Chicken risotto

Ingredients 1 pint chicken stock, a good handful of roast chicken, 1 stalk celery, 1 carrot, 1 small white onion, 1 tbsp butter, 1 glass white wine.

Serves: 3 Preparation: 25 minutes

Because I'm a vegetarian, when I roast a chicken for my husband and son, there is inevitably a decent amount of meat remaining. As I always boil up the carcass for stock, chicken soup is often the next dish on the list - but why not utilise that lovely fresh stock and leftover meat for a chicken risotto?All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time.

1) Finely dice, or blitz in a food processor the carrot, onion and celery in preparation for your soffrito/mirepoix or "aromatics" as we so unromantically refer to this magical mixture in England. Transfer to a pan along with a generous knob of butter and sizzle sizzle sizzle away until the onion, celery and carrot are completely soft. This takes around 10 minutes by which time the carrot will have bleached down to a rather pleasing golden orange.

2) Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre. Add a good glug of white wine and continue stirring until it has cooked off, then add the first ladleful of stock.

3) Continue adding the stock to the risotto, one ladle at a time, adding the chicken with the second to last ladle of stock. Serve hot, finishing with an indulgent dash of cream if you wish. Remember, risotto should be soupy, not solid!

Super-protein chicken salad

Ingredients Roast chicken, 1 pint chicken stock, 1/2 cup spelt, 1/2 cup quinoa, 1/2 cup wild rice.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour

My beloved yet insane husband is doing Tough Mudder this week (please sponsor him!), and it is up to me to pump him full of protein, lest his muscles fail him and he die.
No pressure then! This salad, using leftover roast chicken and some of the stock made from the carcass has had him salivating at lunch time and is perfect picnic fodder too!

1) Spelt takes the longest to cook at 50 minutes. Soak it in cold water for 5 minutes, drain, then add it to the pan of chicken stock, stir through and leave to simmer.

2) Wild rice takes 30 minutes, so after 20 minutes add to the spelt and stir through.

3) Quinoa takes just 15 minutes, so add to the pan 15 minutes after the wild rice, stir through and leave to cook.

4) If you'd like to serve this hot, drain away any excess stock (though after the best part of an hour it should all have been absorbed or evaporated!), stir through the leftover chicken, season and serve. Otherwise allow the grains to cool before adding the chicken.

Cider & sage roast chicken soup

Ingredients Chicken, sage leaves, 1 maris piper potato, 1 can cider, chicken stock, onion

Serves: 4 Preparation: 2 hours (including chicken roasting time)

Despite being a vegetarian, I have a healthy respect for chicken soup. I've been making it all my life for people that I love, when they're sick or just deserve a treat. When we have people over and I roast a chicken for dinner, The Husband is usually more excited about the soup he knows I'll make than the luscious, juicy chicken itself. This soup, following my cider can chicken recipe is velvet textured from the potato, delicately flavoured with sweet sage and cider and stuffed chock full of melt-in-the-mouth chicken.

1) Peel and slice a white onion, and add to a stock pot along with the chicken carcass (ensure any good meat remaining is removed to add to the soup), the remaining cider from the can the chicken was sitting on and 1/2 pint of water. Simmer for 30 minutes and strain the liquid into a separate pan.

2) Set the liquid to cool in the fridge for an hour, then skim the fat from the surface. 

3) Blend the leftover slices of potato and add to a pan along with some leftover chicken meat, and the stock jelly.

4) Simmer on the hob for 30 minutes, seasoning with salt, pepper and more chopped sage to taste.

Turkey risotto

Ingredients    Roast turkey, turkey carcass, water,  risotto rice, double cream, brandy, butter, leek

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30


Perfect for leftover Christmas turkey, this is a great way to use up your meat and use the carcass too for making stock. All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol (in this case brandy to give it that extra Christmassy flavour) and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time.


