Leftovers

 

I love using up bits that I find in the fridge ... (that is providing it doesn't have green mold on it!)  Let's face it the "sell-by" may work for the supermarkets, but there are many products you can use long after the sell-by dates have expired.  You do of course have to be sensible about certain produce, but I think most stuff lasts a lot longer than we are led to believe.  Dont chuck stuff out willy-nilly, think about what you could do with it first .....
a few basic ideas ................

Soups - soup can be made with almost anything!  If you have one carrot, an onion, a potato, (garlic), stick of celery - you have the basic ingredients for a veg soup.  Also cooked leftover vegetables can be made into a thick blended soup by just adding some stock and seasoning.

leftover fish/potato - adding a few other ingredients and you could have some good fishcakes.  I made some recently with a small pack of brown shrimps, a roasted potato and two smallish pieces of cooked salmon.  I whizzed them up in the food processor, added 1 egg and seasoning, made them into patties, coated them in fine cornmeal and shallow fried them.  They were very tasty.  (You could also add a can of salmon/tuna.)

leftover rice - you can really add this to most patties (and rice isn't really hard to use up as a leftover), but if you have just enough for a couple of portions you can place it in a shallow buttered bowl, pour a little liquid butter over the top (or olive oil) and bake it till it's hot.  Turn it out from the bowl, and you have a nice little round mould of rice as an accompaniment.
You can of course fry over the cooked leftover rice, adding fried mushrooms, little chopped garlic, pinch of thyme, pinch of oregano, seasoning, spring onions, (cooked peppers, peas), etc.  This is lovely served with chicken.

leftover chicken - is so versatile - there are just tons of things you can make with it. chicken pie or pudding, with added onion and mushrooms and a creamy sauce made with stock - (not milk) (or tinned mushroom soup) : chicken patties : curry : chicken salad bowl - with any leftover fresh veg. cut small or grated

Chicken  Also when portioning up a whole raw chicken, dont throw the carcass/bones away - you can make a decent chicken stock with it by adding some fresh root veg, seasoning and water - you may need a stock cube.

If you have any great ideas for leftovers - please let me know.

Prawn & Potato Quiche recipe

Pasticcio

This is both a Greek and Italian (and maybe from somewhere else) dish - 

it's easy, delicious and keeps really well (covered) in the fridge.
Just layer the ingredients (as per pic. below)

Quantities are not really crucial, you can make the size according to what you have. 

Ingredients:
cooked Short Macaroni
cooked minced Beef or Lamb filling*
Bechemel Sauce**

Method:
In a buttered oven-proof dish ...... layer the Macaroni, meat filling and another layer of Macaroni on top. 
Pour lots of creamy Bechemel over it, a little grated cheese on top and bake until bubbly and just going golden.
That's about all there is to it.

*Filling:
1 onion, peeled and chopped - saute in a little oil until just becoming transparent,
Add the minced meat, some crushed garlic - to taste, seasoning,
and saute until the meat is nicely browned.
Add some skinned, chopped tomatoes and cook a little longer.  Stir together.
Taste for seasoning.
(Add any other ingredient herb/chopped veg. that's to your taste.)

**Basic Bechemel Sauce : (can make in micro)
You need lots of this, so increase the ingredients according to what you need.
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

If making this in the micro. mix the flour with some of the milk just to break up the flour a little - then add the rest of the ingredients and stir frequently between cooking, until sauce begins to thicken.  You can then add grated cheese if you want, or just use the sauce, well seasoned.

I've kept the Pasticcio for a week in the fridge, and just either reheated some in the oven, or zapped it in the micro.  I feel it's better reheated in the oven, but is ok done in the micro.

Speedy Shepherds Pie - with Cooked Lamb

I bought a ready-prepared piece of lamb in red wine sauce and roasted it - I didn't think it was that good so I minced the meat in the food processor (saving the gravy).  I also had a pack of Ready-Mashed Potatoes  ...........  Perfect! ........  made a Shepherds Pie .........

