So here you are. It's boxing day and you have a whole fridge filled with leftovers. What to do . . . what to do . . .

I thought I would give you some tasty ideas this morning to help you use up some of those scrummy leftovers. Of course you could just have a reheat of the leftovers, but it's also nice to dress them up in a few different ways too!

Ham Leftovers:



We like to have ham, cut into thick slices and fried in butter along side of our fried eggs for a special boxing day breakfast. Just melt some butter and add the ham once it begins to sizzle. Cook until it begins to get crisp on the edges, flip over and repeat on the other side.

You can chop it up and add it to your favourite macaroni and cheese recipe, or to a pan of scallopped potatoes.

Combine it with some of the leftover turkey, and some of that Stilton in a tasty salad! 

   

*Ham and Mac Bake*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

This is a wonderful casserole that is not only very tasty, but also very easy on the budget as well. My children always loved it when they were growing up and it was something different to do with the ham that was leftover from Easter. I often buy a slap of ham at the shops so that I can make this as well.

1/2 pound of macaroni (1 2/3 cups)
1/4 cup butter (2 ounces)
1/4 cup flour (1.5 ounces)
2 TBS Dijon mustard
salt to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups milk (5ooml)
2 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed
2 cups cubed, fully cooked ham (about half a pound)
2 medium eating apples, peeled and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1 cup soft bread crumbs (about 1 1/4 slices)
2 TBS butter melted

Cook the macaroni in lightly salted boiling water until done, according to the packet directions. Drain well, rinse with cold water and drain again. Set aside until needed.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ Gas mark 4. Melt the 1/4 cup of butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute over low heat. Blend in the mustard, salt, pepper and sugar. In the meantime bring the milk just to the boil. (Just until bubbles appear around the edges) Slowly whisk the heated milk into the flour mixture, cooking and stirring it until thickened, smooth and bubbly. Stir in the cooked macaroni, ham and apple slices. Turn into a greased 2 litre casserole dish.

Toss the bread crumbs with the 2 TBS butter and sprinkle evenly over top of the casserole. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned on top.




*Boxing Day Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

100g bag of baby leaf salad greens (about 4 cups)
1 head of red chicory
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
100g of cooked turkey (1/4 pound)
100g of cooked ham (1/4 pound)
50g chopped toasted walnut pieces (1/4 cup)
2 ounces stilton cheese, crumbled
4 TBS reduced fat caesar salad dressing

Place the salad greens in a large shallow bowl. Break up the red chicory leaves and toss into the bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil Tear the turkey and ham into bits with two forks. combine in a bowl along with the walnut pieces and stilton cheese. Add the salad dressing and mix to combine. Pile this mixture on top of the salad leaves and serve.

It's delicious chopped and mixed with grated cheese and then stuffed into a nice big fluffy baked potato.

Turkey Leftovers:



Of course you can have a plain old turkey sandwich, but why not dress it up a bit and serve it open faced on a rustic piece of bread, topped with some leftover cranberry sauce, some of the leftover stuffing heated and crumbled on top of the cranberry, then the heated sliced turkey and some heated leftover gravy ladled over top. Delicious with a few sliced pickles and some potato crisps on the side!

My mom always made Turkey Pot pies, or Beef Pot pies. We loved them! You can follow the roughly outlined recipe below, which is only a rough guideline of what to do. You can adapt it to whatever it is you have in your fridge. If you are using beef, then use the leftover beef gravy of course!



*Turkey Pot Pie*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

2 mugs full of leftover turkey, chopped
2 mugs full of leftover cooked vegetables, chopped
(peas, carrots, corn) If you haven't got any, then you can
use 2 mugs of frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
a handful of roasted potatoes, chopped
1 mug full of leftover turkey gravy
1 mug full of milk
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 tsp summer savoury
salt and black pepper to taste
Pastry to cover
milk and beaten egg yolk

Mix together all the ingredients except for the pastry in a large bowl, seasoning to taste with salt and black pepper. Spread into a large round, or oval shallow casserole dish. Roll out your pastry to cover and place over top, venting to allow steam to escape. Brush with a bit of milk and beaten egg yolk. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes in an oven which has been preheated to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Serve warm.

