Garlic Bread Dauphinoise and 10 other ways with bread

Everybody knows we waste too much food in the UK. Even the most remote cave dweller will have heard that bit of news by now.
But did you know that by far the biggest landfill-filler is bread? It makes up more than 32% of our food waste.

Well, when I say 'our' food waste, I don't mean mine.

I don't mean to sound holier -than-thou, it's just that there are so many tasty things you can do with bread rather than throw it away. So, before you get ready to put that stale half loaf in the bin, here are some ideas for you:




Firstly, Garlic Bread Dauphinoise.

This dish is lovely served as you would dauphinoise potatoes - with lamb, chicken, steak....- but it is lighter ( and soaks up gravy beautifully.)

Butter a spring form cake tin and lay in slices of leftover garlic bread. Squash them to fill all the nooks and crannies. Make a custard with 1 beaten egg, a pinch of salt and pepper and enough milk to pour over the bread without flooding the tin.
Do just that- pour it over, squish it all down a bit more and then dust with a grating of nutmeg and some grated hard cheese if you wish.

Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees) until risen and golden.

Allow to cool enough to be able to release the spring form clips - and voila- your garlic bread dauphinoise ready for slicing and serving.

Garlic bread dauphinoise

Try it!

Now, I've put together another 10 ideas for ways to use up leftover bready things.

1. Pain perdu- delicious made with leftover brioche or madeira cake too.

   http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/week-8-le-weekend.html


2. Caramel pain perdu pudding- a sort of bread and butter pudding meets creme brulee.

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/week-40-crunchy.html

3. Croutons - for soup or salads

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/week-19-other-fish-to-fry.html

4. Croques-messieurs- and baby-croques

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/week-8-le-weekend.html

5. Breadcrumbs- for meatballs and burgers and for coating fritters and meat

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/week-40-crunchy.html

6. Crumble topping - for savoury crumbles

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/week-18-getting-red-dy-for-summer.html

7. Bread sauce- to accompany game or use as a sauce for pie fillings

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/week-45-beyond-boxing-day.html

8. Panettone or Brioche bread and butter pudding

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/week-44-office-party-leftovers-and.html

9. Canapes and nibbles

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/nibbles-from-nothing.html


10. Don't forget the humble toastie-now back in vogue in gastropubs and restaurants.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/mar/13/breville-toastie-toasted-cheese-sandwich

I'm sure you've got plenty of ideas of your own- how about sharing them here as a recipe swap?

Week 48- A Flash in the Pan

Not everyone wants to have the oven on- it's expensive and it takes time to bake things.

A lot of my recipes call for oven baking- so this week I have changed tack and deliberately sought out a menu which can be made on the stove top.



I'm starting with halloumi and chutney fritters, followed by cod wrapped in bacon with mushy peas on black pudding mash with a tomato butter sauce, and finishing up with chocolate brioche pain perdu.

Whilst I think all of the above components are pretty tasty, I'm particularly pleased with the halloumi fritters, the genius tomato sauce and the black pud mash- but take a look for yourselves.

Halloumi cheese is a lovely ingredient- salty and dense with a delicious crispy crust when fried. For this recipe, the chutney adds a salty-sweet contrast and the breadcrumbs add to the crunchiness.

First, beat 2 eggs in a bowl. Take out a large tablespoonful and put in another dish. Keep the majority of beaten egg for the pain perdu later.
Slice the hallomi into tranches about 1 cm thick. Dip them in flour. Mix the tablespoon of beaten egg with a tablespoon of chutney (fig, plum or even mango). Dip the slices into the egg mixture, then onto a plate of breadcrumbs. Coat well.

Flour, egg/chutney mix, breadcrumbs

Fry until golden

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a non stick frying pan and fry the slices quickly until golden brown on both sides. Serve with a spinach salad.

Halloumi and chutney fritters 

For the fish dish, first make your tomato sauce. This is so simple- but it makes the best tomato sauce for pasta or fish. Gently fry 1 small finely chopped onion with a little minced garlic. Put it in a slow cooker or heavy saucepan along with 2 cans of chopped tomatoes, seasoning and 100g of unsalted butter. Cover and leave to simmer for as long as you like.

The result is an unctuous, creamy tomato sauce - which you can sieve if you like it smooth, or leave chunky.

Tomato butter sauce- three (or four) ingredients!

Now make your mash- fry some slices of black pudding (leftover from a breakfast fry perhaps) and crumble into a bowl. Add 300g of mashed potato (or the equivalent of 1 baking potato per person ) and combine the two. Adjust the seasoning to your taste and either keep warm over a pan of simmering water or microwave for 1 minute per portion when you are ready to eat.

Right- mushy peas. OK- I bought mine tinned. They are excellent as they are.

You can make your own by blitzing some cooked peas to a puree (this has a fresher taste and a more vibrant colour).

