Food thread! Favourite leftover dishes, avoiding waste, menu ideas.

[Ninkanink]

Thought I’d start a thread for everyone to post their tips and ideas on how best to use foodstuffs. Hoping it could be an easy guide as well for those who maybe aren’t so used to home cooking or using leftover foods, or understanding how best to utilise everything you have, expiry dates etc.

We have always been very conscious of food waste so we plan very carefully to use every scrap of food, it’s not hard, it’s just a skill one develops.

I’ll post some of my favourite leftover/using up bits meals and menus here and if anyone else wants to as well, please do!

Another dish we really like is a take on cassoulet by Nigel Slater which we used to make with duck (we still do, sometimes) but we’ve since discovered we actually like it better with chicken leg joints - since it’s a rather rustic dish anyway, we tend to save duck for other things. We like the more relaxed texture of the chicken, and it’s cheaper so win-win. The meat can be stretched further by using half as much, taking sausages out when done and slicing, and shredding the chicken once cooked. I can’t find the recipe now but I’m sure there are loads of similar ones available. We haven’t had it for ages, actually! Might make it soon, with the chicken and some pork sausages from the freezer.

I keep chopping and changing our meal plan, hope no one minds if I talk through it here as I go - I figure one or two people might gain some inspiration from it. I’m trying to juggle various things according to what we fancy but also making sure everything gets used.

Last night we had roast butterflied leg of lamb marinated in olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, onion, thyme and rosemary. Halfway through the cooking time I threw in the leftover new potatoes I had boiled up a few days ago, cut in half and placed into the cooking juices to soak it all in. We also had the carrot, parsnip and swede mash I had made a few days ago. It was lovely, but I forgot to take a photo.

So far the revised plan goes:

Today

Lunch: Ham, mushroom and cheese toasties
Dinner: Lamb curry with chapati (from a bag we opened a few days ago which is now being stored in the fridge to keep it fresh a bit longer)

Tomorrow:

Lunch: German grain bread with liver pâté that’s nearing use by date, with pickled gherkin, bacon and crispy onion
Dinner: Fish burgers with brioche buns (decided to keep the chicken for another time, have some battered haddock fillets so will use a couple of those instead)

Monday:

Lunch: Crackers and liver pâté with pickled beetroot
Dinner: Roast lamb (leftovers) and crushed garlic and thyme potatoes, with glazed carrots and parsnips.

After that I’m planning to do a few stews/casseroles, firstly to use the venison, but also we have part baked rolls that are nearing use by date (I’m happy to keep for a week or two over, and I might freeze one packet as well, but I still want to use one packet next week). Plus another will be a take on the skillet stew posted by @Xiaoxiong above, and then I’ll probably also do this one, adapted slightly, because I have an aubergine that needs using:

notesonaspanishvalley.com/2017/10/22/a-cassoulet-of-aubergines/

Also have peppers that will need to be used next week, so will either do a goulash or maybe a chorizo and bean stew.

After tidying the cupboard out today I have 1 bag of shredded coconut and a tin of evaporated milk that I think could be used to make some sort of fridge slice thing?

I also have : sugar, butter, marshmallows, flour, eggs, vanilla, plain tea biscuits, cocoa powder.

Any ideas?

@OlaEliza

Pasta bake - adding some veg and a bit of cheese will change the character of the sauce quite nicely. I like to add chilli flakes to mine, too.

Or roast some halved aubergine if you have any, doused in olive oil with mixed herbs, garlic powder and chilli flakes. When it’s lovely and soft scoop out the flesh, add to the reheated sauce and mix into pasta.

Use as jacket potato filling.

Homemade pizza.

Sloppy Joes.

Turn it into chilli and have it with rice, or make nachos with tortilla chips and cheese.

Yeah I'm going to go with pasta bake, I'll make a little bit of bechamel sauce, and stick some cheese on top. I wanted a lasagna but there's not enough bolognese so I'll make a deconstructed one instead.

