Pull up a chair …

… time we had a chat.

Before we go any further here are a few hints and tips to help you with the forthcoming festivities.

Don't wait until Christmas Eve to try out a new recipe – you'll be devastated if the jewel in your Christmas crown fails. If you want to serve something new, road test it.

How do you shop? If you are a fan of on line shopping remember those three little words – “book your slot” – early.

It's the little things that guests ask for that tend to get forgotten. I can't help but think of an obvious example – do you have sauce for the bacon sandwiches?

Which brings me to … who doesn't love a list?! If you aren't a list maker and you've a houseful of guests due you might want to consider giving it a shot. A list will help you get organised and I should add that there'll be more than one. Check the pantry and/or your store cupboard – buy the non-perishable bits and pieces now. There'll be a list of stuff you need to order – bear in mind it will have to be collected too. There'll be another list of stuff you can't get until the last minute – fresh fruit and veggies, salad stuff.

I plan my menus and then make my shopping list(s) from the plan. It's not set in stone but it sure helps.

I'm not going to give you chapter and verse about a traditional Christmas lunch or anything else for that matter. I'm just going to throw around some ideas for a canapé or two, followed by a recipe that would be great for Boxing Day brunch or lunch and suggestions for easy desserts that can be assembled from ingredients that are to hand from your pantry or your freezer.

Lets get on.

Coming soon …

… and I'm sorry I can't put this off any longer if I'm to help in some small way to prevent you having a major meltdown then we have to talk about the Christmas holidays.

Lets bounce a few thoughts and ideas around and try and make your life as stress free as is possible.

First things first - do you have a freezer the size of a shed – if you do then please disregard what follows! You need to think carefully about how you're going to stock it which begs the question how full is it now?

I'm sure you know what's coming next – now is the time to clear out your freezer. It's no good going out and snapping up all manner of goodies and then have to climb on top of it all, ramming it in the freezer to make it fit!

Own up to all the stuff that has dropped to the bottom – the bargain that you couldn't live without and seemed like such a good idea at the time and has now gone to that freezer burn waste heap. Rest assured I'm not casting aspersions – I dread to think what's at the bottom of mine.

I cannot tell you how virtuous you'll feel once you've done the job, not to mention stress free to the point of horizontal when re-filling it.

You need to clear the space ready for the bombardment of adverts for party food and offers that you cannot afford to miss. We are drawn in to spending an absolute fortune because it looks fabulous. Similarly every supermarket already has a food catalogue so you can sit in the comfort of your own home and order all your festive food.

Party pooper I am not and I'm not suggesting you spend the week before and the entire holiday tied to the kitchen completely frazzled. I'm just suggesting that you give it some thought.

I make no apology for repeating myself. Every family has their own traditions and favourites and it matters not, in my experience how old the kids are – 5 to 25, there are certain dishes and treats that are important, nostalgic and stand the test of time so hold hard before you rush out and spend a fortune on fancy dancin' stuff because you think they'll be bored.

Revolutionary I know but you could ask your family what they most look forward to eating.

The dumpling dilemma …

… with or without suet. Personal taste really – dumplings made with suet have more texture to them. If you prefer light and fluffy then probably without suet would be better for you. If you've never sampled this delicacy then the only way is to make them both ways and decide for yourself.

Suet Dumplings

100g self raising flour

50g vegetable suet

pinch of salt

60ml of ice cold water

A generous pinch of dried mixed herbs - optional

Mix the flour, suet and salt with the water – you want to achieve a firm dough with some give.

Divide into eight and shape into balls.

Place on top of your casserole or soup, simmer for 20 minutes. Ensure that the casserole or saucepan has a tight fitting lid.

Dumplings sans suet

140g cold unsalted butter

250g self raising flour

salt and black pepper

150ml cold water

Generous pinch of mixed herbs – optional

Back to basics – rub the butter into the flour – aka the rubbing in method – until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the herbs and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add the cold water and mix quickly to form a dough. Dust your hands with flour and divide the dough into twelve and form into balls.

Add to the top of your casserole, soup or stew and bake for 20 minutes, as above.

You might think this is a lot of fuss about nothing – I suppose you have to be a certain age – give them a try, see for yourself!

The Soup – Part II

The beauty of the 3C soup is that you can add almost anything :

parsnips would give a sweetness

sweet potato – ditto

roasted butternut squash – ditto again

It doesn't have to be a vegetable soup – you could add leftover pieces of chicken or gammon. I always think marrow fat peas work well in soups but I think they are like Marmite – you either love them or hate them. If you're not a lover of chick peas, try butter beans or cannellini beans – both have a natural creamy texture. As with the chick peas, rinse them and then add to the soup. With butter beans you tend to get the outer shell from the bean - personally I'd take a minute or three to remove them – so much nicer in the finished soup.

