INGREDIENTS

485g (1 pound) Frozen/fresh raspberries

15g/1 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp water

INSTRUCTIONS: Pulse raspberries through a food processor for a few minutes until well blended. Strain the mixture through a chinois or fine sieve, pushing mixure through with a spoon and scraping the juice from the bottom periodically. You will have a lot of residue mixture in the sieve, throw this away. Take the strained raspberries and simmer over a low heat for a few minutes. Add sugar to taste, a tbsp will give you a tart coulis with a sweet edge. If mixture is too strong, add the water. If you are happy with the consistency, leave as is.  To make a raspberry sauce, add 2 tsp of arrowroot powder to a tbsp of water, mix thoroughly then add in  thin stream to the sauce, whisking all the time until fully incorporated. Cornflour can be used but it gives a more ‘processed’ texture to the sauce.

I Love holidays!  Love with a capital L (as you can see).  I’m like a little kid, I get completely overexcited about holidays, especially the winter holidays that bring friends and family together around festive tables to combat the potential dreary winter blues.  And, I’m an absolute sucker for traditions.  I’m one of those people who likes to do the exact same thing every year for each holiday and heaven help you if you try to get me to change because it’ll be an uphill battle (though I’m always ready to adopt new traditions to have in addition to those I was raised with)!  I firmly believe that having the rhythm and dependability of strong traditions in our families and on our holidays roots us in a way that allows us to then be more creative and accepting of differences in the rest of life.

Given this, you can probably guess about how much variation there is from year to year in what I think should be cooked and served for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  That’s right.  Zippo!  Same thing, every year, and it’s good every time!  On the other hand, I feel completely free to experiment with the principle ingredients of holiday dishes the rest of time.  Right now I’ve been playing with cranberries, for example.  I got, shall we say, a little enthusiastic when I was buying cranberries in preparation for Thanksgiving.  So, I’ve been using cranberries in other ways, besides as a side dish for the bird.  One of the first places they showed up was in several loaves of pumpkin bread.  I also tried drying some – that was a total fiasco.  Now I’ve moved on to pairing them with savory dishes.  Turkey isn’t the only meat that goes well with a bit of something sweet-tart on the side.  Pork and chicken, basically the other white meats, are good with cranberries as well (and though I’ve never tried it, I would imagine that salmon, baked with mustard on it (don’t ask why but I imagine cranberry sauce being good with mustard, maybe I had it on a sandwich once) would be good with cranberries too – I may try it and get back to you).

Pan fried pork chops are one of the easiest dinners you can make (if you eat pork).  To cook pork chops, you can literally just salt and pepper them and then fry them over medium heat in a little butter or oil, turning them over every 5 minutes or so for 20-some minutes if they’re bone-in chops.  You have to cut into the thickest part to see if it’s done; it should have no pink, or just the slightest tinge of pink, left.  Anyway, these fried pork chops, then, are a canvas for any number of sauces because pork pairs well with everything.  The simplest is to toss a little wine, brandy, apple cider, or cream into the pan you just fried the chops in (aka deglazing) and scrape up the browned bits on the pan bottom into the liquid, let the liquid boil down just a bit and then use that as a sauce.  Pork is also good with most cooked fruit, like sautéed apple slices, or prunes that have been simmered for a while in wine or another cooking alcohol.  Which is why I decided to make a cranberry chutney.  I had some leftover dried figs in my pantry that I figured would be good with the cranberries – because they’re so tart cranberries need either a good dose of sugar or to be paired with another sweeter fruit (like apples, pears, dried apricots or figs, orange marmalade…), or both.  Cranberry flavor is delicious in and of itself, but it is also nice with warm spices, like ginger and cinnamon.  And, because I wanted to use the cranberry in a savory dish, I decided to add some curry powder, to make more of a chutney instead of a compote.  All the cooking required is putting the fruit, spices, sugar or honey and a little liquid together in a pot, bringing it to a boil, lowering it to a simmer, and then letting it cook until it becomes thick and sauce-like.  And the very best part of the whole endeavor is that cranberries pop as you simmer them!

