Canapés

As can be seen from extensive advertising the canapé has morphed into big business. I appreciate it's a fiddly, time consuming exercise, which is probably why the advertising is so successful and they make an absolute mint.

This is not a bah humbug moment - cast your mind back – of all the bits and pieces you've served over the past months what has been the most popular – you know what I mean, you've made a truck load and it has all disappeared?

So, why not stick to what you know, will vanish without trace and be a huge hit – the bonus is no waste and, if by chance there should be any left over, wrap and “fridge” and serve later as part of your supper/midnight snack.

Here's my contribution :

The smoked trout mousse mentioned in “Madness II – the Recipes” can be piped into Croustades and garnished with fresh chopped chives – photo of the Croustades attached to help. 

MiamMiam Cookery And The Last Croustade!

You could if you prefer use smoked mackerel paté – here's the recipe

Smoked Mackerel Paté

250g smoked mackerel

250g quark (it's a soft cheese made from skimmed milk – not nice on its own but great as a low fat product for healthy paté!)

Glug of lemon juice

Black pepper

Two tsps of creamed horseradish

Skin the mackerel, break up and put into food processor. Add the quark and blitz with the mackerel, then add the lemon juice, black pepper and horseradish, blitz again. You can gauge the consistency of the paté to your personal taste.

You can then add, for example, chopped onion, chopped capers.

Serve with anything you like, toasted bread, rice cakes or add to warmed pitta slit, with salad or, in this case, piped into Croustades.

If you can't get hold of quark you can use cottage cheese - low fat of course!

Remember the post on Crostini – check out “Lucky Dip” for the list - choose a couple of your favourites.

A friend uses the tuna and parsley rolls recipe all the time – it's on my list too - she never travels without it – by that I mean that she serves it when she's at her home in France. Check out “Summer Holidays” for the recipe.

The Croque Monsieur using festive cutters is bound to be a candidate I'd say.

Bake a batch of cheese scones and use a smaller cutter, serve warm.

What about the retro baked Camembert mentioned in “Bank Holiday Breeze”. Whilst it's potentially a smidge on the messy side – you could serve with cheese straws placed in a straight tumbler.

Finally, before I bore you beyond all reason, if you chose Option 2 of the suppers or you're not using the Festive Three Cheese Tart as part of Option 1, then I'd be making them individually, with or without the cranberries, as one of my canapés. Its a reliable, kind recipe and doesn't suffer at all from being made ahead and frozen.

Nadolig Llawen!

Breakfast

On a serious note – if you are the cook it's really easy to be so intent on making sure everyone else is fed and watered that you forget to eat yourself. Is this ringing any bells? A cranky cook is not a good look – if you like the “chef du petit déjeuner” idea, effectively what you're doing is spreading the load – who knows it could be the best thing you've ever done. It's also about timing – if you know that friends and family are dropping in late morning and so you won't be serving lunch until mid to late afternoon then by eating breakfast you're not going to wreck your appetite and spoil your lunch later. Alcohol on an empty stomach is not good either – not to be confused with the cook's privilege of a glass of whatever is your pleasure – there is no bah humbug here!

There are heaps of traditional breakfasts - from the bacon butty, probably everyone's absolute favourite - to smoked salmon and scrambled egg - full English if you must - to the more exotic – kedgeree, or my personal favourite - a really posh seafood omelette - smoked salmon and cream cheese on toasted bagels, yada yada yada.

Back to the “chef du petit déjeunner” and “keep it simple”. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't enjoy a toasted sandwich so, how about a festive Croque Monsieur for the inaugural breakfast? The beauty of this idea is that it can be assembled and wrapped beforehand – either way it's not challenging and in reality doesn't require any technical ability. For the vegetarians you can adapt the Croque Monsieur omitting the ham – bingo!

I know that the Croque recipe was first mentioned in GOM: Chapter 9 Class day – no pressure but for ease of reference, here it is again :

Festive Croque Monsieur

4 slices of medium sliced wholemeal bread

2 tsp Dijon mustard

75g (3oz) Gruyere cheese (grated)

2 slices of ham

30g (1½oz) unsalted butter

Festive cutters of your choice

Serves 2

Preheat oven to 150fan/170c/Gas 3.

Spread ½ tsp of mustard over each slice of bread.

