2018 Christmas Leftovers Thread

PipneyJane

Happy New Year All

May your leftovers be plentiful and their destined dishes tasty.

buildersdaughter wrote: »

Thank you, it does have to work for us, as it costs so much! Not a scrap wasted. should add that I also chop the liver, mix with left-over stuffing, and scraps of goose - stuff that into the neck and freeze. It makes a tasty 'roast' for the Sunday after Xmas.The granny of the family I stayed with told me that it was by tradition, made up before the meal, with bits of ham, roasted alongside the goose, and given to the children!
My mother and grandmother taught me to make stock for soups, but it was in France that I learned the value of a very good stock in many dishes. The goose stock is hoarded and used carefully.

Agreed re the cost. At the price we paid, the goose has to go as far as possible. Also, ditto, re stock, although in my case, it was my Dad who taught me about “short soup” (i.e. stock made with just the poultry bones) and “long soup” (where the stock also has an onion and carrot added for flavour). I was 16 and had been inspired by a French cookbook to make chicken soup with the remains of a roast. (It was watery.)

My mother cooked 99% of our meals, because that’s what housewives did, but just wasn’t interested in it. My biggest food influencer was Auntie Teresa, the wife of one my dad’s Italian colleagues. I remember sitting at their kitchen table as a small child, watching and “helping”, but nothing specific. (She would send treats into work for my Dad.) The rest of it, I learned from cookbooks or experimenting.

I’m still making our goose stock - just simmering it down now to concentrate it - and there’s a small bowl of chestnut stuffing left in the fridge, which we will finish today. The rest of my “harvest” from our goose is in the freezer and can be summarised as:-

• 540g goose meat split into 2 bags. It’ll get added to any recipe requiring cubes of chicken, at the “simmer for xx minutes” stage.
• 347g raw fat - removed before cooking
• 150g lumps of fat removed from the cooked bird (to be rendered together with the above, at some point when cooking fat supplies are low.)
• 1392g/1800ml rendered fat. This is now in recycled soup containers in the door of the freezer.

Re rendering goose fat, do you eat the crackling that results from any bits of skin? We dust it with salt and pepper while still hot and then have to restrain ourselves from attempting eating it until it is cool enough to touch.

I also buy short date mozzarella and freeze it for pizzas. Leftover bits of gammon get frozen for the same purpose.

Ditto, re mozzarella. I cut the corner off the bag, to drain out the whey, before freezing because I find it less soggy when defrosted. In our house, leftover gammon (or YS ham) goes into Cuban Black Bean Soup, .

- Pip

jackrabbit123

There's four in our house DH and 2 strapping teenagers...and surprisingly we do have left overs , I'm very lucky as they all eat everything including veg ...but not sprouts!! I have a bag of home grown sprouts in the freezer that haven't been touched since last year, I'm trying to think of a cunning plan as to how to disguise them in my meals as they will taste them.....:rotfl:

I've just used up the left over ham , some of the turkey and added left over gravy, veg and bulked it out by using some frozen veg and tatties for a ham and veg pie, I make the topping out of crushed cornflakes I find it less 'stoggy ' than pastry. The rest of the turkey I've made up 'freezer bags' for fyita wraps, turkey pie or creamy turkey, pasties or even DS sandwiches!!

Wraithlady

Jackrabbit, if your family will eat cabbage, then just treat the sprouts like small cabbages - stir-frying with bacon and Chinese seasonings is one way to not exactly hide them, but to present them differently.

jackrabbit123

Thank you Wraithlady, They love red cabbage of which I freeze if any is left over ( freezes really well) so hopefully I can get them into ' little green cabbages' !
I love the idea of Sprout /Cabbage bacon stir - fries I will certainly give this a go for a mid week meal x

Wraithlady wrote: »

Jackrabbit, if your family will eat cabbage, then just treat the sprouts like small cabbages - stir-frying with bacon and Chinese seasonings is one way to not exactly hide them, but to present them differently.

Primrose

With only two of us for Chrostmas even a small bird is too much, so we buy chicken breasts, slice and fill with stuffing and wrap in bacon with one spare to eat cold for sandwiches. Allows us to have a fresh meat meal on Boxing Day if we wish and also reduces fuel time in the oven.