I think one of the most popular things to do over here in the UK with the leftover turkey is to make a Turkey Curry, but how about Coronation Turkey Salad! Yummo!!

*Coronation Turkey*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 TBS vegetable oil
1 TBS curry powder
1/2 tsp each ground cumin, ground coriander and ground turmeric
125ml of coconut milk (1/2 cup)
125ml of chicken stock (1/2 cup)
200g of mayonnaise (about 1 cup)
425g of leftover turkey (1 pound)
2 TBS dessicated coconut, toasted in a dry pan until golden brown, then cooled
fresh coriander leaves to garnisn (optional)

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil, until lightly browned. Mix in the spices and let them sizzle for about a minute. Add the coconut milk and chicken stock. Let simmer for about 20 minutes over low heat until the mixture has reduced and you have a thick, creamy, spicy onion mixture in the pan. Allow to cool completely. Whisk in the mayonnaise. Cut the leftover turkey into cubes and place in a large bowl. Pour the curry mayonnaise over top and toss to mix. Sprinkle with the toasted coconut, and garnish with a few torn coriander leaves.

Serve with warmed Chapattis, sliced tomatoes, sliced onion and torn lettuce.   

This recipe below calls for leftover cooked chicken and stuffing, but it is equally as good with leftover turkey!

   


*Chicken and Stuffing Pie*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This may not look like much, but this is absolutly delicious!

2 celery ribs, trimmed and chopped
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 TBS butter
8 ounces stuffing crumbs, or crushed croutons (2 cups)
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp marjoram
pinch ground nutmeg
1 TBS parsley flakes
salt and black pepper to taste
1 large free range egg, beaten
375ml of warm chicken broth (1 1/2 cups)
2 cups of chopped cooked chicken
To serve:
Creamed peas and carrots (optional)

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the onion and celery. Saute without colouring until soft, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 inch pie dish. Set aside.

Tip the bread crumbs into a bowl along with the sage, thyme, marjoram, nutmeg and parsley flakes. Mix together well. Stir in the broth, beaten egg and sauteed vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the chicken. Mix well. Spread this mixture into the buttered pie dish.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until set and lightly browned.

Serve cut into wedges along with some creamed peas and carrots spooned over top if desired. A tossed salad goes very well with this. 

   


*Creamed Peas and Carrots*
Serves 4
Printable recipe

Delicous served over crackers, biscuits, toast, fish cakes or my tasty Chicken Stuffing Pie.

2 TBS butter
2 TBS plain flour
1 pint of milk
salt and pepper to taste
cooked peas and carrots to taste
(I like a larger ratio of sauce to veg, but some people like more veg than sauce)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Slowly whisk in the milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened. Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for about five minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the vegetables and heat through. 



Deliciously different Barbequed Turkey Pizza, with a tangy barbeque cranberry sauced base!  


 


*Barbequed Turkey Pizza*
Makes 1 (12 inch) pizza
Printable Recipe

A delicious pizza that is perfect for using up some more of that leftover Christmas Turkey!


For the dough:
250ml warm water ( 1 cup)
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast
13 ounced white bread flour ( 3 cups)

For the caramelized onions:
2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
a glug of olive oil
seasalt and freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS balsamic vinegar

For the sauce:
4 fluid ounces of barbeque sauce
a dessertspoon of whole berry cranberry sauce

To Top:
8 ounces cubed cooked turkey breast (1/2 pound)
8 ounces mixed grated cheeses (mozzarella, gouda and cheddar)
2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

 

Put the dough ingredients into your automatic breadmaker according to the directions for your particular breadmaker, following the dough cycle. In the meantime heat a bit of oil in a frying pan. Add the onions. Cook and stir over medium heat until they begin to wilt. Add some seasoning and the balsamic vinegar. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally until golden and caramelized. Set aside to cool.

