Christmas Pudding

Ingredients:


60gm plain flour
120gm shredded or finely chopped suet
120gm white breadcrumbs
1/2tsp ground nutmeg
1tsp mixed spice
1/4tsp ground cinnamon
230gm molasses sugar
100gm raisins
100gm sultanas
250gm currants
50gm roasted and chopped whole skinless almonds
50gm chopped mixed peel
1 small apple, cored, peeled and chopped
Zest of one orange
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
3tbsp dark rum
100ml stout
100ml brandy
3 eggs
1/2tsp salt
softened butter for greasing your bowl


Method:


1)   Begin the day before you wish to steam the pudding and at least a couple months before         Christmas.  Make this now and it will keep till next Christmas, improving with age if fed a little alcohol once in awhile.
2)   Using a large mixing bowl, mix together the suet, flour, sugar, breadcrumbs, spices and salt.  Rub these ingredients together well.
3)   Add the nuts, apple, mixed peel, dried fruit and citrus.
4)   Mix the alcohols and eggs together in a smaller bowl. 
5)   Add to the larger mixture and incorporate well.  The mix should be quite sloppy.
6)   Cover the bowl and leave overnight.
7)   Grease a large bowl and spoon in your pudding.
8)   Cover it with parchment paper and foil.  Tie tightly.
9)   Steam over a large pan of water for 7-8 hours.  Or 1/4 time in a pressure cooker.
10) Cool, remove the parchment and foil, replenish with new and tie again.
11) Store in a cool place until Christmas Day.

Santa deserves something special after such a hard night's work.
Seriously though, 'It's A Wonderful Life, 'A Christmas Story' and 'Bad Santa'...the best Christmas films.

To serve:
     Steam again for 2-3 hours.  Turn out onto the centre of a large plate.  Light a ladle of brandy to flame and pour carefully over the pudding at the table.  Sprinkle with a snowy dusting of caster or icing sugar and top with rum sauce, brandy sauce, stiff white icing or homemade custard.  A sprig of holly will complete the festive vibe.

Heston's ingenious and now infamous orange stuffed pud that sold like hotcakes at Waitrose and even started a run on ebay.  Ah, the power of the chef.

     Love it or hate it, Christmas pudding is here to stay.  The populace seems firmly divided over all things cakey that contain bits of fruit.  The slant on this side of the pond savours it far more favourably than my homeland.  I'll make it and rejoice in the pagentry and smiling faces...but it is not my cup of tea.  One thing is certain...if you have been sitting on the fence, an aged home made Christmas pud may just win you over, the supermarkets just don't do this traditional flavour justice.  In any case, whether you use this or dust off that old recipe your gran used to make...have a go and keep the tradition alive.  The shops are a cop out, bah humbug!
     Quintessentially English, it was known as plum pudding until Eliza Acton coined it Christmas Pudding sometime in the early 1800's.  It first reared its head in the early 1400's when mutton, veal and sandalwood were prominent ingredients.  The current incarnation of the pud came about in the Victorian era and many traditions surround its making and consumption such as; studding the inside with silver coins and 'the wish', a time for the family to gather round all giving the mix a good stir whilst making a wish.

Scrooge was not a Christmas pud fan.

Parting Shot:

'Oh!  All that steam!  The pudding had just been taken out of the cauldron.  Oh!  That smell!  The same as the one which prevailed on washing day!  It is that of the cloth that wraps the pudding.  Now, one would imagine oneself in a restaurant and in a confectioner's at the same time, with a laundry next door.  Thirty seconds later, Mrs. Cratchit entered, her face crimson, but smiling proudly, with the pudding resembling a canon ball, all speckled, very firm, sprinkled with brandy in flames, and decorated with a sprig of holly stuck in the centre.  Oh!  The marvellous pudding!'

-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Mr. Yuk says- 'I think I'll stick to Vanilla Ice Cream with Chambord this Christmas.'

A Culinary Christmas

Christmas Gifts for Food Freaks

30. Cheese
Everyone loves it.  Gorge out at Christmas time with quality cheese, Carr's water biscuits, vintage port and your favourite chutney or jelly.  Some of the best- Raclette, Stilton, Sharpham Elmhirst, Taleggio, Truffled Robiola, Oisin Goat's, Morbier, Stinking Bishop....the list goes on and on.

Baked Camembert

29. Chef's Candle
A design classic and practical to boot.  Helps eradicate unwanted kitchen odours apres cooking.

28. Pie Funnel

Or pie bird, pie whistle, pie vent etc.  These ceramic lovelies hearken back to the Victorian age and work a treat whilst adding an air of class centre table.

Piebird at Piebird Cottage

27. Bacon iPhone Case
Go on, you know you want one.  Pretend you're Lady Gaga.

26. Microplane
A kitchen utensil must have.  Garlic, lemons, Parmesan, cinnamon, chocolate...this is the best grater you will ever buy.

