Enjoy your Christmas leftovers 

Many of us are a little less confident about reheating food, which can result in gorgeous Christmas food being thrown away. But some of our greatest treats started out as Christmas dinner leftovers. Let us show you how… 

Plan ahead

Clean out your freezer before you get your Christmas plans in order. Make space, incorporate long lost icy items into your mid-December meal plan and create room for Christmas leftovers and bulk bought mince pies.

 Ready, steady, store

 Get the leftovers into the fridge, in a sealed container, within two hours if you can. They will stay ok in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can eat Christmas leftovers hot or cold. If eating hot only reheat once until piping hot (stir well and look for bubbles and steam). 

Freeze your leftovers

Make the best use of your freezer over the festive period. We have lots of freezer tips what works for the rest of the year works now too. If you and your family hate leftovers the next day, pop them in the freezer and they'll keep for up to 3 months.

Leftover turkey and other meat

Leftover turkey can be turned into a treat in minutes. You can eat it hot or cold (in a sandwich with some stuffing) but only reheat it once. Why not try some of our great turkey recipes.

Make some turkey mince (or any other meat you’re having such as ham or beef) for the new year - whizz up in the food processor and freeze.

Roast potatoes 

Fluffy, crispy and delicious. They will be all the better for five minutes in a hot oven. Spud as new! A little grated cheddar melted on top will take them from binner to winner. Even better cut them up into cubes and put them in a Spanish omelette. 

Veggies 

Whether it’s sprouts, or peas there are 101 ways to use up leftover veggies. Turn them into a stir fry,  bulk out a sausage and bean casserole or try this brussel sprout detox salad.

Gravy 

If you’ve got leftover gravy, then you’re in for a treat. Use it as the base for a hearty soup, as part of the filling for a pie or even include it in your traditional turkey curry. Just be sure to reheat it thoroughly before enjoying.

Belated stock

Want to make stock but don't have time? Freeze the turkey/chicken carcass and make stock at some later point.

What to do with Christmas pudding

If you're about to serve up the Christmas pud and it comes out like a solid lump, don't despair. Put the heavy pudding into a larger bowl and cut it up so that you get a lot of air into it. Crumble it if you can. Replace it into the original bowl. Microwave it, careful, it heats up very quickly. You’ll be left with the lightest Christmas pudding you have ever eaten. Don't forget to add a tablespoon of brandy over the piping hot pud and the same goes for the hot custard sauce.

For something a bit different try our Christmas pudding ice cream recipe.

And the brandy butter?

Finally, don't throw away the brandy butter! Save and use it in sweet shortcrust pastry. Weigh and use the label to calculate how much butter is contained in what you have left. Make up to what you need using fresh butter or marg. Don't add any more sugar unless you need to. Use as usual. Baking times may be less than normal because of the sugar. Very good for fruit pies.

Can't finish the cheese board?

Don’t forget, hard cheese and leftover cream can also be frozen. It's a good idea to whip cream a little beforehand.

Lettuce not waste salad

If you have leftover salad or lettuce leaves, put a piece of kitchen roll in the bottom of a pot, add the leaves and then seal. This will keep fresh for much longer than leaving in the bag.

Keeping chestnuts fresh

Chestnuts are highly perishable because of their low fat content. To keep them fresh enough to use for a week or so, put them in a plastic bag in the salad drawer of the fridge. Freeze those you don’t wish to eat over Christmas.

Information provided by Hubbub