Christmas Christmas Christmas! The season has been so busy, cooking and eating it's taken me this long to sit down and write about it! With Mum down visiting it felt quite full in my little house and my kitchen is not really a kitchen for two but we did Christmas preparations in style, after heading up to the hills and indulging in a Chocovino (chocolate and wine tasting) experience at Hahndorf Hill Winery (the staff of which now know me by name - I think i need to avoid the place for a while, it's getting embarrassing!) we headed home with a bottle of Veuve Champagne, plenty of homemade truffles and Adelaide Hills cherries to nibble, while I cooked my little heart out I'm surprised we ate that night!
Green Peas and Goats Cheese
(my take on it)
boil your peas as normal
strain and immediately plunge into an iced water bath (to cool and maintain greeness)
strain again once cool
cover in crumbled bits of lovely goats cheese (the elixir of life!)
dress with lemon juice and (good - eating) olive oil and a good amount of lemon zest!
Christmas Eve with Mum was a quiet but lovely affair, a sneaky few pieces of Clove Studded Honey Glazed Ham that had been prepared for the next evening, Roast Veg Couscous and Green Peas and Goats Cheese in a lovely lemony zesty dressing (my attempt at recreating an amazing, simple dish I had at Fino in Willunga). After that we headed out to hear an amazing choir at St Peter's, then (of course) the evening was finished by the much anticipated Christmas pudding I wrote about a while back made from my great grandma's recipe. It is always a bit nerve wracking cooking something in it's calico cloth and waiting to consume, even giving it away as presents, without cracking it first to check how it has turned out!! This year's was even better than before and was served with homemade vanilla bean custard and some of my Russian Caravan ice cream (probably only needed the custard but it was an interesting flavour combination).
Moral to the story - soak your fruit kids! For as long as possible = awesome flavourness!
This year after a picnic lunch of marinated prawns, turkey and cranberry homemade bagels and berry compote with crushed meringue down at Semaphore, Mum and I joined our wonderful friends the Spiers in the hills for Christmas Night. Josh was very excited about the prospect of a Clove Studded Ham I did a few years ago. My arm very easily being twisted I had to go back through the memory banks but I think this is the awesome recipe I got from a chef I used to work with....
Joel's Christmas Ham Glaze (I think)
Orange Juice 1/2 cup
Kecap Manis (a big dash)
Dijon Mustard 2 generous tablespoons
Honey 1/3 cup
Brown Sugar 1/3 cup
Mixed Spice 1 teaspoon
All in a small saucepan, bring to the boil, simmer around 10 mins. Meanwhile stud your ham with cloves (i know it's annoying and time consuming but just do it! It looks good and the flavour is great, c'mon it's Christmas!) Brush glaze on ham and bake at 190 for 30 mins for a 5 kg ham brushing with glaze at least 3 times (every 10 mins) during cooking. The rest of the glaze makes an awesome sauce. If it's too thick thin with more of your wet ingredients, if too thin simmer on stove a bit longer = delish!
Also on the menu for Christmas night; Turkey and Baked Apple salad with a cranberry sauce dressing and Beetroot Relish (not even sure what this was meant to go with, I was just excited about making it!!).
Of course me being me couldn't just bring one desert, I was just so excited about all the options!!! So, inspired by 'Heston's Perfect Christmas' I made a trifle, (ok so it was no where NEAR his!) layered with strawberries in jelly, homemade vanilla bean custard, layers of gorgeous fresh berries, toasted almonds, meringue, cream and sponge fingers soaked in Alex and Emily's gorgeous Spanish dry Sherry!
Secondly a Cherry Ripe Pavlova (I had lots of whites left over - I couldn't just throw them out!!!). I used Stephanie Alexander's pav recipe and it was great! Not totally used to the quirks of my oven yet though, a pav is something you have to know your oven to do well, but the little collapsed shell bit in the middle was easily covered up with lashings of cream, fresh cherries that my mum (bless her) pitted for me, left to macerate in a bit of sugar, chopped dark chocolate and toasted coconut flakes! I just love the addition of a bit of bitter chocolate to a pav topping, balances out the sweetness of the meringue. Totally over catered but I just get excited!
So Mum found it quite amusing (and possibly annoying) that every time I baked something or sat down to eat I photographed it first, and I still have lots of leftover truffles, chocolate and christmas cake in my fridge despite it being well after New Years, the tree is still up and I figure make the season last! (and perhaps join a gym!)
Finally, best Boxing Day breakfast ever!! Leftover Cherry Ripe Pavlova and a strong pot of coffee!!!
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