Recycling Food - Leftovers Turned Into More Leftovers - 3 meals - 3 days

Lunch today, Risotto Cakes,  Fabulous.

In the weekend, I whipped up some soup from the vegetable bin, in the fridge,
Celery, Butternut, onion, some leftover chicken stock, Very Simple
Plenty for 4 people
We didn’t eat it all, we were off to a party and thought we should have a small bowl, to line our stomachs. The remainder went into the fridge.
So last night, I thought I would be a little more creative, than just a bowl of soup and toast for dinner.

Let’s make risotto.
I also had some leftover marinated feta, that I had bought from Farro Fresh in the weekend.
Also for  a little extra zing, a dash of Sriracha Sauce

It was really tasty and very easy.
1 onion finely chopped
Sea salt and Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Olive oil
2 cups Arborio Rice
Slosh White wine
4-5 cups of leftover soup. You may need to thin it down so that it is the consistency of stock

2 tablespoons Marinated Feta in Olive Oil
Dash of Sriracha Sauce (optional)

Gently saute the onion in olive oil till translucent
Season with S & P
Add Rice and stir well

Cook about 2-3 minutes to toast it a little
Add wine, cook till absorbed
Meanwhile, have the soup gently simmering on the stove

Start adding the soup, gradually,
A ladelful at a time
stirring well till liquid absorbed
Continue cooking, till rice is just cooked and the risotto is creamy, almost soupy in fact
Add marinated Feta and extra olive oil
and dash of Sriracha Sauce if you are using it.

Serve in bowls, best way to eat, this kind of food I think.
Of course I made too much

Solution. Risotto Cakes

Take your leftover Risotto
There was about 2 cups left
2 rashers bacon chopped finely and sauteed till crisp
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Add an egg to bind

1 cup Breadcrumbs (I used Panko Crumbs)
4 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan Cheese

Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmesan together on a plate

In a large bowl, add risotto, sauteed bacon and parsley

Add beaten egg
Mix well this mixture was quite wet
So I added 2 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs mix just to dry it out a bit

Roll into cakes and pat them flat
Coat with the remainder of breadcrumbs

Pop into the fridge for an hour or so just to solidify

Fry till crispy and golden in some vegetable oil
Voila Lunch

I served them with some Pear Chutney, supplied from our friends Derrick and Lorraine Woods
Actually you don't need much chutney, they are very tasty on their own

On Sunday, the family came over, so I made Italian Meatball Soup
Click here for the recipe
There were 9 of us
I had preceded the soup, with a very tasty Aubergine Salad 
Read the recipe in this post
Threw some beautiful baguettes on the table
Great lunch

I didn't add pasta to the soup, before serving, as I wanted to keep it gluten free
At lunch, I cooked the pasta and only added it to those who didn't care
So there was at least 3 cups of soup left
So on Monday, I cooked up 2 cups of penne

Mixed together with the Meatball soup
Placed it into a Gratin dish
Meanwhile, I made a Bechamel sauce which I flavoured with the Marinated Feta

Smothered the penne mix and baked for about 30 minutes at 180C
There was enough for 4 people.
So half of it went into the freezer for another day

As my friend Mary said
Great budgeting, absolutely no waste

Kid Friendly Dinner - Crumbed Sausages with Savoury Sauce

Back once again, to The Trusty Triple Tested Cookbook.
It really does have some good basic food, that suits kids.
These Crumbed Sausages with Savoury Sauce, have been very popular with the Grandkids
Not the most attractive looking dish, but very tasty

I went into the Posh Supermarket to buy the sausages, but I think basically the kids just like a good old fashioned Beef sausage, so off to the Supermarket Supermarket, I went.

You can prepare this earlier on the day, and cook in the oven, just before you need it
Will take about 10-15 minutes.

