vietnamese chicken noodle soup (pho)

 Vietnamese chicken noodle soup (pho)

That I love Asian noodles I think is probably a given. A Vietnamese-style pho (pronounced "fuh") is one of my favourite meals, especially if I have any leftover roast meat to use up. So if you're thinking ahead to Sunday's roast chicken lunch, think how good Monday's supper will be (particularly if you use the carcass to make a stock).

roast chicken, watercress and nut sandwich

roast chicken, watercress and nut sandwich

I love the combination of salty roasted chicken with peppery watercress. While watercress is often relegated in this country as a garnish, it was very popular in the 1920s and 30s as an elegant sandwich filler. I like that. It speaks of a more gracious time. Although clearly my ladylike tendencies could only go so far. So I've compromised. Here is an elegant sandwich filling in a big chunky ciabatta roll.

nasi goreng (malaysian fried rice)

nasi goreng

It's not often that I turn from mild-mannered cook by day into my foodie crime-fighting alter-ego; righting food wrongs with a wave of my magic feather boa. I am not saying that the feather boa actually works, but I prefer it to a cape and too-tight knickers; to each super hero(ine) their own fashion-sense. It seems to work for me.

a cooling summer courgette soup

a cooling summer courgette soup

A cooling summer soup is a welcome way to use up a summer glut of courgettes. This vegetable's beautiful delicate flavour is perfect in a chilled soup and I thought would be a really good way of cooling down on a baking hot day. I've read somewhere that you can cool yourself down by not just drinking cool drinks but eating cold food. I think this may be right - well it certainly worked for me!

a quick midweek supper: sausage and roasted fennel stew

sausage and roasted fennel stew

For me flattery is when someone requests one of my recipes or meals. It makes me absurdly happy. So last weekend's request for my Sunday lunch accompaniment of roasted fennel stew had me doing a little dance of glee on the inside. For years I was convinced that fennel was an acquired taste; now that I have decided that fennel is a taste that I have acquired it gives me a lot of pleasure that I can introduce friends to the flavours I have started to enjoy and the fact that they seem to like these flavours too is a definite bonus!

hamilton's fragrant thai prawn curry

hamilton's fragrant Thai prawn curry

One of the absolute pleasures of the internet is being able to read other people's adventures, whether it is a passion for history, a love of literature or, like mine, an obsession with food. Having your own blog brings additional happiness because other bloggers come and introduce themselves.

This is what happened when Hamilton Courtney from Home + Food came to say hello. I just had a look at his beautiful blog and was intrigued by his combination of both British and Thai home cooking, a result of his mixed family heritage. It definitely resonated with me and I would urge you to check him out. 

thai beef chilli noodles (neua pad prik)

thai beef chilli noodles (neua pad prik)

Following on from my post on a roast beef sandwich using up leftover Sunday roast brisket, I've got another recipe for you. This time it is a quick lunch using the cooked beef and my favourite chilli noodles. Of course, you don't have to use leftovers - in this case you could use uncooked steak, marinating it for an hour or so in the soy and fish sauce before stir frying.

chinese char siu barbecue pork - perfect all year around!

char siu chinese barbecue pork

Chinese New Year began a couple of weeks ago, and that Sunday I used it as an excuse to make a char siu style roast for lunch. I may not be the biggest fan of pork, but I do like it when it is marinated in an intensely sweet and deeply savoury sauce which for me can only improve pork's sweet blandness.

love your leftovers! spaghetti frittata

spaghetti frittata

There are two insights I have always wanted from Italian cooks. The first is, is there a special gadget (other than elbow grease) to remove baked on mozzarella cheese - you know those times when the lasagne dish looks like a relief map of the Moon with cheesy encrustations) and the second is, what do Italians do with leftover pasta?

I am yet to find the magic de-cheeser (and if anyone knows of one, please let me know), but I have discovered that Italians, being a thrifty bunch, have a fabulous way of using up leftover pasta by using it in frittatas including a little leftover sauce too.

another bit on the side: fat couscous with harissa and orange dressing

fat couscous (mograbiah) with harissa
and orange dressing

I make no bones about the fact that I am as excited by side dishes as I am by the main event, whether it is vegetables or starch (or both!) This s is very likely to do with the ten years I spent as a somewhat hapless vegetarian, when often the only part of a meal I was prepared to eat were the bits on the side. I am not complaining, mind you. Often these bits on the side were probably the best bit of the entire meal (and I really do love vegetables!)

flipping marvellous! stuffed Italian-style pancakes (crespelle)

Italian-style stuffed pancakes with ricotta,
and  tomato and mushroom sauce

While it has become traditional to eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday dusted with sugar and drizzled with lemon juice, or smeared with Nutella, I actually prefer savoury pancakes stuffed with cheese and spinach. In fact I like them stuffed with the same sort of things that you would use to fill a tortilla or dosa, such as spicy beans or curried potatoes or lentils.

I made some last year but the photographs I took looked like a dog's dinner - if that dinner had been ravaged by frenzied wolves. Pretty it was not, unless you like your food to have the appearance of some kind of slasher movie gore-fest.