Because I still had more cranberries, I decided to make the rest into a sauce with another fruit I had on hand, pears.  This took longer, but eventually it cooked down to the consistency of a chunky applesauce.  I then took it and put it in a couple of cleaned out jars, which I stuck in the fridge.  It’s making an excellent snack on it’s own and as a topping for plain yogurt.

Cranberry Fig Chutney

2 cups fresh cranberries, washed (and get rid of any rotten ones)

¼-1/2 cup dried figs (or other dried fruit), cut into smaller pieces

1 Tbs. minced fresh (or candied!) ginger, or 1 tsp. dried

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. curry powder

¼ cup honey (or sugar.  You can add more to taste depending on how sweet you like things.)

¾ cup water

Add all ingredients to a pot, cover and bring to a boil.  Remove cover, turn heat down to simmer, and let everything simmer together, stirring occasionally, until all the cranberries are popped the figs are soft and the sauce has thickened, probably around 20-30 minutes.  Serve with pork, turkey, or chicken.  It’s also delicious with Brie or another creamy cheese on bread.  I would even try it as a topping for vanilla ice cream.

Cranberry Pear Sauce

2 cups fresh cranberries, washed (and get rid of any rotten ones)

4 pears, cored and cut into smallish chunks

1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger

¼ cup honey or sugar

¼ cup water

Put everything in a pot, cover, and bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer, leaving the lid on.  As they cook, the pears will add moisture to the sauce.  If it appears to be getting too dry, add little bits of water.  Stir occasionally.  Cook until all the fruit is soft and mushing together.  Cool and serve.  This will keep in tupper ware or jars in the fridge for a number of weeks.

Sauces comprise the honor and glory of French cookery.
~Curnonskey

One of the mother sauces (sauces mères). Some claim that Catherine de Medici’s skilled Tuscan cooks imported Béchamel to France from Italy in the 16th century. Others assert that the father of French haute cuisine, chef Francois Pierre de la Varenne created this sauce during King Louis XIV’s reign. It has been fairly firmly speculated that the sauce was named after a courtier, Louis de Béchameil, marquis de Nointel who was maître d’hôtel (major domo) of that same sun king, Louis Roi.

Crème, Mornay, and Soubise are compound sauces derived from Béchamel as a base.

Clarified butter means the milk solids and water have been removed from the butter. Use unsalted butter and melt it slowly in a saucepan over low heat without stirring. Let the heated butter sit still so that the milk solids and water separate from the butter fat. Skim the foam from the surface. Remove from the heat and let stand a few minutes until the milk solids settle to the bottom. Carefully pour the clear yellow liquid (the clarified butter) into a container, leaving the milk solids in the bottom of the saucepan.

Béchamel can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

BECHAMEL SAUCE

5 T clarified butter
5 T flour

3 C whole milk, brought to a simmer in advance

1/2 C veal or chicken stock
2 T yellow onion, finely chopped
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
Pinch of nutmeg
Sea salt and white pepper

In a heavy medium saucepan, add the clarified butter and the flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes to make a blond roux. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Then add the stock, onions, thyme, bay leaf, nutmeg, salt and pepper and simmer gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Strain through a cheesecloth.

Teriyaki chicken wings... er...thighs.

A few years back, my cooking club made these fab chicken wings with teriyaki sauce, sesame seeds and cilantro. I loved the flavor of the sauce but I do admit, I’m not all that keen on chicken wings. Gnawing on bones is so not my thing. So I’ve decided to make the recipe using chicken thighs instead (more meat, less gnawing) and served the whole shebang over rice.

But since I’m SOOO not in the mood to translate the recipe into EXACTLY what I made (and I alright, I don’t totally remember but I did follow it pretty closely), I’m putting the exact recipe down here. I halved it and used pineapple juice instead of grapefruit juice (alright, it was orange pineapple blend if you must ask!) and googled the chicken thigh cooking time.