Ingredients & Method:
1. Place the minced cooked lamb into your oven-proof dish.
2. Fry over some roughly chopped Chestnut Mushrooms and a small chopped onion - fry until just softened.
3. Add the layer of mushrooms and onion on top of the meat.
Season to taste.
4. Pour some (or all) of the sauce/gravy on top of the meat - depending how wet you like the dish.
5. Break up the ready-mashed-potato and fork it on top of the meat.
If wanted, pour a little melted butter over the potatoes and bake at approx. 190 deg.C until the mixture is bubbling and the potatoes are just 'tipping' brown.

Serve with a nice green veg such as sprouts - (this may be contraversial! :) ) and Heinz Baked Beans - (excellent).

PS: Apologies - this is not my photo - we ate it too quick!

Salmon Fishcakes - very quick and easy

- you probably have most of the ingredients in your storecupboard/pantry......

Ingredients:- will make enough for about 4 people plus salads to serve or just have as a snack

1 tin of Alaskan wild salmon (213g approx.)
leftover mashed potato (approx. about same quantity)
1 beaten egg
Dried white breadcrumbs
Small amount of flour for coating the fishcakes.
Dried oregano/marjoram - teaspoonful
salt/ground black pepper
Rapeseed oil for frying

1. In your food processor - blitz the mashed potato till smooth.
2. Add the salmon (minus the liquid and boney bits), egg, seasoning and herbs.
3. If the mixture is loose, add enough breadcrumbs to make the mixture easy enough to roll into balls, but not too stiff.
4. Roll into largeish balls, coat in seasoned flour, reshape, and flatten out slightly.
5. In hot oil, fry each side until golden and drain on kitchen paper.

They are very nice cool or cold, but can be zapped in the micro, if you want them hot.

Filo - Mushroom, Potato and Courgette Pie - easy

 

 

Oven: 190/200 deg. C (180F and Gas 6)
Ingredients:
500g chestnut mushrooms - 1/4s - no need to peel - just wipe clean.
300g. cooked (new) potatoes - cut into bite-sized pieces (reserve the liquid to use for sauce)
1 large courgette (green) - top'd and tailed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 garlic cloves - crushed
couple of spring onions - chopped, or small white onion - peeled and chopped
dried Thyme
4 sheets of a good filo pastry
Light olive oil, or vegetable/sunflower oil for frying and brushing filo
The amounts of these ingredients are not crucial - you can certainly vary them.

1. Saute the mushroom, courgettes, onions, garlic until just beginning to soften.
Add the potatoes and stir together.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add some seasoning and a pinch of Thyme. Taste.
2. Brushing each sheet of filo with oil, place them into a greased dish so they overlap quite a bit over the edge of the dish.
3. Place your filling in and pour over some of the sauce.  Keep the rest back, if you have too much - use to pour over when serving.  When pouring over the veggies, before baking, pour about half-way up the veggies.
4. Fold over the flaps of filo to cover the vegetables and brush with oil.  Make a small hole in the centre - for steam to escape.
5. Bake until a good golden colour - you will see the sauce beginning to bubble through the hole.
6. Serve with a green vegetable and some of the sauce*

*Sauce:
approx.  2tblspns. of  Elmlea single cream or Cème Fraiche. (more can be used)
approx. 250 ml. vegetable stock or use the water from the boiled potatoes, but add a little stock cube/bouillion powder.
1 tblspn. grain mustard
small amount of slaked Arrowroot or Cornflour if thickening is needed.
seasoning (S&P)

1. Add the cream to the vegetable stock and mustard - stir together.  Place in micro to heat through and slightly thicken.
2. Mix a rounded teaspoon of Arrowroot or Cornflour with a little cold water, to a smooth consistency and add to the stock, if this needs to be thickened.  Do not thicken too much - the sauce should pour easily.  Taste for seasoning.

This pie reheats well in the Micro.

