6½ Super Flexible Recipes for Making the Most of Leftovers

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again …

The following 6½ recipes can help with this because they are all so very adaptable

1.   Flexible Fritter Recipe

There are several ways to make fritters; larger pieces of leftover food, such as pieces of fish, can be coated in batter or breadcrumbs and fried to crisp. If you have leftover mashed potato plus other leftovers mix them all together and fry.  Here, however, is a useful fritter batter recipe that can take almost any leftover.  These are Cauliflower Cheese Fritters made with leftover cooked cauliflower and, yes!, cheese.

Sweet fritters work too – how about leftover banana (sliced or diced, of course) with soft light brown sugar and a drip or two of rum?

2.   Soup from Leftovers

Of course, you could just run your leftovers through the food processor and dilute to soup consistency but there is a much better way! 

My all-purpose soup recipe is so damned useful I’ve even written a book about it (Soup (Almost) the Only Recipe You'll Ever Need), but the basic seriously useful soup recipe is here to get you started.

3.  Omelettes aka Omelets

So useful are omelettes for using up leftovers that a café I used to breakfast at, De Loose Mongoose, often had Trash Omelette blatantly on the menu, filled with whatever they had left over from the night before. See how to make a perfect leftovers omelette here.

3½.   Frittata

           

A frittata is a more substantial type of omelette (hence the ½) so, the good news is, you can use up more leftovers! Ham, bacon, chorizo, cheese, seafood, asparagus, mushrooms and lots more are great in frittatas.

If you use half a dozen eggs this should feed 2-3 people.

~   Fry raw onion, if using, gently in oil or butter till soft then add a little garlic, if you wish.

~   If adding leftover potatoes increase the heat and add these now crushing them slightly and cook till they start to crispen and colour. Add a little more oil or butter as necessary.

~   Now add any other cooked ingredients and mix into the potatoes, taste and adjust the seasoning, adding herbs and spices to taste.

~   Turn down the heat, whisk together  six eggs and pour them over everything else.

~   Preheat the grill.

~   Cook the frittata gently for a few minutes till the bottom is set but the top still moist.

~   Sprinkle with grated cheese, if using, and slide under the grill till melted and a little golden.

~   Cut into wedges and serve hot or cold.

4.  Risotto

I used to love making risotto when I was a chef – it’s a great excuse to stand still for a few minutes (apart from the arm doing the stirring) and maybe even to partake of a chef’s coffee. I do much the same at home – see here for the basic risotto recipe.  

In case you are wondering, here are details of chef’s coffee and also, fortuitously, how to make a frittata with leftover pasta! 

5.  Bubble & Squeak aka Hash

Firstly, of course, Bubble and Squeak is a great way to use up leftover cooked potatoes whether they be boiled, mashed, baked, roasted, etc. and also works well with sweet potatoes (leftover of course).

Secondly, all sorts of leftovers; vegetables (leftover cabbage is traditional in Bubble & Squeak but is by no means obligatory), fish, meat, poultry, cheese, bacon, ham, sausage, chorizo etc. can very happily be incorporated.

Oh, and you could fry it in leftover bacon fat or schmaltz for added deliciousness.

~   Fry some finely chopped onion gently in a little oil, butter or fat for a few minutes till soft. Add some garlic if you like!

~   Increase the heat, add the leftover cooked potatoes crushing them slightly and cook till they just start to crispen and colour. Add more oil or butter as necessary.

~   Stir in other leftover vegetables and continue to fry and turn till all is hot, crispy in parts and delicious.

Serve the hash as it is, quite possibly topped with a fried egg, or form into little cakes or pile onto a pie filling to make a super-duper fish pie, cottage pie or similar.

6.  Bread Pudding ~ Sweet or Savoury

This is not the manly rib sticking Bread Pudding which is like cake, it is a rich creamy custard based dessert similar to Bread and Butter Pudding but, instead of using slices of buttered bread, I use random bits and pieces of leftover bread – whatever I have.  Stale or slightly oven dried bread is best.

