Pommes Dauphinoise – but not as you know them

“I know this is really cheeky and last minute but could you make me a tray of the sliced potatoes in whatever sauce you do, for Saturday”.

This request came from my Dil, Cheryl (I quite like “Dil” - aka daughter in law) for her Daughter Alyce's 18^th Birthday Party.

Hmmm, not really sure what is meant by the sliced potatoes - “I meant the sliced ones you do that are cheesy … “

I feel I should mention that this food had to be transported from Northamptonshire to West Yorkshire so oodles of cream sloshing about needs some thought.

Righty ho – drawing board time.

Here are the results.

Remember in the multitasking morning stuff I talked about making the best of the space in your oven when in use and baking jacket potatoes? For the following recipe I baked three large potatoes – cooled them and fridged.

Alfredo Sauce

double the quantities given in the original recipe

50g unsalted butter

400ml double cream

100g freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling

freshly ground black pepper

Gently heat the butter and the cream together, stirring, until the butter has melted, then stir in the Parmesan.

Slowly bring to a gentle boil, turn down the heat and simmer, stir continuously for a minute or so until you have a smooth, creamy sauce, season.

This sauce can be made ahead, cooled, boxed and fridged or you can freeze it.

The Pommes Dauphinoise were duly delivered – portable in that the cooked jackets were left in tact, in their foil, in a strong food bag and the sauce in boxes. I even supplied the foil trays.

A big hit with pulled pork and rated 11 out of 10.

N.B. Resist the urge to use a microwave to reheat the sauce – I promise you it will split and you will not be a happy bunny – I know it goes against the grain – use a saucepan – it's worth the washing up!

Overwhelmed yet?

I think I've got this right or, does this sound familiar?

Totally stressed out and making lists of lists, waking in the early hours struck down by brain overdrive - “don't forget the …..” and eventually sleep deprived and cranky the result is the last person you consider – is you.

Indulgence is for you too! The only problem with indulgence is it either costs a fortune “ready-made” or it takes forever to prep and cook at home.

In reality what happens at this time of year is that we finish up yearning for simple tasty food that is easy to prepare.

I do realise that indulgence is relative – it's personal taste – if chocolate (and all things sweet) is your bag, then you'll not be interested in the following.

So, for the frazzled out there, the following is for you.

Turned out nicely!

Here's the “cross your fingers and hope” moment – cutting a slice of pudding to reveal …

… drum roll please.

One of the greatest pleasures in cooking is leaving ingredients alone to do their own thing and, as if by magic!

Serving suggestions – keep it simple – home-made vanilla ice cream (the recipe is on the blog) and - if you're really going to push the boat out as it's Christmas – clotted cream too.

With the remaining conserve or pie filling and reserved fruit juices warm through, gently, in a microwave. Pour over the top of the pudding to serve.

For a festive, grown-up version, you could serve a shot of kirsch on the side or - if you're in a retro mood – cherry brandy!

Merry Christmas!

The Pudding …cont'd

Add half the jar of conserve or the pie filling to the defrosted fruit, combine gently and then pour into the cake-lined bowl. Top with slices of cake to cover completely. Fold the cling film over the pudding to seal.

Place a slightly smaller plate or saucer on top of the basin and weigh down with a can. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

To serve, remove the can and plate, unwrap the cling film, cover the bowl with a large plate.

Invert the pudding onto the plate and remove the cling film.

So far so good!

Cherry & Chocolate Panettone Pudding …

… aka Winter Pudding!

Cherry & Chocolate Panettone Pudding

1 x 750g Panettone Chocolate -

with chocolate chips and chocolate cream

running through

480g dark sweet cherries – available in the freezer

aisle at Sainsbury's - £2 – defrosted- reserve the juices

1 x 370g jar of cherry conserve

or

1 x 410g Black Cherry Pie filling – available

from larger supermarkets

You'll need :

1 litre (1&¾ pt) basin.

A plain sided cutter slightly larger than the base of the basin.

Cling film

For the size of basin given, you will need approximately 10 slices of cake cut into 1cm slices – remove the crusts.

