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Share your favourite leftovers recipe to win a signed River Cottage book

(60 Posts)
LucyGransnet (GNHQ) Fri 16-Oct-15 12:29:04

We've got two signed copies of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's new book Love Your Leftovers to give away, and all you need to do to enter the draw is let us know your favourite recipes and tips for using up leftover food and scraps.

And if you need some inspiration, take a look at some of the delicious recipes from the book... Leave yours below by 30 October for a chance to win.

Buddie Mon 19-Oct-15 13:20:17

Leftovers from the roast generally get made into curry, rissotto or shepherd's pie or its equivalent but this is the family favourite for the chicken - so much so that it gets served up on Boxing Day using turkey instead.

Roughly 2oz diced cooked chicken, 1 sliced cooked carrot, 2 sliced mushrooms, 2 rashers streaky bacon, chopped, per person.

Fry the bacon for 2 minutes then add the mushrooms, stirring until they change colour. Add the cooked chicken and carrots and half pint chicken stock (made from boiling the carcass) thickened with two teapoons cornflour.
Cook until the sauce thickens then turn everything into a ovenproof dish. Top with a cobbler topping made from 4oz SR flour and 2oz block baking fat mixed to a crumb and formed into scone-like dough with water. Roll out and use the smallest biscuit cutter to cut into rings. Arrange on top of mixture and place in the oven on Mark 6, 200degC for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crisp.

Although I generally use cooked carrots any cooked root vegetables or even peas and beans can be added. The carrots just add more colour to the finished dish. Indeed, if I know I am going to be making this dish next day I cook a double portion to save doing it on the day.

bumblebee Tue 20-Oct-15 11:53:02

Oooh .. so many scrumptious suggestions!! I'll try to share a few totally different ones:-
1) Leftover pieces of pie crust --> brush them with butter, sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar, and bake them in the oven for some crispy cookies. Or cut them into pretty shapes with a sharp knife and use them to decorate the top of the pie.
2) Leftover rice or rissotto --> mix the rice or risotto with some beaten eggs, maybe other seasonings or grated parmesan, and form it into a ball. Poke your finger down into it, making a hole, stick in cheese (mozzarella cube is perfect), and patch up the hole. Then roll the 'arancini' in breadcrumbs and pan fry them.
3) Leftover anything --> make a skillet hash. Be it meats or veggies, add fresh potatoes and let things get a good crisp. Crack an egg on top and it'll be easy to forget one is on day 2 on what was their original meal!

smile

ctussaud Tue 20-Oct-15 11:53:41

I never throw away the liquid which mozzarella arrives in, but save it in a jam jar in the fridge and use in my next cheese sauce instead of some of the milk.

Trinity Tue 20-Oct-15 12:01:46

When peeling an orange I always save the peel in the fridge and then grate it into other dishes to add a tangy flavour. My favourite is to put it with sage and pork/turkey mince for home made burgers with a zing! delicious.

susanjessejames Tue 20-Oct-15 12:23:04

My favourite recipe ws lemon and yoghurt pudding, it was very good - definitely going to become a regular for us

philatel Tue 20-Oct-15 12:24:30

All my leftovers go into a stir fry with a couple of chillies to flavour - yum yum. So quick and easy to do.

nonnanna Tue 20-Oct-15 12:35:37

ctussaud What a brilliant, tasty idea. I shall save mozzarella liquid next time. I always use the water cauliflower was cooked in to make into the sauce for cauliflower cheese, with the addition of skimmed milk powder.
Potato, parsnip or carrot peelings, lightly coated in/sprayed with oil and seasoned then roasted in the oven make a great change from crisps. Handy for pre dinner 'nibbles' when entertaining. They keep quite well in a tin - not sure how long for as we've always finished them within a couple of days!

Leah50 Tue 20-Oct-15 12:50:13

I make a Cheese & Onion Bread & Butter Pudding.
Spread stale buttered sliced bread with mustard, layer with fried onions and grated or sliced old bits of cheese, Pour over beaten eggs & milk, cream , or plain yogurt, (whatever you've got).
Bake as for a sweet bread & butter pudding, it puffs up like a souffle and tastes delicious.

toria100 Tue 20-Oct-15 13:41:03

My family all love the chicken pie I make with leftovers from a roast chicken. It doesn't really matter if you have a little or a lot left over it just makes a bigger or smaller pie.
I fry 1 onion in rapeseed oil, then add some crushed garlic, some parsley or fresh herbs from the garden ( but dried will do) and a bay leaf ,broken in half , chop a carrot and add, then a celery stick, then the chicken and some ham or bacon if I have it and some mushrooms. ( the veg can vary depending what you have. It might be a leek.)
Then I crumble a chicken stock cube and add some milk to cover the veg and chicken in the frying pan, let it cook gently for about 20 minutes . I then add a tablespoon of corn flour to an inch of cold milk in a mug, mix and then stir into the mixture of milk and veg/chicken in the frying pan to thicken. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes. Take out the bay leaf.
I then make short crust pastry with 12 oz. plain flour and 3oz baking margarine and 3oz lard . Grease a pie dish, line with two thirds of the pastry , fill with mixture, top with the rest of the pastry and bake in a hot oven 180 c fan for 45 minutes.
Can feed four adults for two more meals, hot once cold the next.

