This is a quick record for posterity, as I will forget this year’s Christmas lunch by mid-January and no doubt be agonising again in future years about whether I really like red cabbage with goose.
Alors, this year we had:
Chadwick’s goose – a Childhay one – nosebleedingly expensive but delicious – 4.5kg fed six abundantly. In fact, one downside of goose is that I don’t think it’s as good for sandwiches, pies, etc as turkey is, as we’ve had a fair bit leftover. A goose looks truly wonderful, with its crackly, blistered skin. Very Dickensian. It was great for a change, but on balance I think I’ll revert to a turkey next year, more for the wonderful leftovers than anything else.
Roast potatoes, parsnips, pigs in blankets, sprouts – all as you’d expect and good.
Stuffings: black pudding and apple in the goose – this was good on the day, but not great afterwards. I used Sarah Raven’s recipe. As with many of her recipes, half quantities would be fine. I did manage to trick my mother into trying both black pudding and pickled walnuts though, which was a triumph. Black pudding ranks slightly above parmesan but below swede in her list of unfavourite foods. She loved it though. I also did Jamie Oliver’s sage and onion stuffing, to which I added a good handful of chopped hunza apricots. This was delicious and I’d definitely make it again. He uses hunks of torn bread rather than breadcrumbs and it made for a less solid stuffing somehow:
http://consumingtheharvest.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/jamie-oliver-stuffing/
We had red cabbage, braised with apples and blackberries – hmmm. Again, good on the day as it cut through the richness of the goose really well, but we had masses left over and it didn’t work second time round.
Nell made Grandma Hayter’s Christmas pudding recipe back in October. Last year I deviated and cooked Nigel Slater’s very fabulous pud (see previous posts), but the family original recipe was wonderful and I think we’ll stick with this one.
Extra Christmassy cooking: girls made Florentines and chocolate truffles for presents – looked beautiful, tasted good and were close to a doddle (apart from the Florentines melting all over the baking sheet and requiring a bit of finger-tip blistering remodelling). We also made Mumsnet’s Christmas rocky road recipe, but our family doesn’t really eat enough milk chocolate for this to be really up our alley. Good recipe though – and a genuine doddle, no last minute faffing required there.
The greatest food revelation over Christmas was Issy’s twelve fruit Christmas cake. I MUST get the recipe. I’m usually vain about my Christmas cake, but her cake knocks mine into a cocked hat (crummy image appears in mind).
Onto the season of steamed veg and grapefruit (just as soon as I finish that box of Cartmet sticky toffee truffles)…..
Sarah Venning's recipes 