Turkey Club Sandwich

This is the hand’s down leftovers winner for us, using cold sliced turkey (and ham). This has been lunch every day between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve. We make our own wholewheat (T110) bread in the bread maker, so don’t have to go shopping at all.

So starting with two slices of buttered toast, I like to add

  • mayonnaise
  • turkey
  • ham
  • stuffing
  • cranberry sauce
  • bread sauce
  • salad leaves, sliced red onion, tomato etc
  • mustard (optional)

It looks a little untidy whilst under construction!

Serve with a side salad – I have been enjoying creating bowls of red and green, bejewelled with pomegranate seeds, and including some of my home-grown alfalfa sprouts.

Turkey, Leek and Mushroom Pie

This is one of my favourite things to do with cooked turkey, and so it is my first choice of using up a mix of light and dark meat. Enrobed with a rich creamy sauce of leeks, mushrooms and bacon, enlivened with Armagnac and encased in a buttery flaky pastry. Yummy. Originated from Delia Smith’s classic book Christmas

The recipe makes enough to feed 6, but I chose to only put enough for 4 in this pie, and have enough filling and pastry remaining to make 2 smaller turnovers, which I will freeze for another time.

First make the pastry:

  • 225g wholemeal plain flour (semi-complet T80)
  • 175g unsalted butter
  • pinch sea salt
  • water

Since I had tendonitis earlier this year, using my fingers to rub butter into flour is not a comfortable thing to do, so I just chop the butter into cubes and add to the flour, then let the K-Mix do the work, which is ideal as you really want to handle it as little as possible, and keep the ingredients cold. Add enough cold water to just bring the dough together, then wrap in cling film and put in the fridge while you make the filling.

Next make the sauce. If I had a lot of gammon, I would use that, but this year we had a tiny joint and there wasn’t much left, so I opted for some lean lardons instead. If you use lardons or bacon, start with them, otherwise add cooked gammon or ham once the onion and leek is softened. You can use all onion, or all leek, but I had half an onion left and one leek. I always buy mushrooms on my last shop before Christmas, but you could soak dried ones, or use them from the freezer if you don’t have any fresh. I haven’t yet made turkey stock, but I always make a huge quantity of gravy to go with our turkey, and this is a great way to use it up. I like to keep the ingredients simple, to appreciate the flavour of the turkey, but of course you could use other veg like celery, or add leftover cooked peas, carrots or parsnips to the cooked sauce.

  • 150g bacon lardons (or chopped cooked gammon or ham)
  • 15g butter
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • 1 leek, trimmed, halved lengthwise and then sliced
  • 125g mushrooms, quartered or cut into chunks
  • heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 300ml leftover gravy or turkey stock
  • 100ml cream, of any sort
  • 2 tbsp Armagnac or brandy
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 300g cooked turkey meat, a mix of dark and light, roughly chopped

In a large frying pan, sauté the lardons over medium heat until just starting to turn brown around the edges. Add the onion and leeks, and cook gently until soften, stirring often. Then add the mushrooms and cook for another couple of minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and mix well to gather up all the lovely flavours in the pan. Slowly add the gravy or stock, stirring well after each addition to keep it smooth and free from lumps. Then add the cream and armagnac, and turn off the heat. Check the seasoning, add the chopped parsley and then leave to cool while you roll out the pastry. Preheat the oven to 200c (fan).

Roll out the dough large enough to make a 30cm square, but not too thick, about 3mm. There should be plenty of pastry left over. Cut the pastry and lay it onto a lined baking sheet. Heap the filling in the centre, into a diamond shape, allowing for the fact that the corners are going to be brought together to make a parcel. Brush all round the edges with beaten egg, then bring the corners up and crimp together. Brush all over with beaten egg, and add decorative trimmings if you like, brushing them with egg also. Remaining filling and pastry can be wrapped in cling film and stored in the fridge for a day or so. You could use ready-made puff (feuilleté) pastry instead, in which case, if it is in a circle, make a pasty shape instead.

Bake in the oven at 200c for about 25 minutes, until beautifully golden.

Serves 4. I served it with air-fryed roasted potatoes and sprouts, cranberry sauce and a crisp mixed red and green salad.

