Day 363 – the day before…..
Thursday 29th December 2011.
Today I cleaned up the desk at work, emptied my in-box, and then headed home to do my packing. However I am easily distracted, and between finishing the post for Turtlewings, catching up with a quick G&T and a chat with Jules, and preparing dinner from leftovers, the evening suddenly disappeared.
Heading off for bed around 11, I realized Hubbie had already taken care of himself and the kids (yippee!) which just left me with a collection of my skiwear he had found in various parts of the house (in varying sizes!), left as usual on my side of the bed. This is a ploy on his part to try to get me to pack before bed. It never works, I slide it off to the floor, and snuggle down for a good nights sleep. I hear groans of annoyance when he finally comes down, but I feign fast asleep. Tomorrow is another day……
btw in case you’re interested, here are the leftover recipes which I cooked up tonight….
Broccoli and Stilton soup
Ingredients
-
- 350g/12oz broccoli, florets and stalks cut into small pieces
- 400ml/14fl oz vegetable stock (I used turkey stock as I had cooked up the turkey bones after the weekend)
- 25g/1oz butter
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced (I used one large normal onion)
- 50g/1¾oz Stilton, crumbled, or to taste (I doubled this to 100g)
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- For the croûtons
-
- 4 slices French bread
- 100g/3½oz Stilton, sliced
Directions
- Heat a frying pan until hot then add the butter. When it starts to foam, add the onions and cook for one minute.
- Add the chopped broccoli florets and toss for one minute, then add the stock and heat under the florets are cooked.
- Transfer the cooked broccoli and stock to a food processor. Add the fried spring onions, Stilton and cream and blend until smooth.
- Transfer the blended mixture to a pan and bring gently to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, for the croûtons, toast the French bread under a grill until golden-brown on each side.
- Top the grilled bread with the slices of Stilton and return to the grill until golden-brown and bubbling.
- Season the soup with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
- Divide the soup equally among four warm bowls and top each with a Stilton croûton. Serve.
via BBC – Food – Recipes : Broccoli and Stilton soup with Stilton croûtons.
Turkey curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 25g/1oz unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 2.5cm/1in knob of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
- 8 green cardamom pods, slightly crushed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cut into cubes (I used pumpkin – again left over in my veg rack!)
- 570ml/1pt chicken or turkey stock
- 125ml/4fl oz yoghurt
- 85ml/3fl oz double cream
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 6 large handfuls roast turkey, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Directions
- Heat the oil and butter in a large non-stick casserole pot.
- Add the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the garlic, ginger, chilli, cardamom, cumin, turmeric, garam masala and ground coriander. Cook over a medium heat until the onion is soft, being careful not to burn the spices.
- Add the potatoes and butternut squash/pumpkin and cook until the potato begins to stick to the bottom of the pan slightly.
- Add the stock and bring to the boil. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes and butternut squash are tender.
- Stir in the yoghurt and cream, then add the lemon juice.
- Add the cooked turkey, fold in and simmer to heat through.
- Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve immediately.
via BBC – Food – Recipes : Turkey curry.
and my very own, dreamt up as I opened the fridge…..
Cranberry and Meringue Mess
This was a huge hit and so easy! I just used the leftover fresh Cranberry sauce that Jules had made last weekend, meringues crushed, ice cream, and the left over clotted cream/brandy cream.
Delicious!
Now you can understand why I wasn’t in the mood to pack, just to curl up and fall asleep!
Sweet Dreams!
Related articles (on cheese!)
- Broccoli and stilton soup (shewolfinthevalley.wordpress.com)
- Leftovers Lunches, Brussel Sprout & Bacon Gnocchi and Spinach & Stilton Soup (girlinterruptedeating.wordpress.com)
- Smoky Roasted Cauliflower Soup (frshforce.wordpress.com)
- Stilton is on a roll once more (thesun.co.uk)
- Broccoli-Cheddar Soup (thesmartcookiecook.com)
- New gold Stilton retails at £60 a slice (independent.co.uk)
- Cheese lovers in Stilton celebrate after ban on them producing their famous product is lifted (but it has to be called something else) (dailymail.co.uk)
- Cranberry-Pecan Cream Cheese Spread and Turkey-Cranberry Sandwich (nancycreative.com)
- The Cheese Goddess Brings You The Christmas Eve Cheese Board (thecheeseandmouse.wordpress.com)
- Cooking With Gizzi Erskine: Stilton Burger (thepulsemagazine.onsugar.com)
Life with Lizzi 