Category: Weekend Wildcard

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Leftover Roasties Recipe

Roast potato with red onion, white onion and cayenne pepper

Save this for your Christmas leftovers!

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 red onion, peeled & sliced
1 white onion, peeled & sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon each of white pepper, cayenne pepper, curry powder, ground cumin, and turmeric (or go straight for a large tablespoon of spice bag mix!)
Generous pinch of salt
500g leftover roast potatoes (this also works with chips sshhhhh)
Fresh coriander to serve

Method
Get a large frying pan smoking hot before adding some oil.
Lash the onions into the frying pan and cook until softened and blackened on the edges (this adds to the flavour). Add a little salt here to speed up the process.
Add the garlic and then the spices, stir well so that the spices are activated by the heat.
Tumble in the leftover spuds. Toss well in the onion/spice mixture. Turn the heat on the pan down a little and stir the potatoes around.
Serve with plenty of fresh coriander once all the ingredients are piping hot. I like mine with chutney on the side.

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Legendary St Stephen’s Day Pie


Do you have one recipe that a family member adores and repeatedly requests? That’s the legendary pie that our 23-year-old begs me to make every year. In truth, it’s all about the leftovers from the main event but you could use fresh ingredients if you really wanted to.
You will need a very large baking dish or several medium sized dishes to make this in large quantities but it freezes very well.


Ingredients
• 400ml warm cooking stock (I use the ham water from the day before)
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks of celery chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic chopped
• 80g flour
• Ham, cooked and chopped
• Turkey, cooked and chopped
• 200g frozen peas
• 200g frozen sweetcorn
• 2 packets defrosted pastry
• 1 egg for egg wash over the top
Method
Heat 3 tablespoons of pan juices in a saucepan on a medium heat. Add in the onions, celery and garlic. Cook gentley until tender.
Sprinkle the flour on top and with the vegetables. You are essentially making a type of roux sauce. Ladle in spoons of the hot cooking stock or hot water to the saucepan and stir constantly until you get a runny sauce-like texture. Stir in 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard (or more if you like mustard). There is no need to season this sauce because the seasoning comes from the salty stock made when the ham was boiled the day before.

Stir the meat and frozen vegetables into the sauce. Lay any leftover cooked vegetables into the bottom of the baking dish.

Spoon the sauce on top of the cooked vegetables. Cover the dish with a layer of pastry. Use a fork to poke holes on top and wash with a beaten egg for a glossy coating.

Cook in a fan oven heated to 180 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve with plenty of buttered mash.

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Smokey Fried Rice



Originally this recipe was meant to have chorizo but the kids snaffled it all out of the fridge for their lunchboxes.

Ingredients

• 200-300g of ham, chopped (but I’d rather chorizo!)
• 2 red onions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 level teaspoon chipotle chilli flakes
• Lots of chopped garlic (who am I to tell you know much)
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 150g broccoli sliced
• 150ml water
• Leftover steamed rice

Method
Saute off the meat in the pan to release the oils, then add onions and allow to soften. While softening add the smoked paprika, chilli flakes and garlic. Season well with salt and pepper.

Add in the red pepper and broccoli, stir so that they are coated in all the ingredients. A glass of water starts the steaming process, then the leftover rice should be stirred around until coated in all the ingredients and completely heated through.

Serve immediately. I know certain people would like mayonnaise or chipotle sauce on top but I’m a bit of vegetable fan so like to keep things simple

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Whipped Jelly

A retro jelly treat that my Nana used to make for special occasions.

Ingredients

• 2 sachets sugar free jelly
• 200ml hot water
• 150ml cold water
• 1 tin sweetened condensed milk

Method

Combine the sugar free jelly with hot water until the crystals are dissolved. Add in the cold water and stir. Put the jelly mixture into a cold spot for about 20-30 minutes so that it starts to thicken slightly.

Using an electric whisk, rapidly whisk the condensed milk and jelly mixture together until light and foamy. Decant into fancy glasses or dishes and chill until serving. Alternatively mix some fresh or tinned fruit with the whipped jelly and chill in a large bowl.