I still haven't got the picture right, but what I can tell you is that while it may not be pretty, it tastes gorgeous and appeals to my sense of taste which mostly craves an intensely savoury experience.

spice up your life! chicken stewed with berber red spice paste

chicken stewed with Berber red spice paste

I recently had a forgotten treasure returned to me. Some three years ago a friend asked me what cookbook I would recommend for someone who wanted to broaden their cooking horizons but who refused to buy any cookbook that involved television tie-ins or shouty celebrity chefs.

"Well, Nigel Slater and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall are rather good," I said.

"Are they on television?" He asked plaintively. "Yes," I replied, "but they don't shout". "Then no," my friend said firmly. Well that narrowed things down a lot.

"Not too old-fashioned," he said. "And I want pictures, and a few anecdotes but definitely no shouting. Or models. Or bloody fairy lights!"

stuffed mushrooms with lentils, bacon, parsley pesto and Stilton

stuffed mushrooms with lentils, bacon, parsley pesto and Stilton

I think I must have inherited my late Scottish mother's somewhat parsimonious approach to food waste - a little part of me dies every time I open the kitchen compost canister to throw away anything other than vegetable peelings, tea bags or burnt toast. But a frugal approach to food, waste and in particular, in leftovers, doesn't have to be austere, puritanical or even joyless. It can be fun. No, really. It really can.

This is not so much a recipe, but a suggestion of how to use up several spoonful’s of leftovers and a few forgotten inhabitants of the fridge.

chicken and chorizo jambalaya

chicken and chorizo jambalaya

If I were to say that in 2013 I shall continue to practice thrift, frugality and economy in the kitchen, preparing well-planned and organised meals, you may well think "well that's very practical and worthy, Kelly, but oh god, how dreary and by the way, didn't you say that last year, and the year before?" . . . and you would be right.

So how about this - in 2013 I will try to delight with delicious suppers and fabulous lunches, convincing everyone of my magical kitchen powers. That sounds more like a real new year's resolution and hopefully I am getting in-touch with my inner-kitchen witch as much as my inner-child.

a formula for happiness: everything-bar-the-kitchen-sink potato cakes

potato and vegetable cakes

Another fabulous way to love your leftovers is by making hearty fried potato and vegetable cakes. I have to confess that if you fry them, then they are not for the calorie-conscious but I'm guessing you're starting that healthy eating regime in 2013.

By combining an equal amount of leftover cooked potato with vegetables, you have a great base for a breakfast with bacon and eggs or a perfect lunch with smoked salmon.

We recently had some with our Balinese-style duck curry, with a little extra curry spicing in the potato mix. But my absolute all-time favourite addition to potato cakes is a healthy dollop of leftover cauliflower cheese.

a chance to love those christmas leftovers! balinese-style curry (with roast duck)

Balinese-style curry with roast duck

It makes sense to me that when London skies are leaden, when we are morosely peering through a damp grey mist and remembering fondly, through our rose-tinted glasses, last year's White Christmas, that what I really want to eat is food laden with south east Asian spices. Perfect warm-you-up and kick-you-into-action spicy sense.

Most people I know find the thought of leftovers, especially Christmas leftovers, profoundly depressing. I don't know whether there is something wrong with me, or just because I am constantly worrying about where my next meal is coming from, but I love the challenge. And to be honest, finding a good use for roasted meat isn't really much of predicament.

tri-fle: (noun) a small thing of little value or importance

Black Forest Trifle
with leftover Christmas pud!

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas leftovers? (It is never too early for me.) So I just wanted to give you a heads up on an easy but delicious way to use up any leftover Christmas pudding or cake. Personally I think it might actually be nicer than the main event!

This is a very flexible recipe – I used kirsch to moisten the pudding because that’s what I had – but you could use any booze or liqueur. Cointreau of Calvados would work a treat too.

I also had some black cherries preserved in brandy, these topped the pudding, together with cream, clementine zest and some grated chocolate. (If I had had some frozen autumn fruit berries, they would have been rather nice instead.)

a lazy girl's supper: noodles with spicy spring onion sauce

Noodles with spicy spring onion sauce a
nd Thai fish cakes

I have been in a bit of a baking frenzy few the past few days - awash with Christmas spices and pondering over what to cook on Christmas day; (just the record, it won't be turkey!) As a result, I don't much feel like cooking. It's on days like this that I need a self-assembly kind of meal.

This uncooked sauce can be put together in less time than it takes to boil and drain the noodles - about five minutes. Although it does taste much better if you set aside the sauce for all the flavours to get to become acquainted for 20 minutes or so.

a quick midweek curry: malaysian-style chicken curry

easy Malaysian-style chicken curry

This Malaysian-style curry is wonderfully scented, quite hot, and a little creamy. It is the perfect way to use up any leftover chicken from Sunday's roast.

I like to make my own curry spice mixes, but there are some really good ones out there. If you are looking for a Malay spice mix, then you really need a sweet curry blend that includes aniseed flavours, including star anise and fennel - this is what sets a Malaysian curry apart from an Indian one.

christmas baking:traditional bread pudding (or my cheat's christmas pud! )

traditional British bread pudding
(or my cheat's guide to Christmas pud!

A Best of British blog challenge!
These days if you say "bread pudding" most people assume you are talking about "bread and butter pudding" - layers of sliced stale bread, dotted with dried fruits and butter, and soaked in a custard sauce, before baking. While bread pudding is another member of the frugal baking club as it is made with breadcrumbs and dried fruit, it is actually more like a cake than a pudding and is, to my mind, even nicer.