something else to eat_ november 2010

7/28/2019 Something Else to Eat_ November 2010

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S U N D A Y , N O V E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 0

Christmas pudding time again

As things change, we find we have to keep changing what we do at

Christmas. With no family in Wellington, we used to follow a

wonderful plan, introduced to us by dear friends. It involved a

succession of guests and at least five well-spaced courses, appearing

as people came and went according to their other commitments.

Doing it that way meant we could make Christmas dinner last all

day. We still do it, but with adaptations.

Over the years a large roast of pork gave way to two ducks,

and then to a fillet of beef. Last year I tried having the beef warm,

with salads, instead of having everything hot, though I did hot spuds

for Harvey, who unlike me does not enjoy potato salad. It was a fine

day, fortunately, and it was much easier for me to manage. But

Harvey admitted later that he missed his roast (he used to do the

whole main course himself, with assistance from at least one male

helper, but now of course it's all up to me).So this year there's going to be a radical innovation - early

dinner, starting about 4 pm, instead of late lunch. That'll give us

time to have a properly leisurely morning, and I won't need to start

cooking until after brunch. More of the old crowd will be able to

come, after they've done their rounds elsewhere. And I think we'll go

back to roast pork, Harvey will be really happy about that.

A Light Dessert of some kind used to follow, and maybe

some cheese before or after. Then we gathered reverently (not) in

front of the TV for the Queen's Message. We might skip the Light

Dessert this year, but keep the cheese, it will go very well with the

great red wine that usually appears.

The traditional Holly Walk has to happen at some point, to

get a spray of holly for the Christmas pudding which follows the

Queen's Message (I know better than to mess with this bit, Harvey

loves his pudding). It used to be a drunken foray in the dark to the

holly bush growing near the Northland tunnel. Now it's a reasonably

sober early evening stroll up to the Karori Anglican church grounds

and back round the block.

After that will come the flaming pudding, always made byme, complete with its holly and brandy sauce. I make it at least a

month in advance, mixing it and letting it stand overnight (this step

is essential, as I discovered one year when, a bit pushed for time, I

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left it out - not good). The next day it steams for four hours.

The only problem is remembering that it has to steam for

another two hours on Christmas Day. After all that wonderful food

and drink and company, I'm likely to forget, and one year there was

no pudding till 10 at night. Harvey was not amused. Then there was

the year I got very slaphappy with the brandy for the brandy sauce -

you could almost have lit that too.

I always use the same recipe. It originally appeared in the

Edmonds Cook Book, but disappeared some time in the mid-1980s. I

made it last weekend, but if you want to make it now there's still

time. It used to be called "Christmas Pudding (Rich)" but in later

editions (the one I use now is 1982) the "Rich" has gone. This recipe

serves eight people. You need a traditional metal pudding basin with

a lid and a large lidded saucepan to steam it in. The slightly odd

measure of "125g" was originally 4 ounces.

Edmonds Rich Christmas Pudding50g plain flour

125g plain white soft breadcrumbs

125g brown sugar

125g grated suet (the kind you buy in the supermarket - it only

appears around Christmas now)

125g chopped apple

125g raisins

125g sultanas

125g currants (I put in some dried cranberries this year as part of

this measure)

50g whole, unpeeled almonds

25g mixed peel (I often add a bit more)

grated rind of 1 large lemon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

uice of 1/2 lemon

2 Tbsps brandy

* Put sifted flour, breadcrumbs, sugar and suet into a large mixing

basin. Add chopped apples and dried fruit. Add spices and salt. Mix

gently.

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* Beat the eggs well and add them with the lemon juice. Stir well tomix. (Everyone in the house should have a stir at this point, for good

luck in the New Year.)

* Cover the bowl and leave to stand overnight.

* Next day, add brandy, put mixture into a lightly buttered pudding

basin, and put on the lid.

=

B L O G A R C H I V E

2013 (18)

2012 (38)

2011 (45)

2010 (59)

December (4)

November (5)

Christmas pudding time again

The last of the whitebait

Tarted up for lunch

Spring is sprung

Aubergine sounds nicer than

eggplant

October (6)

September (9)

August (6)

July(6)

June (6)

May(6)

April (8)

March (3)

A S A L W A Y S , J U L I A

Julia Child's masterpiece would

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the help of her friend Avis De Voto.


14 20-06-2013 16:36


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* Place enough water in a large saucepan to come halfway up the

sides of the pudding basin (test it). Bring the water to a gentle

coninuous boil.

* Stand the pudding basin in the water, cover everything with a lid,

and steam for 4 hours, making sure the water stays at a gentle boil.

You will need to add more boiling water about halfway through to

keep the level roughly halfway up the basin.

* Turn off the heat and leave to stand for another hour. Then remove

the basin and put it in the fridge until Christmas Day.

* Steam for 2 hours on Christmas Day. Turn out onto a large dish.

* Gently heat about 2 tbsps of brandy, pour over the pudding andlight it so it's flaming as you bring it in to serve.

If you want brandy sauce, make a classic buttery white sauce, but

with brown sugar, and add brandy to taste. Serve on the side.

