How to make a Twixmas feast on a budget, and three recipes to impress

Four cooks talk about making the most of what's in the house between Christmas and New Year while keeping an eye on the cost

Pic: iStock

Twixmas: That indeterminate time after Christmas and before the new year when the house is still full of family and food, with people calling in on an ad-hoc basis so that you never quite know how many will sit down at the table. 

With that in mind — and keeping an eye on costs because you’ve inevitably bought too much food — we’ve asked chefs and food writers for their budget-friendly Twixmas ideas.

Paul Flynn of Waterford’s The Tannery

“The biggest waste of money at any time — but particularly at Christmas — is food waste. It’s like throwing money in the bin,” says Paul Flynn of Waterford’s The Tannery who believes in making lists so that you can stick to your budget. 

“Plan your meals over the few days of Christmas and shop accordingly. The worst thing you can do is random shopping, especially when you are hungry.”

Flynn’s list of Twixmas store cupboard essentials are:

• Frozen Yorkshire puddings: “Brilliant for stuffing all sorts of goodies into them. Perfect for serving Christmas dinner leftovers in a couple of bites.”
• Pasta: “I might serve some pasta with chopped smoked salmon, crème fraîche, horseradish and dill for a zippy change from the turkey.”
• A freezer stash: “I would always have something slow-cooked and handy for a crowd in the freezer, like a deeply flavoured beef stew made with melting beef shin or perhaps a lamb tagine or curry to spice things up.”
• Confit duck legs: “One of my favourite products, which you can buy in almost every supermarket these days. Pop them in a hot oven and serve with plenty of mustard. They fall off the bone like a dream and taste wonderful.”
• Stock up on tins: “Tins make me happy. I always have tins of tomatoes, chickpeas, lentils and butter beans at hand. You never know when you might need them to whip up something vegetarian when you’re tired of all that meat.”

Cork-based wedding and event caterer Orla McAndrew.

Freezer and pantry check

Planning is also crucial for Cork-based wedding and event caterer Orla McAndrew. “Before Christmas, I think it’s important to run down your pantry and freezer stocks and become really familiar with what you have in your larder.”

It’s also a good idea to clear out the fridge — “use up all the odds and ends” — so you start with a clean space for all the Christmas cooking.

“This way, you can readily see what you have, and nothing is at risk of being buried at the back of the fridge.”

Known for catering zero-waste weddings, McAndrew won’t waste any food: “Make a solid plan for what to do with leftovers and have what you need to hand for that, for example, have some ready-made pastry for pies, or lots of eggs for a frittata.

“This is the time to start making use of your leftovers in budget-savvy ways,” she says, which is especially useful when you have crowds to feed. That pastry will come in handy to make a galette with the remnants of the Christmas Day meal and any excess mash can be stretched to feed the masses by being turned into “potato cakes with chorizo and poached eggs for Stephen’s Day brekkie”.

Originally from Barcelona, chef Anna Cabrera opened Dublin’s Las Tapas de Lola in 2013 with her partner Vanessa Murphy.

Spanish twist on leftovers

Originally from Barcelona, chef Anna Cabrera opened Dublin’s Las Tapas de Lola in 2013 with her partner Vanessa Murphy. She has a quintessentially Spanish way of using up all those post-Christmas bits and pieces. 

“A stand-out tapa in Spain that’s perfect for Twixmas is our humble croqueta. It’s perfect for those leftovers glaring at you from the fridge, whether turkey, ham, cheese — you name it — everything is game.”

As well as mopping up all the leftovers, croquetas are ideal for entertaining: “You can follow our recipe from our book Tapas (Blasta Books) to the breaded stage and freeze for future use.”

When entertaining, Cabrera recommends sangria as a light alternative to accompany the croquetas: “A perfect match would be a jug of sangria after all your Christmas excesses, nice and light, easy to drink and perfect with any Twixmas feast.”

Belfast-based home cook, author and social media star Nathan Anthony

Appliances can help

With a focus on using energy-saving appliances, Belfast-based home cook, author and social media star Nathan Anthony — his Bored of Lunch Instagram account has 1.8m followers — uses a slow cooker and air fryer for his Christmas cooking. He recommends dry brining a turkey crown and glazing Christmas ham for cooking in a large air fryer — “both meats will cook more quickly than in the oven, but the glaze and dry brine will stop them from drying out” — which makes for more succulent leftovers and less waste.

Anthony points out that both these appliances, which may turn up in many Christmas stockings, “can cook things without needing to be preheated, saving you money on your utility bill”.

