In my previous post, I shared the recipe for a mushroom wellington, which what the main of my Veggie Xmas menu, you can find the recipe for that and a roasted tomato soup by readingPart One here.
Vegetarian Christmas Menu
Starter: Roasted tomato soup (vegan)
Main: Mushroom Wellington (vegetarian/vegan)
Dessert: Orange Spice Cake (vegetarian)
Sides: Butternut gratin (vegetarian), roast potatoes and root vegetables, sweet potato and ginger mash (vegan)
Butternut Squash Gratin
(from Rachel Allen: Home Cooking)
1 large butternut squash (500g needed)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed, or finely grated
175ml double or regular cream
75g Parmesan or Gruyere cheese, finely grated
1 litre (1 3/4 pint) pie dish
1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
2. Using a sharp knife, peel the skin of the butternut squash. Remove all seeds, and cut into fine slices about 5mm (a quarter of an inch) thick.
3. Layer the slices of squash into the pie dish and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the garlic and cream in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and then pour over the squash in the dish. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.
5. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes to one hour, removing the foil after 30 minutes of cooking time. When cooked, the butternut squash should be soft and the top golden and bubbly.
Mary Berry's Orange Spice Cake
A fresh, spiced orange cake. If liked, you can ice the cake as well as fill it. Use just under half the orange filling to sandwich the cakes together and spread the rest on top
1 small thin-skinned orange
275g self-raising flour
3 level tsp baking powder
275g caster sugar
225g butter, softened
4 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
For the orange filling
50g butter, softened
175g icing sugar, sifted, plus a little extra for dusting
2 level tblsp orange pulp, reserved from the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Line two deep 20cm tins with greased greaseproof paper. Place the whole orange in a small saucepan, cover with boiling water and simmer until soft, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. When the orange is soft and cold, cut in half and remove any pips. Process the whole orange, including the skin, until medium chunky. Reserve 2 level tablespoons of the orange pulp for the icing, and leave the rest in the processor. Add the remaining cake ingredients and blend until smooth. Avoid overmixing. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool in the tins for a few moments, then turn out, peel off the paper and finish cooling on a wire rack.
4. To make the orange filling, cream the soft butter, then add the sieved icing sugar and reserved orange pulp. Sandwich the cakes together with the icing, and sieve icing sugar over the top of the cake.
TIP - Thin-skinned oranges are usually smaller – avoid using Jaffa oranges as they have a very thick pith.
Best eaten fresh, but it will store in an airtight container for 2-3 days. You could also freeze the filled cake for up to 2 months. Thaw for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Vegetarian Christmas Menu
Starter: Roasted tomato soup (vegan)
Main: Mushroom Wellington (vegetarian/vegan)
Dessert: Orange Spice Cake (vegetarian)
Sides: Butternut gratin, roast potatoes and root vegetables, sweet potato and ginger mash
Last Christmas, as it happens, I didn't give someone my heart, but I did make a superb Sweet potato, hazelnut and spinach en croûte from the Cornucopia cookbook. I wanted to try something different this year, to add to my repertoire, for when I am in a position to throw candlelit dinners.
(FYI: I prepared all my vegetables, par-boiled the potatoes for roasting as well as making the soup and gravy the day before, to save on stress on Christmas day.)
Roast Tomato Soup
(from Rachel Allen: Home Cooking)
900g ripe tomatoes (about 8), halved
1 red onion, peeled and thickly sliced
6 large cloves of garlic, peeled
Leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp caster sugar
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
600ml vegetable stock
50ml double or regular cream (I used Provamel soy cream)
Basil leaves, to serve
1. Preheat your oven to 200C. Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange the halves, cut side up, in a single layer on a baking tray and scatter over the onion, garlic, thyme and sugar. Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
2. Roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until softened. Once cooked, tip the entire contents of the baking tray, including any juices, into a blender. Add the stock and blend until smooth, then pour into a large saucepan. Alternatively, place the cooked tomatoes in the saucepan, pur in the stock and puree using a hand held blender.
3. Bring the soup to the boil, add the cream, reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes to heat through. Serve topped with basil leaves.
I can't take credit for this, as my 17 year old brother made this! We had it with toasted spelt bread from Mayo's Cherry Blossom Bakery, spread with Pure dairy free margarine.