Teriyaki Chicken Wings (Thighs)

From Tyler Florence
Serves 12 cocktail servings
Note: I halved this recipe when I made it
Ingredients:
Wings:
2 dozen chicken wings, about 3 1/4 pounds, rinsed and patted dry (I used thighs)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted in a skillet over medium heat until lightly browned
Leaves from 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Teriyaki Sauce:
1 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup grapefruit juice (I used pineapple juice)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 fresh, hot red chile, halved
5 garlic cloves, halved
2-inch piece fresh ginger, smashed with the side of a large knife

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Season the chicken wings with salt and pepper and drizzle a little olive oil on them to prevent sticking. Lay the wings in a single layer on a baking sheet.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the skin gets crispy and the wings are cooked through. NOTE: Chicken thighs will take longer – maybe 35-40 minutes. Use your thermometer and your best judgement!!
4. Meanwhile, combine the teriyaki sauce ingredients in a large saucepan.
5. Simmer over low heat and reduce until slightly thickened.
6. Pour the sauce into a large bowl. Dump the wings into the bowl and toss to coat them with the sauce.
7. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and cilantro. Serve hot.

Another basic, basic recipe that can be tweaked into any number of variations. Unfortunately for you, I never use a recipe for this one, so the quantities are going to be… nebulous. Don’t worry: this is one very forgiving recipe, almost impossible to totally screw up. (If you manage to, let me know. It’s sure to be entertaining.)

Ingredients:
2 T – 1/4 c butter or margerine
2 T  – 1/4 c flour
milk (1 – 3 cups)

Method:
1. Drop butter into a small pot or largish frying pan on medium heat.
(Medium. Yes, it melt faster on high. It also scorches and sizzles right away.)
2. As it melts, stir in the flour. You’ll get a paste in the bottom of the pot.
3. Pour in the milk and stir, stir, stir till it’s nice and smooth. A whisk works best, but a fork works, too. If it’s too watery, continue to stir slowly for a minute or two and see what happens. It thickens as it heats.

That’s it.White sauce. Told you it was easy.

Trouble-shooting:
If it’s too thick, add more milk and stir. If it’s too thin, add more flour and stir.
(Be a little patient after each addition to give it time to work, otherwise, before you know it, you’ll be stirring a solid gallon of the stuff. (“Too thick! Too thin! AAH, too thick again!!”) Go easy with the flour additions, no more than a couple of tablespoons at a time. You can be more liberal with the milk. The milk takes effect immediately, see, while the flour takes a minute or two.)

IMPORTANT: Once it gets to the right consistency, take it off the heat immediately, because it continues to thicken the longer it’s heated. Keep stirring for a few more seconds after you’ve moved it, again to prevent over-thickening. But if it does, you know the solution! More milk!

Want cheese sauce? Add 2 cups grated cheese (the stronger the better).

I have to be honest, I’m not all that big on cranberries. I can only take them in small doses and the cranberry sauce that comes out of a can just gives me the willies. (I don’t like gummy bears either.) But, this is delicious. Mom told me that this sauce is perfect for canning, something I’ll have to investigate as I know nothing about canning food safety so I’ll take her word for it. Without further ado, Mom’s extra special Cranberry Chutney.

Ingredients:

1 small onion cut into 8 wedges

1 large clove garlic minced

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

4 whole cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 roasted habanero or serrano chile, stem removed and de-seeded

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup brown sugar

2-3 cups whole cranberries, rinsed and drained

Place all ingredients up to the roasted chile into a 4 1/2 quart saucepan and bring to a low boil. Boil for for 5 minutes. Add pecans, brown sugar and cranberries, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries begin to pop.

I use this roux based white sauce as a basis for many recipes including lasagne, fish pie and cauliflower cheese. This recipe makes approximately 1 pint of sauce, the extra freezes pretty well for use later.

white sauce

You will need:

• 50 g butter
• 50 g white gluten free flour (I used batterbox flour, but any white flour mix will do)
• 500 ml semi skimmed milk
• a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

B’s tip: heating the milk first prevents the sauce from becoming lumpy. You may wish to infuse the milk with herbs (e.g. a bay leaf) whilst heating. If using for a fish pie, use the milk to poach the fish prior to straining and using in the sauce.

roux before adding the milk

Steps:

