Adora's Box: HOMEMADE POTTED MEAT

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

HOMEMADE POTTED MEAT

I know that we are all fastidious about stocking up for Christmas. It is better to have extra food than be caught unaware when unexpected guests pop around. The downside is that we end up with a lot of Christmas leftovers. I don't like wasting anything so I freeze whatever can be frozen.

We always have roast turkey and trimmings every Christmas. English roast turkey is a bit different from the American one. The forcemeat stuffing is made with sausagemeat. It is stuffed on the neck end of the turkey and the rest made into balls and cooked separately. Traditionally served with the stuffed roast turkey are chipolatas (mini sausages) wrapped in bacon.

My favourite way of rehashing the turkey dinner is by making potted meat. The chipolatas, stuffing and the turkey put together results to a fantastic meat spread. Any cooked meat can be made into potted meat. Throw in some ham and cooked bacon to give it a more interesting taste. It goes so well on crackers or bruschetta, on its own or with some relish or chutneys on the side. Fill little pots or pastry cases to make individual portions to include in your cheese platter.

Eating leftovers need not be a drag. Inventive remakes may make you even look forward to it.

Ingredients:

1/4 c. butter
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small onion, chopped
2 c. of chopped cooked meat (any meat or meat combination)
2 tbsps. marsala wine, sherry or brandy
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
dash of nutmeg
1/4 c. cream cheese
clarified butter
herbs for decoration

Instructions:

Sauté the garlic and onions on low heat in the 1/4 c. butter until the onions are translucent.

Add the meat and the marsala wine, dry sherry or brandy. Sauté for about 4 minutes until the alcohol has evaporated. Add the black pepper and nutmeg and season to taste with salt.

Transfer to a food processor, add the cream cheese and puree until smooth.

Transfer to a container or several small containers. Garnish with a sprig of herbs (I also added dried cranberries for colour) on top and spoon in some clarified butter. This may be refrigerated or frozen.

To clarify butter: Melt butter in a microwave. Skim off the clear oil that floats on top on use to top the potted meat. Discard the milky liquid.

Please support Adora's Box by making your Amazon.com and mymemories.com (use the code STMMMS55174) purchases from this site. Click on their respective banners to proceed to their websites. It will not cost you a single cent more but will help sustain this blog. Thank you.