FREE INSIDE DELICIOUS SPRING RECIPES PULLOUT
The cheapest and most cheerful cuisine... stunning banquets
WELCoME to day four of our special five-part series, Scotland’s Spring Kitchen. Every day I’ve shared recipes using the finest produce of the season – and each delicious one is easy to prepare.
So far we’ve enjoyed mouth-watering roasts, simple but satisfying midweek meals and delicious al fresco dining.
today, our focus turns to leftovers – more a way of life than a genre of ingredients.
Whether it is a roast chicken carcass being used for stock or uneaten potatoes forming the backbone of a breakfast, there is no disputing leftovers’ effortless brilliance.
thrifty cooks worldwide celebrate them and they form the basis of so many great dishes, such as tattie scones, meat patties and traditional stovies. Even sour milk can be used up, to hold together scones.
It’s important to reduce the amount of food we waste, especially in this day and age when so much ends up in the bin.
Food left over from meals and leftover ingredients can be used up – as can items we would normally class as surplus to requirements, such as broccoli stalks. Inside I share a recipe for how to use these in a creamy soup.
Vegetable peelings from carrots, onions and garlic can all be used to make a fresh vegetable stock.
When I started cooking I soon realised how much a good stock can elevate a soup or risotto to new heights, giving a depth of flavour that simply is not possible with only a store-bought cube. the spring green soup inside goes farther, using the roasting juices from the beef, with the vegetables merely giving a hint or freshness to the dish.
PotAtoES are my favourite leftover ingredient and so versatile. I often make bubble and squeak using uneaten potatoes from the night before, or get out the girdle (a traditional griddle) and make potato scones, serving them with bacon and eggs. the simple addition of flour and fat turns creamy mash into a solid, tasty scone.
Another use for leftover mash is making gnocchi – my daughters enjoy rolling out, cutting and indenting the mixture. A creamy blue cheese such as gorgonzola or a Scottish Strathdon blue makes the perfect creamy sauce to serve alongside.
When it comes to leftover meat, pulses and grains are the perfect accompaniment, and they go a long way.
Green lentils provide a wonderfully earthy backdrop to roast beef, while couscous and lamb are perfect bedfellows – add freshness with mint and pomegranate.
Bread too often ends up in the bin when it has gone stale. In her wonderful book, European Peasant Cookery, Elisabeth Luard devotes an entire section to leftover bread dishes from around the continent.
My favourites are the Italian salad panzanella and migas from southern Spain. Both dishes influence my fried bread, bacon and tomatoes recipe inside. Enjoy!