I thought this time I would accompany the sausages with corn fritters
This gets extra vege into the kids.
Everyone likes Corn fritters, surely

I used the base for my fritters in this recipe click here, to get the recipe,
replacing the seafood and spinach with, frozen corn, red pepper and onion.
So
2 sausages per person
3 tablespoons Flour
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Breadcrumbs. As much as you need to coat the sausages, this will vary
Oil for frying,  2-3 tablespoons

Sauce
½ cup Ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon soya sauce


Place the sausages into a pot, cover with cold water
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 2-3 minutes
Drain, cool and remove skins

Mix pepper into flour, on a plate
Beat egg with water in a shallow bowl
And lay breadcrumbs on a paper towel

Dip skinned sausages into flour
Then egg mix
Finally into breadcrumbs

Best to let them set, for at least 15 minutes
Makes a better crust when you cook them

In a medium hot pan

Add oil
Lightly brown the sausages all over
Place into an oven dish

You can leave them in the fridge till you need them

When you are ready to go
Preheat oven to 190C

Combine all the Sauce Ingredients
Pour sauce over the sausages, making sure each has a good coating
Bake 10-15 minutes till golden

Serve, as I did with Corn Fritters or
Mashed potatoes and broccoli go well
Kids seem to adore them

We had leftovers
So the next day, I cooked up some Cous cous
Fried some chopped onion,
Diced carrot and diced celery in olive oil
Quantities up to you
Cut up the leftover sausages into medium dice
Threw onto the pan

Mixed the lot into the hot Cous cous
Lunch

Excellent Brunch Idea - Scrambled Eggs and Mushrooms in a Toasted Bread Basket

Been watching a bit of Jacques Pepin lately, he gave me an idea, which I have just cooked for our dinner. Jacques put a bit more effort into his mushrooms, but we liked these.
Scrambled Eggs and Mushrooms in a Toasted Bread Basket

Would make a great brunch recipe.

Because the bread case required real bread, I especially made a loaf from my blog. A recipe that I stole from Michel Roux Jr
Sensational bread you can find out how to make it here
This is seriously very easy and if I can do you can

So you need for 2 people
2 slices Day old bread
4 Eggs
2tbs milk
Butter
Oil
100 gms Mushrooms sliced
Slosh of White wine
Clove of garlic peeled and squashed

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Spring onion tops, chopped for garnish

It's up to you how much butter and oil you use
So I haven't  specified amounts

Slice the bread into 1 inch/ 2.5 cm pieces
Cut off the crusts
Cut about 1cm inside the slice
Carefully remove the crumb so you are left with a little square basket

Melt approx 1 tsp butter per slice of bread, with the garlic
Remove the garlic and set aside
Brush the slice with the garlic butter
All over and place on an oven tray

Pre-heat the oven to 200c
Bake the buttered basket
for 7 minutes
Remove and set aside

Meanwhile add a dob of butter and the same amount of oil into a hot pan
Add sliced mushrooms
Season with S&P

Toss around quickly
Till they start to brown
Slosh in a little white wine,

Cook quickly till liquid absorbed
Set aside

Now quickly beat your eggs with the milk
Season with S&P
Scramble in a medium hot pan in melted butter

Place bread case on plate'
Fill with scrambled eggs
Dress with mushrooms and garnish with spring onion tops
or parsley if you'd rather

Delicious

This would be great for a crowd
Prepare the bread case, butter them
Set aside, till ready to cook

Cook the mushroom
Set aside
At the last minute
Cook the cases
Reheat the mushrooms

Cook the eggs
Serve

Would go well with a Mimosa

Seriously Good Cheddar, Date/Craisin and Orange Flaky Scones

I am re-posting this blog. Today, I made scones to take up to the hospital.
Found this on my blog and they were sooooo good.
In the recipe below, you will note that I candied the orange peel, which is very very good.
I didn't have time to bother with that, so I used the zest of 1 orange, also  No dates, so out came the trusty Craisins.
If you are siting comfortably, then we'll begin!

