I have a list!

Before I move on to the dessert I promised, I've a hotchpotch of bits and pieces I've been meaning to tell you before the Christmas Box took over!

None of what follows is connected – hopefully it will entertain.

Do you remember back in September and in particular “pasty gate”? I wasn't happy with M&S and their attempt at a cheese & onion pasty and went on to give you my version of a Greggs masterpiece.

Here are extracts from an article written by Marina O'Loughlin – (for those who don't know her Ms. O'Loughlin is the Food Critic for The Sunday Times). Apart from her weekly restaurant review she occasionally adds a short piece entitled “Plate of the nation” :

“Back in poverty-stricken days I had a real fondness for these squidgy calorific parcels …

A couple of years back I revisited the cheese and onion pasty of my youth and found it dry, dusty, not in any way pleasurable, chalking my distaste down to some kind of maturity.

Perhaps it's time to give my former fetish another go? It's still calorific and, God help me, blandly splendid. The pastry is crisp at the edges, gooey in the centre – I'm a bit of a fan of the pastry soggy bottom.

Greggs is a raging success story for a reason: cheap, filling, unchallenging food that sometimes hits the spot you had forgotten you even had...”

Thank you Ms. O'Loughlin!

Next on my list a bit of fun with potatoes, specifically roasties. It was my Grandaughter Alyce's birthday at the end of November and she lives in the North West so no visiting, no nowt as we say up North. Alyce has a passion for roast potatoes and, I'm flattered to say, mine in particular. I decided to throw caution to the wind and send a brown paper package, suitably packed and ice packed I might add, of roast potatoes for her birthday. Expensive roast potatoes I hear you say – you'd be right, however sometimes you've just got to make someone smile and send a gift they aren't expecting. Did it work? It surely did – the reason I'm telling you this story – it'll make you smile too.

The final tick off my list is another idea for a festive box – not necessarily for Christmas, for any occasion. I found a striped box which had a lid that closed on a small circle of velcro – aha I thought lets give it a zhuzh with a fancy bow and see what happens – have a look :

I used the box for one of my “brown paper packages … Christmas box” hampers and delivered it – at a distance and safely of course – last week. It was very well received I'm delighted to say and the moral of this story – you never know what you've got stashed away that might have another life!

Note to self – if you do venture forth even just supermarket shopping after the holidays you'll probably find boxes at bargain prices along with the ribbon too.

Back to the dessert I promised!

My final mornay treat ...

… is cauliflower cheese. You never see cauliflower cheese served with a Christmas Dinner. It's probably a good idea since cauliflower cheese deserves your whole attention, here's what I do :

Cauliflower Cheese

There's only one problem with cauliflower cheese – you always seem to finish up with watery sauce, which I hate!

I steam a whole head of cauliflower (medium to large), minus its leaves, until tender and then set it aside on a tray lined with layers of kitchen roll. This allows all the moisture to drain away from the cauliflower, ready to finish later on. Steam your cauliflower the day before you need it – replace the kitchen roll two or three times, then double wrap the cauliflower in cling film, bag and fridge for the next day. Next make a mornay sauce – which can be made ahead and fridged if more convenient. I also grate Parmesan cheese in readiness to garnish the cauliflower dish and plan to be generous and sprinkle liberally!

Pat the cauliflower dry with kitchen roll and remove the florets – keep them to a similar size if you can and place in your serving dish greased with unsalted butter. (23x23cms as a guide). Season the cauliflower with celery salt and black pepper, spoon over the mornay sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan and add more black pepper.

It's all cooked so will only need 30 minutes at 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Yum!

The moral of the mornay sauce is, simply, by making one sauce your options are endless.

Christmas comfort food doesn't have to be thrown onto a plate – it should be delicious comfort, preferably served in a pasta bowl which sits neatly on top of your lap with a spoon or bread for dunking. Not to be served until after you've walked the dog for two hours – you won't feel guilty.

My final treat for the shopping list … a small Camembert cheese - ensuring it's in a stapled box, ready to be baked for 15 minutes with some baked sourdough straight out of the oven, torn and ready to dunk. What's not to love.

More holiday comfort food coming up – now it's time for a dessert!

The mornay sauce and the fishcakes … and my second treat

By the time Boxing Day arrives we'll all be yearning for a lunch or a supper that's simple and doesn't include turkey or any of the usual suspects!

The following recipe comes from The Ivy – The Restaurant and its Recipes by AA Gill.

The best fishcakes in the whole world!

The Ivy Fishcakes

(makes 8 – freeze what you don't use)

800g dry mashed potato, no cream or butter added

650g salmon fillet poached in fish stock and flaked

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tsp anchovy essence

3 tsp English mustard

salt and black pepper

Plain flour for coating

Mix together the potato, half the salmon, the ketchup, anchovy essence, mustard and seasoning until smooth. Fold in the rest of the salmon. Mould the mixture into 8 round cakes and refrigerate.

When you're ready to serve preheat the oven 180fan/200c/gas 6. Lightly flour the fishcakes and fry them until they are coloured on both sides. Bake for 10/15 minutes.

You'll see that the recipe includes 3 tsps of English mustard – who'd have guessed! The combination of the tomato ketchup, anchovy essence and the mustard produces the best fishcakes – high praise.

The Ivy serves the fishcakes with Sorrel Sauce & Spinach – I serve them with the Mornay sauce and a raw slaw. You could serve them on a bed of mushy peas (pea purée if you want posh) home-made mayo or even a curry sauce – choose your own guilty pleasure!

My final Mornay treat.

My secret ingredient

Looking at the recipe for the Mornay sauce and the Dijon mustard in particular reminds me of another mustard that's always in the fridge and a spare in the pantry too.