25. Joseph Joseph Salad Bowl
With integral lifter/toss implements!  Finally life is complete.

24. Pasta Maker
Few things are more therapeutic and satisfying as making your own pasta.

23. Sushi Booties
These are hilarious, and how very yummy mummy ra-ra.

22. Mushroom Kit
Like magic!  Also see- herb garden, sprout garden etc.

21. Three-tier Steamer
A must have.  Bamboo is cooler but less practical, electric is no.

20. Big Timer
The one and only classic and a great stocking stuffer. Pretend you are a real chef for five minutes.

19. Smoked Salmon
Tis the season.  Even better if you catch and smoke your own.  What a gift that would be!

18. Chocolate
When giving a gift of chocolate, go for quality not quantity.

Amedei, one of the world's very finest chocolatiers.

17. Chopping Boards
Everyone has them.  No one has the right one.  Go big or go home.  Thick slabs of wood.  An extra large one that doubles as all-purpose and roast-carving, don't forget the meat juice groove along the edge.  Have a smaller olive wood board on hand for cheese serving or charcuterie for two.

16. Soda Stream
A gadget I would love to get.  Healthy fizzes for the kids.

15. EasiYo
Ok, so the flavour is not 100%, but it is not bad either.  Very economical, simple and not full of crap ingredients.  Most supermarket yoghurts would have more junk in them than the packets for EasiYo

14. Cookery Classes
My personal dream course would be a gavage weekend in France on some little farmhouse.   Take your pick.  There are courses everywhere to suit.  From Le Manoir to Rue Tatin.  Ashburton Cookery School is of particular note.  Superb classes given by great teachers.

The Ashburton Cookery School Brigade

13. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Give the gift of the gods.  The best I have ever tasted are Castelluccio and Manni.

12. Blackboard Storage Jars
What a neat idea.  No more sticky labels and room enough for best before dates.

11. Espresso Machine
Wake up like an Italian.  Hey, North America!  Cappuccino is a breakfast drink!

10. Sketch Hamper
Arguably London's most opulent trendy restaurant...doing hampers?  Could be interesting.

9. Handcrafted Japanese Knives
In my mind, too precious for the professional kitchen.  Keep these at home for bragging rights and to marvel over.  See Doi, Watanabe and more.

A selection of Watanabe.

8. Robert Welch Signature Series Knives
Probably the best production knife around, especially for the price.  Fantastic knives for chef and home alike.

7. Cook Books
No, not fucking Jamie Oliver!  Get your loved one something special.  The Larousse Gastronomique has a new edition out.  David Thompson's, Thai Street Food promises to be a cracker,  The Fat Duck Cookbook is a beauty or how about food related books?  Just about anything by Michael Ruhlman or Anthony Bourdain is hard to put down and I loved Heat by Bill Buford.  Elizabeth David, Simon Hopkinson , Mark Hix...the list is long, but choose well.

6. Collapsible Colanders
A great idea.  Bloody colanders take up too much room.  Store it next to your cake racks and gain some storage space.

5. Alcohol
Either buy their favourite or wow them with some vintage Scotch, port or Champagne.

Chambord in Champers or vanilla ice cream makes me swoon.

4. Food Art
Well, hey...if you got the dosh.  Susannah Blaxhill, Paul Karslake, Dijk, Manet....

'Oriental Mushrooms' Susannah Blaxhill

3. Christmas Lifesavers Sweet Story Book
Huh?  Ok, ok, my brother and I got one of these every year in our stockings.

2. Faberge Egg
I've always wanted one.  Would make a great bookend on the back of my cistern, or maybe a hood ornament?

'Peter the Great' Faberge Egg

1. Home Made Food
The number one gift you can give a food lover for Christmas?  Quality home made food.  What could be better than specially wrapped chocolate chip cookies, Christmas pudding made the year before, preserves, chutneys, smoked fish or meat pies.  The list is endless and the gift means so much.

     So there you have it.  Hopefully a few good ideas for the final burst of consumerism before that festive day.  Problem is, I keep thinking of more gifts...anything by Le Creuset, a whole ham from Pipers Farm, real Canadian maple syrup, anything from Princess d'Isenbourg... 

From Hardboiled Chef

Winter Salad

Maddocks Farm Winter Salad

'Maddocks Farm Winter Salad'
Roasted Squash, Winter Leaves & Beenleigh Blue Cheese

Ingredients for 4:


12 Good thick slices/chunks of mixed squash- here we have Marina di Chioggia Pumpkin, Butternut & Uchiki Kuri
1/2Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1.5Tbsp Fussels extra virgin rapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil
150-200gm Quality blue cheese such as- Beenleigh, Exmoor or Devon
12 Small red endive leaves
Various tops of red frills mustard leaf, giant red mustard leaf & red and white peacock kale
2Tbsp Toasted pumpkin seeds
12 Sage leaves, fried in sunflower oil gently until crisp
Seasoning


Method:


1) Pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees Celsius.  Toss the squash slices with a drizzle of rapeseed oil, sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.
2) Place on a baking tray in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. 
3) While the squashes are cooking, combine the balsamic and rapeseed oil to make a quick dressing.
4) Crumble the blue cheese into 20 rough nuggets.
5) In a large bowl, combine the squash, endive and autumn leaf tops of your choice with the dressing.


