december |
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Saturday 1.12 |
Lunch: At mums Dinner: At Mark and Navahs |
Sunday 2.12 |
Lunch: Ate out Dinner: Celery gratin (cream, ham, garlic); ciabatta |
Monday 3.12 |
Persian lamb, courgettes, bulghar "Dulce de Batata", cream and honey |
Tuesday 4.12 |
Salad of bulghar with courgettes, feta, chilli, avocado oil, shallot and Tamarillos This was pretty good. The Natural Grocery Store had Tamarillos, and I fancied trying them. I had also some smoked garlic purée in the dressing (because it was in the fridge) but the flavour didnt come through. I think you need to use whole bulbs of it. |
Wednesday 5.12 |
Yorks Provender Savoy, lentil, ham soup Venison steaks, myrtille and mushroom sauce, carrots in cumin, mashed potato |
Thursday 6.12 |
Ratatouille Haddock, pea and leek purée, new potatoes |
Friday 7.12 |
Avocado halves with stewed tomatoes, chilli, cilantro Champagne risotto, prawns and mushrooms |
Saturday 8.12 |
Lunch: spag with leek sauce Dinner: John Marinated venison, red chard and rocket salad, mirin and smoked garlic dressing Venison steak in Sybil Kapoors sweet oriental marinade, seared then cooled, sliced very thinly; this was excellent Confit of duck, cassoulet with belly pork and saucisson; cabbage with bacon and onion, ciabatta Ciabatta, because baguettes do not go in panniers and it was raining Pear and almond cake, crème fraîche. I used 4 medium comice pears, nicely ripe. The cake recipe is from Delia Smiths cake book, the Greek orange and almond cake, but without adding juice to the mix, and without the syrup. I peeled and halved the pears and stuck them on top of the mix. The pears dont sink in, but they do give out some liquid, and the cake needs longer cooking than in the book. It is very nice Langres and Spenwood |
Sunday 9.12 |
Lunch: Squash, onion, tomato, moroccan spices, cilantro; couscous with preserved lemon and olives Dinner: Braised chicory Duck livers, sauce from the venison marinade, soba noodles, salad |
Monday 10.12 |
Chickpeas, saucisson, paprika and chilli, tomatoes Quince and crème fraîche |
Tuesday 11.12 |
NCG leek and white stilton soup Lamb chops, cabbage and porcini, sautéed potatoes |
Wednesday 12.12 |
Simon and Amelia Pea and bacon soup Oops, this was almost the same as we cooked last time but Simon did say it is a favourite Braised beef with Guinness, black pepper; braised red cabbage, curly pasta pear and almond cake, crème fraîche cheeses as on saturday |
Thursday 13.12 |
Bighams stifado, courgettes, tagliatelle |
Friday 14.12 |
Waitrose Butterbean and garlic hummus, pitta Aubergine, fried; puy lentils, suce of sundried tomatoes, garlic, chilli; bulghar |
Saturday 15.12 |
Lunch: bulghar with fresh tomatoes, onions, olives, preserved lemon Dinner: roast pheasant, truffle oil, roast squash, spelt with sage and onion Chocolate and smoked paprika puddings, crème fraîche We had had something similar at La Merced, Cachi |
Sunday 16.12 |
Lunch: Tagliatelle with sauce of pheasant leftovers, pine kernels, roast smoked garlic Dinner: Butter beans, parma ham, cream, truffle oil Paella, spinach |
Monday 17.12 |
Borscht Fillet steak, mushrooms, stilton and port sauce, potato croquettes |
Tuesday 18.12 |
Chicken, red pepper, tomatoes, chevre with tagliatelle Peaches, poached then grilled with pistachios, crème fraîche |
Wednesday 19.12 |
Parsnip and potato gratin with stilton, peas |
Thursday 20.12 |
Sprout and walnut soup Pheasant legs, pinto beans with saucisson, green salad Not a success pheasant legs are tough unless you confit or casserole them, and the beans needed more fat. |
Friday 21.12 |
Parma ham and bread Mushrooms with porcini and truffle oil sauce, celeriac and potato cakes, green salad |
Saturday 22.12 | Lunch: Turkey and ham pie, pickled plums, sauerkraut Dinner: Sausages with roast fennel, polenta Italian style sausages, with fennel seed Pears in butter, Millas cake, crème fraîche |
