Welcome to my Busy Girls Cooking Guide. The first entry is leftovers and luckily for me I've had the last couple of weeks off for the holidays, so I've had much more time to cook the way that I would love to on a regular basis. But my basic premise for this blog is to share the kinds of meals I come up with considering my busy schedule. I'm a mother, a wife and I work full time as an academic counsellor at the University. A very busy and sometimes draining job, which I also love. So here we go.
This year I had my family over for christmas, the in-laws and my mother and step-father. It was relatively successful. My mother only raised my eyebrows once, but that is another entry for another time.
The food was a hit, I made a great turkey and no I did not brine it, I cooked it the old fashioned way, lots of butter and salt and pepper rubbed onto and under the skin. The day before I had made a rosemary encrusted standing rib roast, so we also had cold roast for those who don't love turkey. Sides included bread stuffing, green beans with shallots, garlic mashed potatoes, brussels in maple syrup, roasted tomatoes with stilton cheese and watercress and of course orange zest cranberry sauce. Delicious!
Lots of food and lots of leftovers! Now what to do with them all... below are a few of the recipes I came up with, mostly classics, but they have created some great frozen meals for when I go back to work next week.
Both soup recipes below are not quick and do take some time, however they both create enough to freeze at least 2 or more meals, a quick supper in a pinch.
Roasted Tomato, Watercress and Stilton omelette:
Used the leftover roasted tomato salad in an omelette and served with toasted baguette. Perfect combo, I would use this for a brunch recipe again. Roasting the tomatoes is what takes the time, about 5-6 Roma toms. cut in half with the seeds and pulp removed, turn upside down and let drain about 15 mins., put on a cookie sheet cut side down and sprinkle with salt and olive oil, bake in an 325 degree oven for about 45-60 minutes.
Turkey Soup:
Stock:
-Turkey bones/ and most of the dark meat still attached
-2-3 Celery Stalks roughly chopped
-1 onion chopped (skins can be left on)
-2 cloves garlic crushed just to expose the inside (skins can be left on)
-2 bay leaves
-1/2 a bunch of fresh parsley
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-1 Lemon cut in half
-Water to just cover turkey (about 10-12 cups)
Any other herbs you wish to flavour your soup
Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 2-3 hours, drain off the liquid into a separate bowl, let cool. Separate the meat from the bone and set aside, green bin the remaining ingredients.
Soup:
Heat a tablespoon of Olive oil and add a med. onion, chopped celery(2 stalks), carrots chopped(2 large), and saute for 5-7 minutes just until onion is soft. Add turkey meat, and then stock, and if needed some additional salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour. I add about 1/2 cup of rice at the 1/2 hour mark, but you can also add noodles if you prefer. Serve with fresh parsley on top and some baguette or crackers
Beef and Wild Rice Soup
Stock:
Leftover beef bones and some meat (from a standing rib roast)
1/2 onion
1 stalk celery
2 tsp thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
enough water to cover everything (about 6-8 cups)
Bring to a boil and simmer the same amount of time as the turkey stock. Follow the same procedures of removing the meat from the other ingredients and setting aside, skim the stock of most of the fat that will float to the top once cooled.
Soup:
Add olive oil, carrots (2 large) and 1 clove of garlic to the pot, saute about 5 mins. Add meat and stock and bring to a boil simmer for 1 hour, I add the wild rice right at the beginning of the simmer because it takes so long to cook. Add any additional salt and pepper to taste, I also add about 1/2 cup of red wine and some worchester sauce. Serve with a very crusty bread and butter.
Enjoy!
I will soon return with much quicker delicious recipes.
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