Weird & Wonderful Wednesday

Will this be a weekly feature?  Maybe.  But probably not.  I didn't even post once last week so that tells ya a lot.  Will it be weird, yet wonderful?  I think so.  Is it Wednesday - for most of the world, it is.

I wrote about these fantastic roasted potatoes a couple of weeks ago and had some leftover which inspired my wacky creation.  However, in the interest of food safety, I must be clear that these posts (though I would like to be more up to date) are not in real time.  I ate the potatoes the day after making them, not a week and a half later.  Though I'm sure a few days old wouldn't hurt.  As my mom used to tell me when I frantically called her with food age questions, "Is it green (and shouldn't be)?  Does it smell bad? Then I'm sure it's fine."  Those are definitely words to live by when cleaning out the fridge for weird and wonderful leftover meals.

Here's what I made:

I quickly fried up the potatoes and reheated some spaghetti sauce and then layered everything together (a little sideways so the potatoes didn't get soggy from the sauce) : potatoes, spinach, sauce and crumbled goat's cheese on top.  It was delicious.  I'm not sure I'd purposely set out to make this from scratch but the next time I have these items in my fridge I will give it another go.  All things I love in one bowl (not the spinach - that was for a bit of greenery - I don't dislike it but I wouldn't say I loooooove it).

Tell me - what's your weird and wonderful creation?  It doesn't have to be made on a Wednesday (this wasn't).  Something you thought might be hit or miss but was a straight up hit from the start...

Cheap as Chips

"Potatoes are cheap as chips", a friend once said.  Well, yes, for obvious reasons.  As children we were raised on the potato staple.  How else was my mother to feed 4 children with hollow legs on a budget?  Potatoes can be used in such a variety of ways; just yesterday I watched a television chef make a creamy white sauce from leftover mashed potatoes.

I will eat potatoes in any form but I have to admit, I sometimes will make chips or roasted potatoes purely to have a little a lot of ketchup go along side them.  My dad used to ask me if I wanted some fries with my ketchup.  I still like ketchup and I'm not afraid to say it!

These potatoes are great whether you're a ketchup lover or not.  It's an adaptation of my mom's recipe; something she made a lot for us as children.  All you do is chop your potatoes into small cubes (about an inch or so in diameter), place them in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with oregano and salt and pepper and pop them in the oven for about half an hour at 200°C or until golden and crispy.

Until recently, I thought my mom was the whizz in the kitchen - and then she watched me make mashed potatoes.  I cut all the potatoes into small chunks so they cooked faster and she was impressed; she'd always boiled them whole.  I'm so glad I can make my mother proud in the kitchen with the little things.

Christmas Dinner Leftovers

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas day celebration.  Ours was quiet but filled with wonderful food, flowing drink and lots of puppy cuddles (we still had one left on Christmas day but we are now a two dog family).  And Santa stopped by too!

Chances are, like me, you have a fridge full of turkey dinner leftovers.  I love leftovers.  I'm sure I have mentioned this before.  I'm pretty sure I cook purely to have leftovers.  We toyed with the idea of an M&S Christmas dinner since there would only be three of us and it would take all the of stress out of Christmas day as all that needs to be done is a little maths to know when to put things in the oven and when to take them out (so only a little stressful - I hate maths).  All the trays and tins can be thrown away and there's very little cleanup.  But the downfall - no leftovers.  It's nice to just pile up a plate with last night's dinner but what I really like to do it create an entirely new dish.  Nothing fancy - just something a little different than the day before. 

Sometimes I wonder if I'm blogging about something too simple - not interweb worthy (though there is A LOT of stuff out there that isn't quite web worthy so...) but if someone hadn't shown me then I couldn't show you.  My roommate at university introduced me to this fine mashed potato delight.  This is a perfect midnight snack. All that is required is leftover mash, a chopped onion and some grated cheese.  Then just fry the onion until browned, add the mash and fry that too until it gets brown and crispy and finally stir in the cheese just before serving.  I douse it in ketchup.  Perfectly comforting.  Though it doesn't pose well for photographs.

 I also whipped up a little quiche when some friends stopped by for lunch today.  A little sceptical when I first saw this in a Morrison's free magazine about a year ago because one of the ingredients is frozen chips but I gave it a go and was glad I did.  Easy and delicious - my favourite combination.  I would have used leftover roast potatoes but I had those with breakfast yesterday - mmm hashbrowns.

So, just layer the bottom of a bread tin with frozen chips (or chopped roast potatoes), sprinkle some chopped ham on top (or bacon or sausage), add some grated cheese and top the whole thing off with a mixture of beaten eggs, cream and spinach.  I baked it for about a half an hour at 200 degrees Celsius - until the topped had puffed out and was golden brown.  I used a wax paper liner in the bread tin to be able to pull the quiche easily from the tin and I sliced it once cooled slightly.Went down a treat with my 1 year old goddaughter, who gobbled up two slices, and everyone else enjoyed it as well.   

You might be thinking, wow that picture is so clear and in focus and wondering if I've stolen it off the web or something (or not).  But it is and it's mine.  And it didn't require any strategic flashlighting.  A little hint to what Santa brought me for Christmas.  I'll recap our holly-days tomorrow; what we ate, drank and even a little impromptu Boxing day shopping.  I know you're dying to know!  For now I'll get back to taking pictures of "nothing" as the husband puts it.  And well, these two.

Lamb Leftovers

Last Sunday I made a roast dinner because I had bought a huge frozen leg of lamb and there were actually people here to eat it.  My brother was visiting before he heads off to France for the winter.  It was delicious but try as we might we were unable to finish it off.  And then he was gone and I was stuck with loads of leftovers. 

I didn't fancy eating the roast dinner as it was the night before so rummaging in my fridge I found some wraps (it's only a small fridge - there really wasn't that much rummaging to be done) and thought a lamb wrap of some type might be nice for lunch.  I took to Google for inspiration and realised I was missing a vital ingredient for a lamb wrap - tzatziki.  I had a looky loo to see how I might make my own - cucumber? check! (I actually had 2) Everything else?  Nope!  So I improvised.

 I had some sour cream (the base of tzatziki is supposed to be natural yogurt but hey, it's in the same food group) and herb and garlic cream cheese.  I stirred about 2 tbsp of each together until blended well and added finely chopped cucumber (about half).  I shredded some lettuce, thinly sliced some red onion and chili and then layered everything on the wrap, heating the lamb through while I fried the leftover roast potatoes to make hash browns.  Then I dug in!

It was delicious and super easy.  Sure, nothing probably beats the real thing but you gotta do what ya gotta do!  There was still some lamb left after this meal and I'll tell you all about that concoction in tomorrow's post.  Anyone else get creative with lamb leftovers or totally fudge a recipe by substituting pretty much every ingredient?  Do tell!

One Potato Two Potato

England gets a bad rap for its food.  But this isn't true.  Throughout this blog I will feature some fantastic English cuisine - I'm not promising "pretty, piled up on your plate in tower form" food but the stuff will taste gooood!  The food is here is very much traditional, simple, filling and comforting.  Over the years, I have had to replace many of my favorite comfort foods.  I think I took for granted what was available in Canada and this has resulted in a few friends and family members having to leave room in their suitcase to bring me a few of my favorites - Skor Chippits, Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup, KRAFT DINNER!! (Though I really only ever have that now for nostalgia sake)  Slowly I have found items to replace my loves and adopted new ones.

One of my not so new faves is the jacket potato.  I love any potato product really - mainly because I can put Ketchup on it.  Yes, and I'm not ashamed to say it, I looooove Ketchup.  I don't put it on everything, nothing you wouldn't ordinarily put ketchup on, mainly anything made with potato.  So before moving to England the only thing I had ever had on a BAKED potato back home was sour cream and chives, maybe some bacon bits.  I even did a little research to see if maybe I had lived in a baked potato bubble back home and the most daring filling I found was salsa, or if you really live on the edge - a mix of sour cream and salsa.  The jacket potato here is a meal plan staple and more than just a side dish.  There are so many different fillings that it can appeal to anyone.  And - its cheap as chips ;)  Super easy too.  Wrap your spud in foil and bake in the oven for 1-2 hours at about 200°C or 425°F.  Once its baked I cut it cross ways and push down on the corners to fluff it out but I have since read that there are many ways to slice a baked potato so as long as its sliced, it'll do.  The important part is the filling!  I happened upon my favorite filling by accident.  I was attending a conference (I know that sounds all businessy but it wasn't, it was a Girl Guide Leader conference - see I can't be businessy, I call it businessy!) and I was a bit shy (I know, hard to believe!) so I just ordered whatever the person in front of me did with an "I'll have what she's having".  I watched the woman behind the counter put a jacket potato on the plate and begin to load it with tuna mayo, baked beans (a staple in our house - and it's gotta be Heinz!), and finally some grated cheese.  I know what you're thinking because I thought it too "there's fish, fish on my potato" but it was DE-lish!  And so on Friday, when after a long day, I didn't feel like cooking this is what I rustled up. 

Best bit - The beans count as a vegetable so I have all the food groups in there!  You could add a side salad to fancy it up a bit and get a green leafy veg in there too.  I'm all about a balanced diet!

The possibilities are endless...
beans and cheese
any type of cheese including cream cheese or cottage cheese
tuna mayo and red onion
prawn and seafood sauce
chili, spaghetti sauce or curry (perfect use of leftovers)
coleslaw
egg mayo
ham, cheese and pineapple
sauteed mushrooms
chicken, pesto and melted cheese
chicken and bacon mixed with mayo
And the list goes on and on.

And it looks like the Jacket Potato is already making its way across the pond...

http://www.thestar.com/article/958910--bain-jacket-potato-required


If JP's are already a part of your meal plan, what's your fave filling? Or what's the strangest topping you've heard of?  How about a filling that didn't sound to appetising but once you tried it you were hooked?  If you haven't already had a JP, which one are you going to try?