Making the most of Christmas leftovers

WHEN it comes to planning the biggest Christmas feast of the year, we spend all our time thinking about one, maybe two, days of meals but we rarely think about what we will eat outside of the Christmas and St Stephen’s Day feasts.

This presents us with the annual problem of what to do with the leftovers from those two days? There are only so many turkey and ham sambos we can chow down on after all!

But does it need to feel like a problem? I often feel that some of my best creative cookery comes from my absolute hate of throwing away food, forcing me to think outside the box and how I can turn a mishmash of pre-cooked foods into something even more delicious. Leftovers? I prefer Moreovers!

I’ve put my festive thinking cap on and come up with three delicious recipes to make with your Cracking Christmas Leftovers!

Christmas Cake Cocktail

Yes – I am turning cake into cocktails, and you are welcome! This recipe is perfect for any leftover Christmas Cake. It takes a week to be ready, so in effect, this makes the perfect welcome drink for your New Years’ Eve party!

Ingredients:

Leftover Christmas Cake (remove the icing and marzipan)

1ltr of good quality vodka - Cola

Spritz of clementine juice and a slice of clementine to garnish

Ice 

Method:

• Into a sterile, glass container crumble in the leftover Christmas Cake.
• Top up with the vodka, leaving a gap between the liquid and cap to allow for shaking.
• Leave to infuse for seven days, giving a gentle shake once a day.
• When ready, drain the Christmas Cake vodka through a piece of muslin into a glass jug to catch all the cake particles.
• Pour the vodka into a clean and sterilised glass bottle.
• To make the cocktail, over ice pour one measure of Christmas Cake Vodka, top with cola and spritz in some fresh clementine juice and stir.
• Garnish with a thin slice of clementine.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Sausage Stuffing and

Balsamic

There are two types of humans: those who love Brussel Sprouts and those who don’t. I am one of the former and unashamedly so!

But whether the humble sprout appears on your table because you love them, or out of a sense of festive obligation, there will probably be some left over - a sad and pitiful fact!

One of the most delicious of season veg, Brussel sprouts are brilliantly versatile so whether your leftovers are pre-cooked or yet to be cooked, this recipe is perfect for them!

Ingredients:

Sprouts – whatever you have to hand

Leftover sausage stuffing

Hard cheese: Pecorino, Parmesan of Gran Padano all work great

Good quality aged Balsamic vinegar — the older it is the thicker it is and the better for this recipe

Free range eggs

Seasoning

Method:

• If your sprouts are raw, heat your oven to about 180 degrees Celsius, prepare the sprouts by tailing, remove the outer leaves and cut down the middle. Toss in some olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast cut side down first for 10 minutes, turn and cook for another 10 mins until partially caramelised and cooked through.
• If your sprouts have been pre-cooked, heat a frying pan over a medium high heat. Drizzle in some olive oil, add the sprouts, heat through and cook until the sprouts starts to caramelise. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place the sprouts into a hot serving dish and set aside.
• Take the sausage stuffing (you could also use leftover pigs in blankets for this, chopped up a little), and place in the hot pan used for the sprouts. Heat through and allow the edges to go a little caramelised and crispy. Add to the sprouts.
• In the same pan, crack in an egg for each person. Fry sunny side up. The runny yolk will help to sauce the sprouts and sausages.
• While the eggs are cooking, drizzle over some Balsamic Vinegar (a little goes a long way!), and grate over the cheese.
• Serve the egg atop the sprouts and sausages, and enjoy!

Goose Hash

I absolutely love this dish, and when you fall in love with it too, you’ll want to eat it for brunch, lunch and dinner all year round! I’m suggesting goose here – as we all know, there’s very little waste on a goose but be sure to pick every last piece of meat from it for this dish. Adding potatoes and an egg makes a meal out of a little bit of meat. You can of course swap this for turkey, duck or chicken – even lamb or beef.

You can repurpose any left-over roasted spuds too, but here I am cooking up a fresh batch of potatoes.

Method:

• Peel, dice and boil potatoes until soft but holding shape. Drain and allow to air dry.
• Meanwhile, strip the goose of any remaining meat, leaving out the skin, and set aside.
• Slice a red onion into half-moons. If you have any scallions lurking in your salad drawer, slice that on the diagonal and set aside.
• Heat a large frying pan, add a generous glug of olive oil and toss in the potatoes. Cook until they go crispy golden all over.
• Add in the red onion and allow to cook down with the potatoes. Once the potatoes are crispy and starting to go golden, add in the goose meat and toss to combine. If you have some fresh herbs, like coriander, parsley or thyme, add those in at this point. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
• Meanwhile, fry an egg, keeping it sunny side up – breaking the runny yolk helps to sauce the dish!
• Time to plate up! Spoon out the potato, onion and goose hash. Top with the egg and sliced scallions.
• If you happen to have some incredible White Mausu Peanut Rayu, top with that, else shake over a few drops of your favourite hot sauce.