‘Leftovers’ is probably the wrong word. It implies something on the ‘D-list’ rather than the ‘A’. The bits we don‘t want, something less than completely delicious. The truth is — with a bit of careful buying, storage and some innovative recipes, we can never have too much of a good thing.
Somes of the best meals of the season can be mixed, fried, grilled and souffléd from one day’s worth of Christmas cooking
Think of leftovers as ingredients and those spoonfuls of sprouts, roast potatoes and turkey legs take on a new culinary lease of life between now and the New Year.
Give the Planet a gift and your taste buds a lift
We don‘t want to be all doom and gloom, just as we‘re getting into the festive spirit. But an estimated extra 2.5m tonnes of household waste fills the UK‘s bins over Christmas time, with only 12% of it being recycled. So consuming more of our food before it goes to a landfill site makes sense for everyone. After all, the amount we throw away doesn‘t just eat into our wallets; it‘s a major contributor to the production of greenhouse gases in the UK.
So by treating your family to a hot, comforting meal made from leftovers on one of the cold and crisp days after Christmas, you‘ll be doing your bit to help reduce global warming.
Go nude this Christmas
When buying the ingredients, try and buy loose fruit and vegetables. This will cut down on the amount of wrapping and packaging that needs to be chucked or recycled.
The main sources of festive rubbish are: 750m bottles, 500m cans, packaging, cards, Christmas trees and food
While Great aunts from across the land consider themselves ‘green’ when they re-send jars of humbugs to family members for the sixth year running, it’s actually their handed down recipes for turkey pies and bubble ‘n’ squeak that are worth their weight in gold.
The concept of leftovers began centuries before cling film was invented
Using up the remains of the main meal is far from a modern concept. In Tudor times, leftover food led to the famous saying: ‘eating humble pie’ – when you have to live to a standard that you would not usually be used to. The story goes that Venison used to be eaten by the rich on Christmas Day. The servants who cooked it, however, would not be allowed to eat the best parts of the meat.
The poor used to quite literally eat ‘umble’ pie
A decent lord, however, in keeping with the spirit of Christmas, might let his serfs have what was left of the deer after he’d demolished it. These bits were known as the ‘umbles’, consisting of: heart, brains, liver, tongue, feet, and ears. Mixed with whatever else a cook could get their hands on, a savoury pie would then be made.