Spread half the cheese on two slices of bread followed by the ham, remaining cheese on top and sandwich together with the other two slices of bread. Cut out the festive shapes of your choice.

Heat the butter in a frying pan until foaming – fry your festive croque monsieur for 1-2 minutes on each side and then transfer to a baking tray and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Serve with festive pickle or chutney of your choice – caramelised red onion chutney is delish.

There are other breakfast/brunch recipes mentioned in Break out the brunch – Part I and Part 2 if you want more alternatives.

Another pause …. more thoughts

I know I'm probably stating the obvious but here's a few reminders :

Don't be too ambitious, for example, don't wait until Christmas Eve to try out a new recipe – not good for the “infinity and beyond” stress levels when it goes pear shaped.

Your mantra over the holidays should be those three little words, “keep it simple”.

When you make your holiday shopping list, sit in your kitchen with all your food cupboards to hand – ensuring of course that you have a little reward, in the way of a glass of wine - or chocolate – or both, by your side – they help to concentrate the mind for such tasks – after you've finished of course! If you are sat in another room it's easy to convince yourself “of course I've got sauce to go with the bacon sandwiches” - when in reality there's only fumes at the bottom of both bottles - how wrong can you be and how irritated when its too late!

Remember the motto, “be prepared”. To that end, if you are a devotee of doing your supermarket shopping on line – three more little words, book your slot! Think of it another way – do you really want to do a “Supermarket Sweep” like some crazy person with a trolley piled high with random food that you'll throw away in the New Year. A little over the top may be but think of your overdraft – planning will save your pennies and the pennies become pounds – how twee is that!

Whatever you are serving for Christmas lunch if you intend to order from your butcher pick up an order form and return it completed. If I can I'll collect my order on the 23^rd for two reasons, the first is that it's a tick off my list and second, it'll be mobbed on Christmas Eve – do you really have 30/45 minutes to waste standing in a queue – you'll never get that time back.

If you intend to buy frozen poultry from the supermarket bear in mind you have to allow adequate time to defrost it. Read the instructions – trying to defrost a large turkey in a bath of cold water on Christmas morning is not a good idea.

Break the habits of a lifetime – be radical – create a new tradition of your own for the holidays. Promote one of your nearest and dearest to “chef du petit déjeuner” (breakfast chef – there's nothing like a fancy title) for the day. It doesn't have to be a Michelin star event and I'm not objecting to a little supervision. You may not like the idea of relinquishing the reins – sooooo sorry, couldn't resist - it could be a master stroke and a task that turns into fun, not to mention breakfast.

Mele Kalikimaka!

The Method in my Madness

The Creaking Table

Christmas Eve Supper – Option 1

Seafood Platter

Smoked Trout Mousse

Smoked Salmon - sliced

Asian Spiced Salmon – broken into small chunks

Prawns – defrosted if frozen

Smoked Mackerel – skin removed and broken

into small pieces

Marie Rose sauce

Creamed horseradish

Sliced lemons, baby tomatoes and sliced cucumber

Festive Three Cheese Tart

Winter Coleslaw

Miso Maple Glazed Chicken

Honey Roast Beetroot

Baby new potatoes, roasted with parsley and butter

Cheese & Pecan Loaf with butter

Cheese Board and grapes

This menu covers all the bases – salty, citrus, sweet, crunch, colour and all the other bits that guests love – potatoes and bread.

Taking in turn, the seafood platter uses only two recipes, both of which are simplicity itself and can be prepared a day or two beforehand and “fridged” - the mousse and the Asian Spiced Salmon. The recipe for the mousse follows – where would we be without James Martin – the mousse recipe is one of his. The Asian Spiced Salmon recipe appears in the posting “Life with GOM: Chapter Two”.

Dig out a large shallow bowl – 32 cms approximately or a platter – 37 x 30 cms approximately (a couple of photos attached to illustrate). Arrange your seafood in the bowl or on the platter – serve the sauces in ramekins and place centrally. Garnish with wedges of lemon, baby tomatoes and sliced cucumber. If you have small ramekins, fill 3 or 4 with the mousse and arrange between the seafood on your serving dish of choice and garnish with the lemons, tomatoes and cucumber.

The Three Cheese Tart appeared in the posting “The Shindig”. I am including a festive twist for the tart – optional of course. The tart can be made beforehand and frozen.