Turkey, Leek and Mushroom Pie

This is one of my favourite things to do with cooked turkey, and so it is my first choice of using up a mix of light and dark meat. Enrobed with a rich creamy sauce of leeks, mushrooms and bacon, enlivened with Armagnac and encased in a buttery flaky pastry. Yummy. Originated from Delia Smith’s Christmas
Course Main Course
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 546kcal

Ingredients

for the pastry

  • 225 g wholemeal plain flour (semi complet T80)
  • 175 g unsalted butter well chilled
  • 1 pinch salt
  • water as needed
  • 1 egg beaten (for sealing and glazing)

for the sauce

  • 100 g lardons or lean bacon, or cooked gammon or ham
  • 1/2 onion chopped
  • 1 leek trimmed, halved lengthwise and chopped
  • 125 g mushrooms quarted or cut in chunks
  • 1 tbsp plain flour heaped
  • 300 ml gravy or turkey stock
  • 100 ml cream any sort
  • 2 tbsp armagnac or brandy
  • sea salt
  • black pepper
  • 1 tbsp parsley finely chopped
  • 300 g cooked turkey light and dark, roughly chopped

Instructions

to make the pastry

  • Add salt to the flour.
  • Chop the butter into cubes and add to the flour if using a mixer, or grate the butter into the flour if doing it by hand.
  • When the butter is well mixed in to the flour, add enough water to just bring the dough together.
  • Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge.

to make the filling

  • In a large frying pan, sauté the lardons over medium heat until just starting to turn brown around the edges.
  • Add the butter and olive oil, then the onion and leeks, and cook gently until softened, stirring often.
  • Then add the mushrooms and cook for another couple of minutes.
  • Sprinkle in the flour and mix well to gather up all the lovely flavours in the pan.
  • Slowly add the gravy or stock, stirring well after each addition to keep it smooth and free from lumps, until you have a nice thick sauce.
  • Then add the cream and armagnac, and turn off the heat.
  • Check the seasoning, add the chopped parsley and then leave to cool while you roll out the pastry.
  • Preheat the oven to 200c (fan).

To make the pie

  • Roll out the dough large enough to make a 30cm square, but not too thick, about 3mm (there should be plenty of pastry left over).
  • Cut the pastry into a 30cm square and lay it onto a lined baking sheet.
  • Heap the filling in the centre, into a diamond shape, allowing for the fact that the corners are going to be brought together to make a parcel ( you may not want to use all the filling, I only used 2/3).
  • Brush all round the edges with beaten egg, then bring the corners up and crimp together.
  • Brush all over with beaten egg, and add decorative trimmings if you like, brushing them with egg also.
  • Bake in the oven at 200c for about 25 minutes, until beautifully golden.

Notes

Remaining filling and pastry can be wrapped in cling film and stored in the fridge for a day or so. I will make two individual patties with them.
Serve with a crisp side salad, and maybe some sautéed potatoes and sprouts with a dollop of mayonnaise. Use up any remaining cranberry sauce too.
If I had a lot of gammon, I would use that, but this year we had a tiny joint and there wasn’t much left, so I opted for some lean lardons instead. If you use lardons or bacon, start with them, otherwise add cooked gammon or ham once the onion and leek is softened. You can use all onion, or all leek, but I had half an onion left and one leek. I always buy mushrooms on my last shop before Christmas, but you could soak dried ones, or use them from the freezer if you don’t have any fresh. I haven’t yet made turkey stock, but I always make a huge quantity of gravy to go with our turkey, and this is a great way to use it upI like to keep the ingredients simple, to appreciate the flavour of the turkey, but of course you could use other veg like celery, or add leftover cooked peas, carrots or parsnips to the cooked sauce.

Shredded Sprout Salad

DSCF3448Continuing with my theme of leftovers. In order to have a few cooked sprouts with our Christmas Dinner, I had to buy a much bigger pack than we needed, so lots of raw sprouts left to use up.

 I thought I would try a variation on an Ottolenghi recipe that was in the Guardian recently. Necessity forces me to come up with modifications…  This was really nice and crunchy, didn’t really taste like Brussels sprouts at all, and went very well with cold turkey and ham for our lunch today.  Pomegranate seeds are so lovely to add to a salad, they give a lovely jewelled look, as well as having an interesting texture and flavour.