I can't show you the pudding now, of course - it's sitting in its

basin and won't appear in all its dark fruity glory until Christmas

Day, when I will try to remember to take a photo.

POSTED BY ANNEE AT 10:15 PM 1 COMMENT: LINKS TO THIS POST

LABELS: CHRISTMAS PUDDING

T H U R S D A Y , N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 0

The last of the whitebait

I thought we wouldn't be eating whitebait again this year, but a little

while ago a friend brought round - wait for it - a whole pound,

over 500 grams. It was amazing whitebait, the biggest I'd ever seen,

with a thin stripe down the back. The picture doesn't do it justice, it

was still a bit frozen in its packet, I should have taken another one

when it had thawed.

This collection of their letters charts

their friendship and shows what

remarkable women they both were.

A great read.

L A B E L S

asparagus

cake casserole

chocolate

Christmas Christmas

pudding

dessert

Italianleftovers

lemons

mushrooms MY MEMOIR

onions

pork

potatoes

risotto

Recommend this on Google


14 20-06-2013 16:36


5/14

What I like is where it came from. He knows a woman farmer wholives in Westland, and she has a creek on her land. She gets a pair of

pantihose, sets them in the creek with the top part opened wide, and

the whitebait swim in and up the legs. Perfect.

I was a bit nervous about cooking it after my previous

less-than-brilliant efforts, but this time I had help - the farmer sent

her own recipe for the batter. For this much whitebait, it was two

large eggs, two dessertspoons of flour, and salt. (She said pepper too,

but as I explained last time, Harvey doesn't approve of that.) And

here - ta-daa! - is the fantastic result - I made three of these.

For the first time in his life, Harvey had more whitebait than he

could eat. So the whitebait-bringer and I finished his off between us.

POSTED BY ANNEE AT 9:29 PM 2 COMMENTS: LINKS TO THIS POST

LABELS: WHITEBAIT

Cake Wrecks - guaranteedto make you laughAgainst the Grain

7 hours ago

soup

strawberries

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O T H E R P L A C E S I P O ST T O

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T A K E O F F T H E L O C A L B L G O S

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M A L W A R E , B U T W I L


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14 20-06-2013 16:36


6/14

F R I D A Y , N O V E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 0

Tarted up for lunch

I had a brilliant time in Tauranga - you can see some pix on

Elsewoman - and it's been very busy since I got back. On Wednesday

Harvey's brother Bruce and sister-in-law Margaret came up for the

day from Methven to see him, so I wanted to make something tasty

for lunch. I remembered a very good Harriet Harcourt recipe forpotato, brie and onion tart. It's from a book calledMission for

Entertaining, a fundraiser for Wellington City Mission, with a great

collection of recipes from the capital's top chefs, caterers,

restaurateurs, food retailers and food writers.

A friend gave it to me for Christmas two years ago, and it's

proved very useful. It has one excellent feature which is notably

lacking in every one of the lavish new celebrity cookbooks I've

looked at recently. There are no pictures, but the recipes are clearly

printed in black on white, so you can read them easily while you're

cooking.

Now isn't that a novel idea! Without exception, the new books

by Jamie, Nigella, Annabel et al. feature coloured or grey type,

often in quite a small font size, printed on coloured backgrounds or

even over photos, making the recipes difficult and in some cases

impossible to read. Obviously the designers don't cook - or at any

rate, not from these books. And I won;t be cooking from them either.

So, to the tart. I cooked the potatoes and the onions the night

before, making it very quick to assemble next day. And (forgive me,

Harriet) I added a bit of chopped lean bacon on top as well, because Ihad some and thought it would be good - and it was. This is more

substantial than the usual quiche, so it worked very well for hungry

people who'd left home about 5 am to get here.

Potato, onion and brie tart (slightly adapted from Harriet

Harcourt's recipe - hers serves six, mine serves four)

Two sheets of savoury shortcrust pastry

About six small gourmet potatoes, each cut into 4-6 even chunks

depending on size (no need to peel them)

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 large onions (or more small ones) thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

2 Tbsp grainy mustard

125g round of brie, cut into smallish chunks (I sliced it in half

horizontally before cutting it up, and didn't use it all because I had

bacon as well)

2 rashers of lean bacon cut into small pieces (optional)

2 large eggs

150 ml creme fraiche

salt and pepper


14 20-06-2013 16:36


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*Heat oven to 200C and lightly butter a 27 cm flan dish (I use one

with a loose bottom)

*Use one sheet of pastry to line the flan dish and the other, cut into

strips, to join to the edges and neatly cover the sides of the dish. Put

the pastry lined dish into the fridge for 15 minutes. (I used to skip

this bit, until I discovered that the pastry then shrank down the sides

of the dish and didn't hold the filling properly.)

* Put potatoes in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and cook for

8-10 minutes until just cooked. Drain and allow to cool slightly.

* Gently heat oil in a non-stick frypan, add onion and cook gently for

2-3 minutes until soft. Add crushed garlic and half the thyme leaves

and cook for another 3 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool

slightly.

* Take pastry lined dish out of fridge and spread the mustard over

the base.

* Spread the onions over the mustard.

