Well, that’s Christmas over for another year, hope you all enjoyed a happy and delicious family feast and a chilled and carefree few days.
If you’ve done a lot of cooking coming up to Christmas, it’s possible that you won’t want to go anywhere near your cooker for at least a week, but I love the excitement of poking around in the fridge and pantry and dreaming up delicious ways to use up bits and bobs.
There are bound to be some delicious leftovers lurking around in there and I love the improvisation and creative challenge of incorporating dollops of this and that into something entirely different. Think Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, Moroccan…as well as traditional flavours.
So, let’s mull over what you might have leftover apart from morsels of turkey and ham maybe, plum pudding, trifle, stale bread, Brussels sprouts, cranberries. The latter are definitely not a problem, they can be popped into the freezer, they’ll keep for months but better still, throw a fistful into a batch of scones, a muffin mix or a white soda bread. Leftover cranberry sauce will keep for weeks, maybe even months, add oomph to a salad, an apple tart or roast chicken as well as the end of a jar of minced meat.
A good turkey carcass makes the best stock of all but first strip away the last little morsels of both meat and stuffing from the carcass, there’s a million ways to use those precious leftover bits after the family have hoovered up what they fancied for the epic turkey and stuffing sandwiches that we all love.
Turkey stock is super easy to make, it just takes time but not your time. Chop or break up the carcass as best you can. Toss into a deep saucepan with the giblets if you have them (not the liver, use that for a buttery pâté). Add a couple of quartered onions, 3 or 4 stalks of celery, a couple of chopped leeks and carrots. Add a few sprigs of thyme, lots of parsley stalks – no bay leaves. If you have some ginger peelings, add them too. Toss in ten or twelve black peppercorns, no salt. Add the ham bone if available, cover with cold water. Bring slowly to the boil. Cover the saucepan and simmer for three to four hours or longer. I put the saucepan into the cool oven of my ancient Aga. Strain, cool and refrigerate or freeze.
It’s crucial to make a batch or two of mayonnaise as a condiment. Divide it into aioli, watercress mayo and coriander and chilli mayonnaise. There’s also a myriad of ways to use up the remains of the ham, add it to pasta dishes, mac and cheese, a frittata, cauliflower cheese or a leek and potato gratin or toss a little dice into a Brussels sprout soup. I love all those ‘homesey’ one-pot dishes, so comforting to tuck into on chilly January days.
Slices of plum pudding can be fried quickly in a little foaming butter and served piping hot with whiskey cream, a blob of brandy butter or the end of Mrs. Hanrahan’s Sauce. By the way, there’s no rush to use up plum pudding, it will keep perfectly well wrapped for several weeks or can even be frozen until the urge for a little fruity boozy sweetness comes again.
Little ends of cheese can be grated and added to gratins, scones and biscuits. Whizz scraps of blue cheese with butter, maybe add a little chopped parsley and melt over steaks or burgers.
Leftover bread, croissants or panettone make a delicious bread and butter pudding or just throw it into the freezer to make breadcrumbs for stuffing on another day or French toast and on it goes…
Can’t bear to waste a scrap, perhaps it was my 50’s and 60’s upbringing that left me with a deep understanding that food waste was unthinkable, it doesn’t make sense at any time particularly with my recent trip to East Africa so fresh in my mind.
And most people don’t even have a few hens to eat up the scraps and convert them into eggs a few days later.
Why not ask some pals around for a celebration Leftovers Feast (a marathon fridge clear out).
New Year’s resolution – invest in three or
four hens!
Vietnamese Turkey Noodle Soup
A delicious way to enjoy both your turkey broth and morsels from the carcass.
It is vitally important to use really good-flavoured stock for this noodle soup – super quick to make once you’ve assembled the ingredients and it’s an entire meal in a bowl.
Serves 4
1.2 litres well-flavoured turkey stock
1 tbsp Vietnamese fish sauce
60g galangal, finely chopped
2 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon sugar
225g shredded, cooked turkey meat
225g rice noodles
Accompaniments
4 spring onions, diagonally sliced
225g fresh bean sprouts (if available) – use finely shredded Chinese cabbage otherwise
2-4 small red chillies, finely chopped
2 limes, quartered
crispy fried shallots
coarsely crushed roasted peanuts
handful of fresh coriander leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper
Pour the stock into a large saucepan and add the fish sauce, galangal, star anise, cinnamon, sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, add the shredded turkey and simmer for a further 4-5 minutes. Taste, add more fish sauce and lime juice if necessary.
Cook the rice noodles according to the packet instructions and divide them between 4 large wide bowls. Divide the soup and turkey shreds between the bowls.
Put
all the remaining ingredients into small bowls so that everyone can help
themselves to the soup accompaniments.
Brussels Sprout and Kimchi Salad with Asian Dressing
We’ve got lots of Brussels sprout salads, some of my favourites are just tossed in a French dressing with some nuts (pecans, hazelnuts or pumpkin seeds), a sprinkling of raisins and maybe a few slices of ripe avocado and a couple of red chicory leaves.
Serves 6
300- 400g fresh Brussels sprouts or sprout tops, topped, thinly shredded
4 scallions, both white and green parts, thinly sliced at an angle
100 – 150g kimchi
Dressing
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp white miso paste
1 tbsp tahini
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp of water
To Serve
1 heaped tbsp of sesame seeds
2 tbsp of shredded coriander
First make the dressing. Whisk the rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey, miso, tahini, grated ginger and water in a bowl until smooth.
Put the shredded Brussels sprouts or sprout tops into a bowl with the scallions and kimchi. Mix well, drizzle the dressing over the top, toss well, taste and tweak the seasoning if necessary.
Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and shredded coriander.
Serve immediately.
Mincemeat and Bramley Apple Meringue Tart
Serves 10-12
A wonderful Christmassy Tart and also a particularly good way to use up leftover mincemeat.
Pastry
175g white flour
75g butter
pinch of salt
1 beaten egg to bind
Filling
450g mincemeat
125g Bramley apples
Meringue
3 egg whites
175g caster sugar
egg wash
icing sugar to dust
edible sparkly glitter (optional)
1 x 23cm tart tin (2.5cm deep)
First make the pastry.
Sift the flour and the salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour, rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg with 2 teaspoons of cold water and add enough to bind the mixture. But do not make the pastry too wet – it should come away cleanly from the bowl. Flatten into a round and wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 15 minutes. Roll out thinly on a lightly floured worktop and use it to line the flan tin. Line with kitchen or greaseproof paper and fill to the top with dried beans. Rest for 15 minutes in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Bake the tart base blind for about 25 minutes in a moderate oven or until pale and golden, remove the beans and paper. Brush the pre-baked tart shell with a little beaten egg and pop back into the oven for 3-4 minutes or until almost cooked. Cool.
Be careful not to overcook because if this pastry gets too brown, it will be bitter, hard and unappetizing.
Reduce the temperature to 150°C/Gas mark 1/2.
Peel and core the cooking apples. Cut into 1/2cm dice.
Whisk the egg whites with the caster sugar until it reaches stiff peaks. Mix the diced apple with the mincemeat and spread over the cooked pastry base. Slather the meringue on top or using a plain round nozzle (no 9), pipe the meringue in your favourite pattern.
Return to the oven and cook for 50 minutes, until the meringue is crisp.
Cool on a wire rack then dust heavily with icing sugar and if you fancy, add some edible sparkly glitter for end of season festive cheer…
Serve with a bowl of softly whipped cream.