Shredded Sprouts Salad

A fresh and crunchy side dish that goes really well with cold turkey or ham
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Servings 2
Calories 170kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/4 whole red onion finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 15 ml lime juice
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 100 grams brussels sprouts finely shredded
  • 1 tbsp parsley finely chopped
  • 15 grams Tamari-roasted almonds roughly chopped (leave a few whole)
  • 25 grams pomegranate seeds
  • 1 tsp pomegranate molasses

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and gently fry the onion for a few minutes and the add the garlic. 
  • Cook for another minute or so and then add the mustard seed.
  • Mix this in a bowl with the lime juice, maple syrup and a little salt, then add the sprouts and herbs.
  • Drizzle the pomegranate molasses over the top.

Instead of roasted salted almonds, I made Tamari-roasted almonds. Heat a small frying pan over low heat. Add shelled almonds, and shake the pan occasionally to ensure even colouring. After a few minutes they should be lightly toasted. Add a teaspoonful of Tamari soya sauce, and toss the almonds in it as it bubbles and dries out. Tip the almonds onto a baking sheet to cool and dry. Lovely with a glass of sherry too.

DSCF3443

Christmas Leftovers? Plan Ahead!

DSCF3424-3I love Christmas leftovers and my idea of heaven is having a house full of home-made and fresh foods, which will form the basis of delicious meals up to New Year. With just the two of us this year, I am planning ahead and making sure that I have all the things I need to make some of our favourite dishes and make the most of the turkey, ham, pudding, cheese, cream and so on. So my shopping list includes

  • mushrooms
  • celery
  • leeks
  • pomegranate
  • red cabbage
  • pumpkin or butternut squash
  • filo pastry
  • limes
  • Greek yogurt
  • long-lasting leafy greens such as baby spinach/rocket or endive

I also find this is a great time of year to use preserves and pickles and things stashed away in the freezer and cupboards. 

Here are some recipes which I look forward to.

Cinnamon and Citrus Pineapple – Have you got a pineapple that you didn’t get round to eating? This is a fab way of enjoying it. I usually serve it with thick Greek yogurt.

Cinnamon and Citrus PineappleSquash, Stilton and Quince Tart – a super way to use blue cheese. If you are lucky enough to have your own Quinces, making Membrillo / Pate de Coing is a fab way of preserving them. I love to use it with a sharp cheese like Queso Manchego as an appetiser, and also add to apple pastries for dessert, but less often think of it as part of a main dish. They have pate de coing on the cheese counter at our local supermarket. This is a fab and substantial lunch or supper dish, which is super with a bright green and red salad (spinach or rocket with pomegranate).
Squash, Stilton and Quince Tart with Spinach, Fennel and Pomegranate Salad
Celery and Stilton Soup – I am so looking forward to this!  Yes, I love to have stilton with a digestive biscuit and a glass of port, but this is worth buying a bigger piece of cheese for! Other blue cheese can be used. Part-baked baguettes make fab crunchy garlic breadsticks.
dscf6344
Roast Pumpkin and Glazed Walnut Salad – crack some of those walnuts, or maybe you have pecans, almonds or hazelnuts to use. It doesn’t need much in the way of leaves, but it is good to have some contrasting colour and texture, so I might use endive or radicchio.Roast Pumpkin and Glazed Walnut SaladClementine Cake – it is lovely to have a huge bowl of beautiful orange fruits to decorate the table, but you don’t want to let them get past their best, so whether they are Satsumas, Tangerines, Mandarins or Clementines, this dairy and wheat-free cake is a joy._MG_9002Don’t forget the fabulous stock that you can make from boiling a gammon or the turkey carcass. Soups made with such stocks don’t need to be complicated, they will be full of flavour. I am looking forward to a zingy Thai-style Hot and Sour Soup. I keep lemon grass and lime leaves in the freezer and a jar of red Thai curry paste lasts for ages in the fridge. 

_MG_0578As for the turkey, ours comes from Sarah Meakin at Domain du Merchien and it is the star of our Christmas table. With all the accompaniments we don’t actually eat a lot of it on Christmas Day, but just love a platter of cold meats with preserves and salads. Then there is our favourite Club Sandwich, as well as Turkey, Ham and Leek Flan; Turkey and Mushroom Pie; Turkey Curry; Turkey Risotto and Golden Tangle PieGolden Tangle PieSo, what leftovers will you be looking for ideas for? Or what are your favourite ways of using them?

DSCF1814A little bit of thinking ahead and you won’t have to rush to the shops to get anything extra. This year, more than ever, I have got accustomed to shopping only once a week, and I think I can happily manage a couple of weeks, as long as I have some fresh salad leaves from the kitchen windowsill – time to start sprouting!  Have a wonderful festive season.

Tangle Pie