Cornflake cookies

Cornflake cookies

by | Feb 22, 2019 | Freezer Friendly, Lots Of Little Leftovers, Midweek Recipes, Recipes, Skill

Leftover cornflake cookies

Cornflakes are a tricky leftover, I think, for one reason- if you don’t want to eat them in the way that you ‘should’ (in a bowl, with milk), then, what?  You’ve bought this box, this product.  Now you don’t have enough for a bowl of cereal so – well, what to do?  You’re not a mad, cereal mixing freak, are you?  ARE YOU?

Adding cornflakes to cookies sounds nuts I know – but what are nuts if not savoury and crunchy? So why should your annoying two handfuls of cornflakes be any different? Make these and BE AMAZED or else.

I like to think of little ones, esp in the school holidays, learning that the smallest leftover can be the inspiration for their next snack or meal. Teach ’em young I say.

 

Print Recipe

Leftover cornflake cookies

Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Total Time30 mins
Author: Ann Storr

Ingredients

  • 115 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 80 grams light soft brown sugar
  • 50 grams caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 250 grams plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Pinch Salt
  • 25-50 grams leftover cereal
  • 50 grams chopped white chocolate/choc chips

Tools

  • Scales
  • Two large mixing bowls
  • Baking trays
  • Fork
  • Balloon whisk
  • Greaseproof paper
  • Scissors
  • Wire cooling rack
  • Dessert spoon

Instructions

Prep

  • Line the trays with greaseproof paper
  • Turn the oven to 180C
  • If using a bar of white chocolate, cut it up

Method

  • Whisk/sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a large bowl and set aside
  • In a smaller bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, egg and vanilla until soft and creamy
  • Pour the wet mixture into the dry
  • Using the balloon whisk, GENTLY stir the wet mixture into the dry making sure it’s all mixed in
  • Gently fold in the cornflakes and chocolate
  • Using a dessert spoon, place dollops of dough on your baking tray
  • Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until the edges are light brown
  • Leave on the tray for a couple of minutes as they’ll need to get more firm before moving them to your wire rack to fully set

 

Got a question? Ingredient you need help with? Get in touch:

ann@storrcupboard.com

Leftover lard popcorn

Leftover lard popcorn

by | Feb 20, 2019 | Freezer Friendly, Lots Of Little Leftovers, No Food Waste, Quick Quick, Recipes, Skill

How to use leftover lard to make popcorn

It’s half term here in the UK and that means hungry kids who want something to eat *now*. Healthy-ish snacks that don’t rinse your bank account, are cheap and easy to smuggle into a cinema or pack into a picnic are what we all need. Using the leftover lard as the fat to make a bowl of home-made popcorn is a delicious and super cheap for you, me, EVERYBODY (sorry, went a bit ‘Blues Brothers’ there).

An ex’s mum taught me how to make popcorn. The transformation from hard yellow seeds to soft and puffy creamy things *still* excites me. My ex would buy those pre-made tubs that you microwave yourself. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! ALL THAT FAKE BUTTER? WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY!” and there would definitely be a tut, and there would possibly be a cuff around the ear. So, she taught me how. One kernel first, to make sure that the oil is at the correct heat.

If you have a big, Asian/African supermarket near you, then you should be able to get a kilo for around £2.35; my 100g then costs me 24p.  A supermarket 50g is around a quid so, not as good value but still masses better than anything ready-made.

A tablespoon of fat, 100 grams of popping corn and cheap snacks are yours. I often make a batch during the week to add a small pot to my daughter’s packed lunch, which costs me all of 2p.

Make sure that you’re ready to make your popcorn, with everything to hand, as it can burn ever so quickly. And it stinks.

If you’re vegan or veggie, of course you can use a plant-based oil like ground nut or sunflower; olive oil will burn too quickly and, I think, isn’t the right flavour for popcorn. If you’re an omnivore then scoop out pennies worth of lard. Get a movie, snuggle under a blanket with the kiddos and enjoy the umami flavour that using leftover lard or schmaltz and bring to a lovely big bowl of salty popcorn.

 

 

Print Recipe

Home made popcorn using leftover lard

Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time5 mins
Total Time10 mins
Course: Snack
Keyword: eating on a budget, family recipies
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon leftover lard you can use plant based oils
  • 100 grams popping corn
  • 1/2 tablespoon sugar & salt optional!
  • 25 grams unsalted butter

Tools

  • 1 saucepan with lid
  • 1 scales
  • 1 knife
  • measuring spoons/teaspoon & tablespoon
  • 1 large bowl for eating!

