Who needs canned soup when you can have this spicy carrot soup ready inside 15 minutes?
On Saturday I was busy cooking my souffles for Blue Kitchen Bake’s French Classic challenge and the idea had been we would have souffle for lunch….
Eating In
Leftover lamb curry with mushrooms
Meat from the weekend roast was brought back to life in this quick leftover lamb curry with mushrooms.
One of my new year’s resolutions has been to buy a generously sized joint of meat for Sunday lunch and to use the left overs during the week. So far we’ve done chicken, lamb and pork and next week I will buy beef.
It was actually my first time roasting a full leg of lamb. The joint cost £17 in Waitrose and was enough for 5 meals for 3 people which I think was excellent value. I think my husband even had cold sliced lamb on his sandwiches for work one day although I don’t think this is the best way to enjoy left over lamb.
There was the original roast dinner, two curries, a stew with pearl barley (one portion of which was blended as soup for my lunch the day after) and even enough to pop into some Cornish pasties. I calculate this joint fed us at under £1 per portion and I have lots of other ideas for the next leg we buy. I’ve not even started on Middle Eastern lamb dishes with cous cous!
Since this dish uses leftovers I am sending it to Credit Crunch Munch the new thrifty food event organised by Helen and Camilla.
Leftover lamb curry with mushrooms
Ingredients:
1 small onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced finely
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp chopped ginger
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1 can plum peeled tomatoes
6 decent size button mushrooms cut into chunky slices
100g cooked leftover lamb chopped into small cubes
6 blocks of frozen spinach (or 100g fresh)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a medium size pan and fry the sliced onion, garlic and cumin seeds. After a couple of minutes add the ginger, chilli, cumin powder and tumeric.
2. When all the onion is coated with the spices add the can of peeled plum tomatoes – bash them with the wooden spoon to break up if they’re not ready chopped.
3. Add the mushrooms and leftover lamb and stir. Allow the curry to simmer for five minutes.
4. Meanwhile defrost the frozen spinach in the microwave. Or if using fresh, pop the leaves on top of the curry and put the lid on so the leaves can steam inside.
5. Stir the spinach into the curry. Add the garam masala and ground coriander before serving with rice or flat breads.
Turkey Teriyaki recipe using leftover Christmas turkey
Before you think I still have turkey left, I made this over two weeks ago!
Every December my husband insists on ordering a Norfolk Black turkey from our local butcher. There are generally only four of us for Christmas dinner with one or two sets of guests over the following few days – two of whom are vegetarian anyway. So it becomes an annual debate whether …
Blue cheese pasta bake with butternut and broccoli
This blue cheese pasta bake is the result of a “fridge dive” using up ingredients in the fridge.
Blue cheese pasta bake with butternut and broccoli
I don’t know why pasta bakes have been under used in our house but I intend to change this. Generally do pasta straight with sauces or pesto, our favoured shapes are linguine or quills. I don’t like farfalle butterflies as the centres are still hard when the outside is cooked.
Recently I saw a pasta bake in a picture that used this spirally pasta and I went out and bought some – it’s the de Cecco brand in blue and yellow packets. They do all the best shapes! Interestingly though, my Italian friends who used to live with us favoured Buitoni as their dried pasta of choice.
One of my new year’s resolutions is to make my own pasta, I have not done this yet but have purchased a pack of 00 flour in readiness.
At the weekend I spotted all the big packs of Stilton being marked down in the supermarket – 500g cost just £3.50 and I might have bought 1 kilo for £5 but this seemed a bit excessive.
I’m ashamed to say the broccoli and butternut squash had been lurking in the fridge since before Christmas – the butternut squash having had its end sliced off a couple of times to keep it fresh. My mother would probably have thrown it away but beyond the first 2mm of cut surface there was really nothing wrong with it.
This pasta bake, served in my late Grandma’s glossy red ceramic dishes fed the family for two meals. All of us together the first time then each of us enjoying a separate lunch or supper. My husband welcomed the change from sandwiches and I’m going to make pasta bake a regular event from now on.
I am sending my pasta bake to two brand new blog events run by my friends. The first is Pasta Please hosted by Jacc and the second is Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Camilla jointly with Helen.
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Roasted sprouts with rosemary, lemon and pecorino
No more soggy brussels sprouts with these roasted sprouts with rosemary, lemon and pecorino from Nigellissima.
Well I didn’t plan for the first two recipes on this site to be made with brussels sprouts but then this is a reflection of what we’ve been eating for dinner at home and that’s why this site is for.
I have been pretending that Nigellissima by Nigella Lawson was a Christmas present even though I bought it myself back in September. I had barely read it since buying it so it really did feel like a Christmas present when I curled up on the sofa feeling a bit poorly on the day after Boxing Day.
At the weekend I was making roast chicken and looked for a vegetable side dish that was a bit special. I had never considered sprouts with lemon juice but having tasted this combination of citrus, olive oil, cheese and herbs I’m completely smitten. I’ll never look at a soggy sprout again.
I have not adapted Nigella’s recipe in any way therefore I’m not publishing it here – you can find the original in Nigellissima.
I am however sending my seasonal sprouts to Ren’s Simple and In Season event which is this month being hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage.
Sprout coleslaw recipe with cranberries and pecans
Raw salads are a welcome change after Christmas. This brussels sprout coleslaw is perfect for using up left over ingredients you may have in the fridge.
It’s the tail end of the Christmas bag of sprouts and although I will certainly buy more during the winter, I feel I ought to do something interesting with the six lonely ones left.
This brussels sprout coleslaw was inspired by a leftovers suggestion in this month’s Delicious magazine. Assembling this from memory the ingredients are completely different apart from the thinly sliced raw sprouts and horseradish factor….