BOXING CLEVER

How to use up leftovers according to the top chefs – three easy recipes

More creative ways to use up your turkey and dessert

Lynn Kernan

Published: 15:05, 25 Dec 2023

EVERYONE over-orders when it comes to Christmas food.

Whether you’re hosting for two or 22, there’s always heaps of leftovers clogging up the fridge come Boxing Day.

Celeb chef Jimmy Lee is among three chefs giving his ideal leftovers recipes

And there’s only so many turkey sandwiches one family can eat.

So we’ve spoken to some of the country’s best chefs to come up with some more creative ways to use up your turkey and dessert.

Here Jimmy Lee, Lucia Gregusova and Linsey, Gillian and Nichola Reith, otherwise known as Three Sisters Bake, give their best recipes for Boxing Day.

Turkey chow mein

Jimmy Lee's recipe uses up leftover turkey

CELEB chef Jimmy Lee, from Glasgow’s Lychee Oriental, is usually in the kitchen on Christmas day to his Boxing Day is the time to enjoy the season with his family.

He said: “On Boxing Day we usually soak up the festivities with the family by going Boxing Day shopping as I usually have to work on Christmas Day. Last year we were crazy enough to catch the Boxing Day sales in London by driving down after work on Christmas Day. The atmosphere in Oxford Street was electric.”

Here’s his recipe for leftover turkey on a bed of chow mein:

YOU NEED:

Leftover Turkey (sliced)

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½ tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon chicken stock powder

1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 Tablespoon light soy sauce

2 gloves crushed garlic

½ sliced onion

30g sliced carrots

2 tablespoon of potato starch

2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

Teaspoon sesame oil

4 tablespoon vegetable oil

200g blanched soft egg noodles

METHOD: Heat a wok up and add in 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add half a chopped onion and fry for one minute.

Add in blanched soft egg noodles and fry for 30 seconds before adding half the dark and light soy sauce and the chicken stock powder. Fry for a minute and serve on a plate.

Then fry the crushed garlic and turkey in two tablespoons of oil for 20 seconds. Add the carrots and fry for 30 seconds before adding 200ml water, the oyster sauce and the remaining soy sauce as well as the wine. Fry for 1 minute before adding the potato starch (mixed with 50ml water). Add the sesame oil before serving on the noodles.

Turkey pot pie

LUCIA Gregusova is executive chef at Duck & Waffle, in Edinburgh.

She says Boxing Day is a day for using up leftovers with some serious home comforts.

The cook added: “One thing you can almost always guarantee during the festive season is that there will be leftovers. Growing up in Slovakia and having lived in the USA and UK I’ve seen Christmas celebrated in many and enjoyed in many ways and we always have dishes left over.

Back in the US, I was always a huge fan of pot pie. It’s such a comforting dish, you get to use up all your leftovers and it most certainly is a crowd pleaser.”

Here’s her recipe for turkey pot pie:

YOU NEED:

75g butter

200g sliced leeks

200g diced carrot

200g diced celery

2 cups of leftover gravy

1 cup of cooked diced new potato

2 cups of turkey

20g fresh thyme

half cup of brussels sprouts

Puff pastry

1 egg

METHOD: Melt the butter then sauté the leeks, carrots, and celery until translucent. Add the new potato with cooked

sprouts and gravy. Bring up to a boil and add your turkey and herbs. You are looking for a nice thick stew.

If your gravy is on the lighter side, consider adding a couple of tablespoons of flour when you melt the butter to create a roux.

Pour your pie filling into the casserole dish of your choice and cover with puff pastry - which can be bought ready rolled. Seal on the edges and wash with an egg. Cut a small incision in a pastry for steam to escape and bake for 30-35 min until the crust is golden brown. I always keep an extra jar of cranberry sauce to serve on the side.

Panettone bread and butter pudding

This pud is ideal for using up leftover panettone

SIBLINGS Linsey, Gillian and Nichola Reith make up Three Sisters Bake, which they run near Glasgow.

It’s not just the savoury leftovers that need eaten up come Boxing Day.

And they have a brilliant recipe to use up panettone, whether it’s been given as a gift or bought to enjoy at Christmas.

Here’s their recipe for panettone bread and butter pudding:

YOU NEED:

50g butter, softened

250g panettone (can use fruit or chocolate panettone)

2 eggs

150ml carton double cream

220ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

30g caster sugar

METHOD: Heat the oven to 160C and grease a medium sized baking dish with a little of the butter.

Cut the panettone into chunky slices and butter them lightly with the rest of the butter. Cut the slices in half and arrange them in the dish, buttered side up.