Normally we associate bread (and butter) pudding with sweet ingredients but a Strata is a savoury bread and (no) butter pudding layered up with whatever other ingredients are being used. Leave out the sugar and season the egg mixture with salt and pepper and anything else appropriate according to taste. Mix in cheese and other ingredients before pouring over the custard.

Serves 4

  

100g-150g stale bread in small chunks

200ml milk

100ml double cream

2 eggs

75g-100g leftovers

For a sweet dish …

80g sugar plus a little for sprinkling
flavourings appropriate to your leftovers eg. vanilla extract, a little brandy, chocolate chips or what have you

For a savoury dish …

salt and pepper

whatever seasonings will complement your leftovers, such as garlic, herbs, spices, grated (possibly leftover) cheese etc. – to taste

~   Put the bread into a lightly greased ovenproof dish.

~   Add your leftovers and toss to mingle well.

~   Whisk together the milk, cream and eggs plus the sugar OR salt and other seasonings you are using.

~   Gently push the bread under the surface to soak it. Set aside for 30 minutes or more – even overnight will do.

To cook …

~   Preheat oven to 350˚F/180˚C/160˚C Fan/gas 4.

~   Sprinkle the pudding with the extra sugar OR grated cheese as appropriate.

~   Bake for about 40 minutes till risen, golden and slightly wobbly when nudged.

Serve hot, warm or cold but warm is best.

In my book, Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers, I give numerous ideas for 450 different leftover foods including more ideas and details for the above recipes.

Great Preview Here!

Sweetfire Beetroot Recipes

It’s the most wonderful time of year, again.  No, not that one – the time of year when Tesco Head Office fails to comprehend or take on board the severe drop in customers when the season ends and the tourists leave Padstow!  They stock up like maniacs and we pick up so many fabulous bargains that we actually share them with the neighbours!

A lovely find, and something I had not tasted before was these little beauties. They are called Sweetfire Baby Beetroot and are indeed sweet and spicy, in fact I hope the neighbours didn't have too much of a surprise, we didn't realise how hot they are.

So what did I do with this bounty? Firstly I made ...

Beetroot & Boursin Risotto 

Serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
200g risotto rice, such as Arborio or Carnaroli
½ glass of white wine
500ml or so vegetable stock, gently simmering with the lid on
6 Sweetfire baby beetroot
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp or so Boursin (or other cream cheese)

~   Gently cook the onion in the oil or butter in a saucepan till tender.
~   Stir in the garlic and cook a minute or two more.
~   Stir in the rice and continue cooking and stirring for 7–8 minutes until it looks translucent.

~   Add the wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed.

~   Add a ladleful of hot stock and continue to cook, stirring and staring into space till that too is absorbed. Carry on like this with the stock until the rice is just tender with a little bite in the middle (al dente) and is coated in creamy sauce which will take about 20 minutes. It may not take all the stock or might need a little more, use your judgment.
~   Stir in the beetroot and then the Boursin.

~   Taste and season and stir over the heat just long enough to mingle in the cheese and heat through the beetroot.

~   Serve immediately.

Riso al Salto

With the leftover risotto (I never seem to finish my dinners!) I made Riso al Salto, or “leftover risotto fritter thing” as it’s known in the UK, for a Sudden Lunch.  Just form the cold risotto (it has to be cold or it won’t work) into a cake and fry in a little olive oil till hot and crisp.

Sweetfire Beetroot Soup 

Serves 2

This is another variation on my Super Flexible Recipe for Soup.

Maybe pin this for later!

1 medium red onion – thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small floury potato – peeled and thinly sliced
vegetable stock
6-8 baby beetroot – coarsely chopped

~   Cook the onions in the oil exactly as explained here which is The Best Way to Cook Onions!
~   Peel and slice the potato and add to the onions.
~   Add just enough stock to cover the potatoes, bring to the boil, turn down the heat, put on the lid,) and simmer till the potatoes are tender.
~   Stir in the beetroot and cook for 5 more minutes.
~   Purée in a liquidiser, food processor or with a liquidiser on a stick adding more stock (or cream) to make it just how you like it.
~   Taste and season.
~   Serve topped with a little sour cream if you can – it goes really well.

