Post-Holiday Letdown

Here’s Jasmine doing an excellent imitation of how we were feeling this past Sunday as we contemplated our return to “normal” life.

Yesterday I wandered around work in a haze wondering where my sofa, turkey sandwich and book had hidden themselves.

We had a great holiday – lots of quiet time at home with just enough social outings to keep things interesting.  I cooked up a storm for Christmas dinner, the brined turkey was a big success (oh, the gravy!) and ended up with lots and lots of leftovers for sandwiches.

I was also very pleased with how this recipe for mashed sweet potatoes flavoured with pomegranate molasses turned out. I un-veganized it (not that there’s anything wrong with vegan food!) by replacing the soy milk and margarine with milk and butter.

Now winter is settling in rather earnestly (lots of snow in the forecast), and I’m looking forward to warding off the chill with food and drink.

Brining the Christmas Turkey

It’s only going to be four of us on Christmas Day this year, with a correspondingly smaller turkey.  This is my chance to try out Nigella Lawson’s turkey brining recipe. At almost five and a half kilos, it’s still a lot of bird, but I have visions of endless turkey sandwiches eaten TV-side during the holidays. Cliché though it may be, I think I look more forward to leftovers than the big feast itself.

I felt like a mad scientist as I added all of the ingredients to my biggest stock pot – there was some consternation that it wasn’t going to be big enough and we had a large plastic tub on standby, but the turkey just fit. Now it’s hanging out in our root cellar until Christmas Day, when we’ll dry it off and roast it with a glaze of butter and maple syrup.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

This is the second year I’ve baked this cheesecake for our family Thanksgiving dinner. Last year it was such a hit, Jeff had to hide a piece for me so I would have a chance to taste it! We have big family gatherings, so I find it’s a nice balance to the apple pie I also make, giving people more choices – cheesecake or pie, while still allowing them to get their annual pumpkin fix.

This version of pumpkin cheesecake is straight from Nigella Lawson’s Feast. I love that it doesn’t call for any spices at all. That may seem boring if you’re used to adding ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to your pumpkin recipes, but trust me – the simplicity of pumpkin, cream cheese, sugar, eggs and lemon juice is perfect here.

My family didn’t grow up on pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and they tend look rather askance at anything made with  pumpkin in general, so it’s a great testament to this cheesecake that it disappears so quickly.

Cheesecake Base

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 stick butter, softened and cut into pieces

The Filling

15 ounces of unseasoned pumpkin purée

1 ½ lbs cream cheese (3 packets, each 250 grams)

1 cup sugar

6 eggs

juice of ½ lemon

Cheesecake Base

Place graham cracker crumbs in a food processor, adding the butter pieces, processing until combined. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and put in fridge while you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 325˚F

The Filling

Combine the cream cheese and pumpkin in the food processor. When blended, add the sugar. While the processor is running, add the eggs one by one and finally the lemon juice, stopping the processor from time to time to scrape down the mixture.

Wrap the outside of the springform pan with plastic wrap to make sure that the pan is completely waterproof, and then cover this with heavy duty aluminum foil. Place the foil covered pan in a roasting pan.

Pour the filling into the pan, and then fill the roasting pan with hot water about halfway up the springform pan.

Bake for 1 ¾ hours. Place on cooling rack and remove foil. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Notes: The smallest can of pumpkin I could find was 796 ml. I used my kitchen scale to weigh out 15 ounces.

It may seem weird to wrap the pan in plastic wrap, but the foil protects it and it doesn’t melt.

Source: Feast, by Nigella Lawson

Ugh, January

I believe Bridget Jones said it best:

It seems wrong and unfair that Christmas, with its stressful and unmanageable financial and emotional challenges, should first be forced upon one wholly against one’s will, then rudely snatched away just when one is starting to get into it. Was really beginning to enjoy the feeling that normal service was suspended and it was OK to lie in bed as long as you want, put anything you fancy into your mouth, and drink alcohol whenever it should chance to pass your way, even in the mornings. Now suddenly we are all supposed to snap into self-discipline like lean teenage greyhounds.
Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding

Traditional English Trifle

Trifle looks spectacular when you bring it out, and tastes even better. But really, especially if you buy some stuff (canned custard, sponge cake from the bakery section of the grocery store) pre-made, it’s the easiest thing in the world to make.

I like to imagine that trifle was invented by a couple of food lovers who said; “Hey, you know what tastes good with sponge cake? Berries.” “Hey, you know what else does? Custard.” “Oh yeah, and how about some whipped cream and let’s soak the cake in some alcohol and sprinkle almonds over everything”.  At any rate, that’s all trifle really is – layers of booze-soaked cake, berries and custard and whipped cream. You’ve just put it in a large bowl for everyone.

At any rate, here is how I make it every year for Christmas Dinner. I’m a very recent convert to canned custard (I’m updating this post as of December 2009).

24 ladyfingers or 9″ sponge cake

1/4 cup orange-flavoured liqueur (such as Grand Marnier)
2 pkgs (300 grams each) frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 cups real whipping cream, divided (500 ml carton)
4 cups custard (recipe below) or 2 cans (14 oz/398 ml) each, vanilla
1 tsp vanilla
Sliced almonds, toasted

1. If not using ladyfingers, cut sponge cake into thin slices. Arrange the ladyfingers or slices of sponge cake in the bottom of a large trifle or glass bowl. Sprinkle with liqueur.

2.  Spoon the thawed raspberries over ladyfingers in bowl; set aside.

3. Beat 1/2 cup of the whipping cream until light. Fold custard into the whipped cream. Spoon custard mixture over fruit layer in bowl.