We,ve learnt over the years that we always buy and cook too much food so have now cut down. We do buy a piece of gammon at some point for the Christmas holiday but try to Plan and eat in different ways over two successive ways and the valuable stock ind which it's cooked is always used with veg and lentils or split peas for a tasty soup.

I actually think that many leftover type meals are as tasty as their forerunners,and excellent value for money. Anything like bubble & squeak can be improved with a mixtures of fried onions, grated cheese, fried bacon or ham pieces and turned into a really tasty meal. Even small portions of dried stuffing can be added to pep up the flavour,

PipneyJane

PipneyJane wrote: »

I’m still making our goose stock - just simmering it down now to concentrate it - and there’s a small bowl of chestnut stuffing left in the fridge, which we will finish today. The rest of my “harvest” from our goose is in the freezer and can be summarised as:-

• 540g goose meat split into 2 bags. It’ll get added to any recipe requiring cubes of chicken, at the “simmer for xx minutes” stage.
• 347g raw fat - removed before cooking
• 150g lumps of fat removed from the cooked bird (to be rendered together with the above, at some point when cooking fat supplies are low.)
• 1392g/1800ml rendered fat. This is now in recycled soup containers in the door of the freezer.

.....

In our house, leftover gammon (or YS ham) goes into Cuban Black Bean Soup, .

- Pip

Further to the above, I can report that I made 4 pints of goose stock in the end. Three are in the freezer and the fourth was used last week in a Hot & Sour Soup.

I've used up two other Christmas leftovers as well. In a fit of inspiration on Thusday, I made Nigella Lawson's baked Rice Pudding with the remains of the brandy cream purchased for the Christmas Pudding. I haven't made rice pudding since school 40-odd years ago, and the only vaguely suitable rice we had in stock was Arborio, but it worked out really well. So well, that I bought pudding rice when I did the monthly shop and made a more-standard version on Sunday. (It was either that or chuck it and I'd be damned if I waste something that could be used.)

The other thing that got used up was the remains of the Christmas Ham - pretty much all fat/rind, with a little meat attached. We bought an air-dried leg of "jamon" from Lidl about a month ago. As the meat got carved off and nibbled, I threw the rind into a bag in the freezer. Yesterday morning it went into the slow-cooker as part of the aforementioned Cuban Black Bean Stew. Dinner last night for two and 6 lunchboxes. Yum!

- Pip

Former_MSE_Molly

Hi Forumites!

We like this thread so much that we're going to revive it on our social media channels this Christmas, so keep an eye out!

Let us know if you've come up with anything new since last Christmas!

- MSE Molly

PipneyJane

MSE_Molly wrote: »

Hi Forumites!

We like this thread so much that we're going to revive it on our social media channels this Christmas, so keep an eye out!

Let us know if you've come up with anything new since last Christmas!

- MSE Molly

Hi Molly

Thanks for bumping up the thread. It's brought back some great memories and I hope it helps people.

I will try to change the title so that it doesn't quote the year.

Cheers

Pip


PS: the goose is on order but is destined for the freezer as we're away for Christmas

PipneyJane

Morning all

Hope your preparations for Christmas are going well and that you have lots of lovely leftovers to enjoy.

We’re away for Christmas this year - my SIL is hosting - but still ordered a goose from the butcher to enjoy later in the year: 7.13kg in weight; £110.50 paid. It’s now in the freezer. I had to take out a shelf and stand it up vertically, in order to fit it in. It will probably be February before it gets roasted.

- Pip

Cottage_Economy

Hoping not to have too many leftovers this year. The three of us are at home all over christmas so I have a small turkey, usual accompaniments and only one small desert per person, instead of the usual 2-3 big ones. There's plenty of biscuits, sweets and crisps if someone wants to top up. No starters, no-one wants one.

The leftover turkey on boxing day will be shredded and mixed with barbecue sauce (so 'pulled' turkey), and served with bubble and squeak patties (which will include the stuffing) plus red cabbage. I'll be doing a trifle for dessert.

The leftovers of the gammon ham I plan on doing for New Year's day will either go in the freezer for future meals (carbonara) or if we have guests I might give it to them to take with them. I've extended an open house invitation to friends so it might just be the three of us on our own or it might be six or seven. It will all work out.