When we were on our road trip round New Zealand in 2008. I was on the hunt for the best Date Scones. Only found 3 I think, so I had to try my own.
I believe the addition of orange is the secret
You can candy the orange peel which is very simple.
See below

I have adapted The Cheddar and Thyme Biscuits/Scones recipe to make these delicious treats.
From a previous post   http://sososimple.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/forget-3-tenors-we-have-3-mds.html

I like the idea of adding sugar to savoury muffins or scones.
It gives the food such a lift
This is a very good recipe

So
Heat oven to 220C  Fan 200C

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
54 gms butter or margarine
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup /115 gms shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped dates/ or 1 cup Craisins
Candied zest of 1 orange chopped/or zest of 1 large orange

So if you want to do the Date Candied orange way
First candy the orange zest
Zest the orange into strips with a potato peeler
Cover with water bring to boil
Drain and repeat
Make a syrup ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar
Bring to boil
Add drained peel and simmer about 8 minutes
Remove and chop

Sift dry ingredients into large bowl
Grate butter into flour
and rub between fingers till it looks like breadcrumbs
Or use a pastry cutter
Add dates and orange zest (or craisins and raw orange zest)

Toss the fruit in the flour mix
Make a well and add cheese and milk.
Mix quickly and you may need to add a little extra milk.
I like the dough to be wet

Turn out onto floured surface
Knead gently to get together and pat out to about ¾ inch
Cut into pieces
I got 10 pieces
Brush lightly with milk
And place on oven tray I like to line my trays with baking paper.

Cook 10 -12 minutes

A beautiful mid morning snack…I think I have cracked it.

Mini Croissants - Best Appetisers - So Simple

When the World Cup was on, I received a link to Jamie Oliver's daily "youtube" update, Food Tube. A young French Guy, (turns out that's what he calls himself), The French Guy, suggested making Mini Croissants, from bought puff pastry.
I was first attracted by the version, using Nutella, I knew the kids would like that AND they did.

So it is so simple
Take a sheet of frozen puff pastry, cut it into a large circle and cut into triangles
The pastry I use is 25cm x 25cm
Out of that I got 8 triangles

Beside the Nutella filling, for adults, the Chef offered 2 other ideas
Pesto and Mozzarella
Or Cheese and Ham, 
I had mixed up a tasty Cream Cheese filling
So so simple, just take about 100 gms cream cheese, 
Mix well with some tubed Chilli and Basil
Squeeze out around 2.5 cms of each herb. 
Really to your taste
By the way, you could add some chopped fresh Chilli and some chopped Fresh Basil
but I really like to have these on hand
You don't have to add anything else, this is just right, as Goldilocks would say

I actually mixed this up, for a base for Pizza Blanca. Excellent. Had some left over so I thought this could be tasty in these croissants. Perfect
Pre-heat your oven to 200C

Take your triangle, spread the pesto over 2/3 of the triangle, leaving some space at the top
Break the Mozzarella into small pieces and place on top

From the bottom, roll them up one at a time
Place onto baking sheet, lined with baking paper
Press down and brush with an egg, beaten with a little water
Below, the filling is the Cream Cheese mix, with a slice of shaved ham

Bake till golden brown about 8-10 minutes could take a little longer, keep an eye on them
Cool on a rack

They are so popular. perfect to make for pre dinner drinks
Or anytime for the kids

Once again for the kids version
Just smear the triangle with Nutella and follow the procedure as above, then bake

In the last few years, I have also taken to making Pinwheels, to serve with drinks.
Have a look at the method here

Change that filling a la the croissants above
Pesto and Mozzarella

Or Ham and Cream Cheese Mixture

One more use for this delicious Cream Cheese
Spread onto a Blini, place some Smoked Salmon on top
Little lemon juice and some cracked pepper
Hey Presto, another delight

This little batch, went up to the hospital, to give the beloved a wee treat. He loved them