How to refresh Christmas leftovers: Part Two

Posted on 27 December, 2019

Daydreaming about what you stuffed into your face for Christmas lunch? Me too.

But now you’ve emerged from your food coma only to discover you’re somehow starving again and the thought of eating cold food straight from the fridge makes you want to gag.

It’s time to lift your leftovers game and decide what in the name of Curtis Stone you’re gonna do with all that food (you know you over-catered again).

So far, we’ve looked at how to transform the remnants of Bigbird into crunchy balls of cheese-filled goodness, and how to get more mileage out of your leftover smoked salmon by perching it atop a poached egg, nestled on a crispy potato rosti.

Today, we’ll be tackling what to do with random leftover roast vegetables and fruit.

Roast vegetables are a little tricky, cause there are not that many options for them once they’re cooked. You can make bubble and squeak, of course. Which is kinda gross. Or you can make this roast vegetable tarte Tatin, which is frikken delicious.

All you’ll need is said roast vegetables (or even uncooked ones you just didn’t end up using). Plus onion, sugar, sage and some puff pastry. Yep, you’ve got some that are about a hundred years old at the bottom of the freezer. Go look, it’s there. And it’s still good.

You can also use any vegetables you like, so long as they’re sliced thinly in circles. And Bob’s your (embarrassingly drunk) uncle!

It’s good on its own, with a side salad, some sliced meat, or fed to you in bed as you assume the foetal position with the curtains drawn to protect yourself from the light.

Roast Vegetable Tarte Tatin

INGREDIENTS

• 1 roast potato, sliced into 1cm thick discs
• 1 roast carrot, sliced into 1cm thick discs
• 1 roast beetroot, sliced into 1cm thick discs
• 1 roast parsnip, sliced into 1cm thick discs
• 3 large brown onions, thinly sliced
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan­forced) and grease a shallow baking dish.

2. Heat olive oil and butter in a large frying pan or skillet over medium heat until butter melts, then turn heat down to low and add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally for around 25 minutes until dark golden and caramelised. 3. While your onions are caramelising, mix 80ml water with the sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Turn down to low­-medium heat and cook, gently swirling the pan every minute or two until amber (around 6-­8 mins). Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour the caramel into the baking dish and spread in an even layer. Work quickly to scatter the sage leaves evenly across the mixture. Arrange the vegetable discs close together in a single layer over the top, then sprinkle the caramelised onion across evenly.

5. Roll out the puff pastry so it’s the same dimensions, but very slightly bigger than the baking dish and pierce it in several places with a fork. Carefully place it over the vegetables, gently tucking the edges down the sides of the dish. 6. Cook for 15 minutes, then turn down to 180C (160C fan­forced) for a further 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and cooked. Let it cool for around five minutes then carefully turn it out onto a flat platter or board.

Now, what about leftover fruit?

Eat it as nature intended? Or transform it into a fresh and delicious Christmas holiday dish that you can merrily cram into your face for brunch (you definitely won’t be up for breakfast) or dessert? I know which one I’m choosing.

Peaches work well in so many dishes, especially when they’re at the perfect stage of ripeness. Tarts, cakes, pies, sliced up with ice-cream. Or in this epic summertime peaches and cream skillet hotcake.

Peaches and Cream Skillet Hotcake

You can use any stone fruit or berries you have left over from Christmas. The smell, when it comes out of the oven, is totally worth the minimal effort of making it. It’s a fresh, sweet mouthful of summer. You’re gonna want to drag your bum out of bed for a face full of this one, trust me.

INGREDIENTS

Hotcakes

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1½ cups full cream milk
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (plus 1 tbsp for greasing)
• 5 tbsp demerara sugar (plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling before baking hotcakes)
• 1 peach, stone removed, sliced into segments about 1cm wide

Peach compote

• 4 large fresh peaches, stone removed, roughly diced
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• Juice of half a lemon
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 tsp vanilla bean extra

To serve

• 125g double cream
• 125g crème fraîche
• Icing sugar, to dust
• Fresh mint leaves to garnish

Method

Preheat oven to 190C (180C fan­forced). Place two small skillets (15­20cm) or other non­stick ovenproof pans into the oven to preheat.

For the hotcake batter

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and whisk together until smooth. 2. Using an oven mitt, carefully remove the skillets from the oven (the handles will be very hot!).

3. Add 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter to each pan and divide the hotcake batter evenly into each.

4. Arrange the peach segments carefully on top of the batter and sprinkle with remaining sugar.

5. Using the oven mitt again, place skillets into the oven, baking for around 20­-25 mins until golden brown.

For the peach compote

1. While the hotcakes are cooking, add the peach slices, brown sugar, lemon juice, vanilla bean extract and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Cook for around 15-­20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Once the mixture has thickened and becomes syrupy, turn the heat off and let it rest until you’re ready to serve.

To serve

1. Add the double cream and the crème fraîche to a medium sized glass bowl and whip for around 3­4 minutes until soft peaks form. 2. Using the oven mitt, remove the skillets from oven and let them rest for a few minutes before carefully transferring each hotcake to a plate or board.

3. Dust with icing sugar, garnish with mint leaves and serve with peach compote and whipped cream.

WANT MORE? CHECK OUT PART ONE FOR CHEESY TURKEY CROQUETTES AND DELICIOUSLY CRISPY SALMON ROSTIS HERE.