D is for (St.) David's Day

1 March marks the day all of Wales celebrates its patron saint.

And while I don't think anyone else will be sporting daffodils or leeks, it's worth digging out some of the traditional Welsh recipes as something a bit different.

My favourite is cawl (pronounced cow'l) which is basically a half house between a stew and a soup.  There are as many versions of cawl as there are sheep in Wales.  If you're by the coast then fish and seafood make their way in, but because this weekend is still chilly, I'm making the lamb mountain version.

Gather:

• 1 kg lamb on the bone, cut into bit sized pieces
• Knob of butter
• 2 l of lamb stock
• 250 gms of onions, skinned and diced
• 250 gms of leeks, trimmed and sliced
• 250 gms of potato, peeled and cubed
• 250 gms of carrots, peeled and cubed
• 250 gms of swede, trimmed and cubed
• S&P

Then...

1. Braise the lamb in the butter in the bottom of a pan with the bone and some seasoning to brown the meat
2. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil.  
3. Let simmer for half an hour and then add in the veggies and simmer for a further hour
4. Serve immediately OR
5. Better still leave to cool and allow to sit over night and then reheat before the meal by bringing to the boil and simmering for 10 mins.
6. Serve 4 with crusty bread and some Caerphilly cheese.

I like to serve it with some mint sauce. Less than traditional but I like the taste.

G is for Gougères

Everyone I speak to seems to think that choux pastry is a pig to make.  It's not.  There are just a couple of things to remember. Once you've got those in your consciousness, it's easy, can be bulked up and is very versatile: think beignets, eclairs, gougères, Parisian gnocchi, profiteroles...

I think it's because there is a series of steps to follow that puts people off, but really...have a go...surprise yourself.

Of these luscious lovelies, one of my all-time-favourite freezer standbys is gougères. I typically quadruple the recipe below and then (once cooled) divide them up into bags of 20-ish to bung in the freezer.  They freeze beautifully and only take 3½ mins @ 200℃ to defrost and warm back up without them browning any more.

I recommend making a small batch first as then you can see for yourself the consistency that the mixture needs to be before making masses.

Gather:

• 125 mls water
• 40 gms butter, cubed
• 70 gms plain flour
• 1 teaspn mustard powder
• 90 gms grated cheese*
• 2 large eggs, beaten but kept separate
• S&P

* Any hard cheese will go, but I mostly use Comté, Gran Padano or Gruyère.

Then...

1. Heat the oven to 220℃. Put a layer of baking paper over a baking sheet and spray lightly with veggie oil
2. Season the flour in a bowl and sprinkle over the mustard powder and move to the side of your hob
3. Bring the water and the butter to the boil quickly
4. As soon as it's boiled, dump in the flour mix and beat over a low heat
5. It needs to stay on the heat being beaten until it's come away from the sides of the pan and is one big, smooth ball.  This may be quite quick OR take a bit of time depending on how much water has evaporated
6. Take off the heat and leave to stand for a couple of minutes to allow to cool
7. [At this point, I put the dough in a stand mixer]
8. Once cool enough so the eggs won't scramble, whisk in one egg until incorporated and then repeat
9. Add in the cheese.  You can also add in some finely chopped fresh herbs with the cheese if you like
10. Put the thick batter into disposable piping bags / freezer bags^
11. If you find your mixture's quite runny at this stage, put the bag in the fridge to firm up a bit as the mixture needs to be a bit stiff to be piped
12. Snip off the end/a corner of the bag and pipe cherry-tomato-sized blobs about 1"/2.5 cm apart onto the greased, papered tray until it's full
13. If you still have left, put (back) into the fridge until the first batch is nearly cooked
14. Put some cold water in a small bowl, dip your finger into the water and (gently) flatten the dough hook left by the piping so it's a smooth ball.
15. At this stage you can sprinkle on a bit more cheese, but I usually don't bother
16. Put in the oven for 10 mins @ 220℃ during which stage they'll puff up 
17. Then turn down the oven to 190℃ for 12-15 mins to crispen up (so they don't go flat when you take them out) and brown 
18. Remove and leave for a couple of minutes before taking off the baking paper. Repeat the steps from no. 12 with any remaining mix.
19. Serve warm from the oven or leave to cool, guarding with a wooden spoon for sneaking hands, and bag up for the freezer

^ if you don't have either, teaspooning the mix onto the tray is also okay although the end result isn't as neat.

