Charlotte Smith-Jarvis conjures up some tasty nibbles for Boxing Day and beyond using leftovers.
Leftovers are one of the best parts of a big supper. The shreds of roast pork, to be mixed with chilli sauce, grilled until crisp and thrown in a baguette.
A dish of greens and spuds, urging you to turn them, with a little care, into a crunchy-edged bubble and squeak cake.
Some of the most impressive leftover suppers can be salvaged from Christmas Day. Let’s face it, aside from the obligatory post-Christmas walk on Boxing Day, it’s unlikely you’ll want to stray far from home. So use the time creatively and prepare some of these tasty plates – all ideal for a buffet and freezeable too.
Boxing Day tortilla - serves 20
This is a completely inauthentic version of a classic tapas dish using leftover roasties, parsnips, greens and more, for something you can more or less throw together from start to finish in less than 30 minutes. A truly lazy lunch.
Ingredients
650g mixed roast parsnips and potatoes chopped into bite sized pieces, large handful cooked greens, 1 large onion finely diced, 4 slices ham, 6 cooked sausages chopped, 6 medium eggs, whisked, seasoning, rapeseed oil for frying
Method
• Line a 20cm square tin and set the oven to 200C.
• Saute the onion in a little oil until very soft. Remove from the heat and stir in the potatoes and parsnips.
• Put half the mixture into the tin loosely, then layer over the greens, sausages and ham. Cover with the rest of the potato mix.
• Season the eggs with plenty of pepper and a few pinches of sea salt, then pour them over the tin evenly.
• Press down all over gently with a spoon then bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Serve with relishes and chutneys.
Christmas pudding baked Alaskas - makes 8-10 Alaskas
Using just a few simple ingredients you can pull out a showstopper of a pudding. These can be frozen before baking and cooked from frozen too.
Ingredients
Leftover Christmas pudding, 3 medium egg whites, 175g caster sugar, Alder Tree Christmas Cream Ice
Method
• Prepare a cupcake tin with cases. Press leftover Christmas pudding into the bases, pressing up the edges to make defined ‘cup’ shapes that will hold ice cream. Place in the freezer for a few hours. Spoon 2tsps ice cream into each and return to the freezer.
• For the meringue beat the egg whites in a clean bowl for 30 seconds. Add sugar a few spoonfuls at a time. Whisk until stiff, shiny peaks form then place in a piping bag. Set the oven to 200C. Pipe the meringue thickly all over the top and sides of the Alaskas to seal and bake for eight minutes. Serve immediately.
Fruit and nut ‘salami’ - makes two 7-8ins salamis
This is the kind of delicacy you’ll find in a posh deli – the type where you can’t pronounce half the things in the counter. But it’s a doddle to make, and is a fun way to use up those multiple boxes of biscuits, and bowls of nuts you didn’t really need. Children would enjoy helping to mix and shape them.
Ingredients
85g unsalted butter, 350g dark chocolate (or whatever chocolate you have to hand), 100g mixed nuts, roughly chopped, 75g mixed dried fruit (I used cranberries, dates and sultanas), 4 biscuits (I used digestives) broken into small pieces, 50ml coffee, zest of 1 large orange, icing sugar, string, clingfilm
Method
• Melt the butter and chocolate on a low heat. Take off the heat and add the nuts, fruit, biscuits, coffee and orange zest.
• Split the mix equally in two and allow to firm in the fridge a little for 15 minutes. Now lay out a double layer of clingfilm and spoon one of the mixtures on top into a sausage shape of around 7ins long. Gather the long sides of the film up, then fold in the shorter sides and roll the mix into a sausage of around 5-6cm diameter. It will be quite soft so do the best you can.
• Repeat with the other half of the mixture and place both salamis in the fridge. In an hour go back to the fridge. You should be able to roll the salamis better now, moulding them into nice cylindrical shapes.
Leave to set for a further couple of hours. To serve, remove the clingfilm and roll in icing sugar. Tie with string for a final flourish.