Serve with whipped cream on top

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Crispy Pancakes Recipe


Ingredients

50g butter
100g plain flour
300ml warm milk
200g grated cheese (cheddar is the best but whatever you have to hand is fine)
100g chopped ham (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Method
Get a large saucepan onto a medium heat.
Melt the butter in the saucepan. Stir in the flour and slowly add the warm milk bit by bit to prevent lumps. Stir until it has thickened.
Turn off the heat, add the melted cheese and ham. Stir this into the sauce mixture – it will get THICK. Spoon the mixture onto a plate or bowl and allow to come to room temperature before covering and chilling until later.

For the pancakes… Check out the recipe before this on my profile for crispy pancakes! Or make your own panckes like normal, make double quantities and hold half the batch to one side to fill.
Put a large tablespoon or two on half of each pancake. Fold in half and seal the edges with some beaten egg or milk. Put the filled pancakes onto a baking sheet and freeze or chill for an hour.
To assemble the giant Crispy Pancakes! You will need 2 medium eggs, 200g seasoned plain flour, 200g panko breadcrumbs. dip the partially frozen pancakes in seasoned flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs.
Bake in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes until the centre is heated through and the outside is golden brown. Enjoy with a leafy green side salad

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Homemade Jambons


Ingredients
· 50g butter
· 100g plain flour
· 300ml warm milk
· 200g grated cheese (cheddar is the best but whatever you have to hand is fine)
· 100g chopped ham (optional)
· Salt & Pepper to taste
· 1 roll readymade puff pastry
· 1 beaten egg for glazing


Method
Get a large saucepan onto a medium heat.
Melt the butter in the saucepan. Stir in the flour and slowly add the warm milk bit by bit to prevent lumps. Stir until it has thickened.
Turn off the heat, add the melted cheese and ham. Stir this into the sauce mixture – it will get THICK. Spoon the mixture onto a plate or bowl and allow to come to room temperature before covering and chilling until later.
Once cool, preheat a fan oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Take a sheet of puff pastry and divide it into 6 large squares or have fun and divide into many small squares.
Spoon a generous amount of the filling into the centre of each square. Then pull the corners into the centre to sit on top of the filling mixture. Brush the top of the squares with beaten egg.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and baked through. Allow to cool a little before eating as the filling gets very hot

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Pickled Onions


You can make as much or as little of these punchy pickled onions as you like. They taste better over time but my jar lasts about a fortnight in the fridge. The jar I use is a 500ml jar, half these ingredients if you are using a classic jam jar.


Ingredients
• 3 sliced red onions
• 1 heaped teaspoon sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon salt
• 150ml hot water
• 150ml white vinegar
• Spices/Seasonings of your choice – here I used fennel seeds, coriander seeds and cumin seeds


Method
Combine the sugar and salt in a jug with the hot water until fully dissolved. Add the vinegar to the hot water mixture and stir well.
Put your spices/seasonings of choice into a large jar. Stuff in as many onions as you possibly can.
Pour the pickling mixture into the jar on top of the onions until you reach the top of the jar

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Maccaroons

Ingredients
200g caster sugar
2 medium egg whites
300g dried coconut


Method
Preheat a fan oven to 170°C. Line a baking tray with a sheet of non-stick greaseproof paper.
Combine the sugar, egg white and coconut with a fork in a large bowl, until you get a sticky paste.

Wet your hands and shape the mixture into balls. Space the eight balls of mixture on the baking tray.

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool before lifting them off the paper, otherwise they will stick.

Dip in chocolate and drizzle with chocolate if you like.

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Pancakes/Crepes



Whatever you do make this batter the night before. It makes life so much easier on you. Yes, when you take it out of the fridge it may look a little split, just give it a quick whisk before adding about 50g of melted butter. That will add a depth of flavour to your pancakes and prevent them from sticking to a non-stick pan. No need to add any oil at all to the pan.

Ingredients

· 250g plain flour
· 3 medium eggs
· Decent pinch of salt
· 450ml of whole milk
· 50g of melted butter

Method
Combine the flour, eggs, salt, and milk together in a large bowl. Whisk well. Don’t worry about small lumps, these will settle overnight. Once you have a light batter, cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge to rest for about 10 hours.

The following morning, take the bowl out and whisk in 50g of melted butter. Cook each pancake on a medium heat. Use your fillings/toppings of choice