See!  It wasn't that difficult!!

If it was, the mistakes will be:

Dough mix too runny: not boiling off enough water or using very large eggs
Dough mix too thick: boiling off too much water or using medium eggs

Either can be solved mid-recipe by either putting the dough in the fridge for the butter to re-harden OR adding a little (whole) milk.

Soon you'll be baking up my kinda batches!

H is for Hot Pot

We've got friends coming over for Friday supper and by the time we've got out of the city, it's already quite late so I need to serve up a meal that people can enjoy really quickly.  It's also cold so I want something warming.

So I'm doing Da Been Lo or Chinese hot pot.   This does only work if you have an individual electric or butane ring that can sit in the middle of your (protected) table, as some of the food may take a bit of cooking.*

And it does need a bit of prior preparation to make the raw food appealing, but you can make up the soup base (in fact it's better as the flavours come together) ad chop up the meat/veggies (sealed into bags so they don't dry out) the night before.

I swear by Ching He Huang's spicy hotpot soup base, but if the ingredients list or spice puts you off, then a chicken or veggie stock is fine.  Just cook in some Shiitaki mushrooms to help make it a bit more authentic.

I then put sliced raw ingredients into individual serving dishes and arrange around the hot pot.  Then everyone gets some dipping sauce by their own place setting.  My list typically includes:

• Oriental mushrooms (Waitrose sell great all-in-one packs)
• Sugar snap peas
• Bak Choi (separate the leaves from the stems and chop the stems in half)
• Spinach
• Thinly sliced beef steak (part freeze it to be able to slice very thinly)
• Skewered (raw) king prawns
• Crispy tofu
• Lotus root^
• Beef dumplings^
• Fish dumplings^
• Udon noodles

^ bought from the Chinese supermarket or mostly available online.

Bring the soup to the boil, and ask people put in what they want to eat and when it's done, fish it out. Don't overload the soup otherwise everything takes forever to cook.  And have a couple of slotted spoons available so people can fish out their food.  The dumplings are done when they float, the prawns when they're pink.

I generally leave the udon noodles till the end but that's just a Chinese thing about leaving the rice to fill up after the more expensive ingredients have been enjoyed.

* All is not lost if you don't have a ring as you can bring the soup to boil on the hob.  You just need to keep the ingredients to things that will just cook with hot water poured over them (e.g. matchstick carrots, julienned spring onion lengths, vermicelli noodles, wafer thin beef, Enoki mushrooms, shredded Chinese leaf, bean sprouts).

D is for Dipping Sauce

It's Chinese New Year in a couple of days and, as usual, I'm having my family over for a feast.

Lots of my traditional dishes will be served as we wish each other Kung Hei Fat Choi: cheers, luck and a wonderful future. In China, the (simplified) characters are pronounced Gong Xi Fa Cai.

But I always cheat and buy in a couple of dishes.  It just makes life easier.

One of my favourites is Xiao Long Bao (little dragon buns) which are pork dumplings in soup all in a thin rice encasing.  They're not difficult to make but they are very time consuming.  So I arrange frozen dumplings onto a disk of greaseproof paper in a bamboo steamer and steam as per the packet.  You traditionally serve them with black rice vinegar to cut through the slightly fatty pork, but I use my own dipping sauce.

Another dish I buy in is spring rolls.  Tesco do some great mini ones in the freezer section which can be bunged in the oven.  Much healthier than frying them traditionally.

These are served with the same dipping sauce as the Xiao Long Bao.  This is very simple: just mix up equally quantities of black rice (Chinkiang) vinegar and light soy sauce in a small bowl.  I then chop off three very thin slices from a red chili and float on the top.

And just as I was about to publish, I spotted this on the internet.  Very appropriate given the year!  May the Horse be with you!

© Disney

S is for Smears

I really like my table to look nice.  I've often put a lot of effort into getting a bunch of people around the table at once, have planned and cooked a meal and would now like to enjoy it with my guests.

