We all may like to think we can eat a whole Pork Butt or Brisket to ourselves but the reality is, is that there is often plenty of leftovers. What do YOU do with them? How do you repurpose them or give them a new lease of life so that you can feed the family for the week?
Sometimes I like to portion some of the leftovers up, add a little of the cooking juices and vac pac them up and freeze them for later use. Top tip: It may sound basic but always remember to label your bags so that you know what is what and when you froze them for food hygiene reasons.
What are our other options? Well to answer that I have put together a collection of ‘ideas’ for inspiration rather than recipes, things that you can modify to suit your own leftovers or flavour profiles used; so what is a ‘Jerk Chicken Rice & Peas Pie’ could quite easily become a ‘Pesto Chicken Asparagus & Tenderstem Pie’ if that’s what you have available to you.
Smoked Meat Pizza like this from CWS’s Dan Parkin. Dan used a BBQ Sauce Base that complemented the flavours of the Rib Meat that he has shredded and sprinkled on top. Some Monterey Jack on top to complement the BBQ Flavours instead of your usual cheeses but this is where you can really mix things up to suit different flavour profiles such as a mint sauce cross tomato base sprinkled with feta to accompany some leftover pulled lamb or a horseradish cream base for some leftover roast beef sprinkled with some creamy unpasteurized chaource cheese.
Smoked Ham Carbonara from CWS’s Christine Dale. After smoking a whole ham, there are so many great ways to enjoy it but this Carbonara Recipe sounds great! Christine fried the ham and garlic together before adding the cooked pasta, a handful of peas and then mixed in the parmesan egg mix. Pasta dishes are a great way of using up leftovers, with many variations available. How about trying stuffing some ravioli with some pulled meat or using some smoked pork in a ragu or a delicious pasta bake with some smoked chicken, ricotta and pesto; the options are limitless.
Barbecue for breakfast? Now that got your attention, Dan ‘Elky’ Whittaker made this smoked beef rib eggs benedict. He served the soft rib meat on top of a muffin, topped with a poached egg, hollandaise sauce and crispy bacon.
I’ve also used beef with breakfast, I made a pulled beef chuck potato hash and have also served burnt ends with potato hash - just add an egg and it's now breakfast - Julian Bunting from CWS also had the same idea - all I can say is Great Minds…
Croquetas, Arancini, Bon Bons - let’s face it anything rolled in breadcrumbs and fried is pretty epic! John Geoffrey from CWS made these croquetas from leftover pulled pork and rib trimmings. John made a stiff bechamel from butter, flour, Bourbon, milk, cream and the pork stock before adding the pork and some chopped gherkins. Set the mixture in the fridge overnight before rolling into balls, breadcrumbing and hitting the frier!
Mark Harrison from CWS posted his pork arancini recipe - this is a true double leftover dish as leaving the rossotto overnight in the fridge also helps to make perfect arancini. So you could have barbecue one night, then risotto the next, then arancini the night after - now that sounds like a great fews days right? So think scotch egg and sort of make a patty out of your risotto before adding in your pork and a little cheese (why not) before reforming a ball around the filling and pressing the edges to lock it all in. Breadcrumb that ball of deliciousness and get it in the frier.
All of these dishes could be made on the barbecue with the help of a vortex or similar! Get the head up really high, add the chilled balls and give them a spray with cooking oil part way through the cook!
Pies! Simon Sperring made this Siniya filled with leftover rotisserie lamb, it’s a middle eastern lighter version of shepherd's pie but instead of mashed potato you top the filling with a mixture of yoghurt, tahini, eggs and lemon juice before baking for around 15 minutes and slightly golden. But Simon also has used leftover barbecue for traditional shepherds pies and cottage pies which looked and sounded amazing. Jason Latham made a Jerk Chicken Rice and Peas pie which I don’t know about you but it sounds incredible to me! He just layered the leftover up into the pie casing and added a little chicken and jerk spiced gravy to bring it all together and prevent it drying out. Once again, the options with pies are really endless and only down to your tastes.
Parcels: Dumplings, Gyoza, Pasties! There’s always space for some Asian Fusion and a Dumpling or Gyoza are perfect for just that. Being lazy (this is what I mostly do) you can grab some pretty epic dumpling or gyoza ‘wrappers’ (as they’re called over here) in most Asian markets or stores in the UK - usually in the frozen section - and they’re perfect for using up some leftovers. Use a knife to almost mince or chop up the leftovers you have and I usually like to mix at this point some of the main elements and complimentary sides or you can introduce new ingredients at this step by finely slicing some spring onion or adding a little sauce or seasoning to repurpose the leftovers and achieve your desired effect; then wrap them up & cook them! Make your own dipping sauce and voila you have an Asian Leftover Fusion Night!
Pasties - who doesn’t love a pasy! Now being from Devon, I most certainly do and you can find some pretty die hard traditionals around these parts but in most pasty shops and bakeries around the country these days you will find a curry pasty, jerk pasty, ham & cheese, mac & cheese, sausage & bean, chicken & mushroom….I could honestly be here all day, let your imagination run free, try something new and different. Susan Stoneman, another UK BBQ Contributor passed on her Leftover Pasty idea with us, she says to make up some short crust pastry (or I say go to the shop & buy some ready rolled pastry if you can’t make your own) and fill rolled out discs of pastry with the mixed filling, beat up an egg, use that to seal the pastie, then glaze it before cooking. Put them on the bbq (indirect) and bake for about 30 minutes until cooked. Ideal for snacks or for a lunch with salad.
QUICK TIPS: Leftover bread from a BBQ Gathering? Turn it into a Bread and Butter Pudding or make some breadcrumbs out of it - don’t let it go in the bin.
BBQ LEFTOVERS
By Daniel Shahin
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