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Christmas leftovers are edible gold!



How lucky I am to get to chat to the incredible and brilliant Sinead Ryan twice this Christmas about Christmas dinner prep where I developed a cookery book that showcases Ireland’s top celebrity chef recipes (my cookbook is attached below for you to download) and then I’m back on air with Sinead on Newstalk for the The Home Show on the 27th of December 2025 where I am talking about Leftovers (recipe book attached below) and I will stress that they are not second best – they’re your Christmas bonus round.


All that turkey, ham, veg and gravy has already done its time in the oven, rested and relaxed, so the flavour is even bigger and bolder the next day. When you spin them into a pie, a creamy pasta, a curry or a killer toastie, you’re not starting from scratch; you’re simply taking a gorgeous, well‑seasoned base and dialling it up another notch.​


Think about what’s sitting in your fridge on St Stephen’s Day: crisp roasties, sticky glazed veg, delicious slices of ham, rich gravy, herb stuffing crumbs. The textures alone are doing half the work – crunch, chew, softness and comfort, without you lifting a finger on the day. This is pure “cook once, enjoy twice (or three times)” magic, and it lets you swan back into the kitchen calmly and with more confidence..


Here’s where it gets really fun: once you see leftovers as building blocks, the fridge stops being a graveyard and starts looking like a menu. You’ve got a pie formula (leftover turkey and ham, quick white sauce or gravy, puff pastry or mash), a soup formula (bones, odds of veg, a handful of rice, barley or pasta to finish to make it more of a meal), and a hand‑held formula (chopped meat plus mustard, curry, cheese or cranberry wrapped in bread or a wrap and toasted or in pastry and baked). Out of one Christmas Day Extravaganza comes a St Stephen’s Day bake, a shepherd’s‑style turkey pie, croquettes from mash and ham, or a gentle turkey korma – all with hardly any extra effort.​


The real power move is to plan those “second‑day stars” from the start. When you actually write “turkey and ham pie”, “St Stephen’s Day bake” or “leftover soup and toasties” onto the menu, you buy and cook with purpose and you’re already picturing those cosy plates being passed around. Suddenly the last roast potato, the spoon of stuffing and the heel of ham aren’t clutter; they’re ingredients with a job. You portion, label and stash them knowing “this tub is for pie, that one is for soup, these slices are for epic sandwiches” – and the bin stays empty while your table, and your fridge, stay gloriously full and you save a fortune because you meal planned in advance from the comfort of your chair with a cup of tea in hand (or something stronger) watching reruns of the late late toy show.


REMEMBER: Leftovers are part two of the celebration – the proof that you planned like a pro and can now feed everyone brilliantly with half the effort. Below are fully formatted leftover “hero” recipes.



Download your delicious Christmas recipes here:



 
 
 
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