Coffee with the Girls - on that note …

I gave the Girls a run down of what I was “shipping” North for the holidays.

It went something like :

Christmas Day

Parmesan biscuits for the morning

Dry cured bacon for the late morning butties

Christmas Lunch – 5pm

Fillet steaks

Turkey crown, sliced

Gammon, sliced

Pommes Dauphinoise – my version which

is actually Alfredo Potatoes

Roast potatoes

Cauliflower cheese

Carrots baked in lemon and butter

Sprouts

To explain myself :

I made the parmesan biscuits ahead and then into the freezer.

The turkey crown was slow cooked ahead, sliced and then frozen. Ditto the gammon. The fillet was the only element not cooked. Ahead of the game I bought the fillet and cut into similar sized medallions, zip locked flat and into the freezer. Note – ship uncooked food separately.

As for the Alfredo Potatoes, as mentioned recently, I shipped cooked jacket potatoes wrapped in foil and made the sauce, boxed and safe therefore, to transport! Ditto the cauliflower cheese. The veggie option is a cheese and potato pasty, again made again and frozen.

I part roasted the roast potatoes then lifted them out of the oil, wrapped in foil and bagged.

Important note to self – take foil trays for the Alfredo and roasties – only 20 mins needed to finish. Everything goes into a pre-heated oven 200c/180fan/Gas 6.

If I have the time I'll prep the carrot batons and bag, but if that's the only job to be done on the day I'm not complaining. Wrap tightly in foil with butter, lemon and a sprinkle of salt and black pepper and place on a baking tray. They'll need 20 mins ahead of the trays of potatoes, cauliflower cheese and the veggie pasty.

In our family everyone gets a choice for the main course on the Day – the order was three fillet steak, one gammon and me – the veggie!

Coffee with the Girls – before the event!

It's always the same in the run up to Christmas, everything goes by the board and any attempt at “normal” goes straight out of the window.

However in spite of all that we Girls arranged to meet for a coffee – mince pie optional – just before we lost the plot completely.

Everyone looks slightly frayed around the edges – you know what I mean at this time of year – makes splitting the atom look like a game of tiddlywinks. There's so much pressure and so much work to do on the day, even though it's really a glorified roast - it's all too much for a Girl.

All the more reason to take an hour out – a mutual grumble is good for the soul – get it off your chest.

The Girls know I'm off to stay with my Sister for the holidays – my grumble is more like a nightmare - much to the amusement of the assembled throng – will all the food fit in the car!

It doesn't take long before all things turn to food and cooking.

My antidote - Fancy …

… Italian/Malaysian fusion?

Another suggestion for serving the arancini. If you think about it you generally eat rice with a curry … why not in a ball with a crispy shell?

Why not serve the rice ball with a rendang curry? You can cheat if you like a buy a ready-made paste and add it to coconut milk or, a sort of half way house, make your own but speedily.

Rendang Sauce

100 ml coconut cream

50ml water

3 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp curry powder

(I used mild)

1 tbsp kecap manis

(also known as sweet soy sauce)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat and

serve. Can be made ahead and re-heated.

There's nothing wrong with a short cut or two – it may not appeal to the purists out there – some of us haven't got time!

The world is definitely your lobster – you can add prawns or chicken, whatever you fancy. Just in case you think I'm making this stuff up – here's what it looks like, with prawns in the rendang sauce :

Happy New Year!

My antidote - When you're ready …

fry in hot oil until golden brown – about 3-4 minutes.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record - in my defence staying true to Italian cuisine – serve the arancini with the tried and tested Alfredo sauce, garnishing with chopped flat leaf parsley.

You can scale up or down i.e. as an entrée or a larger portion for a supper dish.

As an alternative entrée serve the arancini with redcurrant jelly and a raw slaw.

By the way, you can freeze the basic risotto – i.e. the remaining half left in the tray - to use whenever. The finished arancini also freezes well – let it defrost in the fridge during the day, to serve in the evening – place on a baking sheet and pop into a pre-heated oven 200c/180fan/Gas 6 for 10/12 minutes.

