On location in S.C: “Gadding about” resumed!

I feel I should take a moment to explain the “home cooking”. I realise that it's not what you'd call “American” food and that's exactly the point. My friend is British and misses his favourite dishes and so whilst I'm here my contribution is to cook food he loves.

So, as usual my day begins planning the supper – so that anything we need can be picked up en route. Tonight it's slow cooked beef with onions and a fab gravy – roasted new potatoes too. First up ransack the cupboards and pantry – this is serious stuff – I need a good stock base for the beef – the search reveals Balsamic vinegar for added zing and garlic too. So, on the list is A1 Steak Sauce - it's an absolute must – diluted, this sauce makes a fine addition to a stock base.

  

Next up in the ingredient challenge and one for the shopping list is a “stock pot” i.e. a jelly, not a cube of compressed powder. A “stock pot” is as near as I can get without spending all day watching a stock made from scratch. Enter what we call in the UK exactly that, “Stock Pots made by Knorr”.

My mission - “should I choose to accept” to coin a well used phrase from “Mission Impossible” is to source them.

They are as rare as hens teeth – you'd think by now I'd remember that in the USA they change the name of products - undaunted the search continued and finally I am rewarded – and to prove my point – in the USA they are called “Homestyle Stock”.

Puzzled – you bet. I could understand it if there were several similar products to choose from but if this is the case I've not come across them – aargh!

Coffee with the Girls - Afterwards

I know this works – on several counts :

One saucepan for the sprouts

One frying pan for the fillet steaks – pan used, with juices for gravy or “jus” if you want to be cheffy.

It matters not if there's food leftover – in my case my Sister and Nephews have enough food for the following days that they are not sick of because they've chosen what they'd like to eat.

Text message from my Sister – Tuesday supper – cheese and potato pasty “it was heaven”.

One of the Girls at the pre-Christmas coffee therapy session called me – she'd cooked lunch for family on Boxing Day – in a tiny kitchen and was not looking forward to it – she'd served the gammon exactly as suggested. No stress – all went really well – one very happy Girlfriend – my work here is done!

So, serve food that you know your family likes, not what tradition dictates – cook as much as you can and freeze and it doesn't need to take up huge amounts of space.

I know this is going to sound bonkers in the aftermath but you could keep your lists and create a Christmas food file ready for tweaking in 2017.

Caramba!

Coffee with the Girls - more of a story than a note!

To follow, for those who had any room left :

Bramley apple pie

Mince pies

Stollen

and treats for those who are chocolate lovers :

White Christmas – aka Rubble

Malteser Cake

Chocolate and Pistachio fudge

The White Christmas and the Malteser cake were made the week before and fridged - the fudge was made and frozen. The White Christmas and the Malteser Cake are constants and who am I to refuse!

For the snacks :

Smoked trout mousse

Cream cheese and cashew nut paté

Soda bread

Roasted garlic and sweet onion jam for the cheeses

Roasted chick peas

I suppose what I'm trying to illustrate is that you don't have to spend all Christmas Day chained to the cooker, never wanting to see turkey and sprouts ever again.

The only thing you do have to be good at – is making lists and noting when stuff needs to be pulled out of the freezer to defrost properly – overnight in the fridge is best. I know you'll make sure that your cooked turkey and gammon is kept separately from your uncooked fillet steaks!

I can hear you asking – what do you do with the sliced turkey and/or gammon on the day – no-one wants cold meat with the roast. No problem at all – if you are serving 6/8 people then you can place sliced turkey or gammon in one of my now famous foil trays, cover tightly with foil and let it warm through in the oven for 10/12 minutes before serving. If you haven't room in the oven for a foil tray then wrap portions in a flat foil parcel x however many servings required. I'd add an extra parcel for good luck – the girl can't help it!

One final mention of turkey - you'll note that no-one chose it on the Day. It's my experience that the best use for it is as part of six inch high sandwiches – whenever the mood takes.

Midnight snack anyone?!

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!