1. Heat the milk in a pan until hot, but not boiling
2. Meanwhile melt the butter on a medium heat, being careful not to burn
3. When melted, add the flour stirring constantly to form a smooth paste
4. When the paste has started to sizzle slightly, and has a sheeny appearance, gradually add the milk, continuously stirring
5. Continue stirring over the heat until the sauce has reached the required consistency. Do not allow to boil.
6. Season with nutmeg, or according to your preference

Alternatives:

Crumble in stilton (or any blue cheese) for a tasty accompaniment to pork or chicken

I use this roux based white sauce as a basis for many recipes including lasagne, fish pie and cauliflower cheese. This recipe makes approximately 1 pint of sauce, the extra freezes pretty well for use later.

roux before adding milkfinished white sauce

You will need:

• 50 g butter
• 50 g white gluten free flour (I used batterbox flour, but any white flour mix will do)
• 500 ml semi skimmed milk
• a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

B’s tip: heating the milk first prevents the sauce from becoming lumpy. You may wish to infuse the milk with herbs (e.g. a bay leaf) whilst heating. If using for a fish pie, use the milk to poach the fish prior to straining and using in the sauce.

Steps:

1. Heat the milk in a pan until hot, but not boiling
2. Meanwhile melt the butter on a medium heat, being careful not to burn
3. When melted, add the flour stirring constantly to form a smooth paste
4. When the paste has started to sizzle slightly, and has a sheeny appearance, gradually add the milk, continuously stirring
5. Continue stirring over the heat until the sauce has reached the required consistency. Do not allow to boil.
6. Season with nutmeg, or according to your preference

Alternatives

• Crumble in stilton (or any blue cheese) for a tasty accompaniment to pork or chicken

Just adjusted for thanksgiving proportions.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups nutritional yeast
9 cups UnTurkey cooking liquid (cold) or cold water
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Adobo
margarine to taste
Kitchen Boquet gravy browner to taste
Black pepper to taste

Put the flour and nutritional yeast in a saucepan and toast a bit until you can smell it. Whisk in the water until smooth. Cook until it thickens up, whisking occasionally. Add remaining ingredients to taste. Keep in the crock pot on low for super access to gravy!

• 450g green beans
• 2 small fresh green/red chillis
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 200ml coconut milk
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped spring onions

Garnish

• 3 Tbsp roasted peanuts
• 2 Tbsp dessicated coconut

Blanch the beans (or leave raw?) in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water, then drain thoroughly and set aside.

Combine the chillis, sugar, lime juice, soy and coconut milk and mix well. Toss the blanched beans and spring onions with this mixture. Garnish with peanuts and coconut and serve.

• 1.5 kg plums (halved)
• 1.5 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp whole all spice
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 500g brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
• 3 cups white wine vinegar
• 4 whole star anise
• (can add 2 chillis to muslin)

Stone plums and put cracked stones into muslin. Put spices into another muslin. Put everything into pot an rbing to boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cook steadily for 20 mins until plums collapsed. Remove pressed bags. Mooli and then return sauce to pan. Boil until sauce is as thick as you like it (few minutes). It will thicken as it cools.

Add a little  oil for using as a marinade.

• 10 L garlic oil
• 12 egg yolks
• 1/4 Cup lemon juice
• Dash cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup pepper

• 90g unsalted peanuts
• 1/2 cup fruit chutney (pref mango)
• 3 Tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2.5cm piece ginger
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup sultanas
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• salt + pepper

Combine in a blender then (optional) simmer on stove for 5 mins.

• 1 tin chickpeas (300g)
• 2 Tbsp Tahini
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1-2 tsp Cumin
• salt + pepper

Chuck it all in a blender and you’re good to go

You heard it correct,

this new BBQ sauce product that was launched late last night is here and it’s going crazy. Here is a quick video promo of what all the fuss is about.

Take a minute and order some for yourself today.

Eat Well!

Chef Brian

Video Promo

fries and chicken fingers are two things that definitely need a dipping sauce that will not only bring out their flavors but definitely help them go down a little easier. so here goes a chance at spicing up that tomato dipping sauce, i dare you to slip it in during chicken finger night and watch the magic happen!

