Tortilla Bake

 
We love to eat fajitas. I buy the tortillas and the fajita spice mix and sometimes also the box of Nachos with their sachets of topping.  Sometimes I buy the salsa, sometimes  I make it, but I always make my own guacamole and have little bowls of sour cream, roasted peppers, cheese, salad and kidney beans.

When my sons were still at home it was their favourite meal and there were never any leftovers.  But now there are fewer of us, so last night there were three tortillas left, enough chicken for one and a few bits and pieces in each of the other bowls.  Just about enough for one person's lunch but not really enough for a meal.

As I am not really baking just now, all the bakeware having been packed away for the kitchen work, I have a bit of an overload of eggs.  We get our eggs from a colleague of my husband's and half a dozen beautiful free range eggs arrive every Monday.  Usually I've used them all before the next delivery but they are starting to stack up.  So eggs seemed like a good way to go with my recipe development!



Tortilla Bake (serves 2-3)

2-3 Tortillas
1-2 tbsp kidney beans
1 tbsp soured cream
1 -2 tbsp tomato salsa
1-2 tbsp roasted sweet peppers
1-2 tbsp  chicken cooked in fajita spice mix
1-2 tbsp guacamole
150g hard cheese (cheddar)
4 eggs
100ml semi skimmed milk
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Grease a round pie dish with butter or oil.  Lay one torilla in the base, add the cooked chicken, place another tortilla on top and cover with the beans, cream, salsa, chicken and guacamole.  Place the final tortilla over this. (If you only have two just make a big sandwich).
2. Beat the eggs and milk together in a bowl, season and pour over the tortilla layers.
3. Cover with foil and leave to rest in the fridge for 2-3 hours to let the egg mix soak in.
4. Heat the oven to 180C
5. Grate the the cheese over the top of the tortillas.
6. Replace the foil and bake for 20 minutes until the egg is almost set.
7. Increase the oven temperature to 220C
8. Remove the foil and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the cheese is browned and melted.
9. Serve cut into wedges with salad or vegetables.






Tea Time Treats is a blog challenge run by my friend Karen at Lavender and Lovage, this month it is being hosted by Jane at Hedgecombers and the Tea Time theme is 'EGGS'.


This is a new challenge for me, I found it in the list on the Food Blog Diary.  Cheese is integral to the success of the Tortilla Bake and the theme for Cheese Please, this month, is Comfort Food and Winter Warmers, so I think this cheesy supper dish definitely fits the bill!

Labels: brunch, cheese, Cheese Please, Chicken, eggs, fajitas, leftovers, lunch, No Waste Food Challenge, supper, Tea Time Treats, tortilla

posted by Janice @ 07:30 12 Comments

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

After the excesses of Christmas and New Year feasting,  I really want to make and eat meals which are less rich.  So why don't you, I hear you say?  Because the fridge is still full of Christmas and New Year food and as I cannot bring myself to waste food, we are going to have to eat it all up!

This compulsion is generally kept under control by careful menu planning to ensure that there is only what is needed in the fridge and cupboards.  However, over the holiday season all this goes out the window and when I open the fridge I am staring at various half eaten packs of cheese, vacuum packed chestnuts and boxes of left over meats and vegetables which demand to be re-purposed into delicious thrifty meals.  Unfortunately, they don't tend to be low fat or low sugar type foods so I'm hoping I will have cleared the lot by the end of the coming weekend and I can eat in a more healthy way once more!

I started to make in roads into the New Year leftovers today, there was a litre box full of cauliflower cheese congealed in a way that did not invite reheating and eating in it's original form and so it became:

Cauliflower Cheese Soup 

Serves 4


2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of sunflower oil
Approx 1 litre of leftover cauliflower in cheese sauce
1 litre vegetable stock
A little milk as required
salt and freshly ground pepper
bunch of flat leaved parsley, finely chopped


1. Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan, add the chopped onions and celery and cook on a medium heat until the onion is soft and transparent and the celery has started to soften.
2. Add the stock and simmer gently for 10 minutes until the celery is soft.
3. Add the cauliflower in cheese sauce and cook for a further 10 minutes.
4. Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool for about 20 minutes.
5. Puree the soup with a stick blender or in a liquidiser, adding some milk if the mixture becomes too thick.
6. Season to taste and garnish with parsley.
7. Serve with crusty bread (I used Morrison's Cranberry, Walnut and Stilton bread - a gift from my sister-in-law)

It seems that others also suffer from the compulsion eat up everything left in the fridge, as the theme for January's 'No Croutons Required' is to come up with a creative vegetarian soup or salad making use of your leftovers.

No Croutons Required is a blogger challenge alternately hosted by Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen and Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, this month Lisa is hosting.



Helen at Fuss Free Flavours also suggested I add it to the new 'Credit Crunch Munch' a linky devoted to money saving recipes.  Credit Crunch Munch is replacing Frugal Food Fridays and is hosted alternately  by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food for all

More re-purposed food coming soon...

Labels: cauliflower cheese, leftovers, Soup, stock

posted by Janice @ 13:16 9 Comments

Turkey, Bacon and Brie Tart

It's always a pleasure to make new dishes from food left over from other meals.  Christmas is the greatest opportunity to be creative with leftovers and I am drawn to the tart, flan or quiche as a vehicle to use up those bits and pieces of delicious food.