While catering over the Christmas period, he recommends “cooking dishes in your slow cooker. Many slow cookers have a keep-warm setting, so you can prep your dish earlier in the day and then keep it on low while hosting. This keeps your food warm for a lot longer and saves you turning on your hob or oven.”

It’s an ideal method for his French onion soup, which elevates a simple and inexpensive ingredient into something delicious and warming.

The slow cooker is also what Anthony uses for leftovers — “a budget-friendly turkey curry or turkey risotto” — both of which are ideal when catering for a crowd.

For feeding the masses at Twixmas time without blowing the budget, McAndrew sums it up nicely: “Plan ahead. Don’t overbuy. Use what you have, and get creative.”

A taste of Twixmas

Paul Flynn's crab claws with orange, pomegranate and rosemary butter

If you’re stuck for a starter, this is a foolproof and elegant option. The crab claws are a festive and delicious version of crab claws in garlic butter. The pomegranate seeds settle like jewels on top. I like to serve this dish family-style so everyone c

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 125g butter

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• zest and juice of 1 orange

• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped

• 400g cooked crab claws

• 4 spring onions, finely chopped

• seeds and juice from 1 ripe pomegranate

Method

1. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. When it starts to foam, add the garlic, orange zest and juice and rosemary and cook for 1 minute. Add the cooked crab claws and spring onions. Warm everything through the butter and season.

2. Scatter the pomegranate seeds on top and drizzle over a little juice. Serve with crusty bread.

3. Butter Boy: Collected Stories and Recipes by Paul Flynn is published by Nine Bean Rows (ninebeanrowsbooks.com)

Anna Cabrera's croquetas de jamón (ham croquetas)

We love all things croquetas. In Spain, there are bars, shops, supermarket aisles, books and even daydreams dedicated solely to the croqueta. They come in all shapes, flavours and sizes but we like to keep them simple.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 7 hours 10 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 7 hours 20 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 125g butter

• ½ onion, finely diced

• 250g serrano ham, minced [or Christmas dinner leftovers eg turkey, ham, cheese]

• 160g plain flour, sifted

• 1 litre warm milk

• 1 tbsp fine sea salt

• 2 tsp ground black pepper

• 1½ tsp ground nutmeg

• To deep-fry the croquetas:

• 150g plain flour

• 4 eggs, whisked

• 150g fine breadcrumbs

• 2 litres sunflower or vegetable oil

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large pot set over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 8–10 minutes, until soft, then add the minced serrano ham and the sifted flour, stirring constantly until the flour is golden. Pour in the warm milk and whisk constantly until the mixture starts to thicken. Stir in the salt, pepper and nutmeg, then remove the pot from the heat.

2. Scrape the mixture out onto a baking tray, cover immediately with cling film and leave to cool, then refrigerate for at least six hours (or until the next day).

3. When you’re ready to cook, set up three bowls: one for the flour, one for the whisked eggs and one for the breadcrumbs. Using your hands, shape the croquetas to your desired size (we suggest 6–8cm long). Roll through the flour, then the eggs and finish with the breadcrumbs.

4. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 190°C. If you don’t have a deep-fryer, you can use a deep pot but make sure it’s no more than half-full of oil.

5. Working in batches, deep-fry the croquetas for about 2 minutes, until golden. Remove with a slotted stainless steel spoon to a plate lined with kitchen paper to remove any excess oil. Croquetas are always served hot, but we’ve been known to steal them cold from the plate at home!

6. Blasta Books #6: Tapas by Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy (€15) is published by Blasta Books (blastabooks.com)

Nathan Anthony's French Onion Soup

My all-time favourite soup, and one I tried for the first time in a French restaurant in Disneyland Florida, of all places. With the first spoonful, I knew I had to make it at home and I have evolved it into a convenient slow-cooker recipe.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 10 hours 10 mins

Total Time

 10 hours 30 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 10 onions, sliced

• 100g low-fat butter

• 1 tbsp Italian herb seasoning

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 bay leaf

• 2 tbsp brown sugar

• 200ml white wine

• 900ml vegetable or beef stock

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• slices of baguette

• 120g gruyère cheese, grated

• salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Place the onions, butter, Italian seasoning, garlic, bay leaf, sugar and wine in the slow cooker, stir and season to taste. Cook on high for 10 hours. Add the stock and Worcestershire sauce and stir well.

2. Arrange the slices of bread on top of the soup and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Cook under a preheated grill for 8–10 minutes until golden brown. If your slow cooker pot is not ovenproof, transfer the soup to an ovenproof dish before topping with the bread and cheese.