Warning: you can’t get this in a packet at the drive through

2 teaspoons olive oil,1 garlic clove (minced), 2 tomatoes (seeded and chopped roughly), 1 serrano chilli (finely chopped), 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 ripe papaya (peeled, seeded, roughly chopped) and the juice of 1 lime.

heat olive oil over medium high heat, add garlic and saute for 2-3 mins., add tomatoes, chili, sugar and rice wine vinegar. reduce heat and stir frequently until tomatoes are soft (5 mins) and remove from heat…let cool. transfer all to a blender and add soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, papaya, and lime juice and puree until smooth.

try, taste, like, repeat!

Memories of holiday dinners past float through my mind as we concentrate on the final details of our upcoming Thanksgiving feast.  I think back to those much anticipated meals at Grandpa and Grandma Neve’s home in Walters, a small rural town in southern Minnesota.   As we drove into their driveway late each Thanksgiving morning for the noontime meal the first hint of glorious things to come was the sight of the kitchen window fogged over by  the clouds of steamy moisture being emitted from all of the pots and kettles bubbling on the stove.  The late November air was always cold and crisp so we would walk into the humid warmth of the house with cheeks reddened by the nip of Jack Frost, that elfish creature the personification of crisp, cold, wintry weather and whom we always knew had visited our house when we would awaken to the light of the sun streaming through the frosty crystal patterns he had left on our window panes while we had been asleep!

The kitchen was bustling with activity!  Grandma’s apron whirled around the kitchen at a hectic pace as she moved from pot to pot, lifting the lids, tasting and seasoning each dish as the dinner hour approached.  The big moment, however, was when the lid of the roaster was lifted to check on the turkey! Grandma’s big roaster had a rectangular glass window on top, the purpose of which I could never fully understand since the contents of the roaster could never be clearly seen due to the condensation on the glass!  The unveiling of the bird was a moment sacred to our Thanksgiving tradition.  The family would gather around the kitchen counter as Grandma prepared to lift the lid, all eyes wide with excitement and anticipation.   Then… the moment for which we all had been waiting!  The lid would be lifted with great fanfare and, as the cloud of steam dissipated, the air suddenly reverberated with a chorus of  oohs and aahs at the sight of the magnificent golden brown bird.  Once again Grandma stood triumphant, arm raised as if in victory, roaster lid in hand… with an immense smile on her face and a knowing twinkle in her eye!

The turkey was always accompanied by a hearty stuffing and the traditional cranberry sauce.  Grandma sometimes served a cranberry relish as well as the jellied cranberry from a can.  I was always fascinated by the fact that the canned incarnation could be sliced  into perfect rounds!  That little berry has traveled a long journey from that circular can to the way in which it now appears on the stage of our Thanksgiving buffet.  Following are two recipes, one a chutney and the other a spiced sauce, both of which will accompany our meal.

First of all, what is a chutney?  What makes it differ from a rich, thick cranberry sauce?  By definition a chutney is a condiment made of chopped fruits or vegetables cooked in vinegar and sugar with ginger and spices.  A chutney is tangy, filled with the flavors of exotic spices.  Both of these cranberry dishes are delicious and will beautifully compliment the star of your Thanksgiving feast!

Cranberry Chutney

In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil:

• 1 1/2 C water
• 3/4 C white sugar
• 1/2 C golden brown sugar
• 1/4 C grated orange rind

Reduce heat and cook at a simmer until liquid becomes thick and syrupy, approximately 15 – 20 minutes.

Add:

• 1/4 C cider vinegar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
• 2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, coarsely grated
• 1 C Muscat raisins (golden raisins are a fine substitute)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp mace
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp (heaping) curry powder

Return to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally.  Simmer mixture for 30 minutes.

Add:

• 4 C fresh cranberries (this is equivalent to one 12-oz package)
• 1 cup craisins
• 3/4 C freshly squeezed orange juice

Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.  The berries will have popped and the mixture thickened.  Cool and refrigerate if prepared in advance.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Mandarin Oranges

Combine in a medium saucepan:

• 4 C fresh cranberries (1 12-oz package)
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C golden brown sugar, packed
• 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 15-oz can Mandarin orange slices, drained
• 3/4 C Muscat raisins (golden raisins are a fine substitute)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt

Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 25 minutes.  Cool and refrigerate if prepared in advance.

