Wednesday, 28 December 2011

Xmas and Boxing Day Dinners

Well, we did it. Survived the in-laws staying for Christmas and the mammoth logistical task of transporting the entire - mostly cooked - dinner to someone else’s house (don’t ask). 

On reflection our menu over the two days reads like a who's who of celebrity chefs but hey I'm not proud, it worked!  The starter was difficult to choose once I adamantly declared I wasn't doing more than one so we would all have to eat the same thing.  Jamie Oliver's pea and watercress soup recipe fitted the bill - okay so it says it's for summer, but who wants to eat a wintery stodgy old starter at Christmas!?  Topped with pea shoots and a parmesan crisp this kept everyone round the table more than happy - fresh, light and packed full of peppery watercress goodness.
 

Starters over with there really was only one option for Christmas dinner - vegetarians aside - Nigella Lawson’s spiced and super-juicy roast turkey.  This recipe has been a friend of ours for many years and has never let us down.  Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without having that plump turkey swimming happily for a day or two in a bucket of brine and spices.  And it was a triumph.  Ridiculously easy to cook yet succulent and delicious. 


Then it was on to Boxing Day.  Shaking off the fug of excess food and alcohol from the previous day, we cracked open the bubbly and excitedly turned to the recipe for Boxing Day.  We had searched high and low for the perfect Salmon en Croute recipe, before stumbling upon this one from Gordon Ramsay, which leans slightly towards a koulibiac.  With a few minor amendments to accommodate a whole side of salmon rather than individual portions, this turned out brilliantly.  Good old Gordon. 


No comments:

Post a Comment