You Know Those Leftovers…Leek and Bacon Hash

Leek and Bacon Hash 

You know the day after the huge Christmas dinner you had with family and friends, when you open the fridge and survey the leftovers and wonder as it’s past breakfast and not quite lunch what on earth you can rustle up to feed the hungry hoards who never want to look at turkey or chocolate again? Well why not give this a whirl

 

 

½ a leek sliced (you could use leftover brussel sprouts )

6-8 rashers of smoked bacon cut into cubes (use scissors, so much easier)

Handful of sliced almonds

10-12 left over roast potatoes or boil some to par boil stage as you would prepping hem for roasting and squish them slightly with the potato masher

 In a large skillet or frying pan heat about a tablespoon of veg oil, you don’t need much as bacon is quite fatty.

Toss in the bacon and leeks, and keep things moving around the pan, as the bacon starts to cook add the potatoes. Now these will stick to the pan, but this adds to the flavour as long as you keep them moving and do not let them burn.

Everything should be cooked in about 15 mins, but check the centre of spuds hot before serving, just before removing from pan add the sliced almonds

I like mine with brown sauce but you could always jazz it up with a splash of Tabasco or sweet chilli sauce.

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My Husbands Favourite – Leek and Potato Soup

So if you ask my husband what soup he loves the most with no hesitation he says “Leek and Potato”. He associates it with family get togethers and particularly Christmas and I have found it is a sure fire way to ensure a smile from him after he has had a long day at work. Plus there is always some left over for lunch the next day.

Leek and Potato Soup

2 -3 medium leeks

3-4 medium potatotes

2 onions

1 ½ pint veg stock or chicken stock

2-3 oz non-dairy marg

 

Chop all the veg. Make the onions small like for a pasta sauce, cube the potatoes and slice the leeks finely.

Melt non-dairy marg in a saucepan and sauté the veg until you get that gorgeous leeky/oniony aroma. Whilst the veg is sauting add freshly ground black pepper and some salt. I use a salt with seaweed and herbs for a bit of variety. Keep stirring and tossing the veg so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add stock,  and stir thoroughly, leave to simmer. When the potatoes feel soft, like they would feel for mash, you can either use a potato masher and thicken or blend in the food processor.

So what do we eat in our family?

So I am going to try and be as comprehensive as I can with my list of family friendly recipes. Everything from cheese-less pizza to cakes, soups to main courses, all the things my family love to eat. Now some of these recipes hold another of my favourite tricks, how to get your family to eat their vegetables without noticing they are there…neat trick if you can pull it off and 9 times out of 10 I do. So I suppose recipe time it is, if there is a particularly good ingredient I think you can use that is dairy free I will let you know what it is and where you can buy it, that way you won’t have to do the legwork or eye straining that I have done. Interestingly enough when I asked my family what dishes they particularly like of mine they came up with the same things Beef Cobbler and Roast Chicken Dinner. Hhhhmmm, very helpful family. I think they are forgetting the biscuits they munch and the cakes they devour on a regular basis.

Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup

Alternative to carrot in this recipe is sweet potato, which my husband prefers as he finds carrots too sweet for his taste. You will need to grate the sweet potato. The soup o the right is Spiced Carrot the soup on the left is Leek and Potato

Serves 4

Prep time 10 mins Cook time 15 mins

2 tsp cumin seeds

pinch chilli flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

600g carrots , washed and coarsely grated (no need to peel)

140g split red lentils

1l hot vegetable stock (from a cube is fine just check the ingredients have no hidden nasties)

Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas. Scoop out about half of the seeds with a spoon and set aside. Add the oil, carrot, lentils, and stock to the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.

Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer).

This soup is delicious served with

Garlic and Herb Flatbreads

Makes 4

175ml warm or tepid water

7g sachet of fast-action yeast

1 tsp brown sugar

A generous pinch of salt

200g plain flour

50g self raising flour

3-4 tbsp chopped herbs of your choice

1 clove of garlic, mashed

2 tbsp olive oil

In a bowl, mix together the water, sugar and yeast. Set this aside until frothy.

In a large bowl put the flours, herbs and salt and mix. Tip in the frothy water mixture and bring together at first with a spoon and then by hand. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover and put in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

Once the dough risen divide dough into four balls and gently roll them out into circles. Brush a little oil onto a thick stainless steel frying pan and cook each flatbread, one-by-one, over a medium heat. When the bread springs back when pressed it is ready for the garlic oil.

Mix together the garlic with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Let flat breads cool slightly and  brush them with the garlic and oil. Serve immediately.

Leek and Potato Soup

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced

225g/8oz potatoes, cubed

2 medium leeks,sliced

1.2 litres/2 pints vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions, potatoes and leeks. Cook for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften.
2. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Season well and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
3. Whizz with a hand blender or in a blender until smooth. Reheat in a clean pan, heat through and serve.