st martins house - Aspire Magazine

Christmas Leftovers
What To Do With Your
Christmas Leftovers…
www.stmartinshouse.com
It’s amazing to think that the average Brit
consumes a massive 6,000 calories on Christmas
Day alone, but somehow there always seems to
be masses of food left over. We’ve roped in our
resident Chef, Neil Walker, to give us a simple yet
delicious recipe for our Christmas leftovers…
The Ultimate Turkey And Smoked Ham Stew
“I'm a bit old school when it comes to buying and cooking my turkey for Christmas Day, as in I like
to buy a whole bird - legs, wings, thighs, bones and all, rather than a turkey crown. I do this for one
reason - to make a brilliant turkey stock a couple of days later. To me, there is something soothing
about making a stock with the turkey bones and the smell reminding me of the great day I shared
with my family and friends a few days prior.
Just throw the bones, a couple of raw carrots, onions, celery sticks, bay leaves and sprigs of thyme
and rosemary into a large pan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil then turn down the heat to
low and simmer very gently for four hours. Strain. Then you have your base for this delicious stew.
I always boil up a big joint of smoked ham on Christmas Eve and use the stock from that to add to
this, which gives my stew a deep smokey flavour - although if you're not doing a joint of ham you
could just use some lardons of smoked bacon.”
Ingredients:
Approx 2 pints of stock
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 onions, diced
3 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 swede, diced
1 fennel bulb, chopped
1 cup of peas
Leftover turkey meat
Handful of chopped ham
Leftover potatoes and parsnips (or any leftover veg)
Tablespoon D'jon mustard
Fresh herbs, roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. In a large pan heat a little olive oil and fry the onions, carrots, fennel, celery and swede on a
medium heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add the stock, seasoning, mustard and leftover potatoes and parsnips, bring to the boil then
simmer gently for approx 30 minutes.
3. Add the peas, turkey, ham and fresh herbs then simmer for another 5 minutes and serve in big
bowls by a roaring hot fire.
Delicious!
If you’re impressed with this recipe from Neil, why not pop along to Appetite within Abbey Sports
& Leisure Club at 70 Slater Street (off Frog Island), Leicester, LE3 5AS to try his delicious, healthy and
seasonal menu for yourselves. If you’ve got any feedback on this recipe, nutrition questions, or ideas
you’d like to share, why not email Neil -
appetite@abbeysports.co.uk.
There are so many other things you can do with your other Christmas leftovers; we’ve created a
three-course meal from our Christmas leftovers – with the help of
www.lovefoodhatewaste.com...
Starter - Turkey Noodle Soup
Another quick, easy and warming soup for you to try. In a large pan, cook a chopped onion in a little
turkey stock for five minutes. Add more turkey stock and 50g of vermicelli noodles – after following
the cooking instructions on the noodle packet, add some chopped turkey and heat through.
Main - Bubble & Squeak
Most of us know how to make this quick and easy dish, which is delicious served with scrambled
egg and crispy bacon, or with poached smoked haddock fillets.
Dessert - Christmas Pudding Ice Cream
To make this delicious treat, mix 150ml of ready-made chilled custard and 150ml of whipped
double cream. Add in crumbled leftover Christmas pudding then freeze in a large container. Stir
every 30 minutes or so until it’s reached your desired consistency.
There are a few leftovers that you must not use after their use-by date. Food must be used before
the ‘use-by’ date, as even if it looks and smells fine after this date, it still might not be safe to eat.
Once the product has been opened, make sure you follow any instructions, such as 'eat within three
days of opening'; however, the use-by date is the most important, so even if you open a product
today and the use-by is tomorrow, you must use it by tomorrow and not in three days time.
Use-by dates are different to ‘best-before’ dates; best-before dates appear on ‘low risk’ foods, such as
dried, tinned and frozen foods and relate more to the quality of the product that its safety. So, if you
want to experience the food product at its best, eat before the best-before, but it’s still safe to eat
after this date has passed.
The only way to avoid having to be creative with your leftovers is to be good on what you buy and
only cook what you really need!
6 ASPIRE
ASPIRE 7