After every successful Christmas,there is inevitably an amount of food that is leftover after the event.

The question is what to do with the leftovers so as not to waste those expensive Christmas Day table fare such as ham, turkey, roasted vegetables, seafood and of course the plum pudding.

The first question one should ask, however, is not ‘what can I do with the leftovers?’ It should be, ‘what should I do with the leftovers?’ - To ensure that they are safe to utilize at a later date.

The answer is fairly straight forward and relates mostly to the temperatures at which the food has been kept and the amount of time foods spend at temperatures between 5-65 degrees Celsius, as this is the range most dangerous for micro-biological growth in food. Given that it’s safe to assume that room temperature, especially on December 25, sits smack in the middle of this it is crucial that food does not sit too long on the table, in fact the shorter the better, so after serving the chilled shellfish from the fridge get any leftover wrapped and back in the refrigerator as soon as everyone has eaten.

As for the bevy of hot foods it is best that any surplus is allowed to cool then it is wrapped well and chilled back to 4 degrees Celsius or less, again, as quickly as possible as this will extend the life of the food. Any food that has been cooked and reheated should not be utilized at a later date. The same applies to food that has been frozen as a raw product, and then cooked; you should not attempt to refreeze any food after cooking that has already been frozen.

The other food safety point to note is never place cooked food or food to be served raw, such as salads, on a chopping board after you have worked on raw food that needs to be cooked such as poultry, fish or meats or place raw item above cooked in your refrigerator, this will avoid cross contamination of your food and also avoid an unpleasant leftover banquet experience.

In the simplest terms you can’t go far wrong if you follow these general guidelines:

*Serve cold food cold (under 5 degrees Celsius)

*Hot food hot (over 65 degrees Celsius)

*Do not leave any food at room temperature for periods of time

*Only ever cook, freeze or reheat a food item once

*The safest place for food is in the refrigerator

Now for the fun part, what are the options for utilizing the leftovers from the Christmas Day dining table and how might we avoid the “not ham again” comments that seem to emanate from every family home in the period between Christmas and New Year.Be creative and use your leftovers for casseroles, hearty soups, stews, hot sandwiches…you get the idea.

Happy Holidays!

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Technorati Tags: Christmas leftovers, Food Safety, holiday food safety, holiday leftovers

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

We live in a tropical environment and with that comes special precautions concerning the health of our family.

So we get up one morning and open a loaf of bread to make toast. We see that one piece has some blue-green mold on it. What do we do?

It is best to throw the entire loaf away. Don’t even feed it to the birds. You see, bread is very porous, so mold can spead quickly and very easily. Molds, which have roots, can be growing below the surface, even if you scrape it off. This rule applies equally for meats, jams and jellies, fruits and vegetables.

Eating a small amount of moldy bread isn’t likely to cause a serious illness, but it could really upset your stomach.

To avoid mold, always store food in a cool, dry place which in this country means the fridge. Also, always check expiration dates on all store goods and eat all left-overs within two or three days.

Never take any chances when it comes to the health of your family.

(6 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Technorati Tags: Expiration Dates, Food Safety, Molds

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!