 You now have two  delicious accompaniments to your Thanksgiving turkey.. your choice!  One an exotically spicy chutney…

… the other a delightfully tasty, rich and colorful cranberry sauce!

Celebrate the holiday with family and friends… in combination with magnificent dining.  Bon Appetit!

Copyright 2009 Via Aurea Designs, Inc., All Rights Reserved

* 3 cups water
* 2 and 1/2 tsp. salt
* 2 cloves garlic
* 4 serrano chiles
* 1 pound tomatillos (Mexican green tomatoes), husks removed : (I prefer blanching the tomatillos after husking)
* 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
* 1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
* 2 tsp of Fish sauce (my own twist)

Blend all the ingredients using a food processor or simply blender. Season the sauce with salt and cracked black pepper. Garnish them with sprigs of cilantro

Slow roast pork, roast potatoes, braised red cabbage, apple sauce and bread sauce.

Bread sauce, I know, a little out-of-place, but someone insisted.

It had been a while since I’d made a stoutly English Sunday lunch, roast meat heavy, roast potatoes, two vegetables, gravy, appropriate sauce and trimmings accompanied by plenty of red wine and eaten in good company. Best followed by a proper pudding with cream and permission to sidle sideways from the table into the nearest comfy chair with the Sunday newspaper from where you may slip into a postprandial nap with aforementioned paper over face at any given moment, low-level snoring allowed.

It’s one of my favourite meals, of which there are many, but one of my favourites nonetheless.

I didn’t grow up in a particularly traditional family and things were far from straightforward, but we did – through thick and very thin - have a traditional Sunday lunch ‘Sunday Roast‘ nearly every week. A meal as much about family, friends, home, and being together as the food.The food, a reassuring rotation of roasts – beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, duck – accompanied by the appropriate sauce – horseradish, mint, apple, bread, Cumberland, prune – the right vegetables, trimmings and stuffing, gravy and always lots of roast potatoes.

As a child I not only adored the lunch, I adored the ritual and routine of it all. Vegetables being peeled as the late Sunday breakfast things were being cleared away, the piece of meat perched on the counter. Setting the table with the nice plates and Grandma Roddy’s bone handle cutlery. The smell of roasting meat curling through the house and the heady whiff of my grandma’s sherry and my Mum’s Gin and it. The flurry of activity and hands needed in the last 10 minutes to drain vegetables, make gravy, decant sauce, warm plates, shout then howl up the stairs to gather everyone to the table. My Dad carving. My grandpa Roddy worried my Mum had undercooked the vegetables and that he may choke to death on a green bean, the clatter of serving spoons and bumping of elbows as everyone filled and the more pedantic arranged their plates. The silence that descended as everyone took the first few mouthfuls….

Ironically it was probably during my unhappy teenage years and the mess of my early twenties, when I struggled my way through such lunches, eating and contributing very little or simply avoided them, that I most valued Sunday lunch, the ritual, the routine, the solidity of it all.It was a fixed point, constant when I wasn’t.

Sunday lunch and all it stood for – good food warmly given – waited for me to come back. Which I did eventually, by which time our Sunday Lunches were broader and more expansive, we all had partners, extended families and homes of our own. The cooking was shared and the lunch eaten at various tables. Of course tensions sometimes bubbled and simmered away like the gravy, occasionally spitting to the surface like potatoes hitting hot fat in the meat tin, But the meal remained constant and at its heart the proud resolute roast, with potatoes, two vegetable and appropriate sauce and trimmings.

I suppose it makes sense that when I came to Italy a stout English Sunday lunch was one of the first things I really missed. Even amongst all the gloriously good Italian food and I mean gloriously good and the joys of I Pranzi di Domenica I missed it. Because it wasn’t just the food -although I missed that too, particularly rib of beef with horseradish – it was the tradition, ritual, family and friends being together however difficult, my other home in England.

