It’s easier than you think to keep your cooking savvy amid all the Christmas abundance. Emily Gussin shares her tips for making your festive season as sustainable as it is wonderful
Don’t bin it!
1 MAKE A HASH OF IT
Having a restorative festive hash for breakfast is a great opportunity to use up leftover Christmas trimmings. Roughly chop roast potatoes and root veg, then fry in a big pan, adding shredded sprouts and greens a bit later. You could add bacon or chopped pigs in blankets too. Once everything is hot and toasty, scrape onto a plate, then fry eggs in the same pan to top. Serve your hash with any of the usual condiments and a cuppa.
2 BE SAVVY WITH PARTY SERVINGS
When cooking for a crowd it’s tricky to quantify exactly how much food you’ll need. No one wants to be a scrooge but large platters can lead to a lot of leftovers. A simple remedy is to use smaller serving plates and not to put all the food out at once. Holding some back means you can keep it sealed and at a safe temperature for longer, then decide if the served food needs a top-up. If it doesn’t, you can either freeze it or keep it for another day.
3 UPGRADE THE BOXING DAY SANDWICH
Think beyond piling up leftover meat with cranberry sauce and cheese. Sandwiches are an art form that can take more than you think. Creamy gratins or fried brussels sprouts are a perfect topping for ham. Fry roast potatoes, then squash in a pan for a hash brown-style crunch that’s brilliant with all kinds of fillings. And don’t forget that a well-stuffed sandwich doesn’t have to end there – there’s always the option to dip, maybe into a bowl of hot gravy.
And if that weren’t enough, there’s even a way to make magical use of any leftover bread sauce from the main meal…
4 SAVE YOUR SCRAPS
When you’re cooking Christmas dinner (or any big meal), it’s the ideal time to make the most of things that are usually discarded. Gather together vegetable trimmings and meat bones in a bag in the freezer to use for stock, and think about how you can repurpose peelings. They can be great in stuffings and stews, or even tossed in oil and crisped up in a hot oven. Take a look at the closed loop Christmas dinner from our November issue, now online at deliciousmagazine.co.uk, for more inspiration.
5 DON’T WASTE YOUR CHEESE TRIMMINGS
Cheeseboard leftovers often don’t look quite as appetising after a few days. Scrape all your chunks of cheese into a container and keep them for co