* Scatter over the pieces of potato, then add the pieces of brie and (if

using) the bacon.

* Beat together the eggs and creme fraiche, season with salt and

pepper, and pour carefully over tart.


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* Sprinkle with the rest of the thyme and bake for 25 minutes until

golden and set.

* Serve warm with a simple salad.


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POSTED BY ANNEE AT 10:26 AM NO COMMENTS:

LINKS TO THIS POST

LABELS: BRIE, ONIONS, POTATOES , SAVOURY TART

W E D N E S DA Y , N O V E M B E R 1 0 , 2 0 1 0

Spring is sprung

I'm going off to Tauranga (Garden and Art Festival!) for a few days

tomorrow. In place of a proper new post, here are some tastes of

spring in Wellington.



14 20-06-2013 16:36


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POSTED BY ANNEE AT 1:20 PM 1 COMMENT: LINKS TO THIS POST

LABELS: SPRING

F R I D A Y , N O V E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 0

Aubergine sounds nicer than eggplant



de 14 20-06-2013 16:36


11/14

As I think I've said before on

this blog, Harvey hates

aubergines. But lately there'vebeen gorgeous ones gleaming

out at me from the

greengrocer. So I managed to

organise a little series of

something elses for Harvey,

and made myself aubergine

with tomato and parmesan

(parmigiana di melanzane - it

took me quite a while to realise

that melanzane meant

aubergine, not melon) one

night and moussaka another.

Both the recipes come, again,

from Claudia Roden - the parmigiana from The Food of Italy and the

moussaka from her invaluableBook of Middle Eastern Food, the

first "foreign" cookbook I fell in love with. This is the revised edition

replacement for the first one I owned (which fell to bits), and as you

can see it's been well used, though I can't imagine how I managed totear off the bottom corner.

I won't give quantities because I was making small helpings for

myself (even so, using just one large aubergine altogether, each dish

lasted me two meals).

Preparing the aubergines

You do this the same way for both dishes, so it made sense for me to

do it all in advance.

* Slice the aubergines lengthwise, sprinkle the slices with salt and

leave for half an hour to let the bitter juices run out.

* Rinse and drain the slices, dry them, and fry them in hot olive oil,

turning them once. Drain on absorbent paper. (Roden says to


de 14 20-06-2013 16:36


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deep-fry

them but I

never do

that, I just

shallow-fried them in a pan until they were starting to turn golden

brown, and they were fine.)

For parmigiana* Make the tomato sauce: Fry garlic in a little olive oil until the

aroma rises. Add one can (more for a large dish) of chopped Italian

tomatoes, 1 tsp sugar, a little salt and pepper, and a bunch of basil or

mint leaves, chopped. Cook vigorously to reduce.

* Arrange the slices of aubergine in an oven-proof dish, cover with

the tomato sauce, sprinkle with diced mozzarella and grated

parmesan, and bake at 180C for about 30 minutes.

I didn't have mozzarella but I did have cream cheese, so I used that. I

had a little good parmesan and added some crumbled blue cheese to

it. The result was brilliant: rich, creamy, tasty. The uabergine seems

to melt into the tomato and cheese, so you're aware of the flavour

but not the texture. Very good reheated, too.

For moussaka

Badly made moussaka was the bane of 70s parties, with lumpy bland


de 14 20-06-2013 16:36


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mince, potato, and few or no aubergines. This is much nicer.

Prepare the aubergines as for parmigiana. Fry chopped onions in 2

tablespoons olive oil until pale golden.

Meat sauce:Add minced beef or lamb and fry until well browned.

Season with salt, pepper and cinnamon or allspice. (A bit of sumac is

good too.) Add tinned chopped tomatoes, plus 2 tablespoons of

tomato paste, and a little chopped parsley. Stir well, moisten with a

little water and simmer for about 15 minutes until the meat is well

cooked and the water is absorbed. Allow to cool.

*At this point I do something Roden doesn't mention, but it works

really well. I grind the meat sauce in the food processor, making it

finer and less lumpy. This makes it taste exactly like the sauce I had

in Albania - it's called kime and it's the basis for many different

dishes.

White sauce: see my earlier post on bechamel for how to get this

right. I used about 2 tablespooons of butter, 2 of flour and 1/2 a pint(300 ml) milk (Roden uses twice as much, and 2 eggs). Season with

salt, pepper and a little grated nutmeg. When the sauce has

thickened, beat an egg, stir in a little of the sauce, beat again, and

pour slowly back into the white sauce, stirring constantly over low

heat (don't let it boil).

To bake: Put alternate layers of aubergine slices and meat sauce

into a deep baking dish, starting and ending with a layer of

aubergines (I just had three layers, a sort of aubergine sandwich

with the meat in the middle). Pour over the white sauce and bake,

uncovered, at 180C for about 45 minutes. You can sprinkle a little

grated parmesan - or cheddar or gruyere - over the top before baking.

I did, and it was indeed, as she says, "very rich", but completely

delicious.

POSTED BY ANNEE AT 10:57 PM 3 COMMENTS: LINKS TO THIS POST

LABELS: AUBERGINES



de 14 20-06-2013 16:36


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