Fresh blitzed peas and tomato sauce

To make authentic mushy peas from scratch, you need  225g dried marrowfat peas.
Place the peas in a large bowl or stock pot, the peas will swell and so need plenty of room to expand.
 Add 2tbsp bicarbonate of soda and cover with 300ml / ½ pint boiling water and stir to make sure the bicarbonate has dissolved. Add the peas and leave to soak overnight, or for a minimum of 12 hours.
Drain the peas in a colander, then place in a large saucepan, cover again with cold water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for approx 30 mins or until the peas have softened and turned mushy. You could use your slow cooker for this if you prefer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

You can see why I prefer to use tinned!

Mushy peas- the easy way!

Finally, cook your fish. 
Wrap the fillet in bacon or pancetta and fry on all sides until the bacon is crispy all over. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid to allow the fish to cook through in the residual heat and assemble your dish.

Place a round of mash, topped with mushy peas in a dish. Place your fish on top and drizzle tomato sauce all round.

Bacon wrapped cod on black pudding mash with mushy peas and tomato butter sauce

Lastly, the pud.

Take 2 slices of chocolate brioche per person and spread one half of the 'sandwich' with Nutella, jam or fresh fruit puree. Sandwich together.

Beat the reserved egg with a splash of milk and some vanilla essence and then soak the sandwiches until all the egg has been absorbed.

Soak the sandwiches in the egg mixture

Melt a small knob of butter in a frying pan. Fry the sandwich quickly on both sides, cut in half and serve with cream, or ice cream and a dusting of icing sugar.

Chocolate brioche pain perdu

Any leftovers from this meal can be put to good use-  tomato sauce has a plethora of uses from pasta dishes to chilli to salsa to baked potato fillings and 

you can't beat fish and chips with mushy peas...

Week 40- Crunchy!!

I'm playing around with texture this week. Smooth and creamy, contrasted with crunch.

I've chosen a menu which reflects the theme: creamy butternut squash risotto with crispy prosciutto ham, my healthy take on crispy fried chicken and a caramel crunch pain perdu pudding.

All of them simple, quick and economical.


I heard the food critic Jay Rayner say on TV this week that there are very few dishes which aren't improved by the addition of crispy bacon. The man is talking sense.

Whether it's bubble and squeak with crispy pancetta

or cheeseburgers with crispy ham

or risotto, as in today's recipe. The salty crunch of the bacon makes all the difference.

For the risotto, roast a butternut squash in some olive oil and salt and pepper in a moderate oven until soft. Soften 1 small onion in a little more olive oil with some garlic. Add a cup of arborio rice and stir until the grains have absorbed the oil. Add a glass of white wine and stir until it has all been absorbed. Now add hot vegetable or chicken stock, a ladle at a time, stirring it in until absorbed. Keep going until the rice is tender and the risotto creamy. Add the diced butternut squash, plenty of seasoning to taste, a splash of cream and some grated parmesan cheese (if you like it). Spoon the



risotto into bowls and top with crispy grilled pancetta or prosciutto ham (or streaky bacon).

butternut squash risotto with crispy prosciutto

Any leftover risotto is wonderful made into arancini: shape the cold risotto into balls or cakes, roll in breadcrumbs and fry in hot oil until crispy. Again a lovely mixture of creamy and crunchy.

Arancini with dipping sauce

The main course today is crispy fried chicken- except it isn't fried, it's baked. It remains juicy and tender though and doesn't dry out thanks to it's clever marinade.

Butterfly two chicken breasts or slice them into goujons (popular with children, I promise you.) Coat them in natural yoghurt and some salt and pepper. Leave to marinade for half an hour or so in the fridge.

Chicken in yoghurt- looks yucky but trust me!

Lay out some fresh breadcrumbs on one plate (I always keep some ready in the freezer) and some blitzed tortilla chips (or Pringles or crisps)on another.

Ready to roll

Again, once they are past their best, I blitz them up in a food processor and they keep well in the freezer.

Blitzed tortilla chips

Take the coated chicken and roll it in first the breadcrumbs then the crunchy crisps. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake at 200 degrees for 20 minutes or so until brown and crispy.

Crispy chicken- finger lickin' good!

I have any leftovers cold with a salad in my lunchbox the next day.

Dessert is simple but scrumptious.

Lay slices of brioche or Madeira cake (I have used trifle sponges too) in a dish. Spread them with caramel condensed milk (the sort you use for banoffee pie) and pour over 2 beaten eggs in some milk. Let it all soak in for half an hour or so in the fridge.

Spread with caramel

Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees) for 20 minutes until firm and golden. Sprinkle the top with demerara sugar (or icing sugar if you prefer) and glaze with a blowtorch or hot grill until bubbling. As it cools, it sets and becomes crunchy and chewy like toffee.

Glaze with blowtorch

Delicious with cream or custard.

Crunchy caramel pain perdu

So, there are my crunchy recipes...in a nutshell..

I'll let you crack on with them..