I can do no better than quote the idiom “works like a charm”!

Happy New Year!

My antidote - Take three trays ...

... measuring 23x23 cms :

35g plain flour

2 eggs, beaten

100g Panko crumbs – blitzed in a food processor

You'll need vegetable oil for frying

Using damp hands, mould each square into a ball – make 3 at a time – place in the flour tray and jiggle, let the tray do the work. Repeat in the beaten egg and finally in the crumb. My technical term is “jiggle”, the actual technical term is pané – meaning “breaded”. If you want to be really cheffy you can repeat the egg and crumb - “double pané”.

Place the arancini in the fridge for 20 minutes or until you're ready to use.

Happy New Year!

My antidote …

to over-indulgence is simple tasty food and right about now we really begin to crave it, so here we have :

Arancini

For arancini, aka rice balls, you'll need a basic risotto recipe :

1 litre vegetable or chicken stock

40g unsalted butter

1 tbsp groundnut oil

2 small onions, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves (or 3 tsps paste)

350g risotto rice

150ml dry white wine

2 tbsps flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

100g Parmesan cheese, grated

salt and black pepper

Bring the stock to a boil and simmer gently. Heat the butter and the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Season with salt. Stir in the rice and fry for 2 minutes until the edges become opaque. Add the wine. Start adding the stock, a ladle at a time – the liquid should be absorbed before you add the next. Add the parsley, black pepper and the Parmesan cheese.

It's imperative that your stock is kept hot and added a ladle at a time. If you follow these basic principles you'll be fine.

Tip your risotto into a tray bake, cover and cool, then fridge. You can leave for a couple of hours or overnight – whatever suits you best. The tray measures 12” or 31cms - with the tray bake lengthways in front of you cut the risotto in half. Each half tray ( 6” or 15.5cms) gives you 9 arancini weighing approximately 80/90gm approximately. Using one half divide into 9 squares – 2½” (6.5cms) 5” (13cms) and 7½” (19cms) and set aside. I used a good old fashioned school ruler – works a treat. You can continue and make another 9 or freeze the remaining risotto as it is.

Prepping this way will give you pretty much similar sized arancini but don't lose sleep over it!

You might think there appears to be a lot of work here but the recipe is simplicity itself and it can be made in stages, whenever you have time.

Happy New Year!

Check out the chick peas!

In April I mentioned this recipe - just goes to show that I reuse and develop the recipes I share!

Cheeky Chickpeas!

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas

2 tbsp olive oil

salt

Pre-heat your oven 210fan/230c/Gas 8

Drain the chickpeas and rinse. Lay the chickpeas on kitchen roll and pat dry.

Place the chickpeas in a bowl and toss them in the oil. Season with salt. ** Add optional spices.

Spread the chickpeas on a non-stick baking tray and bake for 30 minutes – shake gently after 15 minutes – check again after a further 10 minutes – the chickpeas should be golden brown – note to self, do not walk away! Ovens vary as do the size of the actual chickpeas and you do not want them to burn and spoil.

If you like spice you could mix together a pinch of chilli, sweet paprika and garlic powders or any spice you like – sumac would work well. Sprinkle the spices over the chickpeas and mix well at ** above.

Here's another take on chick peas – both would be ideal for a New Year party nibble or sprinkled over a salad – warm or cold – or just munching in front of the tv.

Roasted chick peas

*60ml vegetable oil

*2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

*1 tbsp Italian seasoning

*1½ tsps garlic salt

2 tins of chick peas – drained, rinsed and pat dry

2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven 220c/200fan/Gas 7.

Using a large mixing bowl combine the ingredients marked *. Add the chick peas and coat thoroughly. Spread onto a baking sheet (with sides) 15x10”.

Roast for 15 minutes. Stir in the cheese and roast for a further 25 minutes – until brown and crisp. Stir them a couple of times – don't panic – some of them will burst and pop.

Cool.

Will keep in the fridge in airtight containers for 3 days or you can freeze for up to 3 months.

To serve preheat oven to 180c/160fan/Gas 4 and warm for 5 minutes.

I warn you they are moreish!