Leftover magic: Chef Trevane Donegal-Porter’s creative post-holiday recipes

With the festive season coming to an end, we have all woken up with leftovers from our family dinners. Chef Trevane Donegal-Porter has some creative ideas on what we can do with the leftover food stored in our refrigerators.

HAM (OFF-CUTS AND SMALL PIECES)

1. Classic French quiche Lorraine, for breakfast - Quiche Lorraine is a French dish that was introduced to the United States in the 1950s. It is made with pre-baked pie crust and an egg filling, mixed with ham cuts, vegetables and other leftover protein pieces of your choice. It is simple to make. Simply place the pie crust in the pie dish, pour the other ingredients inside and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the egg becomes solid.

2. Ham garden salad, for lunch - This is a healthy dish that can be made by gently tossing chopped ham pieces with chopped vegetables, such as lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, avocados, etc, in a bowl and using your desired dressing.

3. Chicken cordon bleu, for dinner - Start with seasoned chicken breast, butterflied and pounded to make it tender and layer ham slices with cheese. Roll it, secure both ends and coat it with flour, egg, and bread crumbs. Cook in one of three ways: pan-fry it, bake it in the oven or use your air fryer.

ROAST CHICKEN

1. Chicken flatbread, for breakfast - Brush the already-baked flatbread generously with barbecue sauce or any sauce of your choice, then place the chopped and boneless chicken on top with shredded cheese and vegetables of your choice, such as tomatoes, and add peppers, onions, etc. Reheat in a microwave or an oven for some minutes.

2. Chicken salad wrap, for lunch - In a large bowl, combine boneless chicken, vegetables of your choice, mayonnaise, lemon juice and lettuce. Stir well; you can add seasonings of your choice. Cover and chill until ready to serve. When ready to serve, pour the contents on tortillas, wrap it into a shape of your choice and roll it.

3. Chicken quesadillas, for dinner - Place pieces of boneless chicken inside two layers of tortillas with shredded cheese, vegetables and/or seasonings of your choice and reheat on a stovetop in a wide frying pan. Then, cut into traditional triangles.

ROAST BEEF

1. Beef fajita, for breakfast - Skirt steak and flank steak are two popular cuts of meat used for fajitas because both are considered flat cuts. Cut up the beef and reheat it with sweet peppers, onions, and other seasonings of your choice and serve it with a stack of warm tortillas and condiments.

2. Philly steak sandwich, for lunch - In a long hoagie roll (cut hot dog bread for us in Jamaica), drop thinly sliced pieces of beefsteak with shredded cheese and vegetables of your choice. Then heat in a toaster oven.

3. Beef stroganoff, for dinner - Beef stroganoff is a Russian dish of sautéed pieces of beef in a sauce of mustard and smetana (sour cream). From its origins in mid-19th-century Tsarist Russia, it has become popular around the world, with considerable variation from the original recipe. Mushrooms are common in many variants.

CURRIED GOAT

1. Curried goat quesadillas, for breakfast - Place pieces of curried goat inside two layers of tortillas with pepper Jack shredded cheese and/or seasonings of your choice and heat in a frying pan on a stovetop. Then, cut into traditional triangles.

2. Curried goat wrap, for lunch - Place curried goat and vegetables inside a tortilla and fold the tortilla into a wrap style of your choice.

3. Khichari - An Indian one-pot meal made with curried goat, gravy, rice and vegetables of your choice.

“All these proteins can easily be used to make pastas and do a variety of sauces that are cream- and marinara-based,” Donegal-Porter explained.

On the other hand, for next year’s festive season, Donegal-Porter says she hopes there will not be leftovers, but instead, we will share all the extra food with the homeless and others who are in need.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com