Southwold sausage rolls with quick beer relish - makes 12
We always buy way too much cheese at Christmas, lured by those wax covered truckles and wacky flavours. If the thought of cheese and crackers for supper (yet again) turns your stomach, try making these scrummy meat-free sausage rolls, with their beer pastry and accompaniment. The addition of a little vegetable extract makes them extra special. Make sure you use rough breadcrumbs, which add to the body and texture of the rolls.
Ingredients
For the rough puff pastry: 150g plain flour, 150g room temperature unsalted butter, cubed, cold Adnams Bitter
For the filling: 1 medium onion chopped roughly, 175g grated mixed cheese (I used blue and smoked cheese), 175g chunky breadcrumbs, 1 medium egg, 2tbsps milk, 1/2tsp black pepper, splash Worcestershire sauce, 1tsp mustard powder, 1tsp vegetable extract (I used Meridian brand), 3/4tsp dried rosemary, oil for frying
For the relish: 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced, 200ml Adnams Bitter, 2tbsps brown sugar, 3tbsps Aspalls malt vinegar, 1tbsp yellow mustard seeds, 1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced, oil for frying
Method
• Make the pastry first. Mix the butter cubes into the flour and add enough cold beer to bring it together. On a floured surface roll out to 20cm by 30cm then fold the top and bottom to the centre, and fold the whole thing in half. Cover in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat this process twice afterwards. The pastry is then ready to use.
• For the filling, sauté the onion in a little oil on a medium heat until very very soft, adding the vegetable extract at the end and letting it melt into the onions. Remove from the heat and add the cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, milk, pepper, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder. Combine.
• To cook, set the oven to 210C. Roll the pastry into a 5mm thick, long rectangle. Place the filling in the centre and fold over the top.
• Cut away the excess, leaving a 1cm edge. Lift up the flap of pastry at the edge. Wet the bottom half, then fold the top back over and press down the edge to seal with a fork.
• Cut into even pieces then place on a tray, baking for 15 minutes. For a shiny finish glaze with an egg before cooking.
• To make the beer relish sauté the onions in 2tbsps oil with the mustard seeds until very soft. Add the beer and boil until almost all the liquid is gone. Add the sugar and vinegar and cook on a high heat to caramelise. Add the apple and cook out on a low heat for 10 minutes. Serve with your sausage rolls.
Turkey croquetas with sage and onion aioli - makes 10
If you’ve never had these before they’re well worth a try – the creamy centre melts in the mouth. Vegetarians can replace the turkey with cheese, sautéed mushrooms or other cooked vegetables.
Ingredients
150g cooked turkey, shredded finely, 60g unsalted butter (or goose fat), 1 small onion diced finely, 250ml milk, 250ml chicken stock, a few grates of fresh nutmeg, seasoning, 250g fresh breadcrumbs, 2 beaten eggs, oil for deep frying
For the aioli: 1 egg yolk, 150ml rapeseed oil, 2tbsps fresh chopped sage, 1tsp onion granules
Method
• Melt the butter in pan. Add the onions, cook until soft. Add the turkey and flour and cook, stirring well, for a few minutes until it browns a little. Add the milk and stock, bit by bit, whisking out any lumps.
• Cook on a low to mid heat, constantly stirring until it’s like mashed potato. Cool, cover with clingfilm and set in the fridge for an hour or so. To make the aioli whisk the egg yolk. Add the rapeseed oil drop by drop, whisking all the time until thick. Add the onion granules and sage, season to taste. If the mixture splits, add hot water, drop by drip, whisking to get it to the right consistency.
• To make the croquetas separate the mix into 10 pieces and roll into sausage shapes. Dip in the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs.
• Heat oil to 180C in a deep pan or deep fat fryer and fry until they rise to the surface, golden. Alternatively, shallow fry to colour, and finish in the oven. Serve with the aioli.
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