Christmas Pudding

Well, as some may have noticed, it has been a while since I posted because there was, you know, THANKSGIVING to prepare.  It was an epic feast, a result of many, many hours of labour, but it went off without a hitch in the end.  I can't promise to give a full posting on it as there was just too much work in too little time to take photos, but hopefully I'll put together a general summary soon. Maybe.

In the meantime, we had our own little stir-up Sunday here.  What is this "Stir-up Sunday" you ask? Well, in theory it is the Sunday roughly a month before Christmas when you stir up and make your Christmas cake and Christmas pudding.  This gives the flavours time to mature and develop (assisted by ample quantities of booze) before you eat them at Christmas.

My husband is a big fan of Christmas pudding, and enjoy it as well.   Growing up as a child of Australian parents, we used to have to go to our local gourmet specialist to find a "plum pudding" for Christmas. It came in a tiny plastic tub and rather than steam it, we microwaved it in a fraction of the time. This resulted in a heavy, sometimes chewy pudding that we thought tasted good.

Turns out the real thing is a whole lot better. When you steam it, the pudding turns out much lighter as is never anything remotely approaching chewy. And of course when you make it yourself you get to choose which fruits go into it.  I tend to stick to the traditional currant heavy list given by Delia Smith, only adding a few cherries for texture and colour, but there are many variations that aren't so medieval in their make-up of fruits and spices; things like apricots and dried tropical fruits are all tried out in various internet recipes you can sift through.

The only issue I had was that I only had only one pot big enough to steam a pudding.  Every year I make the same mistake in that I forget what a large recipe it is, big enough to fill three of my pudding bowls.  Since the steaming takes 6 hours, I ended up cooking one a day for three straight days.

My first step, before I even got to the stage in the photo below, was to soak the dried fruit in some alcohol for flavour.  I tend to use brandy for this, but rum or whisky are good too.  They steeped for a week in it.  This is an unnecessary first step (it's not included in Delia's instructions) but I know of various grannies who swear by it, so I decided to follow their advice.  Many grannies soak the fruit for months, even over a year this way, but I just did a week.  I meant to only do a day, but then I kept forgetting to get the other ingredients I needed, so it became a week.

So in the bowl with the booze were currants, raisins, sultanas, cherries, and my personal favourite (though many hate it, I know) candied citrus peel.  So basically three types of dried grapes and a dash of candied fruit.  Someday I am going to add prunes so that it is, in fact, a form of plum pudding, just not this year.  I meant to get the suet from a supplier at the farmers market, but I phoned too late for them to have it ready and had to use the supermarket shelf variety instead.  I did eventually get suet from him and it's now sitting in my freezer until I need it...probably not until November next year.

Once again, Robert helped me look for ingredients...

First in the bowl went the self raising flour and breadcrumbs.

Then on went the white pet food...I mean, the suet.

The recipe asked for 225 grams, but the pack only had 200 grams.  I did not want to buy 2 packs just for 25 grams, so I put in a bit of butter instead.

Then in went some mixed spice, ground nutmeg, and cinnamon

Yes, I'm using the Calpol spoon again.

Next was just a tiny bit of brown sugar.  Just a pound.  

My mother likes to quote how many calories are in a slice of christmas pudding.  If you care how many calories are in a slice, you probably shouldn't be having dessert in the first place.  Just a thought.

Then it all gets mixed up.

Boozy fruit, you are next...

In it goes!  This is when I usually realize I need to find the biggest bowl available in my flat, as my normal mixing bowls are not nearly huge enough.

There we are, a nice, happy, fruity mess.

Oh, crumbs, ALMONDS, I nearly forgot the almonds!!  Nobody will care that they aren't chopped...

And one apple peeled and chopped.  Well, two different random varieties of apple as I only had tiny apples in the fruit bowl.  I love how the flesh of one of them is stained pink when you bite into it.  I forget their name, but aren't they pretty?

I then used my brand new Pampered Chef zester to add some orange zest.  I have never been to one of their parties, but my sister-in-law has hosted this kitchenware company's fetes so got some credit.  She doesn't cook, so she asked me if I would like anything. My answer was a resounding yes.

Some lemon zest went in too.

Then I beat up some eggs

And added some stout.  Guinness was on offer, so Guinness it was this year.

And in went some dark rum too.  Yes, there is lots of alcohol in this recipe. Don't worry, it all *hic* cooks off.

Then once that is all mixed together, you pour it onto the dry ingredients and stir like mad.

Mmm, a big gloopy mess.  I then covered it and let it sit out overnight.

