I know it’s been a while since I wrote any recipes – I thought of a sabbatical and I was pursuing a new adventure which indeed took up far more time than I imagined.

Talking to a dear friend only the other day they asked if I still did the recipes and wondered if I would at least do some more at this rather special time in our lives.

Having spent some time thinking about it and seeking inspiration for writing I wondered where to start and how to approach a new generation of thoughts and ideas.

That thought came to me this morning on where to start as I pottered in the kitchen looking at left overs in the fridge and trying to create new tasty dishes for the coming few days to prevent my favourite expression of ‘menu fatigue’. 

Food can be so monotonous if we don’t think and plan, especially when preparing foods with such intensity, as we are all doing at the present time with hungry mouths to feed. If you are blessed with young in the household get them involved too – they will learn, and it will help pass the day with the ‘feel good’ factor when they get to eat.

I have always advocated planning and preparation – time management. So, if you are doing one thing – do some others at the same time to save time at a later stage. Hopefully your store cupboard is supporting you – as well as the deep freeze.

My nocturnal thoughts ventured on some left-over items in the fridge that needed attending to and avoiding the bin. So, here’s my thoughts and adventures for the next few days fare – which I prepared this morning.

A roasted duck leg – meat taken off the bone and cut into pieces. Then some left over chicken from Sundays roast (I had spatchcocked it and we’d cooked it on the BBQ) – so the left-over meat was taken from all the bones. This gave me a rather nice bowl full of meat. So, some chopped onions – sweated in butter in the microwave – then some flour to make a roux – then milk – a white sauce. I added some grain mustard and seasoning. I had fried some streaky bacon till crispy – drained it and add this to the sauce and then the meats were added. I might add some mushrooms later, but this will be a sauce to be added to penne pasta and a salad on the side. A sort of Carbonara – may even add some egg yolks for extra nutrition.

Now to deal with some roasted sweet potato and veggies. Again, sweated some chopped onions – added the veggies and some pre-prepared tomato sauce and stock. Brought to a simmer and pureed. I add a couple of spoons of ground rice to thicken a little and give a better texture. Check seasoning and this is soup for lunch.

Some defrosted chicken breasts – sliced horizontally – place in a bag with Worcester sauce – balsamic vinegar and bbq sauce – marinated in the fridge for cooking on the griddle later to be served with a salad and a crusted potato dish.

A couple of cooked jacket potatoes - peeled – some mashed potato left-over – all mashed together. Then slice the kernels off some bbq’d sweetcorn (or add a small tin of sweetcorn or frozen kernels) and add to mixture – season and mix - place into a buttered dish. Before putting into a hot oven drizzle with Olive Oil or Butter and bake till golden brown and crispy. (You can do combinations of bakes like this – Potato and Parsnip – Potato and Celeriac) I would recommend steaming the Potatoes, Parsnips, Celeriac if starting from scratch. This can be done in advance and kept in the fridge till baking time arrives.

Opps just found some rather ripe avocados – prepared and added to a bowl – I added some crushed garlic – mayonnaise – Worcester sauce and blitzed with stick blender – hey presto guacamole ready for some crudités and chips as a dip later or even as a side for char-grilled meat.

I had a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry – put four, skinned salmon fillets in the middle. Spread some red pesto over and then wrapped it up. Placed on a baking sheet with baking parchment – egg-washed and ready to bake in a hot oven till golden.

Now I think that’s probably enough for now – hopefully it’s given you some foods for thought. I would just add – don’t just rely on Potatoes, Rice and Paste. Remember Pearl Barley – that can be used just like rice and of course also the Italian Polenta and Cous Cous.

Mushroom and Pearl Barley Risotto