Nom nom
What I cooked today (with some scullery-maid type help. And some hindrance from LB who wanted to be in my arms whenever he could see me, still ill, poor mite):
Chicory, orange and walnut arranged salad
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Chestnut, leek, mushroom and dried cranberry brioche pie
(Was meant to be a brioche plait stuffed with the chestnut stuff, but trying to combine two brioche recipes, neither of which was quite what I wanted, led to a very runny dough which could only be poured, no chance of plaiting it. But it worked very well as a pie topping and was utterly delicious. The filling also contained quite a lot of flat leaf parsley, some black pepper and a lot of lemon juice. The lemon juice was a late inspiration and really transformed it, making all the flavours come out - I don't understand why lemon does that, but it often does, IME. Like people say salt does, but I think lemon juice does it better, as well as being better for you)
Roasted root veg with maple syrup and mustard (parsnips, sweet potato, squash, celeriac. I usually do this with honey rather than maple syrup and I'm not sure it was worth the extra expense of the maple syrup).
Sprouts/sprout tops (from parental allotment, so rather more opened out than is traditional, but all the nicer for it, as less bitter. Also rather more insect infested than optimal, although picking them off kept PB occupied for ages).
Apple and cranberry sauce (just some stewed apple with some whole cranberries cooked into it. Very nicely tart in contrast to the brioche pie)
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Christmas pudding (I didn't make this one - ours is designated for a later bonus christmas lunch)
Caramelised oranges (very easy - make some caramel, pour over sliced de-pithed oranges, leave for 24 hours. Nice contrast between sharp/sweet oranges and slightly bitter caramel)
Brandy butter and cream
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Coffee
Peppermint creams (I didn't make these either - PB did with help from his grandmother).
Oh, and copious alcohol - sherry, fizz, red wine, dessert wine.
One of my better efforts. And I didn't lose my temper or get stressed once. Tired now, but happy.
Chicory, orange and walnut arranged salad
------
Chestnut, leek, mushroom and dried cranberry brioche pie
(Was meant to be a brioche plait stuffed with the chestnut stuff, but trying to combine two brioche recipes, neither of which was quite what I wanted, led to a very runny dough which could only be poured, no chance of plaiting it. But it worked very well as a pie topping and was utterly delicious. The filling also contained quite a lot of flat leaf parsley, some black pepper and a lot of lemon juice. The lemon juice was a late inspiration and really transformed it, making all the flavours come out - I don't understand why lemon does that, but it often does, IME. Like people say salt does, but I think lemon juice does it better, as well as being better for you)
Roasted root veg with maple syrup and mustard (parsnips, sweet potato, squash, celeriac. I usually do this with honey rather than maple syrup and I'm not sure it was worth the extra expense of the maple syrup).
Sprouts/sprout tops (from parental allotment, so rather more opened out than is traditional, but all the nicer for it, as less bitter. Also rather more insect infested than optimal, although picking them off kept PB occupied for ages).
Apple and cranberry sauce (just some stewed apple with some whole cranberries cooked into it. Very nicely tart in contrast to the brioche pie)
-------
Christmas pudding (I didn't make this one - ours is designated for a later bonus christmas lunch)
Caramelised oranges (very easy - make some caramel, pour over sliced de-pithed oranges, leave for 24 hours. Nice contrast between sharp/sweet oranges and slightly bitter caramel)
Brandy butter and cream
------
Coffee
Peppermint creams (I didn't make these either - PB did with help from his grandmother).
Oh, and copious alcohol - sherry, fizz, red wine, dessert wine.
One of my better efforts. And I didn't lose my temper or get stressed once. Tired now, but happy.