Instructions

  • Turn heat to medium and add the lard (or oil) to the saucepan
    Place ONE kernel of popping corn into the fat and keep an eye on it; after about 3-5 minutes the corn will pop
    Only once the first kernel has popped, add the rest of the popping corn to the pan and immediately place the lid on the pan
    Listen to the popping; it should rumble happily away. As soon as the popping is only every couple of seconds, remove from the heat
    Pour the corn into a waiting bowl
    Take the butter and swirl it around the hot popcorn pan; pour all over the popcorn, sprinkle with salt and butter and enjoy!

Storage

  • Popcorn is best eaten fresh but it will keep for up to 3 days in a lidded, airtight storage container

Notes

Me

Got a question? Ingredient you need help with? Get in touch:

ann@storrcupboard.com

Home made chips with leftover lard

Home made chips with leftover lard

by | Feb 15, 2019 | Little Bit Of Meat, Midweek Recipes, Recipes, Skill, Soft Vegetables

Cheap as chips homemade chips with leftover lard

Talking about cooking with animal fat is a bit fraught, I know. My mum’s dripping pot lived in the fridge, ready for Sunday’s roasties and Yorkshire puddings. Every Sunday she would pour another layer of hot fat, sizzling over the cold layers. Then, the following Sunday mum would scoop out another tablespoon to get the roasties going. Best was seeing the 12 mini Yorkshire pudding tins coming out, the black base spitting with a pea sized glob of sizzling fat.

My parent’s fridge is smaller now it’s just them and the dog at home. The pea-green pot is still there. Recently I used some of mum’s dripping to slow cook some onions for pot of beans. The layers were like marble, a history of weekly roasts, different cuts and types of meat (pork and beef and everything all mixed up).

I use my leftover animal fat a lot in cooking; a few weeks back I roasted a giant, 3kg piece of pork belly; that left 300ml pork fat. A bottle of sunflower oil is £1.30 in Sainsbury’s, so, to me, I’ve saved myself £1.30.

Jay Rayner has talked about the wonders of dripping chips and here is my nod to them. I challenge you to find a more comforting tea – chips, beans and an egg. Almost veggie, very thrifty – and using your leftover lard.

Leftover lard chips

Serves 4

Ingredients

Around 600 grams potatoes
Around 50 grams lard
Salt

Tools

Scales
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Large bowl
Colander
Saucepan
Oven tray
Flipper

Time

About an hour

Prep

Preheat the oven to 220C
Cut the potatoes into chip shapes
Place in the large bowl and cover with cold water
Soak for 5 minutes

Method

Put the baking or roasting tray in the oven and add the lard so it gets nice and hot
Place a large pan of salted water on to boil
When the water is boiling, carefully add the chips
Boil for 5 minutes then drain
Remove the tray from the oven and carefully add the drained chips, turning in the oil to coat
Return to the oven and check after 15 minutes, then 10 and then every few  – exactly how long the chips will take to cook will vary, depending on the type of potatoes you use. They should take around 35 minutes all told
Eat, golden brown and hot!

Storage

I’m not a fan of leftover chips but you can keep in the fridge for up to five days, reheating them in the oven

Got a question? Ingredient you need help with? Get in touch:

ann@storrcupboard.com

Mashed potato cakes

Mashed potato cakes

by | Feb 6, 2019 | Freezer Friendly, Leftover Baking, Lots Of Little Leftovers, Midweek Recipes, Quick Quick, Recipes, Skill, Soft Vegetables

How to use leftover mash to make potato cakes

When I was little, if my mum was boiling potatoes, I’d ask her to do extra. I didn’t see any joy in a boiled potato, (well, unless it counts as a vessel for melted butter). But, I knew that too many boiled potatoes meant leftover potatoes and that meant Welsh potato cakes.

I think, when I went to uni, one of my godmothers gave me one of those cookbooks that you write in. The first recipe I called home for was the potato cake. All best writing in the cookbook; almost 20 years on and now it’s all scribbles of recipes that I’ve written here and there; a cut-out of the first recipe my ex and I fell in love with, and over; his mum’s chocolate cake (“butter or margerine”), when I made a turnip curry and that was, genuinely, nice enough to write down.

By total fluke, my dad decided to make these recently. He’d never known about mum’s recipe, and found on online. His recipe was to pan fry, which I did using dripping from their pot. I found it harder to get the crust that I love, so, I prefer to stick with baking.

I love these. They are utterly special to me.

Leftover Mash Potato Cakes

Serves 4

Ingredients

225 leftover mash
100 grams plain flour + more for dusting
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 egg
Milk – around 50ml but how much you need depends on your mash – this needs to feel quite firm but not rigid
1/2 tbsp sugar *
Pinch salt

* optional; it’s in the original, and how I like the taste,but feel free to leave out if you prefer.

Tools

Essential

Scales
Mixing bowls, small and large
Sieve
Fork (to whisk eggs)
Potato masher
Wooden spoon
Baking tray(s)
Silicone scraper
Large kitchen knife
Cooling rack

Helpful

Measuring teaspoons

Time

20m prep
20-25m to bake

Prep

Dust the baking sheet lightly with flour
Place butter in an ovenproof dish and melt in the heating oven (PUT A TIMER ON!) OR// melt in a saucepan on the hob
Lightly beat egg
Turn oven to 220 degrees
In a small bowl, mix flour(s), baking powder and salt together
Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto a baking tray.

Method

Mash all your leftover roots with potato masher until combined and smooth
Sift the flour mixture over the mashed veg
Use wooden spoon to mix them together
Add in egg, stir to combine
Pour over melted butter and combine
Flour a work surface and scoop the dough out
Using a rolling pin or patting with your hands (less washing up…), roll the dough until it’s about 3cm thick
Either way, pat the dough into a circle
Take a sharp knife, cut the dough half, and then quarters. Cut into halves again – you should have 8 triangles
Place a little flour onto your fish slice thing and gently move each cake onto the tray
When all the cakes are on the tray(s), put in the oven and bake for about 20m
They are cooked when puffed up, golden and slightly firm to the touch
Either serve straight away, or leave to cool on a cooling rack, with a knob of butter melting on top

Storage/further meals

Leave to cool and keep in a sealed container in the fridge; if you know you’re unlikely to eat within a couple of days I’d freeze them as I don’t think they keep well
Frozen, you have *months*

Got a question? Ingredient you need help with? Get in touch:

ann@storrcupboard.com

Whey risotto

Whey risotto

by | Feb 2, 2019 | Freezer Friendly, Lots Of Little Leftovers, Midweek Recipes, Quick Quick, Recipes, Skill, Soft Vegetables

How to use leftover whey

Hello StorrCupboard lovers! May I cast you back to the deep days of the lovely smooshy time between Christmas and New Year, when no-one knows what day it is and you’re eating about 5 meals a day? Remember that I had about 12 pints of whole, organic milk sitting in my fridge, about to go off?

We’re all trying to reduce our plastic waste. I ditched having milk delivered with my veg box and went to glass bottles on the doorstep; I do love picking them up in the morning in my raggedy dressing gown.  I also love not having 6 or 7 plastic bottles in my recycling bag on a Thursday morning. I can still support farmers and get unhomogenised milk which is important to me.  And delicious.

So I made my paneer and my ricotta, whoop!  But – gallons of whey! Eh? I 100% hadn’t realised that would happen. So, my lovely band of Grammers came to my aid…

Whey is the most heavenly addition to a risotto. Simply use half whey half stock. Boom. That’s it. Simple. Nothing more to add!

So … leftover milk made ricotta which made leftover whey. That whey has now inspired 3 meals.  To me, this is how my best cooking works – I see what’s there and it sparks me to try something new, something unusual. What do you do to get inspired in the kitchen?

 

Leftover Whey Risotto

Serves 2, heartily

Ingredients

50 grams unsalted butter
1 medium leek, white and green parts (around 100 grams)
200 grams risotto rice
250ml whey
250ml chicken/veg stock/water
100 grams peas
Around 50 grams grand padano/any Italian hard cheese

Tools

Knife, chopping board
Large frying pan
Wooden spoon
Grater

Time

About three quarters of an hour

Prep

Finely dice the leek
If using a stock cube, prep the stock

Method

Heat the butter in the saucepan and when it’s a little frothy, add the diced onion
Cook on a medium/low heat until the onion is see-through – at least 10 minutes but give it 20 if you can
DON’T LET IT BROWN
Only when the leek is soft enough to be squashed with your wooden spoon add the risotto rice
Stir it around and make sure it’s all covered with the butter
Heat back down to medium and add some stock and stir
Keep on adding the stock and whey and giving the odd stir until the rice has a nice texture; not too soft but I’m not keen on too much of a bite.  Some brands of rice might take 20 minutes, some 30, so follow pack instructions
If you’re using peas, stir through with a couple of minutes left to go
When you’re happy, stir through the grated hard cheese,

Storage/further meals

Lots of people worry about storing leftover rice; billions of people all over the world eat leftover rice, so just be careful and you’ll be fine
Allow to cool to room temperature then cover
You can keep for 5 days in the fridge as long as kept cold and covered
Only reheat what you need at any one time

Got a question? Ingredient you need help with? Get in touch:

ann@storrcupboard.com

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