Read: Irish Examiner | Budget friendly Twixmas treats

Twixmas. That indeterminate time after Christmas and before 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, after all, you’ve inevitably bought too much food already – we’ve asked some chefs and food writers for their budget friendly Twixmas ideas.

“The biggest waste of money at any time – but particularly at Christmas – is food waste, it’s literally 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 as everything seems like a good idea!”

Planning is also key 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 so that you’re starting with a clean space for all the Christmas cooking. “Use up all the odds and ends in your fridge,” says McAndrew. “Make soups or sauces or pie fillings with whatever you need to move on – freeze them if needs be – and start afresh on the week of Christmas. 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 – “the best part of Christmas!” – and any excess mash can be stretched to feed the masses by being turned into “potato cakes with chorizo and poached eggs for Stephens Day brekkie.”

Originally from Barcelona, chef Anna Cabrera opened Dublin’s Las Tapas de Lola in 2013 with her partner Vanessa Murphy, and 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 – just don’t fry them! – and freeze for future use. Double-whammy!” When you’re entertaining, Cabrera recommends sangria as a light alternative to accompany the croquetas: “A perfect match would be a jug of sangría after all your Christmas excesses, nice and light, easy to drink and perfect with any Twixmas feast.”

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 1.8 million 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 the air frier – “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, who released Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Slow Cooker Book and Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Frier Book (both Ebury Press) earlier this year, 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. A lot of slow cookers have a keep warm setting, so you can prep your dish earlier in the day, then keep it on low whilst 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!”

Some tastes for Twixmas

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

Scrape the mixture out onto a baking tray, cover immediately with cling film and leave to cool, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours (or until the next day).

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.

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. 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!

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

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.

Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Slow Cooker Book by Nathan Anthony (£18.99) is published by Ebury Press.