It's Cheesemas!
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house.
Not a creature was stirring, except for the chefs...
Frantically stuffing the goose and prepping the starters.
This year featured the long-overdue return of Flora:
We're Getting the Goose-Gang back together again 😀
Which means I needed to buy extra cheese. And then Flora brought extra cheese.
Plus Flora brought the specially ordered cheese that I had her sister bring back from Spain.
I'd read about this amazing Spanish cheese called Torta del Casar.
That it hails from the remote Extremadura region - roamed by wild black Iberian pigs from which also comes Spain's magnificent jamón ibérico ham.
How its curiously runny insides are coagulated by thistle pollen giving it a uniquely rich, salty bitterness.
So I tried to buy me some. To absolutely no avail.
It turns out to be practically impossible to get any around the North of my country, and I phoned a lot of cheesemongers. And no, I would not have cared how fucking runny it was. I would have liked it runny 🤣
So I resorted to asking Flora to have her sister bring some back from one of her many Spanish trips.
Unfortunately the cheese cake we got showed no sign of running runny-ing? despite being kept for nearly a month, and while the flavour was distinctive, I wouldn't call it particularly impressive.
I'll say this for the cheese though - it does dissolve extremely readily in cream to make a nice smooth sauce.
Anyway, all that's by way of explaining that I ended up with waaay too much cheese. As is traditional.
Unlike the coffee kisses that Mum used to make. Next year I should make double.
Despite the threat of limited goose sizes from our unreliable supplier, a full-sized bird turned up and all was well in the world. Other things of note this Christmas:
- Vodka and Maltesers make an ideal gift for the alcoholic Malteser-lover in your life.
- Flora introduced us to puff pastry mince pies in the shape of turtles. Or was it dinosaurs?
- Shots of Salmon and Crème Frâiche make fine, if filling, starters.
- My local Wine'n'Cheese finally came through with a bottle of Pol Roger's Cuvée Winston Churchill Champagne for the dinner. Expensive but probably the last, since the store is shortly due to close. Sigh. Where will I get my wine 'n' cheese now?
Salmon and Crème Fraîche Shots with Watercress Purée
fish starter
I rather thought that this starter would be light and airy so I bought larger cocktail glasses to serve portions in, but it's actually pretty dense and filling,
so you really will get 12 servings out of the recipe, even served as a starter rather than a canapé.
Buy small shot glasses!
I also had to go to Newcastle for the Kyurizuke pickled cucumber!
Well, in fact I was there on business, but they did stock them at one of their large Chinese supermarkets, and I hadn't been able to find them anywhere else closer to home. So it was a handy visit.
Their Christmas market wasn't bad either.
Buy small shot glasses!
I also had to go to Newcastle for the Kyurizuke pickled cucumber!
Well, in fact I was there on business, but they did stock them at one of their large Chinese supermarkets, and I hadn't been able to find them anywhere else closer to home. So it was a handy visit.
Their Christmas market wasn't bad either.
Serves 12
Ingredients
- 300g of salmon fillet
- 150g of crème fraîche
- 150g of watercress, roughly chopped
- 2 lemons, 1 juiced, 1 sliced 1 lemon would probably be sufficient
- 50g of Japanese pickled cucumber Kyurizuke
- 1 bunch of dill, finely chopped
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
To begin, take your salmon fillets and lay them on some foil, approximately 25cm square. Drizzle with some of the olive oil and season liberally with the salt and pepper then place a few lemon slices on top.
Finely chop half of the pickled cucumber and add to the bowl, along with a dash of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
For the watercress purée, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the watercress.
Cover and bring to the boil again (this should take about 1 minute maximum) then drain and plunge the leaves into a bowl of iced water.
Drain the watercress again, reserving just a couple of tablespoons of the water, then place in a blender and blitz to a purée. Use the leftover water to thin the purée if necessary and season with salt and pepper.
To serve, divide the salmon between glasses then top with a layer of the watercress purée. Finish by dotting some of the remaining crème fraîche in the centre and add half a slice of pickled cucumber to each glass.
To begin, take your salmon fillets and lay them on some foil, approximately 25cm square. Drizzle with some of the olive oil and season liberally with the salt and pepper then place a few lemon slices on top.
