Christmas feasting (part 4 - leftovers)

Happy New Year everyone! A few final bits & pieces before I put Christmas 2010 to bed and look forward to a very foody 2011.

I made some spiced beef for Boxing Day, according to this recipe of Rowley Leigh's. It was the only thing that actually stopped me turning green from jealousy over my mother's stories of ham and barbecues.

Absolutely wonderful! Much simpler than the cure I usually use, and I think the flavour was much better. Plus an excellent continental Europe-based online pal brought me some saltpetre, so the beef had a pretty rosy glow.

We had it hot with roasted beetroot and yoghurt salad. Really delicious. But pressed and cooled it came into its own. We had it in sandwiches in hot, fresh sourdough baguette, with celeriac remoulade on the side. So good there was no need for sauerkraut or mustard or any of the other condiments we'd usually put in a sandwich. Definitely one to make again - and soon!

The confited legs of our Christmas goose, plus the leftover breast meat (both plain and smoked) joined some of the rich goose broth in a really fabulous cassoulet. It's quite a lot warmer this week than it has been, but we were still happy to get into big bowls of luscious beans and rich meat. That pot of beans did the two of us for a lunch and a dinner, so I really don't think my goose purchase was too, too extravagant. And I still have a big tub of goose fat and two litres of goose stock in the freezer waiting for inspiration.

The last of the stilton was grated and mixed with the leftover quark from my stollen, to make a thick version of Kat's Grandpa's Dunk. I smeared the dunk (too thick to be a dunk really) onto tortillas and whacked them in a pan for some really amazing quesadillas.

So - Christmas done and dusted, and the fridge is almost empty. Yay me!