4. Beat remaining whipping cream until light, flavouring with the sugar and vanilla.  Spoon over custard layer in bowl.
5. Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight. Decorate with sliced, toasted almonds.

Trifle Custard
4 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups milk
3 tbsp custard powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice

1. In a bowl, beat the eggs and add sugar, beating until the sugar has been incorporated. Add remaining ingredients, beating until well combined.
2. Pour into a large saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. (If the heat is too high, the custard will curdle.)
3. Slowly bring the custard to a boil and continue to stir until it thickens (about 10 min). Let cool before using. (If cooling it in the fridge, cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.)

10 to 12 servings

Adapted from: James Barber, Milk Calendar (year unknown)

Notes:

• Travels well for potlucks – just remember keep the box your trifle bowl comes in. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and pop it in the box.

Cranberry Sauce

The deep, luscious red of cranberries mesmerizes me the entire time I’m cooking them. If I’ve been too busy to feel holidayish, making cranberry sauce brings it all back to me. From the moment I grab the bag of frozen berries out of the freezer and pour them into the saucepan, I know I’m just a few minutes away from the best friend (besides gravy) turkey ever had. To me, a plateful of turkey dinner just isn’t complete without a spoonful of ruby nestled beside a piece of white meat.

Cranberry Sauce

300g cranberries
100g sugar
20g butter
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp Grand Marnier, optional

Put the cranberries, sugar, butter, juice, zest of the orange and Grand Marnier in a pan. Add 50ml water and bring to a boil. After it has bubbled for a moment, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the berries have popped and the sauce has thickened. Add more sugar if needed, cool before serving.

Source: Nigella Lawson, How to Eat

Updated December 2009

Christmas Abundance

Slow news day – I haven’t been posting any recipes lately because I’ve been nibbling at parties, getting takeout after long shopping stints, and generally eating on the run.

I got my Christmas gift shopping done ahead of schedule, but that just means I feel like all I’ve done lately is stand in line at grocery stores and the LCBO. Schlepping bags of groceries home is the worst part, so I felt a real sense of accomplishment today when I looked in my fridge and freezer. I’m not done yet – there will be poultry and other perishables joining in later this week, plus a trifle will be taking up some serious real estate on Christmas Eve, but for now it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my fridge.

In the freezer we’ve got sausage rolls…saving those for a Christmas Eve pig-out, cranberries – I’m going to make Nigella’s cranberry sauce from How to Eat, lots of freshly made ice, frozen raspberries for my upcoming trifle, frozen discs of pancetta (a freezer staple for me), and some frozen bolognese sauce for the next time we feel like pasta.

In the fridge the dairy group is very well represented – milk, whipping cream, butter, cheese, egg nog…and some 72% chocolate for a ‘death by chocolate’ dessert, lots of citrus – I use lemons all the time, couldn’t cook without them. What else? A bottle of champagne (but of course!), some beers – Jeff is doing ‘research’ right now, and Steam Whistle gives him less of a hangover than other beers. Who knew? Luckily I’ve got some broccoli in the fridge – my body was screaming for greens after all the rich party food and cookies I’ve eaten lately.

Christmastime is here

I love Christmas, and as I mature (slightly), I realize that as much as I adore giving and receiving gifts, it’s about the food, baby.

There are several advantages to this; not the least of which is that unlike the mad rush of opening of the gifts on Christmas Morning, you get to set your own holiday parameters – the celebrating starts with the first chocolate popped into your mouth, and only ends when the last cookie is gone.

Here is my list of what makes Christmas, well, Christmassy:

cookies! especially shortbread and gingerbread
chocolate
clementines
egg nog (with spiced rum, of course!)
cranberries
nuts
sausage rolls
turkey with all the trimmings
trifle
mulled wine
champagne
smoked salmon
turkey sandwiches

Snowballs

I’ll be honest. I stopped making these cookies for a while. One year I had the bright idea to bake cookies and roast hazelnuts for all of our friends and package them with a Christmas CD Jeff recorded. Brilliant idea, in theory. That Christmas season found me making dozen after dozen of these. As time went on, I would have much rather braved the late December mall – and I live by the maxim “hell is other people” – than stand in the kitchen for one more minute making these effing cookies.

I’ve now returned to my senses and annually make moderate quantities of these cookies. It’s really just shortbread wrapped around a chocolate kiss, but my god they are divine.

Just don’t store them in the fridge, as a friend ruefully told me once. Fridge-cold chocolate and teeth don’t get along too well!

2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
8 oz. Chocolate Kisses
powdered sugar for dusting

Cream butter and sugar well, until smooth. Add flour, then walnuts. Gather dough into disk-shape and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least half an hour. Preheat oven to 350F. Remove foil from Kisses and insert one inside a ball of dough 1″ in diameter. Make sure each Kiss is completely covered by dough. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for about 12 minutes, until just cooked through. Sift over powdered sugar while still warm.

Notes: The walnuts are optional. I also opt not to dust with powdered sugar.

Source: Christmas Joy

Rosemary Roasted Hazelnuts

I constantly roast these nuts during the holidays; for parties, homemade gifts or staying home and noshing. They make our house smell incredible and have become integral part of the holiday season for me. They’re great just out of the oven or at room temperature.

2 cups hazelnuts, with skin on
2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
2 tsp coarse salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the hazelnuts in a bowl and toss with the rosemary, salt and vegetable oil. Spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are roasted through.