Beef Wellington

It was 31st December 1999 that I realised that I didn't much care for being in groups on New Year's Eve.  We had gone to a circus themed party at a friend of a friend's house.  It was fancy dress.

Those of you who know me will know that I love fancy dress.  This time however, I had different ideas.  This was the millennium, the dawning of tomorrow.  The future, including hover-cars and food in pill form, started at 00:00 hours.  I wasn't going to spend that night dressed as a clown.  Not when I had already found a pukka silver shirt and blue hair dye.

The party went as house parties do.  I was found mostly in the kitchen, chatting to those I knew (about 30%) about stuff*.  This was fine, until 9:30pm when the assembled guests were ushered into the living room, I had a bad feeling about this.  I asked my "friend" what was going on.

"We're going to do our acts now." he uttered matter of factly.  "What acts?"  "You know, we all have to do a circus act as part of the fun." My heart sank faster than the Belgrano.  I had no idea about this part of the party.  Z and I quickly cobbled together a shonky high-wire mime.  Fortunately we'd drunk enough to be truly wobbly on the wire and we didn't need the safety net.

To add insult to injury we then had to brave the elements to watch the fireworks.  This was so badly timed that we missed the big count down to the year 2000 and nothing happened.  Aeroplanes were meant to drop out of the sky, ATMs should have been chucking money onto the streets and Walt Disney was scheduled to raise from the grave.  The Millennium bug didn't strike, a bulb on the Christmas tree went out and that was it.

We have since had the majority of New Year's Eves at home, just Z and I with superb food, wine, company and Jools on the telly Hootannanying through the wee small hours.  This year we're going for beef wellington as the good food.

Not everybody likes their beef cooked the same way**, so individual wellies are the way forward.   Tis the season, and all that, so we are having sprouts.  It's the only time of the year that I get to eat them.  Served with boulangere potatoes, a grand way to see out 2011.

For the record I have enjoyed NYEs in the presence of others since 2000, mostly with my old school friends from Milton Keynes and Z's from Windsor. Whoever you are with, whatever you are doing, happy new year. 

*Stuff is great, I could waffle on about stuff for ages.
**I like mine to remember mooing and pastures green.

Friday Night Take-away Chicken with Cashew Nuts

Chinese has always been my family's go-to take-away.  Mainly because you couldn't drag my Dad into an Indian restaurant.  He didn't even like the smell of them never mind the flavours.  His dislike of curry was so great that when he had to visit India on a business trip he took packets of Hobnobs* so that he wouldn't starve.

Having returned from the trip Dad was a changed man and curry was on the menu, but we still had Chinese, why fix what isn't broken?

The family favourite was chicken with cashew nuts.  No matter what else was being ordered it would be included.  Mum is staying with us over New Year, so I decided to try and cook it for Tonight's Menu.  The feedback was that it tasted like it came out of a foil container, in a good way.

Stock is added to velveted chicken stir fried with onions, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and carrots.  Bean sprouts are then added along with soy sauce.  The dish is finished with spring onions and the all-important toasted cashews.  Serve with egg fried rice.

*other biscuits are available

Lasagne

What a fantastic day.  I can't think of a better way in Leeds, to tire out a toddler, than a trip to Tropical World.  Highlights were; the Meerkats (of course), the huge fish from the Amazon, and the Tree Shrews.

A sleeping toddler was the order of the afternoon, which left me plenty of time to crack on with making a bolognese sauce for tonight's lasagne.  Purists will tell you the exact sauce for lasagne and every house will have its own twist.  No matter what you add to your beef and tomato sauce the most important ingredient is time.  A slowly cooked sauce will have a more rounded flavour and better consistency.

The sauce is layered up with sheets of pasta and white sauce (thanks again to Z) and finished with grated cheese.  I prefer a strong cheddar, it melts better than parmesan and gives a nice topping.

Pork Chops with Cream and Mustard Sauce

Z came to the rescue for the second time in two days.  I was on an errand to Yeadon International Airport, picking up my Mum en-route from Southampton.  I'd been clever and checked in advance to make sure that the flight was on time, to my utter amazement it was scheduled to land 20 minutes early. 

I jumped in the car and sped across Leeds (sticking to the speed limits).  I arrived with moments to spare to see the arrivals board flash "Holding".  I know Leeds Bradford International Airport has a reputation for being windy and a bit dicey on landing but between Beeston and Rawdon the wind had picked up.  One flight had already been diverted to Manchester.  Three quarters of an hours later Mum's flight landed at its intended destination and we drove back to South Leeds.

Back at the ranch Z had cooked pork chops with a cream and mustard sauce, boiled potatoes and broccoli.  After a bumpy landing, its creamy comfort was just what the Doctor ordered for Mum, that and a large glass of Pinot Grigio.

Pasta with Tuna, Pesto and Green Beans

"Parting is such sweet sorrow".  Shakespeare tells us that Juliet utters these words to a departing Romeo after he has wooed her on the balcony.  I can only agree with her today.  It's wonderful to be back home, after a long weekend with the in-laws.  But it was great to see them and we always have a good time and eat like kings. However, there's no place like home.

The sorrow at parting was amplified by six hours at the wheel.  The trip should have taken three and a half hours, possibly four with a snack break, but every man and his dog was on their way home from visiting family for Christmas.  I like driving, even along the M1 (the most tedious road in England), but crawling along after four days of three course dinners tried my patience and belt buckle.

We had expected to be back in good time to do a spot of food shopping.  That didn't happen.  We needed a quick, light meal (I need to consider my figure).  Z managed to pull together a cracker, filling, healthy and without the richness of the festivities past.

Green beans cooked with some pasta and then tossed in pesto, tuna and cherry tomatoes, was just what we needed.  We now have a couple of days before the next big food event; the final one of the year, during which time I intend to eat a lot of veg and less meat.  Let's see what happens.

Swedish Spiced Roast Belly Pork

Boxing Day; a lie in, late breakfast, buffet lunch and a long walk.  Then back to the food.

As we had goose not turkey on Christmas Day there wasn't a scrap of bird left in the house.  Not for us the risotto, curry, sandwiches and pie, that a turkey forces on us all. Fortunately, tonight's menu is Roast Belly Pork.  I normally just season the pork and roast but P has found a Swedish spice rub that sounded so Christmasy it would have been rude not to use it.

Our leftovers from yesterday were all of the vegetable variety and I couldn't resist making some bubble and squeak using the roasties, parsnips and sprouts.

Christmas Dinner

Today, of all days, is one of eating, drinking and being merry.  We've decided to stretch the main meal over the course of the day.  A breakfast of croissants with bacon has kicked us off.  Lunch is our three course meal starter: Smoked salmon with home made blinis served with crème fraiche and dill.

The main course is served at tea time (4:30ish).   This year*, for a change, goose is on the menu.  Still having all the trimmings; parsnips, sprouts, roasties, pigs in blankets etc. But we're also having red cabbage as it goes so well with goose and three different stuffings.

The final meal of the day is dessert, and having had a good couple of hours away from the table, this year I can face some Christmas pudding.  I've made sure that there is plenty of room for cheese, after all, blessed are the cheese makers.  Merry Christmas to you all.

*to save us from tears (sorry).