To serve:


Divide the dressed squash and leaves evenly between four plates.  Dot the blue cheese around and top with the sage leaves.  Sprinkle on the pumpkin seeds.  A crisp white, rose or quality fizz would start things off nicely with this coulourful harvest salad.

Beenleigh Blue Cheese

Notes:


On squash:


One of our most ancient foodstuffs.  So abundant around The West Country this time of year, the humble squash is often greeted with derision.  The Italians know better.  One needs only to look toward their treatments of pumpkin roasted with sage, ravioli fillings or risottos to find inspiration for our wide variety of vibrant gourds.  My personal favourite is spaghetti squash.  Cook it just right with a little butter and seasoning...so good and a great garnish for nearly everything.  Just like my Momma used to make...

Gourds Galore

On endive:


Belgian endive, Wiltloof or leaf chicory has near mythical status on the continent.  Elegant, beguiling and bitter-sweet like a long lost lover; a good endive stands up to braising whole or as a natural receptacle for any number of canapes.  Quick fried in a little oil, balsamic and a pinch of sugar, endive marries well with fried polenta.  For stunning watercolours of a wide variety of edible plants you must check out Susannah Blaxhill, botanical artist.

'Red Endive'
Susannah Blaxhill - Watercolours

'Red Endive'
Susannah Blaxhill - Watercolours

On Maddocks Farm:

Jan Billington of Maddocks Farm, Kenitsbeare
Lettuce, edible flower & herb specialist.

One of the great things about living in The West Country is the relationships I have built with local suppliers.  Jan is always up for a challenge and the gauntlet was thrown down a couple years ago due to my love for endive but that guilty feeling for importing.  As you can see here, her red endive is fab.  Another reason for local chefs to collaborate with local growers.  Jan is known throughout the area as a lettuce, herb and edible flower specialist and I can honestly say I have never tasted or used better.  Her selection of gourds at the moment is unsurpassed.  You can find Jan's Maddocks Farm produce at Dart's Farm and monthly at the Cullompton Farmer's Market. 
An added feature of Maddocks Farm is The Hayloft.  Sublime accommodation in the heart of Devon.  
www.maddocksfarmorganics.co.uk

The Hayloft




Parting Shot:

"I don't altogether agree that a plain green salad ever becomes a bore - not, that is, if it's made with fresh, well-drained crisp greenstuff and a properly seasoned dressing of good-quality olive oil and a sound wine vinegar. But I do agree that all this talk about 'tossed salads' is a bore; it seems to me that a salad and its dressing are things we should take more or less for granted at a meal, like bread and salt; and not carry on about them."

-Elizabeth David

Mr. Woodcock

Billy Bob Thornton as 'Mr. Woodcock'

     No, not this Mr. Woodcock.  Although if you haven't enjoyed Billy Bob in this or Bad Santa...check them out. 
     This is the woodcock in question...

Eurasian Woodcock 'Scolopax Rusticana/Becasse de bois'

     A very special little guy indeed.  I well remember first coming in contact with this prince among game birds years ago in Marco Pierre White's classic, White Heat.  I was amazed and intrigued at Marco's treatment of an old preparation, yet it was years before I finally got my hands on one of these elusive birds.  Forgive the quality of my photo...I was far too eager to snap this one properly.  No set up, just the little old point and shoot.  Rustic as it gets.  I just wanted to dive in and find out what all the fuss was about.  My verdict- justified. 
     Woodcock are a near forgotten delicacy.  These little beauties are night feeders and aren’t as plentiful as they once were, hence it is fairly rare to come across them.  I obtained a brace from Louise Huxtable, a work colleague who got them from Mr. Anthony Knockles, who shot them near Stockleigh Pomeroy.  (Traceability, people)  They are expensive so enjoy the process of feather to plate.  I hung them up outside my back door for eight days; which is sufficient in this weather,  half the time if milder.  There is no point in hanging game until it makes you gag when you cook it.  Just a few days to develop the flavour will suffice.  Woodcock really do have a superior, delicate taste that set them apart from blander pheasant or heady wood pigeon.  

'Woodcock, Lentils, Grilled Bread & Red Wine Sauce'

   
     One per person will be a sufficient dinner if you aren’t squeamish and eat the whole thing.  The guts are of a particular unique creaminess when spread on grilled toast and the head is typically served split so as to suck the wee morsel of brain from each half.  Very popular during Victorian and Edwardian England.  Shakespeare and Kipling reference the bird with humour and reverence respectively.  A typical garnish would be some well-seasoned lentils, game chips, grilled bread etc. 


     'Woodcock is the king of gamebirds. It's hard to shoot; it's beautiful; it has lots of breast and a wonderful flavour.  At the restaurant we roast it with its intestines to give it more flavour, than take its breast off and split the head, so the customer can eat the brains.  It's a man's dish.  You can't tart around with woodcock.  You have to cook it well and put it on the plate.'
-Marco Pierre White


     Who am I to argue?