Foods in season:

Sea bass

Turkey

Pomegranate

Celery

red cabbage

wild duck
swede
celeriac
turnips
sprouts
goose
pumpkin
beetroot
parsnips
pears

Menu:

Aperitifs:

Glog

Egg nogg

White hot chocolate

Starter:

Sweet potato and Carrot soup with chilli oil

Main:

Meat option: Roast goose

Veg option: Roasted red peppers and aubergines with goat's cheese

Trimmings:

Steamed vegetables

Roast vegeatables

Sugar Smokies

Bread sauce

Giblet gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Roast peppercorn and garlic sauce

Mashed potato

Chestnut stuffing

Sausagemeat stuffing

Oatmeal stuffing

Dessert:

Clootie Dumpling

For coffee:

Peppermint creams

Aperitif:

I’m adding three cocktails for xmas… I mean, it’s a time for indulgence, so why not?

Glogg:

Ingredients:

2 bottles dry White wine

20 cl Vodka

37 cl dry Sherry

4 pieces Cinnamon

2 tblsp Cardamom seeds

1 tblsp Clove

4 pieces Orange peel, bitter

30 cl Sugar

Mixing instructions:

Stir half a bottle of the wine with the spicesand sugar under heating, close to boiling. Remove casserolee from heat. Set aside for 24 hours. Strain off spices, and add remaining wine, vodka, and sherry. Add appx. 10 dashed aromatic tincture (this is a spice concentrate). Bottle your glogg, seal well, and let mature for a week. Mix with red wine or water, heat and serve in irish coffee cup.

Egg nogg:

Ingredients:

12 separated Egg

1 cup granulated Sugar

1 cup Bourbon

1 cup Cognac

1/2 tsp Salt

3 pint Heavy cream

Grated Nutmeg

Mixing instructions:

Beat yolks until light in color. Slowly add bourbon, cognac, while beating at slow speed. Chill 3 hrs. Add salt to whites, beat to peaks. Whip s cream until stiff. Fold whipped cream into yolk mixture, then fold in the beaten egg whites. Chill one hour. Serve with nutmeg sprinkled on top. For thinner mixture add 1 or 2 cups of milk. Serve in a punch bowl or another big bowl.

The below  is Non-alcoholic.. for the kids!

White hot chocolate:

3 1/4 cups milk

6 ounces white chocolate, chopped

1 egg, beaten

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place the white chocolate in a medium metal bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, or in the top half of a double boiler. Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring occasionally until smooth. Stir in cayenne pepper and cinnamon. Whisk in the egg until smooth.

Gradually whisk in one cup of the milk until completely incorporated, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in remaining milk, and heat until hot, but not simmering. You do not want a skin to form on top of the milk. It will be ready to drink when either the taste of the cayenne is masked by the temperature of the milk (the spiciness of the pepper will remain), or when the hot chocolate is at your desired temperature. Ladle the hot chocolate into mugs and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

THE FOOD:

I decided to go for a traditional British yule feast… most of the things here are what you have at a traditional british dinner… well, apart form the goose, its what I cook every year! It will probably feed a thousand people, but at least you can make broth or something out of it!  Enjoy!

Starters:

Sweet potato and carrot soup with chilli oil

olive oil  
onion 1 large, chopped
sweet potatoes about 4 or 5 medium sized ones, grated
carrots about 3 or 4 nice chunky ones, grated
vegetable or chicken stock powder or cubes made up to 1.5 litres 
chilli oil, to taste 

Heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion over a medium heat until softened but not browned. Add the sweet potato and carrots and cook, covered, for 10 minutes or so, until the vegetables are glistening and starting to soften.

Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and then simmer, covered, for 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Pour into a blender and whizz until smooth - do this in batches if you need to. Return to the pan and gently reheat, seasoning to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a touch of chilli oil.

 NOTE: if you have a small blender like the Silver bullet, WAIT TILL THE SOUP COOLS before blending… I did this once when the soup was still hot… soup everywhere!

Main Course:

Meat option:

Roast Goose

Take out the giblets and clean inside and outside the goose. Keep the giblets for the gravy recipe below. Stuff with the sausagemeat and oatmeal stuffing. Put into a large raosting tin. Surround with the roasting veg (prepared already) and some of the unsugared chipolatas. Wrap in foil, and bake in the oven at a medium heat.

For cooking times, see http://www.goodmansgeese.co.uk/buying_a_bird.html

Or ask your butcher.

Vegtarian option:

Roasted red peppers and aubergines with goat's cheese

roasted red peppers 3 large, drained
soft, mild goat?s cheese 125g
grilled aubergines in oil 150g, drained
semi-dried tomatoes 4, chopped (try Merchant Gourmet, either Mi-cuit or SunBlush)
basil leaves a handful, torn

to serve

rocket 
extra virgin olive oil 
balsamic vinegar 
ciabatta or bruschettini toasted

Slice each red pepper in half and spread each piece with goat?s cheese. Top with a slice of aubergine, some tomato and basil. Season with salt and pepper and roll up.