But then, as I look at the table, I notice the glasses.  Despite going through the dishwasher, some of them still bear the smears of parties past.

Easiest way to remove these is to fill an ice bucket or a large jug with boiling water and take it to the table (so when the glass is cleaned it's not going to have to be handled again, get greasy finger marks).

Making sure the hot water container is not going to mark any surface (I put mine on the seat of a dining chair), and hold the glass by the stem upside down over the water.  The steam helps lift any smears when wiped with a glass cloth.  This also works for cutlery.

S is for Sales and Stockings

We all overspend at Christmas.  By the time you add everything up, it's quite frightening how much is spent. In fact, it's estimated that one in three Brits go into debt.  And tomorrow is known as Blue Monday as this is when December credit card bills hit the mat.

But it's really difficult to cut down the spending.  How do you tell the kids that there's no money for all those extras such as crackers on the table?  Do you resort to sending out emails instead of Christmas cards?  It's not exactly festive.

And making your own presents sounds great but when it comes to December and you're trying to juggle everyday life, work and planning, ideals go out the window and panic buying sets in.

To help me keep control of the cash outlay, I buy stuff in the January sales.  While I have to store it for 11 months, if I order things online and keep it in the stout boxes in which it's sent, they can go out of the way in the loft for much later in the year.

Saving up to 70%, I stock up on generic stocking fillers, cards and crackers as all these keep easily and don't take up too much space.  This year, my (adult) base stocking fillers include:

• Small luxury (scented) candles
• Themed cookie cutters
• Festive tea towels
• Wind up toys
• Santa stationary
• Glitzy coasters
• Earphone holders
• Bottle openers
• (Eye) Glasses cleaning cloths
• Packs of socks
• Folding shopping bags
• Key chains
• Tree baubles
• Wine foils
• Retro travel games

Kids get little plastic toys and chocolate (bought nearer the time), as well as the wind-up toys and stationary.

I will then buy an item that is very specific to the recipient and, as per the tradition in my family, I add a net of chocolate coins, a satsuma and a walnut.  Stockings done!

P is for Packing Up

The twelve days of Christmas finished yesterday and all my decorations are now on the dining room table to be packed away.

I do this for two reasons:

1. It enables me to clean everything thoroughly before I put it away and make sure that everything goes into the box in working order (broken threads restrung, replacement fairy light bulbs fitted etc.); and 
2. I can pack everything much more efficiently so my decorations take up less storage space for the rest of the year.

It also means that if I have replace anything beyond repair I can save money doing so in the January sales!

Happy packing.

N is for New Year

Phew!

Christmas is done! So happy.  Eaten far too much (as usual) and had much fun and many laughs.

Today is a furious day of activity as we have one set of guests leaving and the next couple of days will see the next set descending.  I love it!

And I'm turning my sights towards New Year's Eve.

So I'm digging out my various clocks from around the house to dot around the dining room, and printing Auld Lang Syne sheet music as the backing for A5 menu cards that are placed on people's places to keep everyone to my seating plan.

Am also dusting off the board games in case there's any time between the meal and midnight when we mark the occasion with fireworks in the garden, wave around sparklers and toast each other with champagne around the patio heater.

And the menu's designed to auger in the brand new year and is broken down into more courses than usual to keep it relaxed and keep people at the table as long as possible.  This year sees:

• Chicken Liver Mousse
• Stilton Pâté
• Crostini (bought or made in advance)

• Roast Leg of Lamb
• Potatoes Boulangère (with finely sliced fennel added)
• Mixed Greens (Kale, savoy cabbage, de-skinned broad beans, peas)

• Lemon Bars with thick double cream quenelles

• Cheese course (Brie, Comté and Stilton with grapes and crackers)
• Petits Fours (bought in) 

The lovely thing about ALL these dishes is that I can prep them all in advance and they don't take much stove time on the night so I can enjoy being with guests.  Depending on how energetic I feel I can make OR buy in the stuff. This is why the menu includes the chicken liver mousse, the crostini and the Petits Fours.