I am including a recipe for a winter coleslaw. What I will do is prepare the red cabbage, carrots and onions ahead, bag separately and “fridge”. It's then 5 minutes to combine and add the remaining ingredients.

Miso Maple Glazed Chicken is the easiest recipe, here it is :

Miso Maple Glazed Chicken

4 chicken breasts

1 tbsp baking powder*

4 fl oz/½ cup maple syrup*

2 fl oz/¼ cup white miso paste*

Mix * together, add the chicken breasts and

marinate for 24 hrs

Sprinkle with chopped spring onions

Bake in a pre-heated oven 180 fan/200c/Gas 6

for 35 minutes

Again, takes no time at all and, if you marinate the chicken in one of my famous, washing-up free foil dishes, it can go straight from the fridge, into the oven at the same time as you are roasting your baby new potatoes. The honey roast beetroot recipe appears in the post “Kitchen investments and Wednesday supper”. You don't have to roast beetroot from scratch if you don't have time – use vac pack organic beetroot.

As the for Cheese & Pecan Loaf, watch this space – coming soon!

Pause for thought …

Before moving on with the method in my madness and the creaking table can I ask you to pause for thought. I am concerned lest you become overwhelmed with stress as the Festive Season approaches and to borrow a most appropriate quotation from our esteemed hero Buzz Lightyear – are catapulted “to infinity and beyond” so, take a moment or two and read on.

Is there anyone out there who is thoroughly fed up with cooking the same old thing for Christmas Day lunch? Dare I suggest – and please don't shoot the messenger – ring the changes and do something different.

My Christmas Day with my Family is, I think, a little outside the norm. There will be a choice of turkey crown, gammon, rich steak casserole, fillet steak or Russian Fish Pie with cheese sauce. A little over the top – absolutely not. The fillet steak will be cooked to order, otherwise the other choices will be cooked in advance and ready to roll when we are.

The jewel in the crown of the meal will be my Sister's chips – yes it's chips with everything. No-one makes chips like my Sister and so when we were having our pre-Christmas committee meeting, the motion for chips was carried unanimously! There are five of us for the holiday and so I concede that cooking chips for 20 isn't such a practical idea. If however you are like us and a smaller number, there's a thought. I can also reveal that there's no fancy plug-in fryer – a small investment has been made and a new old fashioned chip-pan has been purchased – no expense spared! A word of caution – to be used by responsible, alcohol free adults only.

It's “fess up time” – are you sucked in by all the party food adverts on the television? If you do succumb how much of it do you buy and, more to the point, how much of it do you throw away or find buried in the freezer as you create space for Easter – tell the truth!

Before I go here's my final bonkers idea for Christmas Day lunch. These days you can buy really good quality disposable table cloths – you really wouldn't know the difference. If you have a large table to set and have decided to use said disposable cloth engage the services of the younger members of the family and get them to design each place setting. Use a felt tip pen and trace round a place-mat for each of your guests. Give the kids felt tip pens and let them create unique place-settings.

I did say bonkers!

P.s. After all a chip is only a roast potato in a different form.

What's for afters?!

I thought you'd like a couple of non traditional suggestions for afters – the first involves prep – it's worth it and you can make ahead and freeze, but a word of caution – you might not want the work if your party is a large one.

Anyway, here goes :

Perfect Chocolate Fondants

Makes 2

60g unsalted butter, cut into dice, plus extra to grease

1 tbsp cocoa powder

60g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

1 egg and 1 egg yolk

60g caster sugar

1 tbsp plain flour

pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 180fan/200c/Gas 6 if cooking immediately and put a baking tray on the middle shelf. Butter the inside of 2 small ramekins or pudding moulds, and then put the cocoa in one and turn it to coat the inside, holding it over the second mould to catch any that escapes. Do the same with the other mould.

Put the butter and chocolate into a heatproof bowl set over, but not touching, a pan of simmering water and stir occasionally until melted. Allow to cool slightly.

Vigorously whisk together the egg, yolk, sugar and a pinch of salt until pale and fluffy. Gently fold in the melted chocolate and butter, and then the flour. Spoon into the prepared moulds, stopping just shy of the top – at this point the mixture can be refrigerated until needed, or even frozen, as the puddings will not wait around once cooked.

