Happy (belated) New Year! I can’t believe (well, I can…) I’ve even managed to be late with THIS post!
My next post was going to be another Room 101 but as I’ve been so post tardy I didn’t want to start my posting year vocalising my pedantry 😅
So… it occurred to me to make a few notes about food over the festive period, and more specifically food that gives the cook a bit of a break after the big day, however one celebrates.
I have a few days before the festive period in which I do quite a bit of prep, but it’s easily broken down and spread out so it doesn’t feel so bad, and if you have helpers it will be even easier.
We eat a brined turkey on the 25th. It’s delicious and there are leftovers. I love leftovers, but it’s easy to get turkeyed out so I have a few items I like to make/freeze in advance as well as quick homemade pickles and chutneys, and stuff that can be thrown together easily.
I always roast a ham and a joint of beef on festive eve. I freeze some and serve the rest that evening for supper and any time we want cold meats or sandwiches. I don’t do a fancy ham, I just boil it for the alloted time and then pour maple syrup over and roast for about 30 minutes. I keep the boiling stock and freeze to make soup whenever I can be bothered, lentil and tomato is a favourite. The beef is just seasoned and roasted to medium rare, again, takes care of itself.
My next priority is a little more labour intensive, but spreading the jobs out over a couple of days really helps…
I make a spiced beetroot chutney from BBC Good Food first as it keeps the longest. Here is the recipe but it’s a big batch so I’ve reduced what I make by a third (if anyone wants my measurements give me a shout) with the exception of the ground cloves, I just use a pinch as husb doesn’t like cloves) and it’s delicious! I also just use the vacuum packed cooked beetroot as raw is more difficult to come by for us, so the cooking process is to infuse the flavour, not cook the roots.
Next I love pink pickled onion. Yes, it’s more about the colour, but these are so easy and brilliant on so many levels, from sarnies to salads and sides, yum! Simply slice a red onion thinly, place it in a jar with a lid, then cover with vinegar. I use a random mix of distilled white, and white wine vinegar. That’s it. Within a few hours you have pretty pink pickled onions!
Next are Marinated mushrooms from Spruce Eats These are zingy and delicious. I reduce the amounts but I don’t think one has to be uber accurate. I’ve made these for a few years and without actually following the recipe to the end of the canning process (I go as far as placing the ingredients in the jar, I make one jar) they last well in the fridge for a few days.
Lastly I make Moroccan Peppers with tomato from Cook Eat Share. I use any peppers, blistered under the grill and then placed in a bag to steam until they are cool enough to peel the skin from (don’t rinse, the char is the best bit), then sliced. I skin the tomatoes, de-seed and slice, and add to the peppers along with white wine vinegar, about half a preserved lemon, lighter olive oil, and a pinch of cumin and seasoning to taste. I started making this salad as an accompaniment to a delicious tagine recipe I make, but it’s also brilliant with cold meats.
For the freezer I make sausage rolls. One sheet of ready rolled puff pastry will make about 24 ‘two bites’ sized sausage rolls, I used three sheets, making a batch of plain Cumberland sausage rolls, Char sui Cumberland sausage rolls, and a batch of Portuguese tuna puffs.
I skin Cumberland sausage, resize, and place a thin sausage down the centre of the two (cut the pastry in half lengthways) long sheets, brush the edge with water and roll as tightly as possible.
I added five spice and hoi sin sauce to the sausage for the char sui and assembled the same way.
Tuna, grated cheddar, and oregano was mixed together for the Tuna rolls, and assembled as per the sausage rolls. After chilling the large rolls for 20 minutes I cut each long sausage into twelve, egg washed, and sprinkled the char sui with sesame seeds, the plain with nigella seeds, and the tuna rolls with oregano.
I batch freeze on a tray for an hour and then bag them up for easy retrieval when the time comes. These tasty morsels take minutes in an air fryer so are great for quick nibbles. You could of course bake, then freeze and reheat but there’s not much better than a freshly baked sausage roll.
I also like to make sure I have frozen cooked and peeled prawns, great for canapes, salads, sandwiches, and retro delights such as quick prawn cocktail and vol au vents.
Store cupboard items come into their own here too. We always keep a jar of Branston pickle (other brown pickle-y things are available but I prefer this brand, and no, not an ad), any brand of sweet pickled onions, red cabbage, charred red peppers, jalapenos, whole pickled chillies, and olives to hand for many purposes, including nibbles.
In the dried/tinned dept I like tinned cannellini beans, which make a fantastic mash if you can’t be bothered peeling and cooking potatoes, go well in salads, and can be whipped up into a deliciously creamy cannelini bean stew in no time at all.
I’m going to shock people here but pasta is not my favourite store cupboard staple. I have a few different types in the cupboard to make mealtimes more varied, but I much prefer rice and bulgur wheat. The latter can be cooked in 4 minutes in the microwave and made into a warm salad in twenty.
I also like a few types of cracker. Some are small and round with a little salt, a generic version of a popular brand. Those are great if you need a speedy canapé, topped with paté and a little pink pickled onion. Also roulé (a roll of soft cheese with flavourings), particularly garlic and herb, and smoked salmon. The rest just go with the cheese selection.
In the fridge, you now already know that I like patés, cheeses, and smoked salmon. I use some of the salmon for breakfast on the 26th, then the rest in canapes, sandwiches, and last but not least in a potato, smoked salmon, and spring onion risotto, perfect when you’re fed up of cold meat and pastry items!
You’ll notice throughout these suggestions that the turkey was conspicuous by its absence. I did say ‘it’s easy to get turkeyed out’, so wanted to prove that turkey doesn’t always have to take centre stage, after all, it had a whole day to itself!
Turkey added to the cold meats selection is delicious, and obviously turkey sandwiches (my must have on the 26th is turkey with my homemade stuffing, spread with a little bread sauce on one slice of bread and gravy on the other, and yes – it has to be cold!) and wraps are great, also, the aforementioned bulgur wheat? Add a spoonful of chermoula paste from a jar and any veg and protein you fancy to the cooked bulgur wheat for an amazing salad. Again, those mushrooms and peppers we pickled would be great stirred through with leftover turkey. Oh yeah, chermoula paste is a must have for me, it’s a little jar of ready made magic! Other hot foods— curries, pies, risottos, fajitas, and soups to name a few, don’t have to be complicated and with a little planning and a few hacks (store bought puff pastry sheets, pre chopped onions for the fridge, and those aforementioned peppers and mushrooms would be great warmed in a fajita) can be whipped up with little effort when you decide to get back into the cooking groove.
The last little hack has the turkey being centre stage once more. When you have eaten the meat boil up the bones for about an hour with water to make a stock. If you have aromats even better, but it’s not obligatory. Once strained it can be reduced for homemade stock pots, used as the liquor for risotto or soup, or frozen until you can be bothered. Same with the bones. If you can’t be bothered don’t throw them away, freeze until you can be bothered!
So… I hope you find some of my rambling useful, if you do take anything away I would love you to let me know!
Until my next post, which I hope won’t be too far away!
The More You Think... 