Mustard generally is an acquired taste – English mustard is too hot for my taste – I don't want my head blown off, even the tiniest amount seems to overpower. There are exceptions to every rule I know – English mustard is part of The Ivy's Fishcakes recipe – you wouldn't know it's there but that's the skill of developing a legendary recipe but more about the fishcakes later.

Dijon mustard is an essential – it's delicate but distinctive flavour in sauces is perfect - in my house I use Dijon mustard with cheese on a sandwich, more famously of course it's part of a Croque Monsieur.

Here's my secret – Dijon mustard with honey. If you're not convinced about mustard I'd recommend you try it – it's mild and smooth with the slightly sweet hit of the honey. If you want a decadent sandwich with a difference, toast two slices of wholemeal bread, spread one slice with mayo and the other with Dijon honey mustard and add thin slices of mature Cheddar cheese.

There are various makes of Dijon and I'm sure there are good and bad. My favourite has to be Maille - originally made in France and around since 1747 (now a subsidiary of Unilever)

Here's the original and the honey version :

Add a jar to your shopping list - you won't be sorry!

Back to the Mornay sauce and the fishcakes and my second treat.

A message to the cook!

Christmas this year will be like no other - any plans we had are gone and it'll be Christmas at home “a deux”. Nevertheless meals have to be planned and shopping lists prepared.

My message to the cook is, don't forget yourself. We all have our favourites and guilty pleasures – sweet or savoury - so adjust your shopping list accordingly!

I have planned a Christmas Day menu and it's probably as traditional as it has been for many years - it's not difficult if you're a list maker and well organised. Whether there are two of you or twenty two the work is pretty much the same – may be not so many roast potatoes – actually cancel that, is there such a thing as too many roast potatoes?!

What tends to happen though is the Cook is so busy looking after everyone else she (or he) forgets to include herself (or himself). I don't mean on Christmas Day itself – the Cook is generally exhausted and fit for nothing other than a large G&T when everyone is sat down at the table.

I'm taking my own advice and have planned a treat or two. I'll enjoy my treat on Boxing Day or the days following.

It may seem a strange choice but top of my treat list is a Mornay Sauce. Once the sauce is made it can be divided into pots and “freezered” (my new word). Next up – how I'll use it.

Boxing Day brunch will be a mushroom omelette which may include a handful of grated cheese – it could be Gruyere or Mature Cheddar whichever is most convenient. I'll treat myself to Portobellini mushrooms and when I'm in the kitchen doing all things Christmas I'll fry the mushrooms so that all the liquid is absorbed – nobody wants a soggy omelette! I'll box and fridge them until I'm ready. On the day if it's to serve one person (me!) I'll whisk a couple of eggs and add the cheese. I'll heat a small non-stick frying pan, add the cooked mushrooms to the eggs and cheese, add a sprinkle of celery salt and then tip into the pan. Cook for 2/3 minutes then flip and repeat, serve on a warmed plate.

I don't want you to think that I've left H out – he's not keen on mushrooms so he'll get an omelette with ingredients of his choice!

Where does the Mornay sauce fit in? I'll have taken a pot out of the freezer the previous night and fridged. Whilst my omelette is cooking I'll warm the sauce on the hob and then drizzle, generously, over the omelette. It may sound strange – if you're fond of the ingredients you'll love it. I'll serve myself a small jug of extra sauce on the side – just in case.

Here's the recipe :

Mornay Sauce

Serves 4-6

40g unsalted butter

40g plain flour

600ml of milk – I use semi skimmed

150g mature Cheddar cheese

(or a combination of Cheddar and Gruyere)

salt and black pepper

½ tsp Dijon mustard - optional

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook gently for a minute, stirring – make sure you don't brown the mixture. Gradually add the milk whisking constantly and eventually bring to the boil, whisking until it's smooth and thick. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then add the cheese, mustard and season. I'd taste before you add salt – there's salt in the cheese – adjust accordingly.

I can taste it now - Happy Boxing Day brunch!

P.s. If of course you have like minded family and or friends with you then you can make a larger version of the omelette or even two, remembering of course to take out sufficient pots of the Mornay sauce for everyone.

Coming up – my secret ingredient!

A post script … I didn't forget the syrup!

I think you'll find this little gem really useful, here's the recipe - it's easy peasy :

Lemon syrup

200g icing sugar, sifted

8 tblsp lemon juice

To make the syrup place the lemon juice and icing sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently so that the sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.

This will give you 300ml(approx) of syrup.

Sifting the sugar ensures it dissolves evenly, no lumps required!

The syrup deserved to look fancy schmancy – here's what I found :

This was perfect for my Christmas Box idea, the exact size to nestle into the box – 50ml. I paid £19.99 for 12 x 50ml bottles, complete with cork lids, labels and twine, by Maison & White – you won't be surprised to learn that I bought them from Amazon.co.uk. There are all sorts of different shapes and sizes to choose from.

Ta dah!

Your serving choices :

Soft drink, a drop of syrup in a tall glass, top with chilled soda water and just swizzle.

Still soft – drizzle over ice cream, add a square or six of Rocky Road and fresh fruit for an instant dessert.

Spiked – add a generous drop of Limoncello liqueur.

Sparkling and special – for the festive season add a drop in a Champagne flute or a Martini glass, top with Prosecco, swizzle and enjoy.

Sounds like a great plan – any of the above – something for everyone!

The brown paper package and the Christmas box – the photos

 

here are my offerings, in the box

my understated brown paper package, tied

up with string

my overstated brown paper package, tied

up with festive ribbon – the bow stays put

because the ribbon is wired at the edges and

it's 6cms/2¼” wide

I hope this series has given you some inspiration – small gifts - made and given with love. I have another couple of final bits for you.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas but most of all stay safe and well.