I missed it all…

It’s strange but didn’t occur to me for quite some time that could make us an English Sunday lunch in Rome. I think that’s because said lunches had become all muddled up with nostalgia and my homesickness, the here and there, England and Italy which I’d polarized the idea that my life was like that and now it’s like this.  Anyway, it wasn’t as if I was completely bereft of English Sunday lunches, occasional trips back were tiding me over.

It was only when I realised that I was really putting down roots in Rome, slowly starting to assume very Italian eating habits and becoming part of an Italian family with its own deeply entrenched rituals and routines around food that I made a silent promise to myself to cook us English Sunday Lunch at least once a month.

I haven’t quite kept my promise

But nearly.

Last Sunday it was roast pork, roast potatoes, braised red cabbage, apple sauce and bread sauce. This is my second favourite Sunday lunch, just piped at the post by rib of beef with yorkshire pudding.

For this kind of lunch I like either a proper roast leg of pork or a shoulder of pork on the bone both cooked with the skin on for a carapace of amber crackling. This presents a problem here in Italy as meat is butchered differently and skin is more often than not removed. Luckily I have a very obliging butcher who will get me most things even strange English cuts if I ask him in advance. Unfortunately I forgot to ask in advance. Fortunately my butcher had a very nice shoulder of pork with no bone and no skin but a nice, thick layer of fat which could handle a slow roast.

Slow roasted shoulder of pork with potatoes

• 2kg shoulder of pork with skin or a very good layer of fat.
• salt and freshly round black pepper
• 2 onions,peeled and halved
• 6 whole peeled carrots
• 1.5 potatoes peeled and cut into 4 or 6 depending on size
• stick of celery
• bay leaf

Dry the joint. If it has skin score the skin with a sharp knife. Rub the joint with salt and then put if fat/skin side up I put in a hot oven (220°/475f) for 30 minutes.

Cover the joint very snugly with a double layer of foil and put it back in the oven at 170°/325f for 3 hours.

Remove the joint and the foil. Lift the joint aside and pour off most of the meat juices and fat into a small pan leaving just enough to roast the coat the vegetables. Add all the vegetables to the tin. Using a wooden spoon nudge the vegetables around the tin so they are all well coated with fat and meat juices. Put the joint back on top of the vegetables, baste it with a little of the fat and juices you have poured off.

Put the joint back in the oven uncovered for another 45 minutes nudging and turning the potatoes every now and then.

Remove the joint from the oven and lift it onto a carving board and cover it with a layer of foil to rest for 15 minutes. Put the potatoes back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon lift the potatoes and carrots to a warm serving dish.

By now in the little pan the fat should have separated from the meat juices and you should be able to pour the fat off into a little bowl use another day and you are then left with small quantity of intensely flavoured pork juice to use a gravy.

Braised red cabbage

I have a soft spot for this red cabbage, I can be funny and fussy about sweet and sour and too much jammy sweetness in my savory food, but this recipe works beautifully. It is best made a day in advance and gently reheated. I’ve posted about this before, the proper title is Braised red cabbage cooked in the Viennese fashion and you thicken the cabbage with cream and flour at the end of cooking. For a Sunday lunch like this – especially one with bread sauce – I don’t add the cream and flour but you might like to.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s book How to Eat.

• A large red cabbage
• a large spanish onion
• 50g butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of soft brown muscavado sugar
• a large cooking apple
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 100ml red wine
• 200ml water or beef stock

Cut the cabbage into quarters, discard the outer leaves, cut away the hard central core and shred each quarter finely. I prefer to do this by hand but then I have no alternative.

Peel and slice the onion finely. In a large, deep heavy based pan, gently melt the butter and oil over a moderate flame and add the sliced onion. Saute the onion until it is soft and translucent and just starting to colour.

Add the sugar to the onion and stir well. Add the cabbage to the pan and stir well to coat all the cabbage.

Quarter the apple, core but do not peel, chop it into little chunks and add to the pan, stir again.

Add the vinegar to the pan, stir, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, stir and cover. Cook over the moderate flame for 15 minutes.

Heat the oven to 150°

After 15 mins add the water or stock and red wine and put the pan in the oven to simmer away for for 2 hours.