@Ninkanink, re cassoulet and chicken, I read a great piece on the Serious Eats website who agreed that duck is not essential, but to dd that flavour which the duck brings, Kenji sautéed the chicken thighs in duck fat and it made an big difference in taste. I've been doing this since I read that article.

Oh interesting! Thanks for the tip.

My mind just went on a happy little tangent, wondering whether I could somehow justify roasting a goose purely for the goose fat (but also because I love roast goose and we didn’t have it for Christmas).

Speaking of roasting things, my lovely neighbour ventured to our local farmshop/butcher, and just dropped off a whole roast chicken AND a bag of chicken backs/necks/wingtips!!

How do you all like your roast chicken? And how many meals can you get from it (between a a family of 4!!)

Really love this thread, it’s so soothing! It’s also inspired me. Thursday I did some piri piri diced turkey with boiled potatoes and broccoli, yesterday I just reheated half the turkey with the rest of the potatoes, today to be a bit more interesting I added onion, sweet corn, broccoli and wholewheat pasta to a pot with the turkey, I then swilled out the container it had been in and added that to the pot with some more water and made a soup. The water obviously diluted the flavour a little so I added some lemon pepper, Korean pepper flakes and a squeeze of the chicken stock that comes in a squeeze bottle. Was really tasty and nice to shake things up a bit instead of just zapping it.

Sorry I meant to say a whole RAW chicken, it's not roasted yet! I'm salting it now in anticipation of chicken dinner tonight...

Coconut pyramids?

Ohhhhhhh chicken! I haven’t had any in about a week and I’m really starting to miss it.

We cycle through quite a few favourites:

Roast chicken with all the trimmings: one leg or breast each, then the following (this is what we usually do but in current climate we’d be looking to take portions of protein right down, so I would hope to add two extra meals):

One breast used for chicken Caesar salad

One leg used for braised peas as linked above

Carcass stripped to give enough meat for sandwiches or soup.

Plus two extra meals now (achieved by having half a breast or half a leg joint each for the original roast dinner) from following list:

Easy chicken pie (add veg, gravy and a shortcrust lid)

Chicken with noodles or rice in Asian broth (or, if needs must, served on top of packet noodles)

Chicken with stir fry/egg fried rice

Chicken and seafood fritters/pancakes

OR

Spatchcock peri peri chicken with Mediterranean veg and rice for the original meal, then the following:

Chicken with med veg in couscous

Chicken and chorizo stew with beans

Chicken in tacos/wraps/quesadillas/other tex-mex

Carcass stripped to make soup.

OR,

Make Jamie’s easy red Thai chicken soup (we add a few extras to make it a little more well rounded - fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, lime zest if we don’t have kaffir lime leaves; a little squeeze of lime over the top of each bowl at the end. We omit the butternut squash as we don’t like the texture or flavour it brings, we use bok Choi or spinach or mange tout instead, and we find it’s much improved with bamboo shots added, it gives it such a nice crunch). We’ve also made this with seafood and/or fish instead of chicken. Served over rice or noodles.

We add shredded chicken back into the soup depending on how many people are eating the original meal plus extra for another day, setting some aside to freeze or to use for similar dishes such as thai curries, stir fries, salads or fritters in the following days.

Hmmm what else? We do like a tarragon butter chicken too. But we tend to eat rather more of that than strictly necessary, the first time round...

When I next get my hands on a whole chicken I really want to make Korean fried chicken. That might only do two meals, though, because I am greedy.

I came across this website called StillTasty , it's American but has some very useful tips on food storage and extending the shelf life .

Forgot the link to thai soup:

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/thai-red-chicken-soup/

@Xiaoxiong missed the bit about meals for 4 - we’re quite spoilt in that we only cook for two unless my daughters are visiting (which obviously can’t happen right now ) so we can make our food stretch quite far if we want to. For an original meal I would be aiming just to get everyone used to having smaller portions of protein, for example down by a third this week and then down to half next week, and bulking out with the other bits, and then for secondary meals my tip is that meat goes a lot further if it’s shredded or cut into chunks/slices and incorporated into a sauce.