Last, but not least, I'm just need to print off my quiz which I use before the meal to get everyone's brains into gear after sofa slobbing so much in the last few days and kick off the table conversations.  Fingers crossed that no-one reads this before I hand it out on the 31st!

H is for Ham

If there is anything you do because you've read this blog, this should be top of your list.

This for me is a life saver over the festive period.  

It provides for continental breakfasts, sandwiches for my ever-hungry step-sons, chunks for pea and ham soup, and even a dinner when it first comes out of the oven.  And if I do have any left (and this is unusual) then I slice up the remaining joint into really thick slices and freeze it between layers of greaseproof paper to use as needed.

Gather:

• The largest joint of unsmoked gammon that will fit in your biggest pan
• 1 large bottle of full sugar cola (no need for a brand)
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped into quarters
• 1 carrot, scrubbed and snapped into two
• 1 stick of celery, cleaned and snapped into two

• 150gms packed light brown sugar
• 2 tblspns English mustard
• 2 tblspns whisky / bourbon / orange juice

Then...

1. Put the ham (still in its net) in a pan and cover it with cold water.  If it doesn't quite then it's fine
2. Bring to the boil on the stovetop
3. Once it's boiled, drain off the water and make sure that there is no remaining puffy scum left on the ham or in the pan
4. Replace in the pan and if necessary pack out with the onion, celery and carrot.  If they don't fit in the pan, it's not a problem
5. Pour over the cola to cover the joint* and bring the pan to the boil again
6. Once it's boiled, turn down the temperature to have the liquid simmering as gently as possible
7. Leave to simmer for 40 mins per kilo MINUS 35 mins. You may need to top up the cola every now and then.  If you run out of cola, water is fine
8. In the meantime, line a baking tray with multiple layers of tinfoil so it doesn't tear (this is important)
9. At the end of the simmering time, heat up your oven to 240°C
10. Take the ham off the stove and leave to cool for 10 mins so as to be able to remove the net, the rind and most of fat**
11. Skewer the ham through the middle in a cross using two BBQ skewers otherwise the ham will unfold during the oven time.
12. Mix the sugar, liquid and mustard together until it is completely smooth and there are no lumps in the sugar (otherwise these will burn and cause unsightly black spots on the outsife)
13. Put the ham carefully into your lined tin (taking care not to tear the foil with the skewers), rind side up and score into a diamond pattern / stud with cloves as desired (I never bother)
14. Spoon over the glaze making sure all the outer surfaces are coated
15. Put the ham in the oven for 35 mins
16. Take out and leave to cool^ before moving the ham onto a carving plate and pulling out the skewers
17. Fold up the tin foil around the now black/burned sticky glaze in the bottom, bringing the edges together to form a tight parcel that won't see any of the glaze leak out. Lining the tin means no washing up...and trust me...trying to get off that burned glaze is quite a task
18. Once cool, you can leave the ham in the fridge covered with a foil tent for up to 10 days, carving slices/chunks off as needed.

* If your ham is taller than your pan then rotate the ham while it's simmering to ensure the ham cooks throughout
** It's at this point that you can decorate your ham with diamond scoring and cloves. As ours is used for breakfast, I don't bother, but it's up to you...

^ As I'm bringing it out the oven and if we've done this when guests are arriving the next day, I'll often carve off a couple of generous slices and serve with Mac'N'Cheese or a poached egg and chips for an easy supper ahead of the chaos.

D is for Decorate

Each year sees me expand my collection of Christmas decorations.

This is partly because each year I want something different, something new to greet guests.  But also because I am really quite the shopaholic.

But I do try to buy quality items though that will last as I recognize that I will (a) run out of space to store all these decorations at some point...probably quite soon...and (b) my husband will run out of patience with me...almost definitely sooner.

This year's purchases include:

These darling little birds from Frolic & Cheer courtesy of NotontheHighStreet.com, which I will clip onto the tree with all my other little birds.

These metallic glass pine cones from M&S, which I bought in store as their online service is pants.

And these apothecary jars via Etsy which I will fill with sweets, brightly coloured baubles and the trinkets from Christmas Crackers past that otherwise clutter up cutlery drawers, bedroom drawers, random places around the house etc. 

Did you buy anything new?