The next day, I split it between three bowls, covered each in a square of greaseproof paper, tied it on with a rubber band, then wrapped each in a muslin cloth.  Those old baby muslin squares have come in handy!

Then the lid went on and they were steamed for 6 hours apiece. If you are doing this, do not leave your spouse in charge of keeping an eye on the water level, as they might just go out and forget about the pudding, let the water run out, and smoke the pudding. So I hear.

Once they were cooled, I took off the cloth and greaseproof paper and replaced them with fresh layers, but first I had a peek inside.

It may not look terribly appetising, but it should be good next month once we've steamed it again, removed it, put it on a plate, added holly, set it alight with flaming alcohol, and served it with brandy butter.

Oh - and we only need one of the three that I made, so anyone who wants one, let me know!

A smaller version of the recipe I roughly followed is online here: http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/traditional-christmas-pudding.html

I'll add my own take on it sometime soon.

Raw beetroot, citrus, and walnut salad

I never have been a huge fan of beetroot.  When we got boxes from the farm every week, I always stared resentfully at the pound or more of beetroot they would send when it was in season.  I baked with it a few times, put it in a gratin a few times, boiled it for salads, and even put its cooked form in burgers (something I highly recommend).  Mostly, though, it stayed in the fridge until it started growing things and was then chucked out.

But yesterday, having decided on making lasagne as the main for dinner (using the frozen batch of bolognese sauce leftover from the last time I made it), I thought I'd try something different for our salad. Scanning the produce aisles, I saw little bundles of beetroot winking at me.  More rich in vitamin C than pretty much anything, it seemed a wise choice for a household afflicted with illness.  But how to cook it?  I went home and consulted my newish Veg Every Day book and saw a raw beetroot salad that sounded appealing, since it meant I didn't have to cook anything to make it.

So first I peeled the beetroot (wearing gloves - this stuff's juice can get everywhere if you aren't careful) and put it through the coarse grater on my Magimix. I don't miss the days of doing this by hand, though it would have been easy enough.

Then in went the juice of a small orange and half a lemon.

Then a dash of olive oil and a handful of parsley.

While I let that all soak together, I toasted some walnuts in a dry pan.  You're supposed to add cumin seeds too, but I had forgotten that I used mine up last week, so we went without.

I also decided to throw in some apple chunks.  This was an attempt to lure the children into trying the salad.  It didn't work all that well on them, but the apple was nice in the salad.

Then right before serving, I bashed the walnuts a bit and threw them on top

Then mixed it all up

It was really nice.  Not cooking the beetroot gave it a fresh, crunchy texture, and the magenta vegetable looked so bright and cheerful on the plate, all contrasting well with the soft, creamy lasagne.  I'd be tempted to add in some of the citrus zest next time, too.

Beetroot with walnuts and apple 

adapted from Veg Every Day

75g walnuts

About 400g beetroot

A good handful of parsley, chopped

Juice of 1 small orange

Juice of half a lemon

2 Tbsp olive oil (or rapeseed oil)

1 apple, chopped

Salt and pepper

Peel the beetroot and grate it coarsely, whether it be by hand or machine, and put into a bowl.  Add the parsley, orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, and some salt and pepper.  Give it a good mix and leave for 20 minutes or so.

Toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat for a few minutes, until they smell toasted and are starting to colour in a few places.  Bash them a bit with pestle and mortar.

Add apple and walnuts to salad, stir to combine and serve.

Chestnut and Carrot soup

Oh, children, how you alter our diets...

I had all kinds of exciting plans for vegetarian cuisine this evening.  Pages were bookmarked, shopping lists were made last night...and then came the cough.

A cough that kept repeating itself over and over and over, throughout the night.  Eventually came whimpers and requests for cuddles.  This of course meant all shopping trips would be cancelled, as I was now going to play Florence Nightingale for the day.

And what can be more nourishing for the invalid than soup?  I didn't have much in the way of vegetables, but I did have Lidl to thank/curse for these babies:

I had mixed feelings about them because, well, chestnuts are kind of a pain to cook and peel for other stuff. Usually I cheat and buy them canned or vacuum sealed, but I had grabbed these the other day and figured it was time to tackle them.  I didn't use them all, but I did cook them all, so I've got to figure out what to do with the rest.  I might see if I can freeze them for Thanksgiving...