Sunday 23.12 | Lunch: lentil, cabbage, salami soup Dinner: beetroot, walnuts, horseradish cream, salad leaves Sweet potatoes, red peppers-tomatoes-chilli, chèvre, rocket |
Monday 24.12 | Lunch: Dhal and rice Dinner: Salmon with 5-spice, ginger and garlic; cabbage with chilli, oyster sauce; black rice noodles Chestnut pannacotta with bitter orange caramel 4.5 oz chestnuts (vacuum pack), 5floz cream-and-milk, 2 tbs sugar, vanilla essence, ground dried orange peel, 1 small leaf gelatine (Costa). I mashed the chestnuts, brought cream and milk to the simmer, dissolved sugar, then the gelatine, mixed the lot. Allow to cool until it starts to set, then mix again and decant into small bowls. The texture is rough, which we liked ; I might try liquidising it to make it smooth next time, but this risks it losing character I made an orange caramel sauce with 2tbs sugar, caramelised, and juice of half an orange. First attempt I overdid the caramel and it was pretty bitter, though just about edible. |
Tuesday 25.12 | Lunch: Mum, Connie, Chas smoked salmon with lentils, salami, seaweed flakes Guinea Fowl with chestnut, sausage, quince, onion, ciabatta stuffing; gravy; roast potatoes, roast parsnips, sprouts with fried breadcrumbs and walnuts, celeriac and cream purée Christmas pud and cream Beaufort, Stilton, Oxford Isis Dinner: turkey and ham pie, pickled plum, salad with fried potatoes |
Wednesday 26.12 | Lunch: Scrambled eggs with yesterdays leftover veg fried Dinner: stilton, pear, salad A sort of tarte flammiche pizza base, onions cooked down, crème fraîche, smoked streaky bacon |
Thursday 27.12 | Ravioli of guineau fowl and stuffing, green salad I made these yesterday. Its only around Christmas that I make pasta, as there are leftovers that have to be used inventively and I have the time to do it Quince and cream |
Friday 28.12 | Puy lentil, sprout, bacon soup Guineau fowl with saffron-almond sauce; shredded cabbage with fresh chilli, garlic, cream; basmati rice sauce had: fresh and roast garlic, saffron, almonds, cumin, coriander, fennel, dried ginger, chilli, cardamon, cloves. Damn. This is curried turkey, isnt it? Except not turkey |
Saturday 29.12 |
Lunch: Spring greens with sesame oil, mirin, chilli, guineau fowl; rice Dinner: At Martins, Diana cooking |
Sunday 30.12 |
Lunch: Corn puddings stuffed with guineau fowl and smoked olives, haricot beans with saucisson, chipotle, smoked paprika, tomato Thus the guineau fowl ends its tour round the world. The corn stuff was sweetcorn, onions, polenta moulded into little pudding basins, filled with guineau fowl, then steamed. The meat could have done with more gravy. The corn mix was a little dry I dont think I had enough water for the polenta Dinner: Thai vegetable soup Risotto with lime leaves, lemon grass, crab, spring onions, peppers |
Monday 31.12 |
Smoked salmon, fried bacon, potato pancakes with seaweed flakes, wasabi, creme fraiche Venison steaks with lapsang souchon and dried orange zest; fried parsnip chips, celeriac mash for the sauce I used caramelised onions, the goose stock, pork jelly, a red wine cube, and some of the orange caramel. the orange caramel went very well with the parsnips; the whole thing worked well we had a Gigondas Raspail-Ay and this went well Chocolate and olive puddings we have had similar desserts a couple of times - most recently at the Champignon Sauvage. This was guesswork. I made a batter with 1oz butter, 1tbs olive oil, 2oz sugar. Pureed this with 10-11 fruity kalamata olives. Added half an egg, 1oz cocoa and 1.5 oz flour, 1tsp baking powder. Maybe some of that orange zest too. It sort of works, though I think it could have been lighter or moister. The flavour works - Colin said it tastes like a different sort of chocolate. Oxford Isis |
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