Quiche - Cheese, Potato and Onion flan

Oven: 180/90 deg.C
Ingredients:
Filling:
3ozs. Gruyere Cheese - grated
3ozs. Low Fat Cheddar (any Cheddar would do)
1 (peeled) boiled potato - sliced
1 clove of garlic - chopped or crushed
1 small onion - sliced and sauteed with the garlic, till just softened.
Savoury  Custard:
1/4pt. double cream + few tablespoons of milk
2 eggs
 salt and pepper

Pastry:
place ingredients (given below) in food processor and whizz until ball of dough is formed. (Or make by hand of course). Cover with Klingfilm and chill for about 1/2 hr.

4 ozs. cold butter
3 ozs. self-raising flour
3 ozs. plain flour (using the SR flour - gives a softer pastry)
2-3 tablespoons of water
shake of salt and pepper

1. Roll out the pastry between sheets of Klingfilm - no need to flour surface.
Remove top sheet of Klingfilm and 'splat'* the pastry (carefully!) into the flan tin.  Press the sides carefully into shape and trip off the excess.
2. Prick the base with a fork, put some scrunched up foil into the base (to weigh it down a little) and cook for about 5/10 mins. Remove from the oven and remove the foil.
3. Put the potatoes and onion into the flan, add the grated cheeses, then pour the savoury custard over.
4. Tap the flan down on your surface, to ensure the custard has evenly covered.
5. Bake until golden and risen - fairly evenly.  This will drop when it has cooled.

I find this is lovely served warm, but is also very good cold.
It has a nice creamy taste and isn't too cheesy!

PS: Apologies - I had to 'Photoshop' the base of my pastry (pic.) - as I was in a hurry -  I didn't pre-bake it (for the 10 mins or so) -  However, it still tasted really good :)

*technical term for putting the pastry into the tin :)

Chicken Filo Pie - very easy - with Leftovers

Ingredients: 

Filo Pastry sheets (about 3 or 4) & sesame seeds (if wanted)

approx. 8 ozs.(225g)  leftover cooked chicken - cut into bitesized chunks & into an ovenproof dish.

4ozs. (125g) sliced mushrooms

small onion - chopped 

and clove of chopped garlic

Sauce: 

1oz. butter or sunflower oil

1 rounded tablespoon of plain flour

1/4pt. (150ml) chicken stock

salt, white pepper and some chopped corriander if fancied.

Instructions:  

1. Fry over the mushrooms, onions and garlic in the oil/butter, cool, and add to the chicken.

2. Making the sauce the quick way -  

Put all the sauce ingredients into a microwaveable jug, stir, zap, on High,  and stir from time to time to make the sauce smooth, cook until the sauce is nicely thickened.  Add some corriander if using.

3. Cool, then pour over the chicken and mushrooms

4. Brush oil on each sheet of Filo you use and place over the chicken mix, and tuck in. If using sesame seeds, sprinkle over the top and bake at approx. 190C until the pastry is golden and the filling is beginning to bubble through.

If you want to encase the filling, place about 3 or 4 oiled filo sheets into a greased ovenproof dish. You use the overlaps to cover the pie, but you may need an extra sheet or so to completely cover the filling.

Put the filling in, then fold the overlaps onto the pie top.

It doesn't matter if they're not too neat, as they always look pretty when baked. 

Bake as above, though this will probably take longer than if just the top of the pie is covered.

Christmas Leftovers - Turkey Shepherds Pie & Soup

I'm sure most households are the same and have tons of leftovers after Christmas Day - - - in fact, I think I love leftovers more than the actual meal!  I managed to make a lovely vegetable soup with the carrots, parsnips and potatoes, and a good shepherds pie with some leftover turkey, chicken, couple of sausages and a bit of salt beef too!   And, some turkey patties with the extra cooked minced turkey and mashed spuds.

Soup:
Process/liquidise the cooked vegetables - carrots, parsnips, onion, celery, cauliflower, potatoes, etc.

- Probably best not to add sprouts as they may discolour the soup and have a slightly strange taste, unless made into a separate soup - with potatoes - 

Adding a stock cube and some liquid - keep tasting until you get the seasoning and consistency you like - easy peasy!   
Heat till very hot, but dont boil, and add a dollop of either yogurt or cream to serve.


