When faced with a considerable amount of leftover Roast Beef, and when you are heartily tired of eating it cold with salad day after day, why not consider using some in that wonderfully old – fashioned way of making croquettes? These should have a wonderfully crisp exterior coating of breadcrumbs,and a soft, savoury but satisfying interior of finely minced meat which is bound with a stiff, well-seasoned bechamel or white sauce. In terms of proportions, for one lb of cooked cold beef use Half a pint, or one Cup, of stiff cold sauce. Here, I used some leftover Cauliflower Cheese which had set to a firm cold pudding in the fridge. Simply blitz all together in the food processor, season copiously with salt and pepper, and if it then looks too sloppy to mould, you can add some breadcrumbs to absorb any excess moisture. Or you could use some firm mashed potato. What you should end up with is a mixture that you can easily shape into whichever form you care for, either balls, patties or sausage shapes as I have done.

Ideally you would then chill these until quite firm before coating with beaten egg and then breadcrumbs. I didn’t bother as I was not concerned that my croquettes looked a little rustic, this being a mid-week supper for just the 2 of us. An even crispier coating can be had if you repeat the eggwash and breadcrumb coating for a second time.

Then simply fry in about 1/2 inch of very hot oil , turning each one carefully once the underside is done so that they are fried all over to a dark golden brown. Drain them well on Kitchen Paper and serve very hot. I just grabbed a handful of whatever was ready in the garden, namely Spinach, baby broad beans and embryonic courgettes, with a little tenderstem broccoli as accompaniment.