Buying too much food at Christmas time is as much a tradition as the putting up the tree. After all we never know who might drop by unexpectedly and how many extra mouths we’ll have to feed. Most often though we are left with an excess of Christmas treats that we rarely eat at other times of year. So here are some ideas to make the most of them.
Christmas pudding cocktail
You may not be able to manage another morsel of heavy Christmas pud, but what about drinking it. Yes, tis the season to drink cocktails and what better festive choice than a Christmas pudding cocktail. Sounds strange, I know, but stick with me on this one. The leftover Christmas pudding is first made into syrup by mixing with sugar, water and cinnamon and bringing to the boil. The syrup is then added to a brandy, whiskey or sloe gin based cocktail – basically any spirit you would use in a Christmas pudding. Lime juice and ginger beer work well for a non-alcoholic version. BBC good food has full recipes and other tasty ideas for using up the left over pud. Just remember, be creative about how you serve this too – a glass is so ‘last year’!
Sherry sauce
While we are on the subject of drink, sherry is one of those beverages that we often buy at Christmas and end up throwing away in January. Sherry is a fortified wine, which means that it is longer lasting, but not usually much more than a few weeks. Still that is more than enough time to enjoy its flavour in a whole host of dishes. We often think about sherry as added to trifle sponge, but you can use it in pan sauces to complement chicken, pork and fish in the same way you would any other wine. For an unusual twist to warm a winter evening try the kitchn blog’s sherry-garlic soup with smoked paprika
Nuts
Nuts are so versatile and nutritious, but once we’ve cracked open a few with our guests we often end up throwing the rest of the bowl in the bin. This is such a shame when they could so easily be used in a whole host of sweet and savoury dishes, from cakes and breads to salads and coleslaws. Or, for something a bit more substantial Jamie Oliver has an incredible nut roast – yes, it’s so good he put the word ‘incredible’ in its name.
Satsumas
Not much tastes better than a sweet satsuma, but sometimes you just can’t eat the whole bag. Depending on many you have left you could make marmalade or juice. But if you’re looking for an unusual cake for your New Year celebrations this satsuma layer cake from food blog, food loves writing is a tasty treat and worth buying extra satsumas just so that there are leftovers to make it. They are an amazing decoration too. Fill a tall storm jar with satsumas and surround with simple white tea lights for a gorgeous table decoration. We’ve used satsumas mixed with apples, pomegranites, cinnamon sticks, cloves, frosted twigs and pea lights as a long, and aromatic, table decoration.
Christmas ham
A full cooked ham is one of the delights of Christmas fare and an amazing centrepiece to any festive table, but it’s often only once we’ve cooked it that we realise just how much of it there is. If stored correctly ham should keep for a couple of weeks, and up to a month if frozen. Sandwiches are the obvious choice, but you can use the ham in pasta, salads, pies, quiche, omelettes and soup. And if you follow the recipes at website allrecipes over the festive season you need never eat ham the same way twice.