Whenever we had a cough, my mother would make a "medicine" from honey, whiskey and lemon juice. I was rarely sick as a kid, but would fake a cough whenever my brother had one just to get a little glass of this delicious mixture. And you can bet I stuck my finger down in that glass when it was done.

[BeeZee]

Fage yogurt has a strange shaped compartment, sort of a half moon...so yogurt gets trapped in the 2 corners and a spoon won't get in there. So I flip the spoon over and use the handle to get into the corners.

[Jpan99]

That really sounds like a job for the tongue, not the back of a spoon! :-)

[viperlush]

Well duh, isn't that what you are suppose to do? I to have found that to be the prefered method to get the last bit of yogurt and fruit.

[vil]

I do not have Fage yogurt in the house, but most of the large tubs of yogurt I have at home have a "shoulder" near the top that makes it wider than the rest of the cylinder by a few mm. This is where it traps yogurt that turns thick and creamy. I would take a spatula or my square icre-cream spoon to scrape around the perimeter and the corner, and it would be the one spoonful of the creamiest yogurt in the whole tub that we fight over.

[laliz]

It was the "last of the jar" of my Best Foods while packing sandwiches this weekend. I used my rubber spatula so well on that jar, you couldn't tell there had ever been anything in it.