@OnceUponAMidnightBeery 😂 I’m a passable cook, a fair baker though but unfortunately I’ve not got any flour in to make pastry (note to self - next time the world goes nuts have flour in!)

I don’t bake often these days though due to not being able to stand for long periods except on my best days. But my nemesis is scones! Can’t get em to rise! I’ve tried all the tips and tricks to no avail.

Long as what you’ve made isn’t poisonous and is edible I call that a win.

Where I get frustrated is when I’ve made something “off the cuff” that turned out delicious and then I can’t remember how the hell I made it!

@cricketmum84 oh no! So annoying when we have to throw out food.

Ok I’ll try freezing ratatouille in bags.

@OJZJ yes I think when you’ve spent all your life being very aware of not wasting food/money on food many of us with that background find it hard to not always have some basics in. I’m also overweight, lost a good bit a few years back but I’m still heavier than I should be even though I don’t eat much because I’m almost completely inactive now. I’ll force myself to eat something rather than throw it out. And I go overboard on the crisps, biscuits, sweets because they were very limited when I was a kid due to finances being tight (dad alcoholic) my parents would say we “never went without” which is true strictly speaking, we had 3 squares (but very basic and quite small portions) and a snack at playtime but treat foods were very much in short supply.

“Can you make mini-quiches in a muffin tin without shortcrust? I have all the bits for the fillings but don't have enough flour to make shortcrust.” I asked much the same on another thread as I found this recipe:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/courgette-frittatas

I don’t have a muffin tin just a bun tin which I’m gonna try it in.

Although op the bread sounds an idea, any ideas what I can use as a makeshift cookie cutter? I’ve none

Yes! Just grease the tin really well and they come out like mini omelette muffins. You can freeze them too oh excellent someone who knows! Thanks @PurpleDaisies

@Mominatrix

Thank you for the Serious Eats reminder, am a huge fan.

Kenji has had to close his restaurant, so is back and active on the site.

Here is a link to what they have put together for people who have to up their skills, work with what they have, figure out how best to stock food and loads and loads of recipes. Hope it helps some people.

www.seriouseats.com/coronavirus-cooking-guide

Forgot to mention its a US website, so if you are not familiar with US measurements in recipes (they usually use cups not oz or grams) just type the cup amount into your search engine and ask for oz or gram conversion.

Question for you guys about leftover rice from a Chinese.

Do you think it has already been reheated once or would you use the leftovers in another dish?

And if so, how quickly do you think it needs eating - is Thurs - Monday too long?

graphista I often use a regular glass as a cookie cutter.

Also, ignore what they say with regards to storing eggs.

In the US the way they process eggs removes the natural protective barrier from the shells, so they need to be kept in the fridge and shelf life is shorter.

For those of you who keep their eggs in the fridge and need more space. Have a think - where do you find your eggs in the supermarket? Is it in the fridge? No, it's not!

@Chewbacca I always reheat and eat takeaway rice, but I do only ever use it the very next day to be on the safe side. I am very relaxed about food ‘rules’ in general because so many of them are based on misconceptions, or intended for those who lack the knowledge and/or common sense to make safe deductions) It’s one of those foods I wouldn’t take any chances with, personally, and for me it has to be next day so I definitely wouldn’t risk it with that length of time.

I did a food hygiene and safely course a few years ago. Takeaway rice is one of the few things I won’t reheat any more.
Luckily, there are very rarely any leftovers to worry about!

Thanks Nink, I tend to agree with you, was wondering if I was more cautious than typical on this front!

If anyone has access to celeriac, it’s definitely worth having! Delicious and a great substitute for potatoes, and you can use it raw too.

@OnceUponAMidnightBeery

Thanks for all your posts, they are very inspiring.

From your posts you are obviously a good cook, so don't knock yourself.

If you have trouble with standing and other health conditions, have you got a table you can sit at? If so, try to do all your prep sitting down, even if it's not in the kitchen.

I too love to cook, but am crap at scones and Yorkshire Pudding and was born in Yorkshire, so even more shame!!!

Also, figure out when you have the most energy, mental strength and that is when you do your prep.

Most of all be kind to yourself.