The Christmas Kitchen II

If it's the night before the night before Christmas, then it must be time to get busy in the kitchen.  I circled this day in the calendar as the day to get ahead of the game in the kitchen, and my productivity certainly didn't disappoint!

First up, homemade Christmas coleslaw.  Now, I love coleslaw (as long as it's good quality) but here's the thing - I'm the only person who has managed to make a coleslaw that Lizzie actually likes.  Even better, it couldn't be simpler - finely grate a few carrots, finely chop one onion, thinly slice half a cabbage, and mix together with mayonnaise.   Red cabbage arrived from the farm shop this week, which I think is just perfect for this tasty side, and to add an even more festive twist to it, I've chucked in a good number of dried cranberries - trust me, it's absolutely delicious!

Next up, a very simple potato salad.  Ensuring there are plenty of potatoes left for Christmas dinner of course, I peeled, sliced and boiled these for about 20 minutes, so that they're soft but not falling apart.  When cooled, I add a very finely diced onion, and stirred in with a copious amounts of mayonnaise.  It's really straight-forward - and you can garnish with chopped chives if you'd like.

"But what are you going to do with the remaining red cabbage?" I hear you ask.  I could save it for Christmas dinner of course, but since there's only so much room on the plate, I decided to pickle the remaining cabbage, as I know Lizzie's fond of it.  It's simple too - bring about 400ml of cider vinegar to the boil, and simmer with some bay leaves, dill, sugar and cracked black pepper (the recipe I read also throws in some red wine, but I'm not doing that.)  You should allow this to simmer for ten minutes.  In the meantime I thoroughly sterilise the (recently vacated) old mayonnaise jar using boiling water, then pack in the red cabbage.  Once the vinegar is ready, sieve and pour over the cabbage until the jar is filled.  I've also thrown in a tablespoon of mustard seeds.

Of course, you need something to go with the above, and what could be better than a festive bread?  I've found a brilliant bread flour made by Allinson's, called country grain, which I've found makes really delicious bread.  I use a fairly basic recipe - 400g country grain flour, 100g wholemeal bread flour, 20g dried yeast, 50g butter, and a pinch of salt.  Throw in a large handful of dried cranberries, mix it all together with 350ml of warm water, and then knead the dough for a number of minutes.  Then rest for an hour before transferring to a loaf tin, leave to rise for 30 minutes, then whack it in the oven for 40 minutes (I go longer than most recipes because I find it gives a much nicer crust.)  This will go with anything - for the best tea, I'm happy with a bit of butter and a nice wedge of cheese.

So there you go, a good festive morning in the kitchen, which frees me up to watch It's A Wonderful Life in the afternoon, safe in the knowledge that Christmas food and drink is well under control.  Unless, of course, the local puppy wants to stick her nose in...

The Christmas kitchen I

 So really this is a follow-on from the last blog.  As I mentioned, I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately, especially on my Wednesdays off work, where I've been busy producing pies and soups for lunches and teas.  On my last Wednesday off, I decided to get ahead a little bit with Christmas dinner, by making the Christmas gravy.  I use a Jamie Oliver recipe (more or less) which really hits the spot, in my opinion.  

I start by boiling up the carcass of the roast chicken we had for dinner last weekend - I always make stock from the chicken bones, it's a brilliant way to get as much use as possible from the bird, which I think is the most respectful thing you can do.  Simply pull the carcass apart and place it into a large pan, cover with water and boil for a good couple of hours.  

Next, roughly chop a handful of carrots, a few celery sticks and two onions, and throw into a pot, along with a good helping of sage, rosemary and a couple of bay leaves.  You can also add some good quality smokey bacon of you want.  Jamie chucks in star anise, but I despise the stuff so out it stays for me.  Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then give it a good hour in the oven.

Once it comes out the oven the veg should be tender and smell beautiful. I remarked to myself how this was enough of a meal in its own right, like a pot of winter goodness.  Put it on the hob on a low heat, and if you can resist the temptation to eat it all, get a potato masher and mash the contents.  I took time to mash it really well - the mushier the better.  Once its a total mush, add four tablespoons of flour, stir it in well, then give it five minutes or so to lightly fry.  If you want to add sherry or port, Jamie Oliver says to do it at this stage, though I didn't bother.

Once it's had a few minutes to fry, add your chicken stock, straining it through a colander so you catch all the bones.  You may also need to top-up with boiling water, so you're about 1cm from the top of the pan.  The whole thing now needs at least half an hour on the hob - bring it to boil, and then just let it simmer, stirring occasionally.  The stock will absorb so many of the flavours released from your mashed veg (it's making me hungry just writing this).  After half an hour or so, the gravy should have thickened and should smell and taste wonderful - this is where I get a spoon and have a taste.  I then add three teaspoons of cranberry sauce, stirring it in well.  Finally, strain the gravy through a sieve, making sure you push lots of the flavour through with the back of your spoon.  And voila!  You have Christmas gravy.

I made mine early this year because a). I want to get ahead of the game, and b). I had celery at home, and didn't want it to go to waste (neither of us can stand the stuff in any other form so it is not a regular feature, but its pepperyness is perfect for gravy.)  So off the gravy goes in a big Tupperware box, into the freezer for the next three weeks, ready for the big day itself - beautiful!

The kitchen really is the heart of the home, so I might share a few more recipes over the festive season, as I discover them.  In the meantime, we also added a couple of festive touches to the kitchen sideboard - I can't wait to see those platters stacked high with mince pies!