Week 8- Le Weekend

Easter is a time for family gatherings- and I have plenty booked in for the next few weeks. So we decided to have a quick weekend away before it all kicks off!
We chose one of our favourite old haunts- le Touquet Paris- Plage (or Paris by the sea!)

As the seagull flies, this swanky little resort is just diagonally across the channel from Seaford in East Sussex- but the contrast between the two seaside towns could not be more stark.

Le Touquet was made popular in the Twenties and Thirties by the English royalty and aristocracy- who enjoyed hunting on horseback in the forests and sand dunes by day and gambling with unrestricted abandon by night in the casino. It soon became the destination of choice for movie stars and wealthy Parisians too (hence the name). The 'Golden Triangle' in le Touquet's forest is a sort of millionaire's housing estate- with the most eccentrically English country homes recreated as villas and mansions.

The whole place is redolent of wealth, privilege and fashionable chi-chi. I don't think the same could be said of Seaford.

Seafordians might well ask "Where are the aristocracy when you need 'em?"

Well, along with us, they went on holiday to le Touquet.

We've had family holidays here on and off since the Nineties- and have stayed everywhere from the art deco Westminster Hotel to the campsite and all places in between. A few years ago, we discovered a super apartment just between the casino and the Westminster and wouldn't stay anywhere else now. Check it out for yourselves on http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/le-touquet/5156  . We've only ever stayed in this flat in the winter, when it is uber-cosy- but I'm sure it is great in the summer when le T transforms into a traditional French family seaside resort.

Anyway, on to some food.

Restaurants in le Touquet are pretty pricey- a better name for the town would be le Touquet Paris-Prix- as the business people try to charge as much as they can get away with- but there are exceptions where you can eat fabulous food for reasonable prices. We made it our quest to find them. (Look for my reviews on Trip Advisor.)

The fish market

However, if you can stay self-catering, then this is the place to shop. There is a fabulous covered market selling fish, meat and local veg and produce. There are super bakeries and chocolate shops. It's a cook's dream.




We ate in a simple snack for lunch- but had delicious croques and crepes with salad.

Croque-monsieur

Rabbit saute

Dinner was more refined- rabbit saute, fish straight from the quayside and cafe gourmand with lots of delicious little tastes.

Suitably inspired - I've planned a three course menu for you- facon touquettoise.



To start, French onion soup with mini croques-messieurs. Followed by plaice cooked a la meuniere with steamed asparagus and potatoes, and finished off with pain perdu and ice cream.

For the onion soup, gently cook 4 onions ( red or white, according to your taste) in a little vegetable oil, then add a glass of wine (again red or white). Boil off the alcohol for 6 minutes then add 1 litre of stock. I then put my soup into a slow cooker for 4-5 hours as that makes the onions wonderfully tender and the stock really rich, but you could pressure cook for 30 minutes or simmer for 1 hour for a similar result.

Slow cooked onion soup

Normally, this is served with French bread , sprinkled with grated cheese and flashed under the grill until it melts- but I took my inspiration from my snack bar lunch and served this with tiny croques.

Tiny croques

Use a pastry cutter to cut out small shapes from some soft white bread (I buy aperitif toasts in France which are ready cut to size). Butter them and sandwich a slice of cheese (cheddar, gruyere or emmental) and a slice of ham between the unbuttered sides. Quickly toast in a sandwich machine. Then make a welsh rarebit paste from 125g of grated cheese, a tablespoon of  plain flour, a teaspoon of mustard and a splash of milk. Spread on the top of your little sandwiches and then flash them under a grill until the cheese is brown and bubbling ( about 1 minute).

The fish is simplicity itself.

Choose fresh flat fish such as plaice,  lemon sole or Dover sole and dust with flour and salt and pepper.
Melt a small pat of butter in a frying pan until it starts to foam and add the fish, presentation side down. Cook for 2 minutes and then turn and cook for a further 2-3 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish.

Sole meuniere

Allow to rest in the pan for another 2 minutes or so, then slide onto a plate and sprinkle with parsley. I served mine with asparagus steamed over boiled potatoes.

Eggs in the covered market

Pudding is a leftover classic: pain perdu is fried eggy bread. It's most delicious made with sweet bread such as brioche, leftover madeira or lemon cake, fruit loaf or that panettone you were given for Christmas which is nearing its use-by date.



Beat two eggs with some vanilla sugar and a teaspoon of milk. Soak slices of brioche, bread or cake in the egg until it is all absorbed .Heat a little butter in a frying pan until it starts to foam then fry your slices for a few minutes until golden on both sides. Plate up, dusted with cinnamon, icing sugar and some fruit.

Pain perdu

Serve with ice cream or cream.

There are very few leftovers form this meal- but any leftover asparagus and potato from the main course makes a lovely velvety asparagus soup, blitzed with some stock and milk.

It's back to Blighty now for Easter, leaving behind the wealth and chic of le Touquet. But you can still eat like a king without spending a king's ransom, if you keep watching this space!

One did enjoy the shopping!