Best recipes for leftovers: Chicken with creamy mushrooms, puy lentils and cous cous recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chicken, Leftovers | 8 comments
Leftovers. They tend to lurk in the fridge. Danny seems to have a mental list of them.
“I just wondered who is cooking tonight? We have loads of leftovers. Pork and chicken and then there’s that ham…”
D gets up earlier than I do. He has hours to examine the contents of the fridge.
“We MUST use these leftovers up. It’s such a waste.”
I know that it’s a failing but I rarely think, “Cold roast chicken. That could be transformed into a risotto/pie/sandwich.”
I spot the chicken dressed in foil and decide that it is next day’s meal (when it’s D’s turn to cook).
I decided to try and make something delicious with some cold chicken that had been hanging about in the fridge for a few days. I pulled out all the stops for this one and in the end it didn’t taste like a “left overs” meal. It actually was so tasty that D asked for the leftover, leftovers for a London lunch the next day. I ate mine cold behind the wheel of Jalopy, parked in a busy Saffron Walden street. It was extra good with a sprinkle of soy sauce.
Creamy chicken with mushrooms, puy lentils and cous cous recipe
Simply follow the instructions for our mushroomy mushrooms recipe. At stage three add a couple of diced courgettes. When the courgettes and mushrooms have softened and cooked, add a large cooked chichen breast (diced) and a handful of cooked chopped spinach let these gently heat through (3-4 minutes max). Just before serving add 3 tablespoons of single cream and simmer gently for a minute or so.
I served this on a bed of herb infused cous cous and a scatter of puy lentils. The combination of textures was good and it made a little chicken go a long way.
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Hi Pat,
My mum is the same. Born 1919 (a post WW1 baby). Every scrap of food was saved. I don’t mind leftovers just not for breakfast!
Hi Lynn,
The fritatta route sounds interesting. I must try this out. Thanks for the tip, great topic for a new post.
It could be an American thing. My kids love to eat cold pizza from the night before. We used to have pizza and a video on Friday nights when they were growing up.
My Mom was born in the 30s, not far from the Depression. Many of the meals she cooked were meals her Mom cooked. The left overs are quite often good made into a fritatta. Could this be the topic of a new post?
Hmmmm That could well be. I was raised mostly with my grand parents and they had lived through the war so it was waste nothing with them. Guess that is where I got the using up the leftovers from.
Hi Celia,
Your leftovers supper sounds so tasty especially the raita! I write down the ingredients as I cook now as I have forgotten so many good combos over the year.
I must admit quite a lot of duff stuff ends up in the dog bowls!
Hi Pat,
Curry for breakfast? Wow. Danny often eats roast pots for breakfast I prefer toast and marmalade.
Hi Lynn,
I’m so impressed with you and Pat. Do you think that it’s an American thing?
Ahh, Kate(uk), now you’re talking. I think I could happily swap toast for trifle. Yumee
The ultimate delicious and wicked left-over breakfast experience is trifle (originally made from left-overs).I now make enough Christmas trifle to ensure we can all have this the morning after Boxing Day so possibly it doesn’t really count as left-over any more? My mother confessed recently that it is her favourite breakfast too and her father used to bring her post-boxing-day helping of trifle up to her as breakfast in bed.Must be in the genes.
I just love chicken and mushrooms together. Hey Pat, I eat leftovers in the morning too sometimes.
Sounds really yummy!!! I love leftovers here, but Brian doesn’t so I usually end up eating them for breakfast the next day. Like this morning I had leftover curry from last night.
Leftovers and veg from the garden – ingredients for the very best culinary creations. The thing is, you can never quite replicate a dish that turns out to be a winner.
It was leftover chicken and runner bean byriani served with cucumber, coriander and lime raita at our last night. I can’t remember exactly how I made it now – but it was ace!
Celia