Once the dough cycle has completed on your machine, remove the dogh and punch down. Let rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough out to fit into your pizza pan leaving a bit of an overhang. Butter the pan with some white vegetable shortening. Sprinkle with some fine polenta or cornmeal if desired. Place the crust in the pan, and fold the edge over to make a lip. Stir together the barbecue sauce and cranberry sauce. Spread over the top of the crust. Top with the caramelized onions and chopped turkey breast. Sprinkle with the cheeses and Parmesan.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 5. Bake the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven for about 15 minutes, then move it to the top rack and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. remove from the oven and allow to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.

Optional Topping additions:
Slivered green peppers
sweetcorn kernels
sliced mushrooms
chopped roasted green chillies 

Leftover Roast Beef??  

A tasty Cottage Pie with a Potato and Parsnip Mash Topping fits the bill perfectly!  


 

*Cottage Pie with Potato and Parsnip Mash Topping*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is a delicious way of using up some of the leftovers from your Sunday Lunch. You can make this with fresh ground beef of course, but we love it made with chopped leftover roast beef. I also like to use any leftover cooked vegetables in the filling as well. Usually it's just peas and carrots, but sometimes there is some swede as well. Just make sure you chop your cooked carrots and or swede into roughly the same size as the peas. French beans chopped are also nice. You can use leftover gravy if you wish, but I normally don't have any leftover so have made my own sauce.

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 large parsnips, peeled and cut into coins
1 spring of thyme
a knob of butter and a splash of milk
salt and pepper to taste
For the filling:
2 cups chopped leftover cooked roast beef
1 cup leftover cooked vegetables, chopped into small bits
2 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 TBS plain flour
4 cups boiling water
3 to 4 beef bouillion cubes
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 heaped dessert spoon of tomato ketchup
1 TBS horseradish sauce
Salt and black pepper to taste 

 

Place the potatoes, parsnips and thyme into a saucepan of slightly salted water. Bring to the boil. Cook until the potatoes are soft, then drain well, discarding the stem from the thyme. Mash well, adding a knob of butter and some milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Place the leftover roast and onions in a large skillet, with any beef drippings that you may have. If not you may need to use a bit of oil. Cook and stir until the onions are softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute or so until fragrant. Sprinkle with the flour and stir it in. Stir in the boiling water until the sauce thickens. Crumble the bouillion cubes in, stirring until they are completely melted. You may need the full 4 depending on how much of a beefy flavour you want. Stir in the worcestershire sauce, ketchup and horseradish sauce. Mix all in well. Season to taste with some salt and pepper. Pour this mixture into a shallow baking dish.

Spoon the parsnip mash over top in a rustic manner.

Bang into a pre-heated 200*C/400*F oven and bake until the filling is bubbling and the mash is beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes or so before serving. Delicious!





Leftover Vegetables:

We can't be forgetting the leftover Christmas Veg!! I know we all buy in far more than we need, and then end up with it hanging about the fridge. Here's a few different recipes for some dishes using some of that leftover veg so it doesn't get all wilted and go to waste!

*Spicy Parsnip and Sprout Hash*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

800g of parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks (1 1/2 pounds)
300g of brussels sprouts, peeled and finely shredded (1/2 pound)
a large handful of frozen peas
the juice of 1/2 lemon
50g of butter (1/4 cup)
1 TBS cumin seeds
1 TBS garam masala
1 red chili, deseeded and chopped
1 bunch of coriander, chopped (reserve a few leaves to garnish)
salt

Place the parsnips in a pan of cold water to cover. Add a pinch of turmeric and salt and bring to the boil. cook for 12 minutes. While the parsnips are cooking, blanch the sprouts in another pan of boiling water for about 3 minutes, until tender, adding the peas for the final minute. Drain all the vegetables well. Tip the drained parsnips back into the pan along with the lemon juice and half the butter. Mash roughly. Beat in the cooked sprouts, peas, cumin, garam masala, chili and coriander. Season to taste with some salt.

Heat the remaining butter in a medium sized non-stick skillet. When it begins to sizzle, tip in the parsnip mixture, pressing it down to form a flat cake. Cook, until it is browned underneat. Turn over carefully with a fish slice. (It may break up but that's ok) Continue cooking until crisp on this side as well. Keep flipping and turning until you have a nicely crisped cake. Slice out onto a heated plate. Garnish with the coriander leaves. Cut into wedges to serve.

*Roast Vegetables with Stilton and Chestnuts*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

3 TBS French Walnut oil
4 large parsnips, peeled and quartered lengthwise
4 large red potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into 6 wedges
4 large carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
2 large onions, peeled and cut into wedges
200g pack of peeled and ready to use chestnuts (1 cup)
(roughly chop)
the juice of one lime
sea sald and freshly ground black pepper
200g Creamy Blue Stilton cheese, crumbled (1/4 pound)

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark6. Place 2 TBS of the oil in a large roasting tin and heat in the oven for 5 minutes. Toss iin the prepared vegetables, giving them a stir to coat with the oil. Roast for one hour until tender, turning occasionally.Mix in the chopped chestnuts and cook for a further 10 minutes. Whisk together the lime juice, remaining TBS of oil and a bit of seasoning. Divide the roasted vegetables between 4 heated serving plates. Scatter with the crumbled stilton and drizzle with the lime dressing. Serve immediately.


Leftover mincemeat and cranberries??? 

 Why not a delicious Spicy Cranberry, Mincemeat and Almond Eve's Pudding!



Spicy Cranberry, Mincemeat and Almond Eve's Pudding*
Serves 4 to 6 depending on appetites
Printable Recipe

The perfect way to use up that half eaten jar of mincemeat lanquishing in the back of your refrigerator!

1 large cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
2 TBS water
200g of mincemeat (a generous cup)
100g of cranberries, frozen or fresh (1 cup)
100g of butter (7/8 cup)
100g of golden caster sugar (1/2 cup)
2 large eggs, beaten
75g of self raising flour (2/3 cup)
25g of ground almonds (1/3 cup)
a small handful of flaked toasted almonds

Cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have ready a shallow 11 by 7 baking dish. Set aside.

Place the apple in a pot with the water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer, cover and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the mincemeat and cranberries. Pour into the baking dish, leveling out.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift in the flour and stir in along with the almonds. Spread this mixture over top of the fruit in the baking dish. Level off and then sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the topping is well risen and golden brown, and the fruit is bubbling beneath. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then, serve warm with some pouring cream. Delicious!

Leftover Christmas Pudding?

 How about a Christmas Pudding Trifle!



*Christmas Pudding Trifle*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious trifle which consists of a lovely rich custard baked over top of some crumbled Christmas pudding until wobbly. Chilled and then covered with amaretti biscuits, brandy cream, flaked almonds and silver balls, this is probably one of the nicest trifles I've ever eaten . . .

300ml of milk (1 1/4 cups)
200ml of double cream (3/4 cup whipping cream)
freshly grated nutmeg
6 large free range egg yolks
70g caster sugar (about 1/3 cup)
Leftover Christmas pudding (It's up to you how much)
12 crisp amaretti biscuits
150ml of double cream (about 2/3 cup), whipped lightly with a dash of brandy
1 TBS Toasted Flaked almonds
Silver balls

Preheat the oven to 110*C/225*F/ gas mark 1/4. Place 6 200ml containers on a baking tray. Crumble some Christmas Pudding into the bottom of each. You can use as much as you want. I crumbled about 1 TBS of the stuff into each container, so that it was about 1/2 inch deep. Set aside.

Heat the milk and double cream together, along with a grating of nutmeg, just to the boil. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale. Whisk in the heated milk mixture, whisking constantly. Strain this mixture into the prepared pots, dividing it equally amongst them. Grate a little more nutmeg on top. Bake in the heatred oven for 30 to 40 minutes, just until set. The centre should still have a slight wobble. Remove from the oven. Cool to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Just before serving, whip the cream softly along with a dash of brandy, or brandy flavouring. Crumble 2 amaretti biscuits over top of each pudding, then top with some whipped brandy cream. Sprinkle some toasted almonds and silver balls over top of each and serve.

These have to be my favourite Christmas Cookies of all time! Mind you, if there's jam involved in any way at all, be it cake, cookie, pie or sandwich . . . I'm one very happy camper!!



I have a thing about jam. I just love, Love, LOVE it!!




I got this recipe from a very old friend of mine quite a number of years ago. Mildy spiced, buttery and filled with ground hazelnuts, these are fabulously delicious!



You could dust them with icing sugar of course, which looks really nice also, but I like to use caster sugar . . . because I enjoy the extra texture . . . and the glittery finish it gives.



Buttery nutty and lightly spiced dough . . . sweet/tart raspberry jam. What's not to like? Well, you may have to bake them twice, coz . . . umm . . . if you are like me they kinda disappear before you know it, but what's a gal to do???

I can't help myself . . . Cookie + Jam = my only weakness. (Shhhhh . . . )



*Linzer Cookies*
Makes about 2 dozen
Printable Recipe

The quintessential Christmas Cookie. Tender sweet cookies filled with tart raspberry jam. Delicious!!

3 ounces (2/3 cup) hazelnuts
3.75 ounces (1/2 cup packed) light brown sugar
10 .75 ounces (2 1/2 cups) sifted plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 large free range egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces raspberry jam, seived
caster sugar for dusting


Preheat the oven to 180*C/ 350*F/ gas mark 4. Place the hazelnuts into a shallow baking pan and bake for about 6 minutes until the skins are beginning to loosen and the nuts are fragrant. Turn off the oven. Dump the hot nuts into a tea towel and rub with the towel to loosen as much of the skins as possible. Discard any skins. Place half the brown sugar and the nuts into a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely ground.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Cream together the butter and remaining brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the nut mixture and beat until well combined. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Work iin the flour mixture, just until combined. Divide the dough in half, shaping each half into a round flat disc. Wrap in cling film and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Heat the oven again to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark4. Roll out 1 disc of the dough to 1/8 inch thickness between two sheets of cling film. Cut out as many cookies as you can with a 2 1/4 inch fluted round cookie cutter. Repeat until all the dough has been cut out/ Using a smaller shaped cutter, cut shapes out of the centre of half of the rounds. Place one inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Dust the top halves with some caster sugar . (these are the ones with the centre cut out.) Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely before proceeding. Repeat until all the dough has been used up, only rerolling the scraps once. Discard any scraps after that.

Spread about 1 teaspoon of jam on the solid halves of the baked cookies. Top with the flat side of a windowed cookie. Repeat until all cookies are put together. Store between sheets of parchment paper in a tightly covered tin.

I think the British love sandwiches more than anyone else in the world.  Walk into any shop, and I do mean any . . . and you are sure to find a variety of them, ready made, wrapped and for sale to anyone who feels in the need for some potable and portable sustenance of the this kind.   AND, they come in varities which are suitable for any meal of the day . . . breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack!

 

I recently treated myself to Nigel Slater's latest cookbook, eat.  You all know how I love Nigel and his way of cooking and eating.  That man could make anything look and sound tasty and he is the master as creating delicious and fast food out of just about anything you can get your hands on.   He has one whole chapter in this book devoted to sandwiches and the like.  My kind of guy.  My kind of cooking.



One in particular intrigued me and set my tastebuds to tingling.  This was a sandwich he created using crusty bread, beef drippings and leftover roast from the sunday dinner.  Reading about it . . . made me want one, and reading about it . . . inspired me to create my own version.  I got to thinking hash . . . roast beef hash . . . in a bun.



And so that is what I did.  I made some hash using chopped potatoes, chopped onions, chopped cabbage and some of the leftover roast from yesterday's pot roast.   I seasoned it lightly with some salt and cracked black pepper . . .



Added a touch of herb . . . in the way of summer savoury, and a hint of snap by using some Worcestershire Sauce and a dash of brown sauce.  (steak sauce to you North Americans)  I cooked that all together until the potatoes and onions and cabbage were gilded with little caramelized edges, all golden brown and sweet . . . and the meat was falling apart once more . . .

 

And then I stogged it between two halves of a crisp warm ciabatta roll . . . the bottom spread with just a touch of creamed horseradish sauce . . . a slice of Leerdammer Toastie cheese layed on top of the hot hash, so it melted down into all those gilded crevices, and topped by that crisp  roll-top . . . all that goodness tucked into a tasty and lightly crisped ciabatta suitcase and just waiting for me to tuck in . . .



Good things happen when Nigel inspires me.   Tasty things.   Things I want to indluge in again, and again . . . and again.   I am never disappointed.




Heat the oil along with the butter in a large skillet.   Toss in the onions, cabbage and potatoes.   Cook stirring until they begin to turn golden brown.  Add about 2 TBS stock or hot water, a bit of seasoning, the Worcestershire sauce, brown sauce, summer savory,  and the garlic.  Turn the heat to very low, pop a lid on and cook for about 15 minutes, checking every so often to make sure they don't catch.  At the end of that time they should be knife tender.  Uncover and toss in the beef.  Cook and stir over medium heat, frequently turning it over until the meat is heated through and all is golden brown.   Taste and adjust seasoning as required.   While you are doing this, pop the ciabatta into a hot oven to heat through.


To serve, slice each ciabatta roll in half.  Spread the bottoms with some horseradish sauce (if desired) and then pile an equal amount of the hot hash on top.  Top each with a slice of toastie cheese and then the top of the rolls.  Serve immediately.  Pass the brown sauce or ketchup if desired.

Alternately you can layer this in a nice shallow bowl for dipping or spreading on crackers, leaving out the appetizer cups.



They also have a line of veggie pastry cups. These ones were shaped like little flower baskets and were a lovely pink/red colour.  Again there was no real jarring flavour from the cups.  They went very well with the pizza type filling I created for them.

Pidy’s newest retail range the Veggie cups are available in four flavours beetroot, carrot, spinach and celeriac and come in packs of 12. The four flavours capture the true nature, colour and essence of the vegetables as they are made with 30% real vegetable juice extract and no E numbers or artificial colours. The canapés are also made with Pâté à Foncer dough which is lighter and contains 50% less fat than standard pastry.

Again, they were very crisp and the shape and color made for a very pretty little presentation.

 


Alternately this can be spread into a shallow dish and layered like a dip and served with crisp bread sticks or crackers.  I would double the amounts in this case.



Finally I was sent these Vol-au-Vents Pastries.  Crisp puff pastry shells, perfectly baked and waiting for me to fill them with my chosen filling.   These were the perfect size for a first course and so I created a tasty spinach, cranberry, red onion and blue cheese filling to serve in them. 

 


Melt the butter in a large skillet.  Add the red onions and cook, stirring over medium heat until softened.  Begin adding the spinach a handful at a time, cooking just to wilt.  Stir in the dried cranberries and heat through.  Season to taste with salt and coarsely ground black pepper.  Divide the mixture equally amongst the pastry cups.  Top each with an equal portion of the blue cheese crumbles.  Pop into the oven to heat through and melt the cheese.  Serve immediately.



Pidy manufacture a huge variety of products, including savoury pastries for main course, sweet pastry cases, dessert products, canapés and ready to fill pastries. For further details go to their website or follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

You can buy these fab products on Amazon.uk as well as in select farm and garden shops throughout the UK.