After spurning beets for years and years due to having been frightened by them as a child I am now starting to realise that they are not the demon veg I thought they were. This is the second time I’ve had a go with them in just a couple of months. 

McDonald's ...

A week or two ago, under duress, my real man and I went into a McDonald's for breakfast.  It was his first visit and the only time I went into one before was about 25 years ago when I was showing a friend why I didn’t think it was real food.  At the time I think there was a sign on the wall saying ...

"Now Made with Real Chicken!!"

On this visit I had pancakes with maple syrup – they tasted fine but were ultra-flabby as one would expect, I suppose, as they'd been steaming in a box. My coffee was fine.  My darling had an egg McMuffin which he said tasted OK but was tiny.  

Actually I can see that McDonalds are a boon to people on the road who just need to refuel but in recent, unrelated to my visit, discussions on FB I have read of mothers who take their children to McD every morning for breakfast on the way to school.  Is that cos they are poor?  Because if so I’ve got news for them!

For how to easily make all sorts of delicious pancakes see here!

Generally speaking the weather is still fab in Cornwall and we've been for a lovely wander in the countryside three days in a row. Our primroses and lots of other flowers are blooming and we saw rhododendrons in bud. Is this normal can anyone tell me?

Still full!

I am going to try to eat a bit more sensibly today – I am feeling a little gluggy after several days of chocolate abuse  plus a constant slow feed of alcohol and general rich food.

Breakfast didn’t go too well; 

a) it took place at 10.45 am, and 
b) it consisted of strong coffee and a delicious selection of Belgian chocolate biscuits which were a gift from my love.  The perfectly logical reason for this is that I am trying to get rid of them before I start the traditional New Year Diet.  (More on that in a few days time, I do have a rather excellent Cunning Plan).

So today’s lunch …

~ Menu ~

Roast Squash, Red Onion & Chilli Risotto

and, OK, a little red wine

… and um - some Lindt Orange Intense

I bought a pretty little squash the other day just because it looked so appealing and today I thought I’d better use it before it was too late.  So this is the recipe wot I just made up  …

Roasted Squash, Red Onion & Chilli Risotto

1 small squash 

1 small red onion – thinly sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

a few chilli flakes

Another tbsp olive oil

200 g Arborio rice

a splash of white wine

600 ml veg stock

Freshly grated Parmesan

~   Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/180ºC fan/gas 6.

~   Halve the squash across its equator.
~   Peel, seed and dice the flesh of the top half.
~   Toss the diced squash together with the onion, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper and chilli flakes and roast till tender and browning - about 40 minutes.
~   Remove the seeds from the bottom half, brush the inside with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast alongside the diced squash till tender but still holding its shape.

~   Meanwhile, as they say, toss the rice together with the other tablespoon of olive oil to coat and cook a minute or two, stirring, till it starts to look a little translucent.

~   Add the white wine splash (to be honest this is supposed to be warm so as not to “shock” the rice but mine wasn’t) and stir in till gone.

~   Add half the stock and simmer, stirring a lot till that has almost gone too.

~   Continue adding stock, stirring, simmering, tasting etc. till the rice is just cooked in a sort of savoury soupy gloop.

~   Taste and season, stir in plenty of Parmesan and then the lovely roasted squash.
~   Pile into the other half of the squash.
~   Eat.

Pin for future reference!

The Lindt chocolate, a whole selection of Lindt chocolates in fact, was another gift from my love.  I wonder if I should just forget the diet altogether – perhaps he is subtly hinting that he’d prefer me a little fatter!

It’s been lovely to have a white Christmas and to be warm and cosy instead of all that tropical sun we’re used to!  Do you know I even mean that a bit!