Envious Tue 20-Oct-15 14:28:41

I put all my leftover veggies in a spaghetti sauce and use an hand blender to mix it all together. Add it to cooked minced beef I've cooked in a skillet with onions and green peppers all to go on spaghetti noodles.

Stansgran Tue 20-Oct-15 14:56:06

This is not really a recipe but my mother used leftover mashed potato to make THE most delicious scones. Add an egg and a goodly lump of butter and flour. She only used Sr flour and mix until it feels right. Pat it out on a baking tray and mark into wedges. Cook in medium to hot oven. Absolute heaven and so very fattening but uses up leftovers so perfectly justified and very virtuous.

Cambia Tue 20-Oct-15 15:10:41

We love this so much we always buy a too big chicken. Very rich but so easy and tasty.

Chicken Gratin With Gruyere

Servings: 2
Prep time: --
Cook time: --
Category: Poultry
Ingredients
50g butter, melted
1 tbsp flour, seasoned 1 in stock
half chicken stock cube, dissolved in hot water
splash white wine
3tbsps double cream
100g gruyere cheese, grated
1tbsp Dijon mustard
tarragon
cooked chicken
50g breadcrumbs
3tbsp Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Notes / Directions
Melt half the butter and stir in the flour. Gradually add the stock and stir until thick. Bring to the boil, add the wine, stir, reduce heat and simmer for 6 mins. Add the cream, mustard and cheese. Simmer until cheese melts. Season and add tarragon if using.

Put the leftover chicken in a dish and cover with the sauce. Top with breadcrumbs and parmesan and dot with remaining butter.

Bake for 20 -30 mins at 200

inishowen Tue 20-Oct-15 16:12:59

I make minestrone soup. Chop up the veg, add stock and a tin of tomatoes. Towards the end I add some small pasta bits, soy sauce and seasoning.

youngie Tue 20-Oct-15 17:10:03

squidgy tomatoes lurking in your salad draw just skin and freeze when you have a reasonable amount defrost add any other lurking veg and herbs and make a super lasgne

nanaval Tue 20-Oct-15 17:30:24

I rarely have left overs as meals and shopping are planned with care. As for potatoe peel...don't often have that as small potatoes are boiled with the skin on and larger potatoes, for putting in soup, are scrubbed and chopped and added to soup with peel on.

kittylester Tue 20-Oct-15 17:43:44

Stansgran, my mum used to fry that in lard or bacon fat and call it a potato cake. We had it with bacon and egg. Not at all fattening!! grin

sue01 Wed 21-Oct-15 10:06:32

Roast chicken Sunday Lunch hereabouts always means soup on Monday !

Strip the meat from the carcase ... chuck the bones into a saucepan and simmer for 20 mins or so... then you're hot to trot,,,

If you've got leftover roast potatoes and veg... and stuffing... simply blitz the lot in a food mixer.... add chicken stock... check seasoning.. and serve.

Alternatively, the chicken stock is the basis for a great minestrone...

And it's good for you too !

What's not to like !

lizm Wed 21-Oct-15 10:50:28

My favourite is using leftover chicken (or lamb / pork) from a roast in a 'nasi goreng'. It varies every time depending on what leftover veg I have to add to it. The basic ides is fry chopped onion, garlic , add spices (your preference - I use coriander / cumin/ fennel seeds ground in a pestle & mortar). Cook some rice then stir this through the spice mix and add the leftover veg / chicken/ pork or whatever... top with a small 1 egg omelette cut into strips.

callkiki Thu 22-Oct-15 06:19:27

I love using any leftover meats & veggies in between tortillas to make Quesadillas

lilmiztam22 Fri 23-Oct-15 19:32:56

Use leftovers for a soup especially vegetables but they biggest tip would be try to avoid leftovers only buy what you need/will eat

sweir1 Sat 24-Oct-15 17:59:17

you can't a good stir fry

Flushmonkey Sun 25-Oct-15 11:55:13

This is something my sister showed me I am not sure where she got it from.

Mix some leftover cooked cold pasta with some juice from tinned tomatoes add some chopped onion and salad cream and you have a nice sweet tangy accompaniment.

The tomatoes give it a lovely colour and you can adjust the ingredients to your taste. You can also add other leftovers such as sweet corn etc.

It's a good one which can use up a few leftovers at the same time and as long as the pasta is already cooked, there is no other cooking involved.

Might need a few mints after though!

stillhere Mon 26-Oct-15 21:19:59

I have just 'invented' a form of apple Turkish delight using leftover apple puree. I eat loads of puree for breakfast, with yoghourt, but I had so many windfalls this year I overdid it a bit. In desperation I added more sugar and some cinnamon and cooked it down to make apple cheese, but then thought, why not make Turkish delight instead, but without all the cornflour? I added gelatine, set it in food boxes in the fridge, cubed it and rolled it in icing sugar and now have lovely Christmassy Turkish delight.

angiehoggett Tue 27-Oct-15 13:00:24

I love using leftover mash, swede and carrot from a Sunday roast to make potato hash cakes with. They're lovely with some beans and nice smokey bacon as a treat!

wallers5 Wed 28-Oct-15 15:41:18

Soups are my favourite way. Or use up left veg in curries making them more healthy.