Like my heroine, Clarry Pennhaligan, I love food. Readers have written telling me that they enjoy visualising Clarry’s thrown-together meals and the Lock-In leftovers, shared by the restaurant staff at Abbe’s Brasserie where she works as a part-time waitress. I’ve confided that it’s always possible to guess when I’m on yet another diet and feeling hungry, from my lingering descriptions of food.
Now, in these difficult times, when relying on store cupboard goods and obliged not to waste a single scrap, we are all faced with the ultimate Rustle-Up challenge.
Real leftovers are a rarity for me. Not much that is edible escapes alive from my attention, my appetite or my fridge. And what there is, is nothing fancy. My leftovers don’t happen to include lobster, caviar or pate de foi gras. We’re talking a triangle of sweating cheddar, a handful of over ripe tomatoes ready to burst their skins and some wilting salad. What to do with them? That is the question.
Confronted by a lump of leftover cold mashed potato the other day, I was about to chuck it out when I thought better of it.
After a bit of hard thinking, here’s what I came up with:
Clarry’s Indian-style Potato Patties.
Fry finely sliced shallot/onion or spring onion.
Add plenty of garlic and/or chilli and fry for a minute.
Add a teaspoon or so of whatever Indian spices you have in the cupboard.
Add the grated zest of a lemon and some salt.
Allow to cool.
Mix the potato with the onion mixture and form patties. Dust with flour and put on a lightly floured plate and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
Get a griddle pan really hot with a light coating of olive oil and then fry the patties until they are cooked through and nice and crispy on the outsides.
Serve with lemon wedges
I had this for supper with some salad and a large glass of wine and it was delicious!
Let me know your go-to leftover recipes.
Join me, The Love Detective Store cupboard Super Sleuth, and share your tips for creating tasty dishes from whatever’s lurking in the back of your fridge.
And, if you want to learn more about Clarry, follow her adventures in The Love Detective and The Love Detective: Next Level in paperback and ebook.
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