I have always been a fan of Leerdammer cheese.   Sweet and nutty it's long been a choice of  mine for in salads and sandwiches . . . and yes, I confess, I have even been known to just snack on it neat . . . without anything else.  It just has a nice mellow flavour which I enjoy.  That's why when I was recently asked would I like to participate in the Leerdammer Toastie Challenge, I jumped at the chance!

 

I was sent several packs of the new Leerdammer Toastie cheese and challenged to come up with a new toastie sandwich.   This new Toastie cheese is creamier than the original and comes in a new square shape, the perfect size for fitting into a toastie.  The original sweet and nutty flavours remain!



First I played with it a bit, creating a panini pressed sandwich, which had several slices of the leerdammer toastie slices, along with some sliced Italian ham, some grainy mustard and a pickled red onion relish, and whilst it was good . . . I felt it was lacking in some way.  It wasn't quite pushing all of my taste buttons and so I went back to the drawing board.



I decided to stick with the panini bun because I like their texture . . . crisp and yet chewy.   I love a toasted panini, don't you?



Something smokey goes really well with the sweet and nutty flavour of Leerdammer cheese, but the ham wasn't quite doing it so I scrapped that as well and decided to go with something a bit smokier and a tad sweet . . . rich dry cured smoked streaky bacon.   Cooked until crisp . . . 4 rashers because I am greedy that way.



I liked the idea of the pickled onions, but they were too sharp I thought and so I decided to replace them with a really good red onion marmalade.  I had a jar of this particular brand in my larder just waiting to be opened and this is what I chose, but you could use another brand if you wanted to, or even make your own from scratch.   There is a lovely recipe on the BBC Good Food page.



The red onion marmalade added just the right touch.  It is sweet, but not cloyingly so . . . there is just a small hint of sour and a smack of spiciness that goes so well with the bacon and that creamy sweet nutty cheese . . .



So . . . with each bite you get the crisp chewy panini bread . . . buttery (or if you really feel hedonistic, you can pan grill it in the bacon fat from cooking the bacon.  mmmm . . . I was and I did.), the sharp sweetness from that lovely red onion marmalade, the crisp smoky saltiness of that lovely bacon  . . .  all intermingled with that oozingly rich sweet and nutty Leerdammer!



In short, this was a toastie that rang all my bells and tooted all my whistles!  This was a winner/winner toastie dinner!  I just adored it, and I think you will too!  To me, this is the perfect Toastie!  Oh so incredibly scrumdiddlyumptiously good.  The perfectly tasty toastie!



First cook the bacon.  Place it into a cold nonstick skillet and cook according to your preference.  I like mine just a tad crispy, but still a bit flimsy.  Others may want their totally crisped.   Once cooked, drain well on paper towels.  Spread the bottom slice of the panini bun with the onion marmalade.  Top with one slice of Leerdammer, cut into halves diagonally and placed slightly overlapping over the onion marmalade.  Top with the cooked bacon and then top the bacon with another slice of the Leerdammer, again cut into halve diagonally and placed slightly overlapping.  Place the top half of the panini bun over all.   Lightly butter both sides of the panini.  Heat a clean skillet (or a panini press) to medium high.  Add the panini, top side down first.   Grill for  several minutes until just toasted.  Flip the panini over so that the top is upright and continue to toast in the pan until the bottom is golden brown and the cheese has melted and is all gooey.   Remove from the pan and cut into half diagonally to enjoy.   Delicious!



Don't be surprised if you are addicted at first bite!  Many thanks to the Leerdammer people for sending me this wonderful toastie cheese and inspiring me to stretch my creative toastie wings!

Leerdammer Toastie is the latest addition to the Leerdammer range, which also included the original and light slices, as well as the original block.  Leerdammer Toastie is now available nationwide in Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Asda, prices at a RRP of £1.75 for a pack of six slices.