Turkey, Bacon and Brie Tart

Serves 6 

1 quantity of shortcrust pastry, baked blind in a flan tin.
1 small onion, finely chopped
100g streaky bacon, chopped
Approx. 200-300g cold cooked turkey
250ml double cream
3 large eggs
100g ripe Brie
25g Parmesan, grated
zest of half a lemon
salt & freshly ground pepper

Heat the oven to 170C

1. Gently saute the onion in a little butter, add the bacon pieces and cook until golden, leave to cool.
2. Spread the onion and bacon in the base of the flan, chop the turkey into generously sized pieces and scatter over the onion and bacon.
3. Break off pieces of Brie and distribute evenly across the flan base.
4. Whisk the eggs, add the cream, lemon zest, seasoning and grated Parmesan, pour into the flan case.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the filling is golden brown and just set in the centre.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

This is a very rich tart and only needs a green vegetable or salad to make a meal. 

What did you do with your leftovers?

Labels: bacon, Brie, cream, flan, leftovers, quiche, shortcrust pastry, tart, Turkey

posted by Janice @ 08:00 8 Comments

Christmas 'Coronation' Turkey

The festive feasting started a week ago with my office lunch and it seems that I have been eating constantly ever since. Today I felt no inclination to eat rich, sweet or savoury dishes, instead I craved something light and fresh.  In the fridge, beside the turkey leftovers, cheeses and cream, I spied a bag of salad leaves, half a cucumber, a pack of mini sweet peppers and a jar of Geeta's Mango and Chilli Chutney (Hot). All the basic ingredients for that great summer standard 'Coronation Chicken', a dish created for celebration buffets by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume for Queen Elizabeth II coronation in 1953. I've reduced the richness of the orignal recipe by using mainly cottage cheese and light mayonnaise in my dressing.

Christmas Coronation Turkey

200-300g cold cooked turkey
100g cottage cheese
3 tbsp cream
4tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tsp curry paste
1 tbsp Geeta's Mango &Chilli Chutney
pinch of salt
Salad to serve

1. Chop the turkey into bite sized pieces and put aside
2. Put the cottage cheese, cream, mayonnaise and curry paste into a food processor and blend until smooth, add a little extra cream if the mixture is too thick.  You want it to be the consistency of thick cream.
3. Put the mixture into a bowl, season and stir in the chutney and the turkey pieces.
4. Serve with a mixed salad.


Sweet and crunchy, creamy and spicy, this salad provided the ideal contrast to the excesses of the last few days.  It's also a delicious way to use up some leftovers, so I am entering it for the No Waste Challenge run by Kate at Turquoise Lemons.

Many thanks to Geeta's for supplying me with a jar of Mango and Chilli Chutney to try, I was not required to provide a positive review, all opinions are my own.

Labels: Coronation Chicken, Geeta's Mango and Chilli Chutney, leftovers, No Waste Food Challenge, Turkey

posted by Janice @ 09:59 5 Comments

Ham Pate for lunch

I had some baked ham left over so thought I'd make it into a pate for sandwiches and other snacks.

Manuka Honey with Lemon

Ham Pate

You need twice as much ham as you do cottage cheese, and can add whatever flavourings suit you.
600g baked or boiled ham, diced
300g cottage cheese
1 tbsp whipping cream (optional)
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp  New Zealand Honey Co, Manuka Honey with Lemon (or other honey)

Whizz the ham in the food processer until chopped small, add the other ingredients and whizz until mixed.

Pack into a dish or box and cover.

I topped a baked potato with some of the ham pate and served with a simple tomato and basil salad.  It's a great way to use up left over ham it also extends it much further than serving it sliced.

Labels: Baked Potato, cottage cheese, food processor, ham, leftovers, lunch, Manuka Honey, pate, sandwiches

posted by Janice @ 22:21 4 Comments

Chicken and Leek Pasta Bake

Labels: Bake, Chicken, Leeks, leftovers, pasta, peas

posted by Janice @ 18:39 10 Comments

Bubble & Squeak

Last night supper was definitely a mish mash of left overs. We had some turkey and ham pie left over from New Year's Eve, some onion bahjis from lunch on NYE. I also had some mashed potoato and mashed turnip (swede) left over from the haggis meal we had on New Year's Day so I decided to make it into Bubble & Squeak with the half cabbage I had lurking in the fridge.
It is usually made with left over cabbage, but I made this fresh and then mixed it into the potato/turnip mix. Some butter in the pan on a medium heat and then just bung it all in and press it down. The tricky bit is turning it using a plate, I think it would be wise to lightly oil the plate before inverting the b&s onto it as it does tend to stick. However even if you have to lever it back into the pan like I did, you just squish it down again, it can take quite a lot of abuse!

If you have one of those pans that go in the oven you could do it that way too. I'm getting to the end of the left overs now and have a Carbonnade of Beef in the oven. I can smell the beer as it cooks slowly - mmmmm!

Labels: leftovers, potato, swede, turnip

posted by Janice @ 12:12 6 Comments