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am already beginning to panic.  I've been stupid enough to invite three other families over for the big meal, so I'm already all a-fluster.  The cooking is actually not what I panic over - I've done this before and know how to put together and execute a game plan for the big meal.  It's the rest of the place.  I am absolutely horrible at decor, and I panic that people will think my place looks horrible simply because I am one of those people who genuinely doesn't see mess. I mean, at work, my colleagues and I will walk into the staff room and they will say "my gosh, look at the STATE of this room!" and I will honestly be thinking "um, what is wrong with it?"  And when I got to people's houses they apologize for their messes and all I can think is "gosh, this place looks tidier than ours. Crap."

So already I'm trying to clean, I really am, I just fear there will be some glaring messes that my eyes just don't see and that will be what people remember.

So this is what I was muttering about as I made soup.  I didn't take photos, because I was letting my daughter play with my ipad (she was pretty excited to get it on a weekday, I can tell you) but I can say I put in shallots, celery, stock, carrots, parsley, chestnuts, bacon, and sage, then whizzed it with a hand blender to produce this:

No, it doesn't look particularly pretty, but it was nourishing and tasty with some toast.  

I'm going to go wring my hands some more now.

Banana Bread

Before I had kids, I would occasionally phone work before I headed out the door and ask them to turn on the oven to 180C.  Roughly fifteen minutes of brisk walking later, I'd carry a 2lb baking tin full of banana bread batter into the staff room and pop it in the hot oven so that by the time morning tea break arrived, the loaf would be ready and the smell of baking would waft through the office. Needless to say, this made many people there happy. Colleagues would leave spotty bananas on my desk, and collections for supplies were made in my name. This somewhat confused the late night workers, as all the crumbs had disappeared by the time they arrived.

Pretty much everyone I know who bakes has made banana bread at some point in their lives.  It is such a staple comfort food, making you feel thrifty in your refusal to bin brown bananas. My husband eats most things, but he hates bananas, so I do try to make it when he is out of the house, or at least for occasions held elsewhere.  I have had the recipe requested many times, as the loaf ends up fairly light in texture compared to most banana loaves out there, but far be it from me to say this is the best one.  I did it with pecans because I had some I wanted to use up, but I think I prefer walnuts as they give a bit more bite and contrast better with the bread.

I started by putting flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together.

Then in a different bowl, I put butter and sugar.

I mixed them.  No, I didn't use a mixer, I used a fancy wooden spoon that I got from Williams Sonoma that I love.

Then, rather than adding eggs now, you add the flour.

And you mix it all together.  I use my pastry blender.  I had to go online to get one of these in the UK, as I hunted through all the cookshops within the city boundaries and couldn't one.  That said, baking supplies are a lot easier to find now that the Great British Bake Off has come along.  Apparently stand mixers have seen their sales increase dramatically, and I find it easier to find things like loaf tin liners that had all but disappeared from shop shelves a couple years ago.

I cracked open a couple eggs,

And whisked them with a mini whisk that used to be attached to a hand mixer that died many moons ago.

In went the eggs.

And I mixed them all up to make a fairly stiff batter.

Then I looked at my bananas.  I had wanted to make this a day earlier, but discovered I had no sugar.  I didn't discover this until I had peeled the bananas, though, so they had been sitting out for a while.  The one on the bottom is approaching fermentation quickly.

Mush mush mush. I didn't know until I had kids that mushed bananas could stain clothes.

In goes the banana mush.  Ew.

Um, I wish I could say this looks better, but, uh...

Let's just throw some nuts on, hm?

Oh, uh, I guess just scrape it out and put it somewhere else.

Yes, there looks good.  So yes - a few years ago, several shops stopped stocking these liners, but now...everywhere has them.  They are awfully handy.  Right, so then I stuck this ugly beast in the oven.

And it came out like this!

Hooray!  I don't know whether I prefer it hot out of the oven, or cooled and more cleanly sliced later on with tea.  Best have it both ways, I guess.

Banana Bread from Joy of Cooking

An unusual mixing method produces a tender cakey loaf with
excellent banana flavour.

Have all ingredients ready at room temperature.  Position a rack
at the lower third of the oven.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 
Line a 1.5 litre loaf tin.

Whisk together thoroughly:
185g plain flour
3/4 tsp salt 
1/2 tsp Bic Soda
1/4 tsp baking powder

In a large bowl, beat until light and fluffy:
75g unsalted butter
120g sugar

Cut in the flour mixture until blended and the consistency of
brown sugar.  Gradually mix in 
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Fold in, until just combined:
2 large (or 3 small) very ripe bananas, mashed
60g chopped walnuts

Scrape the batter into the tin and spread evenly.  Bake until
toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. 
Let cool in the tin on a rack for 5-10 minutes before turning
out to cool completely on the rack.