Line the basin with cling film ensuring that it overlaps the basin and a major tip – oil the basin before you line it – the cling film will stay where it's put and when it comes to turning out your pud it will comply!

Cut out a circle of cake for the base and place it in the basin. Line the rest of the basin – I overlap each piece of cake – but it's whatever you'd prefer.

 Panettone is great to work with - do not be afraid of it! If the cake tears you can patch easily – it's a kind product.

What can I do with a panettone …

… polite responses only please!

Does a gift of panettone fill you with dread or does it fall into the same category as all the other stuff you feel obligated to buy? If it's the latter then I think it must be down to nostalgia – if you're a certain age you'll surely remember certain items that appeared each year - in our house there was always a box of orange and lemon slices – pure sugar! Oh and an absolute must from childhood – a box of dates – I don't think I ever saw anyone eat any. Hand on heart, the only time I've eaten dates is hidden in Sticky Toffee Pudding when you really wouldn't know they are there but they taste great. Both the slices and the dates were still gathering dust well into the New Year!

Back to the panettone – whether a gift or you've purchased of your own free will – sort of. These days you can buy different sizes and varieties. Here's my contribution to reducing the panettone “peak” post Christmas when you're absolutely sick and tired of moving the box or tin around. I'm so sorry for the excruciating alliteration – it just sounded so much better than “panettone mountain”.

I'm never quite sure where panettone belongs – I realise it's an Italian Christmas cake but it always strikes me as if it can't make up its mind whether its a bread – brioche style – it's surely too dry for what we'd call Christmas cake. Whatever your views on this product I have to say that I'm sorry you can't smell the delicious aroma when I open the tin – wow.

So, I give you my Cherry & Chocolate Panettone Pudding.

A variation on a theme of the old faithful the Summer Pudding and the Autumn version too.

The great thing about this pud apart from the fact that it's really easy, is that it has to be made 24 hours ahead, so it's great for the hols – done and dusted!

Blinis

I did say in “An intermission” that I wasn't trying to be a party pooper and wasn't at all against buying stuff to make life easier – far from it!

I'm just of the view that it's better to have the separate components ready to roll when you decide – not when the supermarkets do.

So, in this spirit I'm suggesting blinis – the tiny (originally Russian) pancakes - for your stash. You can actually get canapé size in packets of 36 or cocktail size in packets of 16. You'll find that to begin with blinis have a good “best-before” date. You can freeze them too, so really practical.

As for toppings for the little beauties, any mentioned in The joy of the jam – canapés will hit the spot.

My personal favourites not on that list – smoked mackerel paté first up, which, you'll be pleased to know, is actually healthy and a recipe I've used for ever.

Smoked Mackerel Pate

250g smoked mackerel

250g quark (it's a soft cheese made from skimmed milk – not nice on its own but great as a low fat product for healthy pate!)

Glug of lemon juice

Black pepper

Two tsps of creamed horseradish

Skin the mackerel, break up and put into food processor. Add the quark and blitz with the mackerel, then add the lemon juice, black pepper and horseradish, blitz again. You can gauge the consistency of the pate to your personal taste.

You can then add, finely chopped sweet onion, chopped capers or chopped black olives.

If you can't get hold of quark you can use cottage cheese - low fat of course!

Smoked trout mousse is second up. I realise that smoked trout can be difficult to get and expensive when you can get it. You could use smoked salmon flakes as an alternative – check out the deals – 3 packets for £10 – 140g per packet.

Smoked Trout Mousse

400g smoked trout

2 tsp creamed horseradish (optional)

3 tbsp double cream

1 squeeze lemon juice

pinch of black pepper

Serves 4-6

Flake the trout and place in a mixing bowl with the horseradish and the double cream. Mash with a fork until well mixed, add a squeeze of lemon juice and season with black pepper – salt if required.

Serve with toast, blinis or whatever takes your fancy.

Will keep in the fridge for 2 days.

Thank goodness for James Martin – “makes an excellent canapé or starter”. He's right.

P.s. You can make the blinis if you'd prefer but it rather defeats the object of the exercise me thinks!