Turkey Shepherds Pie! -  
I processed all the cold meats together in the food processor, until minced nicely, 
then added some sauted onion and leek (not too much) and some extra seasoning, 
- enough stock (or gravy) to just moisten, cover with foil, heat well through in the oven until hot, 
- and either serve with mashed potatoes, or put the mashed potatoes on top of the minced turkey mix and reheat the whole dish in the oven.  
- Serve with some extra gravy and a nice green veggie.

I served my mashed potato separately so I could add any extra to the rest of the minced turkey and make some patties

Patties:   Minced Turkey, fresh herb of choice - (corriander or parsley is good), small amount of onion, some mashed potato (if wanted), and 1 beaten egg.  Shape with wet hands, dip in seasoned flour and shallow fry till just - golden brown.

Stuffed Tomatoes (no beans included!)

Oven: 190deg.C
Ingredients for Stuffed Tomatoes:

2 large beef tomatoes, halved - flesh removed and used in filling

couple of large Chestnut mushrooms
some leftover cooked Rice
A few pine kernels
clove of garlic (if wanted)
A few fresh Basil leaves + some dried Basil
S&P
1/2 Small onion - peeled (or a large Spring Onion/Scallion)
Slice of bread - brown and seedy if poss.

Panko Breadcrumbs - and little grated cheese if wanted
Add the breadcrumbs as necessary - to make the mixture to the thickness you like
small knob of hard butter
Olive or Sunflower Oil

1. Process the above ingredients - making a slightly crumbly mix - taste for seasoning.
2. Place your tomato shells in a buttered baking dish
3. Fill each half with the filling, top with a little grated cheese or breadcrumbs, and drizzle some oil over, and   a little water in the bottom of the baking dish.
4. Bake until tomatoes are nice and soft and topping is starting to brown.
5. When done, pour the juices in the pan over the tomatoes.

Leftover Cake Cake!

(Illustration by Katie Wilson - Little Doodles)

I experimented with a strange fruit cake recipe, the other day, and it turned out very dry. As I cant bear to throw anything out without possibly trying to recycle it, I added some eggs, milk and sugar to the broken up cake and ....... lo and behold ..... it was really good :). You can either eat it cold or reheated as a pudding (with cream or custard) - great both ways.

Ingredients:
(approx.) 3 cups of leftover fruit cake - either crumbed or cut into small cubes. Place in baking tin (greased if necessary).
3/4 cup of orange juice - pour over the cake and let it stand while you mix the other ingredients together - which doesn't take very long.

2 cups of milk
3 eggs - beaten
1/2 cup of sugar - add less sugar if the original cake is very sweet.
large pinch of salt.
Mix all these ingredients together and pour over cake. Shake the tin a little to even out the mix.

Bake at 180 deg. C until cooked through* and looks 'set'. (approx. 30 mins for 3 cups of cake).
The baking time will depend on the amount of cake used. If you only have a small amount of cake - also reduce the other ingredients - it shouldn't go wrong whatever you do.

*test with skewer.

Leftover Chicken Casserole and Dumplings

Grease an ovenproof dish large enough for your amount of cut up cooked chicken.

Saute in a good oil, some spring onions and a few mushrooms (depending on your amount of chicken), season, and place on top of chicken.

Sauce:
In a pyrex jug add
3/4pt. stock
1 tbl. plain flour
1 tbl. butter
Seasoning
Micro, stirring frequently, until a nice pouring sauce is made. (You could also use a mushroom cube.)
Pour over chicken.

Dumpling:
4 ozs. SR Flour
2 ozs. White vegetable fat (Trex)
Make into a crumb mixture then add
8 tbls. cold water
Seasoning and nice mix of dried (or fresh) herbs of choice

Mix together until a goodly dumpling is formed (slightly sticky)
Squish this out on a lightly floured surface, and place in dish to either cover chicken mix completely or just a nice dumpling in the centre of the casserole.


