THE COOKBOOK
The Bountiful Kitchen: Delicious ideas to turn one dish into two by Lizzie Kamenetzky (£16.99; Kyle Books)
TESTED BY Susan Low
Leftovers. Some people love them, some can’t abide them, seeing them as the food equivalent of zombies – just when you think you’ve buried the last scrap, they rise again to haunt yet another mealtime. Author Lizzie Kamenetzky is a dyed-in-the-wool leftover lover – so much so that she’s written a whole book about them.
The premise of the book is that you cook a lot of one thing, then use what’s left as the basis for another meal or two. Leftovers from sticky braised short ribs are turned into Thai beef salad or beef summer rolls; root vegetable gratin is given a new lease of life as gratin hash with poached eggs or savoury gratin muffins; and sticky almond and honey tart becomes semifreddo slice or the filling for stuffed baked apples.
Inevitably, there are hashes, frittatas and soupy-stew things that become home for wayward leftovers that may have ended up in the bin. But this isn’t about being puritanical or worthy – the recipes are far more appealing than that.