1) To make the stock: Pick the meat from the turkey carcass and set aside, then add the carcass into a stock pot and cover with water. Allow to boil for 1-2 hours, strain away the turkey and allow to cool. Skim off the fat from the surface and then the stock is ready to use. If you don't want to make turkey stock, you can use chicken stock instead.


2) To make the risotto: Finely dice the like and sautee in a little butter until soft. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in a glug of brandy.


3) Once the brandy cooks off, add the first ladle of stock and stir through.


4) Continue adding the stock, one ladle at a time, adding the turkey with the final ladle of stock.


5) Finish with a little cream and freshly grated black pepper and serve.

Coconut & lentil soup with hazelnut & plantain dumplings

Ingredients 1 plantain, hazelnut butter, coconut  milk, vegetable/chicken stock, cumin, paprika, 2 cups lentils, coriander, cayenne pepper, bell pepper, orange.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour (plus overnight soaking)

The picture really doesn't do this soup justice - the luscious coconut, tangy orange and cumin and the beautiful delicate flavour of the dumplings make this a great soup to bring some sunshine to the winter months.

1) Soak the lentils overnight in cold water and rinse thoroughly under running water in a colander. Add into a pan with half a pint of vegetable/chicken stock with 1 tablespoon of cumin and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir through and allow to simmer whilst you prepare the other ingredients.

2) Dice a bell pepper and add into the pan along with a can of coconut milk and the juice of one orange. If you wish to heat things up, add a diced birds eye chilli too.

3) To make the dumplings; bring a pan of water to the boil and drop the entire plantain into it. Boil for 25-30 minutes. You will know it is ready as the skin will split and virtually peel itself! Remove the skin and add the flesh to a blender along with two teaspoons of hazelnut butter. Blend until a ball forms.

4) Pinch off pieces of the plantain mix and form tight balls by rolling between two palms. If you have any left over this makes a fabulous chicken stuffing.

5) Add the plantain dumplings to the soup and leave to simmer for at least 5 minutes. Serve with chopped coriander and a dusting of paprika.

French sage & onion soup

Ingredients 5 onions, 1 pint vegetable/chicken stock, 1 tsp muscovado sugar, 2 tbs butter, olive oil, old bread, 50g grated parmigiano and gruyere.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes

French onion soup is a culinary classic - coloured by caramelised onions and always served with a cheesy crouton crust. Breaking through the crust with a spoon always reminds me of the pleasure of breaking through the sugar topping on a creme brulee. Sometimes the joy of food is in the unwrapping!

1) Peel and finely slice the onions then pop into separate rings with a spoon.

2) Bring a frying pan/wok to a high heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and a teaspoon of sugar and allow it to brown. Add the onions and stir through until the onion rings have thoroughly caramelised. Add a little olive oil and stir through.


3) Add a pint of vegetable/chicken stock to the onions and stir through. (Transfer to a soup pan first if you're using a frying pan) Season with salt and add a handful of finely diced sage.


4) Allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes on a low heat then ladle into a soup bowl. Top with a layer of toasted bread (I used some ciabatta I had baked the day before), breadcrumbs and grated parmeggian and gruyere then bake under a grill until a crust has formed. Serve.

Cassoulet

Ingredients Pork belly, cannellini beans, chicken   stock, sage, onions, garlic, goose/duck fat, Merguez sausage.

1) Peel and roughly dice 2 white onions and sautee in a tablespoon of goose fat. Add 4 cloves of crushed garlic and some roughly chopped Merguez sausage.


2) Pour in 1 pint of chicken stock and a small handful of freshly chopped sage. Stir through and add 2 cans of cannellini beans.


3) Layer the pork belly in the bottom of a casserole dish (I used 6 pieces of pork belly per 2 cans of beans/pint of stock) and pour over the beans, sausage and stock. The trick is to cover the meat with the beans so that a crust can be formed, but ensure that the meat is set in enough liquid so that it doesn't dry out.


4) Cook in the oven for at least one hour. The top should have a lovely crispy crust, and the meat fats should have reduced into a creamy, rich sauce underneath.