Place in preheated oven about 190 deg. C for at least 1/2 hr. until chicken casserole is hot and dumpling is cooked.
You can turn the heat down and leave this in the oven for a short time, until required.

Chicken Pie - simple (and tasty) recipe for 'leftovers'.

Ingredients:
I used some leftover roasted chicken (1/2 - 3/4lb.), cut into bite-size pieces - any cooked chicken is fine.
Plus some Shortcrust Pastry (savoury) - bought or home made.

Saute:
1 stick of celery - peeled and chopped - (peeling removes the string)
1 onion - peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic peeled, chopped/crushed
Mix together with the chicken**

Sauce:
1 oz. butter
1 oz. flour
7fl.oz.chicken stock
2-3 tblspns. double cream
seasoning, mixed herbs
Squeeze of lemon juice - if wanted
S&P

If you double this quantity - you can keep half back to use as extra gravy

This sauce can be easily made in the micro -
Put all ingredients into a Pyrex jug, zap, but stir frequently until it's reached a nice creamy sauce consistency.
Let it cool, then wrap it around the chicken pieces.
Additions if wanted: sauted mushrooms and/or peas are nice.**
Place this in your pie dish - on a baking tray*

Pastry: Shortcrust - (either bought or home-made.)
If home-made - add some mixed herbs (to choice) and season with S&P.
If you dont want to make pastry - you could used mashed potatoes, or sliced par-boiled ones - on top of chicken mix.

Roll your pastry to approx. 1/4" - 1/2" thick, and place over chicken mix, as your lid. Trim around dish.
Make a few slits in it for the steam to escape, or a hole in the centre, and use your leftover bits of pasty for some decoration. (You can get creative here).
Paint your pastry lid with beaten egg.

Bake at approx. 190 C for about 40-45 mins. till pastry is slightly golden, and the sauce is usually spilling out of the pastry or chosen topping.

Chinese Style Chicken Noodle Soup

You can put this soup together really quickly, adding any suitable leftovers.

Almost Instant Chinese Style Chicken Noodle Soup
(non-veggie version) - serves 1

Good home-made chicken stock, well seasoned - - but if you're in a absolute mad hurry - Telma Chicken Soup Mix will do - make up approx. 2pts.
Rice Noodles - cook in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, then drain.
1 or 2 mushrooms - sliced
Thin strips of fresh ginger*
Pak-Choi - couple of small ones - cut off the ends - you can leave them whole or separate the leaves*
leftover carrot from original soup stock - or very thin carrot shavings*
leftover chicken - small pieces
leftover celery from original stock - peel and slice thinly - - or very thinly sliced (peeled) fresh celery*
Spring onion - thinly sliced*
Little Soy and Sweet Chilli Sauce - to taste.

Place the ingredients into your large Chinese soup bowl and pour the very hot chicken stock over. Add flavourings and seasoning to taste. ....... . That's it! Delicious!

Veggie Version: For the vegetarian version - use a good vegetable stock (marigold 'Bouillion' is very good) and obviously, miss out the chicken pieces.
Equally delicious!

* if wanted, you can blanch these in a bowl of boiling water for a few minutes before adding to the soup bowl.

"Take-Away" Fast Food?! ............. nah!

Leftover Steamed/Boiled Rice - with Mushrooms

........... one idea to use up leftover plain boiled/steamed rice is to -
separate the (cooked) grains, (as the mass is usually stuck together, but is easy to crumble and separate);

Depending on the amount of rice you have - use either
1 chopped spring onion, 1/2 regular onion or 1 whole onion - fry over, till softened, in a little oil and butter.
Add a little crushed garlic, a sprinkle of dried thyme and oregano and season to taste.
Saute roughly chopped mushrooms in a separate pan, until just cooked, (few minutes), then add to the leftover rice - mix together well.
Heat through well.
Taste and season again if necessary.
Serve, sprinkled with some fresh corriander - not too much - - - - - serve as an accompaniment with any meats - - and it's not bad with fish either.