Chicken, ham, leek and mushroom pie

 

This was actually an exercise in using up leftovers, but it was delicious as well as "frugal".  We had chicken left over from some roast chicken thighs and ham left over from BBQ pulled gammon.

I made a sauce using the last of the leeks and mushrooms from the veg box, and some soya milk.  Threw on a pastry lid, bunged some potatoes in the oven, and we finished the coleslaw.

Olive oil

Leeks

Mushrooms

Cooked chicken

Cooked ham

Plain flour

Soya milk

Flour

salt

butter

Yogurt

Cold water

1.  Make pastry - rub butter into salted flour.  When it resembles breadcrumbs add a couple of spoons of natural yogurt and a splash of cold water, work together gently to make the pastry.  Form into a ball, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

2.  Fry mushrooms and leeks in olive oil, add cooked meats.

3.  Sprinkle a spoonful of flour into the pie filling mix, coat all of the elements, then add about a muful of soya milk, stir in to form the sauce.

4.  Transfer pie filling to pie dish, roll out pastry and cover the top.  Wash with soya milk.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes.

5.  Serve, scoff

BBQ chicken pie

We had lots of BBQ chicken bake left over, and it would have been criminal to waste it - so I stripped the chicken meat from the bones, mixed it back in and topped it with sliced tomatoes, strong cheddar and a pastry top.  It was delicious served with good old baked beans.

Leftover chicken bake
Tomatoes
Cheese

Plain flour
Salt
Butter
Natural yogurt
Water


1.  Make pastry, rub butter into salted flour, when it resembles breadcrumbs add a dollop of natural yogurt and a drop of water.  Work into a smooth paste.  Put in the fridge for 30 mins or so, to make it easier to handle.
2.  Strip the meat from the chicken bones and mix the leftovers together.
3.  Put the mixture in an oven dish and cover with sliced tomatoes and slices of cheese.
4.  Roll out the pastry and layer over the top, pushing the edges into the oven dish.  Slash/stab to let out steam, and brush with milk/soya milk.
5.  Bake for about 35 mins at 180.
6.  Serve, scoff.

Egg fried rice

Left over rice?  Left over meat? ...both?

We had left over ham, from yesterday's roast, and fresh veg - so -leaving the tins in the cupboard (after tonight's instructions for 3 weeks lock down we might need them later) - I thought egg fried rice - tasty- and we've not had it for a while.

We have veggie, gluten reducing*, lactose free and veg dodger in this house - so this is a one(ish) dinner which copes with all requirements.

I used standard soy sauce which is generally not gf -* use gf sashimi sauce if you need to be totally gf.

Rice (I used jasmine thai - but face it folks - use what you have)

Goundnut oil (or whatever you have - I wouldn't recommend olive oil - but otherwise - just some cooking fat)
Veg …. we used the list below, but substitute etc to your taste and availability ..
spring onion
garlic
ginger
carrot
mushrooms
red pepper
courgette
Rice wine vinegar (or cider vinegar, or lime juice - I don't recommend chippy vinegar)
Soy sauce
Eggs


Optional - chopped cooked ham

1.  Cook the rice (or use leftovers, or microwave rice)
2.  Chop the veg into small pieces … julienne etc … it can be a bit fiddly, but it cuts down cooking time - so give it a go - cut the veg into smallish pieces (it also makes it more difficult for the fussier to pick it out).  Fry gently in oil for a few minutes - stirring often.
3.  chuck the rice on top of the veg, splosh on some soy sauce and rice vinegar (optional) -stir in -  keep moving in the pan.
4.  Turn the heat right down.  Flatten the rice/veg mix - pour over the whisked eggs.
5. Leave to stand - a final couple of stirs to make sure the egg is cooked, and then mixed through. 
6. serve, scoff xxx
Eh voila (The veg dodger had thirds! - also thirds of the chopped ham mixed through it)

Keema mattar, aloo gobi, tarka dhal and basmati rice

Leftover roast lamb and a romp around the cupboards and the spice drawer … delicious curry tea.

