Festive Bubble and Squeak

Ingredients:

Serves 3-4

For this recipe it really doesn’t matter how much of one thing you have. The joy of the dish is you just use up everything you have left. If you have a large number of people in mind then quantities may be slightly more important but because I am only making this for three people, when the ingredients are out in front of me, looking at it now I know that it is defiantly enough.

100 grams of stuffing

200 grams left over turkey

200g alternative meat either cooked chipolatas or sausage (I am using some German sausage)

200 grams Roast potatoes

300 grams of roast vegetables (Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips)

Olive oil

Eggs (optional)

Put the potatoes and mixed vegetables and stuffing into a bowl and mash them up using a potato masher leaving a few chunky bits for texture. 

Using a large spoon or spatula, stir in the turkey, and additional meat and season really well.

Heat a large non-stick pan on a high heat and add a generous amount of olive oil or goose fat if you have it. Fry the entire mixture on a high heat and keep turning bits of it over so it goes crispy.

Pat the mixture down and shape it neatly in the pan. Leave it to crisp, then turn the mixture over – crisping the other side.

Slide onto a board and cut into wedges. Serve with a fried egg and a rocket salad.

Croque-Monsieur

An alternative to the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwich which is a favourite pre and post Christmas Day. A Croque Monsieur with turkey.

Ingredients:
serves 4

40 g butter
40 g flour
400 ml milk
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
100 g Stilton
8 slices of bread
Cranberry sauce
100 g Gruyere, grated
Left over Turkey (400 g)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat, until foamy but not coloured. Stir in the flour. Cook for three minutes. Pour in the cold milk and whisk to avoid lumps.

Increase the heat and leave to simmer for a few minutes. The sauce should thicken quite considerably. Then remove it from the heat and stir in the mustard and Stilton. The Stilton I used had cranberries in it, hence the cranberries in the picture. Season.

Line the bread out on a surface and spread four slices with cranberry sauce, then the Stilton sauce and scatter over half the Gruyere.

Top with the turkey and sandwich the remaining bread.

Press the sandwich together lightly, and spread the tops with the rest of the sauce and Gruyere.

Bake until the cheese melts and the sandwiches turn golden brown. This should take about 15-20 minutes.

Serve with a green salad.

Recipe by Bruno Loubet from Jamie Oliver's Christmas Magazine.

There are always left-overs

Everyone seems to stuff themselves silly on Christmas day, however, despite our gluttony, and our ''oh, I'll just have one more'' attitude, there is always a mountain of food left in the fridge to keep us going for days. But there is so much to do with it all and a chance to be really creative.

To Padstow for Lunch

Yesterday we drove to Padstow, another harbour town. We went to one of Rick Stein’s restaurants for lunch. He has 5 in total (in Padstow alone): a Seafood Restaurant, a Bistro, a Café, a Fish and Chip shop, and a Patisserie, oh and a Deli, a Cookery School and Gift Shop. I can see why the town has been nicknamed ‘Padstein’ - the man is everywhere. We have wanted to go to his Café for a while, having been to his Bistro and Seafood Restaurant before, we’ve always wanted to check it out – however, you can’t book and as you can imagine in the summer, when we usually visit, the place is heaving. But the fact it is Christmas and 20 degrees colder it was empty and only a handful of tables were taken.

I ordered a feta, red onion, roasted tomato and basil tart which was delicious. The tart base, instead of being a short crust pastry tart was a Filo pastry disc. It was an interesting alternative as it was really light and less stodgy. The pastry didn’t take over the dish.

My sister, ordered Chicken with a Satay sauce and noodle salad.

Whilst my mum ordered a lamb and spinach curry. Seasonal hey??

Despite none of us eating seasonally or locally (i.e. fish) the food was lovely and it was a treat to go there.

Red Cabbage

Ingredients:

Olive oil
A knob of butter
2 red onion, sliced.
2 sprigs of Thyme
One red cabbage
250 ml chicken/vegetable stock
30 ml balsamic vinegar

Method:

Put a large pan on a medium heat and add a the olive oil, butter and sliced onions. Stir occasionally until the onions are soft and beginning to caramelise. This should take about 15 minutes.

Whilst the onions are caramelising, cut the cabbage in half. Then cut the halves into six wedges.

Add to the onions. Pour in the stock and bring it all up to the boil.

  

Once boiling bring the heat down to medium to low and place the lid on to the pan. Cook for thirty minutes until the cabbage is tender and almost soft.

Turn the heat up again to a medium to high heat and add the vinegar. Cook for about 10 minuets, stirring occasionally until the liquid is almost reduced and the cabbage is soft. Sprinkle with Thyme and serve.

Cranberry Sauce

We always have cranberry sauce at Christmas, it is as traditional as the turkey and sprouts. However I have never thought to make it. Admittedly last Christmas I wasn't cooking as much as I am now so I probably would not have thought to attempt it, thinking it was much harder than it actually is, but this year things have changed. It adheres to my 'blog project' perfectly, as mentioned in previous posts, as it is something my mum and I would usually buy for our Christmas lunch in a jar. And it is so simple and delicious. I had a look at some recipes and the majority of them only contain three ingredients: cranberries, sugar and water (orange juice in this case). Others contain Port and cloves, almonds and lemon zest, basically, you can add as little or as many ingredients to it as you like it's up to you. Christmas lunch would not be complete without it. 

Ingredients:

340 g fresh cranberries
100 g light brown muscavado sugar 

100 ml orange juice.
zest of one clementine
30 ml port (optional) 

Method:

Tip the sugar and orange juice into a pan, then bring to the boil. Stir in the cranberries, then simmer until tender but still holding their shape.

This will take about 8-10 minutes. Keep stirring. Take off the heat and let it cool. The sauce will thicken as it cools down. It will keep in the fridge for about a week. When you want serve it, bring the sauce up to room temperature.

Sugar and Spiced Walnuts

Ingredients:

1/4 cup water
170 g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 nutmeg
1/4 ginger
200 g walnuts

Method:

Roast the walnuts in a pre heated oven on a baking tray for 10-15 minutes until they are browned and the kitchen smells nutty.

Whilst they are roasting, add the sugar, water and spices to a pan and heat up to the boil, until it thickens.

Take the nuts out of the oven, and add to the caramelised sauce. Mix.

Place the newly coated walnuts on a tray lined with baking parchment and allow to cool. Place them in the fridge to speed up the cooling process.

Gingerbread biscuits

Ingredients:

250 g plain flour
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
120 g muscavado sugar
130 g salted butter (softened)
1 egg yolk
5 tsp golden syrup

Method:

Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.

Cut the softened butter into cubes and add it to the flour mixture in the bowl. Using your fingers rug the mixture together until it resembles fine bread crumbs.

Add the sugar, egg yolk and syrup and mix until it turns into a dough.

Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

After an one hour, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Roll out the dough on to a lightly floured surface to about 4 mm thick and cut out your shapes using biscuit cutters and place them on the baking trays.

 Bake for 10-15 minutes. The Gingerbread may darken a little. Leave to cool before you ice or leave them plain.