Lets not forget the cherry on the top – or in this case the dumpling on the top! Hurray for vegetable suet - one of the best comfort foods ever and I for one am really pleased that eventually the “meat free” fraternity were considered.

Soup and dumplings are definitely in my top ten for Autumn/Winter comfort. Quick and easy to make, economical too. If you are the sort of person who doesn't mind eating the same lunch or supper two/three days on the run then this is for you. If you're not then I can confirm that the soup freezes very well. Have a look at my favourite soup “dish”. A really useful, nay colourful piece of kit. Freeze your soup in the mugs, clip the seals and it's ready to use from your freezer.

  

Instant portable lunch to take to the office or anywhere for that matter!

The Soup

I know there are gazillions of soup recipes out there – this is one of my absolute favourites. It's versatile too since you can chuck in whatever you like and make it your own.

Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Soup

“3C” soup

500g Charlotte potatoes, peeled and diced

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 stockpots – vegetable in my case but

chicken if you prefer

1 litre of water

1 tsp mild curry powder

1 heaped tsp ground coriander

salt and black pepper

Drop of rapeseed oil

1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed

Using a large saucepan, soften the onion and carrot in a drop of rapeseed oil for approximately 5 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Add the curry powder, coriander and black pepper and cook the spices with the onion and carrot for 2 minutes so that the flavours are released.

Add the stockpots plus 500ml of the water and simmer until the pots have melted.

Add the diced potatoes and the remaining 500ml of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes until the carrot and potatoes are cooked. Taste, then add salt to personal taste.

Set aside to cool.

Place 3 ladles of soup in a liquidiser/food processor and blitz until thick. Add this back into your soup and stir well – check that the soup is a consistency that suits your preference. If it's too thin, repeat the ladles as above. Add the chick peas, heat and serve.

By blitzing the ladles of soup – you are using the potatoes as a thickening agent and so no artificial thickening is required. You are left with a soup that has visible, chunky vegetables and of course the chick peas.

Note to self – don't be tempted to put the potatoes in with the carrots and onions when softening in the oil. The natural starch that is released from the potatoes means that they will cement themselves to the bottom of your saucepan – not a pretty sight – not to mention the wrecked soup.

Paprika … which is it to be

… Hungarian or Spanish?

In the overall scheme of things it probably doesn't matter that much.

I always thought in this day and age of “foodies” that most supermarkets, certainly the larger ones, sold every herb and spice known to man! Lets face it, you can buy ras el hanout and za'atar to name but two exotic spice mixes - even in my neck of the woods. Why then can you not buy Hungarian paprika – grrr.

Hence my mission – a simple enough task you'd think – think again – suffice it to say that all I could find was Spanish or “product of more than one country”. I used Spanish paprika and should say I'm not in any way against it - it's a great product. It's just that Hungarian goulash should have Hungarian paprika.

I'm sure you know what's coming next – use your favourite on-line grocery – which is where I should have gone in the first place.

Rant over, here's the goulash, complete with dumpling!

Here's the Hungarian paprika – two choices - sweet smoked and sweet :

Just before I go - a post script – about the goulash - next time round I'm adding diced chorizo, fried until crisp - oil and all, to the recipe. It can be cooked ahead and then folded in before cooking the dumplings. I'll add 250g of diced chorizo to the recipe.

Another post script – about the beef - in a perfect world shin beef is the best cut to use when slow cooking your goulash. The “shin” works hard and so has lots of connective tissue - slow cooking it gives you a moist and tender result – perfect for this dish.

Soup recipe coming next!

Thoughts on dumplings …

... potatoes and soup.

How positively boring does that sound. Bear with me, you know I have your best interests at heart.

Lets take this stuff in order :

I pushed the boat out this weekend when friends came for supper and – drum roll please – served dumplings too with the goulash. I made them using vegetarian suet – no-one asked if they were vegetarian or not – I'd wager you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook when re-heating the goulash.

I chose Charlotte potatoes to serve with the goulash. Fantastic firm potato – I par boiled them, let them cool and then peeled ready for the last 20 minutes. Try and make sure your potatoes are a similar size so that they cook evenly. Place them in a casserole or a foil tray, add a couple of knobs of butter, cover with foil and pop into a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 whilst your dumplings are cooking.

I have not forgotten the non meat eaters - far from it, since I'm in the same boat. Why should we miss out on the Autumn comfort.

I made myself one of my favourite soups – what I call a “rib sticker” - it's thick and chunky – carrot, coriander and chick pea. The soup benefits from being made a day before if you prefer – it also uses Charlotte potatoes so fits in with the shopping list. The dumplings cook well sat in the thick soup - 20 minutes whilst re-heating the soup gently.

You don't have to wait for visitors - feet up in front of your favourite boxed set works well too.

Peasant food at its absolute best.