Divide the pepper rolls between 2 plates. Add the rocket and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve with toasted ciabatta or bruschettini

Side dishes:

Sugar smokies:

Chipolata sausages

Smoked streaky bacon, each rasher cut into 4

Brown sugar (dark works best)

Wrap ¼ of the bacon round each chipolata. Keep a few back to pop into the goose baking dish.

Cover a tray in foil, and pop the sausages in the tin. Cover the sausages liberally with the sugar, and cook at 190 until the sausages are browned and caramelised.

DO NOT eat straight away! The sugar is hot!

Steamed Vegetables: string beans, carrots and sweetcorn steam well

Roast root vegetables: Potaotes, onions, sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips work well.

Mashed potatoes

Stuffings:

Chestnut:

150g chestnuts

175g margarine

1 chopped onion

Teaspoon salt

Pinch pepper

1day old loaf of bread, cubed

2 eggs

30 ml milk

With a sharp knife, cut slits in the surface of the chestnuts. Place chestnuts in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. Cook 25 minutes, or until tender. Drain, peel, and chop.

Preheat oven to 175 degrees c.

Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in chestnuts, onion, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning, and cook until onions are tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a medium baking dish, and mix with the cubed bread.

In a small bowl, beat together eggs and milk, and drizzle over the cubed bread mixture.

Bake 30 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until surface is crisp and lightly browned.

Sausagemeat stuffing.

Oatmeal stuffing:

25g suet

1 onion, chopped

100g oatmeal

Salt and pepper

Water

Combine all ingredients with a little water into a sticky consistency. Stuff into goose, and cook!

Sauces:

Bread sauce

1 onion, roughly chopped
¼ tsp ground mace or nutmeg
400ml milk
60g fresh breadcrumbs
3 tbsp double cream or 25g butter
6 peppercorns and salt to taste

Put the onion, peppercorns, mace and milk in a pan and bring just to the boil. Remove from heat, cover, and infuse for 20 minutes. Strain into a clean pan and bring to a simmer.

Stir in the breadcrumbs and simmer for a few minutes until thickened. Stir in the cream or butter and season to taste. Keep warm or reheat in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Thin with extra milk if necessary.

Giblet gravy

Put giblets in a pan, add water, simmer for 30minutes, season, add gravy browning.

Roast Peppercorn and Garlic Sauce

1 whole head garlic

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground mixed peppercorns

1 pinch ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Slice off the top third of the head of garlic so the tips of the cloves are exposed. Place in a small baking dish, and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the dish. Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the garlic, then cover with a lid or foil. Bake for 45 minutes.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Mix together the flour and milk so there are no lumps, and pour into the pan with the butter. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skin, and mash. Stir garlic into the sauce, and season with salt, peppercorns, and nutmeg.

Dessert

Clooty Dumpling:

6oz self raising flour
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of mixed spice
1/2 tsp of ginger
2oz soft brown sugar
1 tbsp syrup
1/2 tbsp black treacle
4oz sultanas
4oz raisins
40z currants
4oz soft margarine
Juice and zest of one orange
2 eggs
milk to mix

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl

Mix in the butter

Add the apple and carrot and mix well

Add the syrup and treacle and mix well

Add the zest and juice

Add the eggs and a little milk if required

Mix well, pour into an ovenproof bowl

Cover the top of the mixture with greaseproof paper and then tie a piece of string around the bowl to help lift it out the pot later.

Boil some water in a large pot and immerse the bowl until water comes halfway up its sides.

Cover the pot and let the dumpling steam for 3 to 4 hours.

Check often and top up the water if required.

For with coffee:

Children’s recipe.

Why not let your children do something fun for yule? My gran and I always used to make after dinner mints so I felt like I was part of the whole preparation thing. And the best part was, she could leave me to it, as there was no cooking

After dinner mints (or peppermint creams)

1 egg white

360 g confectioners' sugar

5 ml peppermint extract

In large bowl, whisk egg white until frothy, but not stiff. Stir in confectioners' sugar and peppermint extract. You may need to knead it with your hands. If you wish to add food colouring, knead it in, and keep kneading until the colour is evenly distributed. (note.. this bit is fun for kids, but you might need to give them a hand. They can even try tio marble a colour into the white creams!)

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Form the dough into small balls, place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Cover and let sit overnight in a cool, dry place, until set.

For a fun option, melt some chocolate in a bowl., and let the kids dip, drizzle or just generally use their imaginations for the creams!