Taste to check the sweet/ sour balance and add a little more vinegar or sugar – but go easy here

Jane Grigson’s Bread Sauce

Adapted from English food

I adore bread sauce but not quite as much as my little sister Rosie and now rather surprisingly Vincenzo. It’s a bit out-of-place with the Roast pork I know, a better partner for roast chicken or game. But Vincenzo doesn’t eat pork and loves bread sauce with his potatoes and I love him more than our family rules about sauce/meat pairings.

• 1 small onion, peeled but left whole and stuck with six cloves
• 500ml rich milk
• 90 – 125g  fresh breadcrumbs from the soft inside of a very good loaf.
• nutmeg
• salt
• white pepper
• 50g  butter
• 2 tbsp thick cream
• cayenne pepper

Put the milk and clove studded onion into a basin balanced over a pan of simmering water on a low flame and bring to a just below boiling point. The idea is to infuse the milk with the flavour of onion and cloves so the longer the milk takes to come to the boil the better. ( about an hour).

Remove the onion and then keeping the basin over the water whisk in 3/4 of the breadcrumbs. Keep whisking gently until the sauce thickens. If it seems a little thin – bread sauce should not spread very much when spooned on to the plate – add more breadcrumbs. If it seems so firm that the spoon stands up in it, add a little more milk,

Season with nutmeg, salt and white pepper.

Stir in the butter and cream and put into a warm serving bowl or jug and then sprinkle a little cayenne pepper on top.

Put the cayenne pepper on the table for those who like their sauce fairly hot.

Nigella Lawson’s Apple sauce

Adapted from How to eat

• 50g butter
• 3 cooking apples (about 1kg) peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 75g sugar
• 3 cloves
• juice of half a lemon
• good pinch of salt

Put all the ingredients in a heavy based saucepan and then cover the pan and cook over a medium heat for about 15 minutes – lifting the lid every now and then to prod and turn everything – when the apples should have collapsed into a soft, lumpy, heap.

Pass half the apple mixture through a fine sieve and then mix it back with the unsieved mixture.

Taste adding more sugar, lemon juice or salt of necessary. It should be sweet but not sickly so.

If you feel the mixture is too runny you can boil it down a little – like bread sauce, apple sauce shouldn’t spread too much when you spoon it on the plate, it should sit in a well-behaved little pile. If it seems to thick add more butter or lemon juice.

A note about pudding.

Bread and butter pudding made with panettone. To be continued……

Here is a great thanksgiving dish that can be used as a side or as a meal replacement to someone who does not want turkey. It is light and very simple to make. The addition of the feta cheese  instead of a parmesan is a great twist. It adds a  tangy flavor and makes the dish very tasty.

Eat Well People!

Chef Brian

Pasta Video

2 Cups Heavy Cream
2 Tbs Buttermilk

1. Mix the cream and buttermilk in a glass, ceramic, or other non-reactive bowl. Stir well, cover, and leave at room temperature for 10-12 hours or until clotted and consistency of thick sour cream.

2. Refrigerate until needed. Keeps up to one week.

Yield 2 cups

Tonight I made Spicy Buffalo Bites, only spicy doesn’t go over so well with my cute spouse so I subbed Ms. Simpson’s BBQ Sauce for the hot sauce. This recipe involved making Chik’n Seitan, then battering it, deep-frying it, and drenching it in sauce. The sauce, the seitan, the bites… amazing! Use this recipe any time you want a chicken nugget-style seitan — crispy, fried, and delicious. You could serve them with any type of sauce. I was completely impressed with the quick and easy barbecue sauce, which was the perfect balance of sweet, smoky, rich, and spicy flavors. Absolutely marvelous. We were tucking into this so fast I completely forgot to take a picture. Ms. Simpson writes, regarding her BBQ sauce, that she is working on mastering mustard and mayo-based BBQ sauces, but she can make one heck of a ketchup based one. I’m here to tell you that is one heck of an understatement.

In conclusion, this is the book to buy if you want to prove to yourself and others how decadent and down-home vegan cooking can be. I’m sad to move on from this book — we’ve been loving it! Next up is The Tropical Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein.