The Recycled Cook

The Recycled Cook Leftover Lamb Tagine   Having had a slow cooked lamb joint at the weekend there was still quite a lot of meat left over left over on the half leg so I decided to recycle it into a Moroccan lamb Tagine. As the lamb was still on the bone the first task was to take the meat off the bone and discard any gristle. The meat I then roughly tore  and added to the remaining ingredients.  I find tearing the meat rather than chopping into cubes gives a more pleasing looking result. Having stripped the meat the next thing to do is to change the flavours into those of a traditional Moroccan Tagine.  The easiest way would be to add Ras Al Hanout spice (meaning top of the shop or the best blend) but I had none left so had to improvise. Instead I added a generous amount of cumin, ground coriander and dried coriander leaves, Black pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, ground ginger, Cayenne pepper and ground cinnamon....

The Recycled Cook Chicken Tikka Masala Curry Well if there is one dish that lends itself perfectly to left-over food it is a curry. Today I am making a Chicken Tikka Masala curry, although the chicken should strictly be baked in a traditional Tandoor clay oven. First of all roast off the chicken in the oven, season with salt, black pepper and Garam Masala powder or paste. Frequently Tikka dishes use food colouring but I prefer to keep the chicken looking natural looking but  if you prefer, rub with Tikka paste or powder which is readily available. Chop some onion and garlic and while the chicken breasts are roasting (approx, 12 minutes on 200º C (Gas mark 6) cook the onions and garlic over a medium heat in a light cooking oil or until they just start to brown.. Cook the onion first and add the garlic after about 10 minutes or they will catch and burn if added too early. If you have some available, now is the time to add your pe...

Vietnamese Devilled Pork Curry Today's recycled meal is one of the most versatile dishes out there, a curry. Not many Asian countries use pork in their meals but Vietnam is the exception, partly because of its past links with European countries. As I had some slow cooked pork left over I decided on a Vietnamese Devilled Pork Curry which, as the name suggests is pretty hot. You can tone this down to your taste if you prefer a milder curry. Traditionally this has a lot of ingredients but you can substitute most quite easily. See the pic below for ideas. Check your cupboards and just use what you have available, this is a leftover dish so you don't want to be buying lots of stuff in, especially now when shopping is particularly difficult.  The ingredients should include: White vinegar, light soy sauce, chillies, ginger,  coriander, kafir lime leaves, lemon grass, garlic, turmeric, fish sauce (or shrimp paste) and of course leftover ...