You probably won't need a whole lemon's worth.
Wrap the foil around the fish to create a bag that is sealed at the edges and place in the oven for 12–15 minutes, or until the salmon is just cooked through.
I'd suggest using the technique for fish en papillote and cook in a very hot oven just until the package puffs out - about 15 minutes.
Take out the salmon and leave it to cool, then flake into a bowl using a fork.
Don't include the skin.
Mix in 100g of the crème fraîche and stir in the dill.Finely chop half of the pickled cucumber and add to the bowl, along with a dash of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
For the watercress purée, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the watercress.
Cover and bring to the boil again (this should take about 1 minute maximum) then drain and plunge the leaves into a bowl of iced water.
Drain the watercress again, reserving just a couple of tablespoons of the water, then place in a blender and blitz to a purée. Use the leftover water to thin the purée if necessary and season with salt and pepper.
Be heavy-handed with the pepper.
You can add a squeeze of lemon juice too.
To serve, divide the salmon between glasses then top with a layer of the watercress purée. Finish by dotting some of the remaining crème fraîche in the centre and add half a slice of pickled cucumber to each glass.
Pretty tasty, even if it is quite dense.
Maltesers Vodka
drink veg
Kurt loves Maltesers, so thanks to The Crazy Kitchen lady for the gift idea.
Makes about 70cl
Ingredients
- 350ml vodka
- 2x110g boxes Maltesers
Put the Maltesers into an empty bottle that has been sterilised.
Place the lid on and shake vigorously.
Shake regularly over a couple of days until the Maltesers have dissolved - this procedure can be sped up by placing the bottle in a bowl of warm water. Or on a radiator.
I dunno man, I would have thought vodka was pretty sterile!
Anyway, you'll need about 70cl of space.
Choosing a bottle with a neck wide enough to pass a Malteser ball will make your life easier 😉
Pour in the vodka.Anyway, you'll need about 70cl of space.
Choosing a bottle with a neck wide enough to pass a Malteser ball will make your life easier 😉
Place the lid on and shake vigorously.
Shake regularly over a couple of days until the Maltesers have dissolved - this procedure can be sped up by placing the bottle in a bowl of warm water. Or on a radiator.
Smooth and delicious, though I'd probably use a better quality vodka next time!
Give it a good shake before pouring.
Give it a good shake before pouring.
Dinosaur Mince Pies
or Are They Turtles?
or Are They Turtles?
sweet veg
As enjoyed by Flora's friend Matt Toynbee.Requiescat in pace
Thanks to Flora for the transcription.
Thanks to Flora for the transcription.
No Quantities are Provided
Ingredients
For the Mincemeat:- sultanas
- currants
- dried cranberries
- dates, cut up small
- dried apricots, cut up small,
- apple, grated or chopped small
- lemon rind, grated
- lemon juice
- orange juice
- mixed spice
- cardamom
- cinnamon
- brandy/armagnac
For the Pie:- puff pastry
Put the mincemeat ingredients in a small pan, add some water as needed and stew on a low heat making sure it doesn't dry out.
Put in big sterilised jar for making any extras - to use before New Year.
Grease a cupcake tray. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Using a dinosaur-shaped cookie cutter cut out puff pastry shapes and press into each cupcake dimple.
Add the mince meat (in the cupcake depression).
Cut small circles for the dino bellies, or invent shapes like stars or crosses, and place them over the mincemeat piles.
Put an egg in a ramekin for glazing before putting in the oven for 5 minutes or until fluffy and golden brown.
Put in big sterilised jar for making any extras - to use before New Year.
Grease a cupcake tray. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Using a dinosaur-shaped cookie cutter cut out puff pastry shapes and press into each cupcake dimple.
Add the mince meat (in the cupcake depression).
Cut small circles for the dino bellies, or invent shapes like stars or crosses, and place them over the mincemeat piles.
Put an egg in a ramekin for glazing before putting in the oven for 5 minutes or until fluffy and golden brown.
Although the mincemeat is fine, there's something fundamentally unsatisfying about a puff pastry mince pie.
It might be worth trying with a short crust?
