Oh, I know I should feel bad, over 5 months since my last post. If you make this dish though, I feel sure you'll forgive me. It is inexcusably bad for you but what the hell!
I first made this, gosh, around 10 years ago when I was given Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, which just goes to show that life, sometimes, imitates art. As always, I play it by ear now when I make it, but my favourite Discworld witch (Nanny is a hedonethicist too I think!) was definitely the inspiration for this filling brunch.
Ok, so the first thing you need is a big ole fillet of smoked fish. Tartrazine yellow is not a colour I associate with a tasty fish dinner, so I tend to buy the undyed variety. I understand that some fishmongers sell naturally yellowed fish (undyed but turned yellow from smoking in a certain way), if you find that then buy it for some colourful fun! Vegetarian? Try chickpeas or lentils instead, they work very nicely with the same accompaniments.
Cook a cup of rice, either the old fashioned way or using a ricebot, at the same time boil up a couple of eggs until hard boiled. When the rice is almost ready, put the fish into a deep frying pan with a half and half mix of water and milk; the liquid should come to halfway up the side of the fish.
Poach the fish, skin side down, until almost cooked through, then flip over and cook for a further couple of minutes to finish it off. The fish should be opaque, but still tender. Drain the fish and place it to one side - don't leave unattended in the presence of greedy cats.
Chop up an onion, I like purple in this because they are sweet but any will do, and a good handful of mushrooms if you have any. Aubergine or any leafy greens work with this too. Heat an obscene amount of butter, as much as you dare, in the frying pan (wiped clean) and gently fry the vegetables.
When cooked, sprinkled over a good tablespoon or more, to taste, of curry powder, plus seasoning and give it 30 seconds to heat up before adding all the rice and coating well in the aromatic buttery sauce. Finally, flake in the fish, taking care to remove any bones, and top with chopped egg.
Even my Dad eats this and he usually hates bread sauce. For me, a roast dinner isn't complete without it and I certainly wouldn't be happy if christmas dinner didn't include it. The trick is to leave the milk to infuse for a very long time.
Pop a pint of milk (about 500ml) into a saucepan with a small, halved onion (or two quarters of a large one) with a clove pushed into each peice. Add a bay leaf, a peice of mace and a few white peppercorns. Put on the heat and bring almost to a boil, but not to boiling point. When you see bubbles starting take it off the heat and leave. Just leave it alone, for hours.
Strain the milk into a bowl full of torn bread, preferably a bit stale. The best part of half a loaf will do the trick, just remember to take off the crusts. Pop in the fridge and leave until you are almost ready to eat it.
When you're ready, decant the milky bready mixture back into a saucepan with several knobs of butter and a splosh of double cream. Heat up gently and season with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg. Delicious.
Go to the Christmas Dinner (2011) post
Making custard sounds like a pain... it really isn't. The stuff you can buy in pots in the refrigerator section isn't terrible tasting, at least from some suppliers.
However, it doesn't hold a candle to the real thing and, when you make it yourself, you have a lot more control over where those eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla pods came from. It also tastes fabulous in a trifle...
Separate six egg yolks into a bowl and add 60g caster sugar and a tablespoon of corn flour (to help it thicken). Whisk up until thoroughly mixed.
Put 400ml of milk into a
saucepan with 120ml double cream and the seeds from a vanilla pod and
the pod casing. Gently warm until almost at a boil, but not quite.
Take
off the heat and slowly pour onto the eggy mixture, while constantly whisking. It's even easier if you have a kitchen helper to hold the bowl!
When it's all combined, pour it back into the saucepan and put back onto a low heat. Keep gently whisking over the heat until the custard thickens. Perfect!
Go to the Christmas Dinner (2011) post
Mmm, who doesn't like paneer? Not many people I'm guessing! It's got to be in the top ten most ordered main courses in Anglo-Indian restaurants, just has to be. The mere thought of muttar paneer makes me salivate...
This is easy to make but, be warned, the saucepan you use will want a long soaking and an introduction to a brillo pad afterwards.
All you need to remember is the ratios: for every 2 litres (4 pints) of whole milk, you need 2 tbsps fresh lemon juice or 4 tbsps of diluted "squeezy" lemon juice. Each 2 litres will give you 250g, or enough for 2 people as a hearty main course.
So first bring the milk up to a boil. Once it starts to foam, turn down the heat and stir in your lemon juice. Keep stirring until the curds and whey have separated out.
Line a large seive with a peice of natural muslin and pour boiling water over it to sterilise the cloth. Pour the milk mixture into the seive, which should leave you with only the curds. Tie up the muslin and hang it off the tap over the sink, or a hook over a bowl, for 40 minutes or more.
Then pop it on the work surface with a heavy weight resting on it, such as a big saucepan filled with water. After a few hours it should be solid enough to cut into chunks and either cook with, or store in the fridge for 1-3 days.
This recipe is a real gem from the Abel & Cole cookbook. It can be on the table in under an hour and has a wonderfully moist, dense, almost cakey texture. It's very filling and, at least in my mind, contains two of your five a day!
First of all grate a squash of any kind, honestly I'm not even sure what kind of squashes I used, I think any barring the squat pumpkins you get at hallowe'en would be fine (the carving pumpkins are watery and fibrous, not really good eating).
I did enough to fill a teacup to overflowing, even with the gratings pressed down hard, which is probably about the same as the mugful suggested in the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
In a large mixing bowl add the squash to a cup and a half of self-raising flour, a large pinch of salt, about half a cup of grated parmesan, lots of black olives (halved), a generous tablespoon of dried rosemary and lots of ground black pepper.
Using the (now empty) teacup, whisk up 2 eggs and a tablespoon of milk with a fork, then tip this into the dry mixture above. Mix with your hands until you have a sticky ball of dough.
Line a small baking tray with greaseproof paper and wipe with oil, then drop the sticky dough ball on top. Grate over some extra parmesan and sprinkle with flour. Bung in the oven for 45 minutes.
Leave it to rest for 10 minutes before you eat it; we had it for dinner with prociutto and a tomato and basil salad.