Onions
Garlic
olive oil
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Coriander seeds
urid dhal
turmeric
fennel seeds
chilli flakes
tikka masala mix
roast lamb
tomato puree
red lentils
potatoes
cauliflower
tomatoes
garam masala
basmati rice
frozen peas

1.  Mince 3 onions in a food processor and divide between 2 deep sautee pans - 1 for the lamb curry, 1 for the potato and cauliflower.  Sautee gently in olive oil, with crushed garlic.
2.  Mince leftover roast lamb in the food processor - add to the onions with a tablespoon of tikka masala spices.
3.  Boil lentils in plenty of water.
4.  Cook rice - I use the adsorption method 1 x rice, 2 x water, bring to the boil, slam the lid on and turn the heat right down.
5.  Into the other sautee pan add dry spices - mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, fenned seeds, coriander seeds and a pinch of chilli flakes, heat through until they release their aroma - them add chopped potatoes, florets of cauliflower, chopped tomatoes and a squidge of tomato puree.  Add a big mugful of water, stir, cover and leave to steam.
6.  Add some tomato puree to the lamb and stir, simmer, add a little water if necessary.
7.  Keep an eye on the lentils, add more water if needed and stir so that they don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
8.  When the veg are soft it's pretty much done, just add a little garam masala to the mixture, to taste.
9.  Pop some frozen peas into the lamb mix, stir in.
10.  Serve, scoff …

Amazing what some leftovers and spices can do.

Leftovers pies ...

I don't know about you, but we always overstock for Christmas … so today was about using as much as poss of the leftovers from the festivities, to make way for the new veg box etc tomorrow.

I didn't want to just resort to big bowls of "whatever" as it was also first week back at work and very cold, so some comfort was needed.

We had left over roast chicken and roast potatoes … the ends of two punnets of mushrooms (chestnut and shitake), a bag of tarragon, and some emmental.  We also had the veg dodger and the veggie, so needed tasty food to suit all needs.

Olive oil
Onions
Garlic
Mushrooms
Cornflour
Soya milk
Tarragon
Chicken (cooked and stripped)
Butter beans (tin)
Emmental (or other melty cheese)
Roast (or cooked another way) potatoes
Carrots
Courgettes
Cornmeal
Italian seasoning (herbs and a pinch of chili)
Fennel seeds
Baby Spinach
nutmeg

1.  Start the pies with the mushroom sauce which will go into both of them by sauteeing the chopped onions, crushed garlic and chopped mushrooms in olive oil.  Toss gently until the onions have softened and the mushrooms have released their water, and this has gently simmered away.
2.  Sprinkle in a tablespoonful of cornflour, stir in to coat the mushrooms, then add soya milk to make a sauce.  Stir until it boils, keep stirring and let it simmer for a minute or two as the cornflour cooks and the sauce thickens, stir in finely chopped tarragon (not too much, or it will taste medicinal).
3.  In one oven dish - empty a tin of drained and rinsed butter beans - top with half of the mushroom sauce.  Layer on emmental cheese.
4.  Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the other half of the mushroom sauce.  Mix together and transfer to an oven dish.
5.  Top both pies with sliced, cooked potato (or mash if that's what you have) … drizzle with olive oil and bake for 25 minutes or so.
6.  Mix together cornmeal, Italian seasoning and fennel seeds in a bowl.  Slice courgettes and toss in the herby mixture.
7.  Peel, chop and steam the carrots for about 15 minutes.
8.  Fry the courgette slices in a little olive oil - in batches - keep warm in a serving dish while you finish the rest.
9.  Add steamed carrots to the serving dish.
10.  Put a splash of olive oil and a small drop of water into the hot pan from steaming the carrots - add the baby spinach and put the lid on.  The residual heat will wilt the spinach.
11. Stir the spinach (put it over a low heat if necessary, to wilt it) … grate in a small pinch of nutmeg, stir in.
12.  Serve, scoff …

Vegetable frittata with roasted baby potatoes

Well Christmas cooking this year has not been well represented on KitchenFairies.  There are a number of reasons for this … KitchenFairies HQ had more then its normal number of keen cooks, so the meal prep was shared … and I don't have details of all recipes;  a number of us were struck by the lurgy, so were not on top our game; we were too greedy to wait for pics to dive into the delicious food which was put in front of us … ho hum, normal service will be resumed.

This recipe is a great one for using up all sorts of vegetables and cheese which are loitering in the fridge - and any cheese which is hanging about.  I used mainly cheddar, but also some nice soft French cheese (I have forgotten the name - it wasn't brie or camembert … but along those lines …) and a little feta.

Olive oil
Potatoes
Onions
Leeks
Garlic
Mushrooms
Red pepper
Courgette
Parsley (optional, or use a pinch of dried herbs)
Leftover cheese (see above)
Butter
Eggs
Cheddar - grated

1.  Toss the potatoes in olive oil and roast (at 180ish) for about an hour.
2.  Chop and sautee onion, leeks, garlic … in olive oil - add chopped mushrooms, pepper, courgette … and whatever else needs using up in olive oil, until almost done.  Turn of the heat.
3.  Stir bit sized chunks of leftover cheese into the mixture and top with a handful of baby spinach.  Leave to wilt.  Stir in gently after a minute or two.
4.  Butter an oven dish - transfer the veg into it when the spinach is nearly fully wilted.
5.  Whisk eggs (8 in this case) vigourously to get some air into them.  Pour onto the veg mixture - prod and shake to get the egg into all the gaps.  Top with grated cheddar and bake for about 30 minutes.
6.  Serve, scoff

Fritatta

Sunday teatime - no real plans, and the chickens have been laying, so a swoop of leftovers, and a chopping of some veg, a grating of some cheddar and this delicious thing was born.  If you have leftover potato wedges it is very, very easy - but they are optional, or you could boil and chop potatoes to add anyway.

Olive oil
onion
mushrooms
red pepper
frozen peas
cold leftover potato wedges
eggs
cheddar

1.  Sautee chopped onion in olive oil.
2.  Chop the rest of the veg and add them to the onions, then chuck in a handful of frozen peas, stir around until warmed through.
3.  Whisk eggs lightly with a fork and pour onto the vegetables.  Turn the heat down and "fry" gently for about 4 minutes.  Turn the oven on to about 180C.
4.  Grate the cheese and sprinkle over the eggs.
5.  Move the pan to the oven for 10 minutes. The cheese should be bubbling and golden, and the egg will be set through without going dry.
6.  Serve, scoff ... if you are more organised than me you could have a lovely green salad alongside.

Spiced, leftover potato cakes with aubergine and tomato curry sauce

Left over mash is not a frequent occurrence our house - but all sorts of other leftovers are ... in this case leftover dhal (not this exact recipe, it's not been leftover since 2012!) - so I thought I'd make some fresh mash, and chuck together these potato cakes - with an aubergine curry sauce.

Potatoes
Butter
Spinach
Dhal

Onion
Garlic
Olive oil
Fennel seed
Cumin seed
Mustard seed
Chili
Aubergine
Tin tomatoes

1.  Peel and boil the potatoes for mash.
2.  Sautee chopped onion and garlic and the spices in olive oil until soft, then add finely diced aubergine.
3.  When the potatoes are done, mash them with a little butter, then put the spinach on top to wilt - put the lid on the pan to keep the heat in.
4.  Finish the sauce by adding a tin of tomatoes and simmering.
5.  Mix the wilted spinach and left over dhal into the potato - shape into "cakes" and fry for a few minutes on each side - finish in the oven if necessary.

Spaghetti "carbonara"

Dead easy, dead quick - and a visit to Todmorden indoor market can supply all of the ingredients.  Vegetables from Traynor, pasta (gluten free for us) from The Mediterranean Pantry, bacon and chicken from Bracewell's or Fielden's butchers.  We had some left over chicken from a roast, but you could get some ready cooked from Brian's.  An egg from all over the place, and parmesan from The Crumbly Cheese.

Olive oil
Leeks
Mushrooms
Peas
Spaghetti
Bacon
Cooked chicken
Egg

1.  Sweat the chopped, washed leek in olive oil for a few minutes, then add chopped mushrooms.
2.  Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water.
3.  Fry off chopped bacon and then add cooked chicken.  Add the leeks etc to the meat.  (I was doing a veggie version and a meat eaters version, so then split the leeks etc between the two frying pans).
4.  Chuck in a handful of peas.
5.  Drain the pasta, and add it to the vegetables.
6.  Lightly whip an egg.  Let the pasta cool for a minute, then quickly turn the egg through, forming a silky "sauce".
7.  Serve, top with shards of parmesan and a good grind of black pepper.
8.  Scoff, watch veg dodger have seconds!

Salad in a jar

Tonight's dinner was a bunch of lovely salads:-

Salad leaves from the allotment, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and garlic oil
Carrot and sesame seeds
Tomato, onion and basil
Artichoke salad (artichokes, garlic, olives, red pepper, herbs - available from the Mediterranean Pantry)
New potatoes
Quail's eggs (from Chris on Tod market)

And it was all delicious, and there was loads left, so it was packed into a jar for lunch.  The trick is to put the dressing type salads on the bottom, then layer upwards, finishing with the leaves.  Deliciously kept for its second serving.

crispy courgette batons - with halloumi, watercress and left over paella

I have included this in the blog for two reasons - i) courgettes done this way are delicious and ii) it has been really hectic, and I have not posted for a while, so I need to get back on it!

So - crispy courgette batons

Olive oil
Polenta
Salt and pepper (don't skimp)
Courgette, cut into batons

Easy...

Mix the polenta and seasoning.  Put into a plastic bag (or a bowl and move the pieces gently).  Add courgette pieces and toss gently to coat.

Fry in olive oil. allowing it to crisp up before tossing to mix up.

Drain on kitchen roll, keep warm.

Serve with other stuff.

Gluten free flatbread, with grotty nosh

"Grotty nosh" is my Dad's inelegant name for this soup, which is a bit of a tradition in our family.  It's the leftovers of the week, all collected up and heated up in vegetable stock and zizzed.

It works with pretty much anything in a vegetarian household - I would be a little bit more careful if meat or fish had been involved.

Today's grotty nosh included a sprinkling of lettuce, which had a lemon dressing, which added a fresh edge to the soup.

The more interesting part of the lunch was the gluten free flatbread.  To do this I mixed buckwheat flour and gf self raising flour in equal parts and made into a soft dough with natural yogurt.  Roll out squash ball sized balls and dry fry in a hot pan.  Simple, and delicious.

I have just received a chorus of tasty, tasty, very very tasty - so I think that's a good sign.

Bubble and squeak with a fried egg avec sauce de tomate

Had roast chicken, mashed potato, steamed cauliflower and broccoli and petit pois for lunch ... delicious - but come 7 o'clock we were peckish, so mashed up the vegetable left overs - fried it off in olive oil and butter.

Fried egg on top and squirt of tomato ketchup.

I know it's not a proper recipe ... but, don't neglect your leftovers.

Deep filled pie and veg... leftover heaven

 It's Monday night, and the veg box arrives on a Tuesday... that means leftovers.

Well!  I impressed myself.

 Left over gluten free pastry (from Tuesday's red onion tarte tatin which I forgot to picture, but similar to this) tarte tatin with red onion and mozzarella; yesterday's   rice and mung beans and ratatouie(ish) made into a deep filled pie, baked for 30 minutes - served with boiled new potatoes and steamed green beans and spring greens

Mushroom risotto fritters

Leftover Thursday win.  We are both often home late on a Thursday, and tonight was past 8 o'clock. So it was risotto fritters for starter- assorted leftovers (potato and swede mash, brocolli, butter bean stew, dhal, vegetable casserole)  heated up for dinner.

Olive oil
Cooked risotto (this was mushroom)
Cheese
Spinach
Sweet chili sauce

Mold rice into patties around small chunks of cheese.  Fry on olive oil.  Serve with spinach leaves and sauce.

Fan-bloody-tastic!

The other leftovers were tasty too - but not photogenic.

You've gotta love leftovers

Working from home, and on a tight deadline, so needed something quick.  Fortunately, despite some people's protestations, there is nearly always something in the fridge which will take minutes to whip up into something both tasty and healthy.  Today was no exception - our own eggs - left over veg from Sunday dinner - a spring onion - dah dah - garden omelette.

I calculated the price by (over)estimated amount used from  a standard supermarket packet.  What this reminds me is not that this was pricey - but the importance of not wasting leftovers etc.

Garden omelette, with a bit of salad

Serves 1:  Preparation time:  7 minutes.  Approx calories 399:  Approx price: £1.07 (if you had to buy the eggs, and the veg wasn't already costed into another meal - I think it's more like 35p)

1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 spring onion
Big handful of cooked green beans (or other veg)
Torn sections of mozzarella (optional, or use other cheese)
3 eggs
Seasoning
Lettuce and radishes

1. Toss spring onion into hottish olive oil and fry.
2.  After a minute or so add leftover green veg and flip about a bit.
3.  Tear in mozzorella
4.  Pour over whisked eggs.  Wait until the edge has cooked a little and pull into the middle, tip pan to allow uncooked egg to move to the edges.  Either continue like this until cooked, or stick under a hot grill for a minute or so.
5. Serve.  scoff.