And they do look like little turtles - right?
It might be worth trying with a short crust?
And they do look like little turtles - right?
Caramel Cream Cheese Sauce
cheese sauce
Torta del Casar dissolves surprisingly easily into simmering double cream. Which is handy.
Generally when you make a caramel sauce you add the cream directly to the boiling caramel to cook the milk solids slightly, but I didn't want to do that with the cheese, so I blended in the butter first. Be sure to beat the mixture vigorously to avoid curdling as you do this.
You might, I suppose, consider keeping some unmixed cream to add to the boiling sugar first, before adding the cheesed cream and finishing with the butter.
In the likely event you have no Torta del Casar you could probably use Philadelphia Cream Cheese mixed with cream a là Rebecka
There seem to be three approaches to turning your sugar into caramel:
The first two methods are very similar and always seem to end up with lots of unmelted sugar crystals all around the edge, or big chunks of un-melted sugar in the caramel when I try them.
The general opinion is that you shouldn't use brown sugar for this since
The caramel cream cheese sauce also goes quite nicely on scrambled egg - about 1 teaspoon per egg!
Generally when you make a caramel sauce you add the cream directly to the boiling caramel to cook the milk solids slightly, but I didn't want to do that with the cheese, so I blended in the butter first. Be sure to beat the mixture vigorously to avoid curdling as you do this.
You might, I suppose, consider keeping some unmixed cream to add to the boiling sugar first, before adding the cheesed cream and finishing with the butter.
In the likely event you have no Torta del Casar you could probably use Philadelphia Cream Cheese mixed with cream a là Rebecka
There seem to be three approaches to turning your sugar into caramel:
- Pour the sugar into a pan and heat it directly over a fairly low heat, until it all melts into a brown puddle. You might have to swirl or stir carefully if the heating is uneven and you start to get the melting in isolated spots.
- Add just enough water to moisten the sugar so it resembles wet sand and proceed as above.
- Add the same quantity of water as sugar, set it over a very high heat, stir a little at first to dissolve the sugar, then boil furiously without touching it until it reaches the caramel point (180°C). You'll need to watch it like a hawk at this point as it browns quickly, though you can turn the heat down once it reaches the crack stage.
The first two methods are very similar and always seem to end up with lots of unmelted sugar crystals all around the edge, or big chunks of un-melted sugar in the caramel when I try them.
The general opinion is that you shouldn't use brown sugar for this since
- The non-sugar molasses type elements will only burn at the temperatures you'll be raising the sugar to and turn it bitter.
- The colour of the sugar will make it difficult to tell exactly how much caramelisation you have produced - which is essential to controlling the process.
The caramel cream cheese sauce also goes quite nicely on scrambled egg - about 1 teaspoon per egg!
Makes About A Pint
Ingredients
- 200ml double cream
- half a Torta del Casar
- 250g sugar
- 60g butter
Chop or break the cheese into chunks, discarding the rind. Heat the cream in a small saucepan, drop in the cheese, and stir until it dissolves.
Set it aside.
Dissolve the sugar in an equal quantity of water then bring rapidly to the boil over high heat and allow it to reach caramel temperature untouched.
Remove from the heat sticking the pan briefly into cold water might not be a bad idea to halt the caramelisation process, then whisk in the cold butter a little at a time, then beat in the creamed cheese.
Set it aside.
Dissolve the sugar in an equal quantity of water then bring rapidly to the boil over high heat and allow it to reach caramel temperature untouched.
Or whatever your preferred method is.
It will brown rapidly at this point - so watch it carefully.Remove from the heat sticking the pan briefly into cold water might not be a bad idea to halt the caramelisation process, then whisk in the cold butter a little at a time, then beat in the creamed cheese.
Quite nice really.
It does stink a bit, and the Torta del Casar has an oddly bitter edge to it which might not suite every dish. Perhaps a milder, sweeter cheese Like Philadelphia? might work even better?
Serve with your giant mince pie if you must.
It does stink a bit, and the Torta del Casar has an oddly bitter edge to it which might not suite every dish. Perhaps a milder, sweeter cheese Like Philadelphia? might work even better?
Serve with your giant mince pie if you must.