Put on to a hot baking tray and cook for 12 minutes (14 if from cold, 16 if frozen) until the tops are set and coming away from the sides of the moulds. Leave to rest for 30 seconds and then serve in the ramekins or turn out on to plates if you're feeling confident – they're great with clotted cream or vanilla ice cream.

This recipe absolutely works – make sure you have your kitchen timer sellotaped about your person – precision is everything!

The next suggestion is lighter and again you can dress it up or down depending on your workload.

Lemon Pots

600ml (1 pint) double cream

150g (5oz) caster sugar

finely grated zest and juice of 3 lemons**

To serve

fresh raspberries

small ramekins or shot glasses

Heat the cream, sugar and lemon zest in a wide-based pan over a low heat until at simmering point. Stir continuously for about 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly until lukewarm.

Mix the lemon juice with the cooled cream in the pan and stir.

Pour the lemon cream into the pots and transfer to the fridge to set for a minimum of 2 hours.

When set and ready to serve arrange raspberries on top.

**If you don't have fresh lemons you can use juice and omit the zest – 4 tbsp of juice is equivalent to one and a half lemons.

Strawberry Coulis

200g Strawberries, hulled and halved

200g Raspberries

75g icing sugar, sifted

Heat the fruit in a large pan for 4-5 minutes or until the fruit starts to break down.

Add the icing sugar and continue to cook the fruit for a further 2-3 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor and blend until smooth, add a splash of water if necessary to loosen. Strain the coulis through a sieve and set aside to cool. Chill in the fridge until needed. If you have a squeezy bottle in your kitchen kit it's ideal for the coulis - so easy to control when dressing up your pots!

Dressing up

Crumble Amaretti biscuits and place in bottom of shot glass. Pour lemon mixture on top of biscuits and place in fridge to set – minimum 2 hours. When ready to serve top with the coulis.

If you wish you could mix praline with the Amaretti biscuits.

The finished effect looks fab.

Continuing my revolutionary bent, I prefer to have something that the kids and the grown-ups will like that isn't related to mincemeat or Christmas pudding – in truth I don't know many kids who are fond of either, so I'll be making one of the favourites – Malteser cake – actually it's more like a tray bake, cut into cubes and boxed.

Whilst we're on the subject of “de rigeur” Christmas – what about making Rocky Road? Check out the “Outside the box” post for all the options. You could make it more festive by decorating with edible gold glitter and stars, both of which are easily available these days. Nigella gives a recipe for Christmas Rocky Road, strangely enough in “Nigella Christmas”!

Phew – Christmas Day breakfast and canapé ideas coming next.

Madness III – tee hee!

Remember what I said in the previous post :

“If you love feeding your family and friends that love travels from you to the table and creates an atmosphere where everyone is laughing, fighting to finish a sentence - as Kenny Everett always said, “in the nicest possible way” - there is nothing to beat it and it cannot be manufactured.”

I came across the following quotation :

“Good food is always a trouble and its

preparation should be regarded as a labour of love”

Elizabeth David 1951

I rest my case!

In “The dreaded “C” word” I asked “how does your day go?” - whatever floats your boat, you can pick and choose bits and pieces from The Creaking Table, it's not set in stone. If there are choices you don't like it may trigger an idea that you do. Even if you're in the “bah humbug”, shutters down, veg out, category there will be something to tickle your fancy. The intention is to give everyone something nice to eat with minimum fuss and palaver and maximum yum.

If low key is your preference for Christmas Eve, here's Option 2. You'd think it really unusual if I didn't make use of the slow cooker, especially at this time of year – never one to disappoint, have a glance at this :

Slow cooked pulled chicken

Winter coleslaw

Roasted baby new potatoes

Pulled chicken and coleslaw

4 large chicken breasts

2 tbsp Worcester sauce

½ tsp chilli

pinch of cayenne

250ml tomato ketchup

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tsps lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed or 1 tsp garlic paste

125ml maple syrup

Place the chicken breasts in a slow cooker – low setting. Place the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix until well blended.

Pour over the chicken and cook for 6 hours. Shred with two forks and cook for a further 30 minutes.

If you like heat you could add a couple of drops of Tabasco or a similar hot sauce to the marinade – don't overdo it!

There are alternative serving suggestions :

Serve the pulled chicken with rice and garlic bread to mop up the marinade

Serve with sliders and the slaw – any marinade leftover you can freeze

Omit the slaw and serve baby corn and mange tout or any veggies that you like.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!