This dish is time-consuming, but you can prepare it up to the baking stage and freeze it weeks in advance. Before serving, remove the wellington from the freezer and, after thawing, glaze the pastry with beaten egg (or without if vegan) and put it in a hot oven to bake for 45 minutes at 220C/425F/gas mark 7 until puffed and golden.
Mushroom Wellington
Makes 2
600g puff pastry (I used read-rolled pastry, Jus Rol is suitable for vegans)
50ml flavourless vegetable oil
675g chopped onions
450g whole chestnut mushrooms
2 tbsp fresh or dried tarragon
4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp soya sauce or tamari, or replace one with marsala or sherry
320g broken cashew pieces
320g ground almonds
175g fine freshly made breadcrumbs, white or wholemeal
1 egg, beaten for glazing (omit for vegans)
salt and pepper to taste
1. Roll out the pastry into two rectangles, 23x30.5cm each, cover and place in the fridge, if you're using ready made, no need to do this as its all been done for you! To make the filling, heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion with half the crushed garlic for at least 20 minutes or until it turns a deep golden colour.
2. Remove onions from the pan and set aside, then add the mushrooms to the same pan with the rest of the garlic and half the tarragon and cook on a fairly high heat. Halfway through cooking, add the soya sauce or tamari and the alcohol, if you are using it. Continue until the mushrooms are cooked through; there should be no white centre left when you cut one open.
I cut mine in two halfway through cooking to ensure they were cooked throughly.
3. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside, reserving all the mushroom liquor (the intensely flavoured liquid given out by the mushrooms). If you have too little liquid, add some water to the pan and swirl around until it combines with the mushroom liquid. In a food processor or blender, blend the cashews with the reserved mushroom liquor to a fine, smooth purée, adding a little water or even more of whichever alcohol you are using, until you have a smooth, sweet paste or pate.
4. Remove mixture from the blender and blend first the onions, then mushrooms – you can mix them up if you wish – until they are perfectly smooth. Mix all the blended ingredients together in a bowl, adding the breadcrumbs, ground almonds and the remaining tarragon. The mixture should gently hold its shape when formed with the hands. Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Remove the pastry from the fridge.
5. Divide the mixture in two and place one lot on a sheet of pastry, shaping with your hands as you go to make a long rectangular shape about 28cm long, 7cm wide and about 5cm high. With the thin point of a sharp knife, make diagonal cuts at a 45-degree angle, starting from the left hand corner of the pastry towards the pate mixture. Repeat on the other side, this time starting at the top right hand corner and cutting down towards the centre.
6. The strips should now be about 2cm apart. Fold in the end pieces first. Then draw a strip over from the left, then one from the right, crossing them over so the mix is snugly wrapped up. Repeat for the second wellington.
Either freeze at this stage or glaze generously with beaten egg. Place upon a floured tray, using two fish slices or the loose base of a tart tin to help you.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes until golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes before attempting to lift onto a serving dish. Allow 2 slices per person, cut with a very sharp serrated knife.
To serve
Place the wellington on your large platter, surrounded by roasted vegetables. I made a red wine and juniper gravy, from the Cornucopia cookbook, you can find the recipe here.
This recipe was originally conceived by Nadine Abensur.
Behold, a totally uncurated picture of my decadent Christmas dinner, piled high with butternut gratin, mushroom wellington, roasted veg & potatoes, sweet potato & ginger mash and red wine & juniper gravy
Seasons Greetings everyone!
Our very simple table setting for Christmas
Sweet potato, hazelnut and spinach en croûte, served with red wine and juniper gravy, from the Cornucopia cookbook.
I made this dish for Christmas last year, and loved it so much I had to make it again. It's a lot of work, as well as being very rich and filling, so making it once a year is enough for me!
I'm going to share the recipe with you here, because I can't find it anywhere online. It seems a shame not too. Of course, all credit for the recipe goes to Cornucopia.
Red wine & juniper gravy
1 large onion
2 carrots
Leaves of a head of celery
1 leek
3 field mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
10 juniper berries
2 tbsp plain flour
A few stalks of thyme
A few stalks of sage
1 heaped tbsp of tomato puree
50ml shoyu/soy sauce
1 heaped tbsp unrefined brown sugar
200ml vegetarian red wine
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
500ml water
Roughly chop the onions, carrots, celery, leek, mushrooms and garlic.
Cover the base of a large pot with a generous splash of olive oil, over a medium heat.
Add all the chopped vegetables, the bay leaves and juniper berries.
Stir briefly to coat with oil, cover with a lid, reduce to a low heat and leave to sweat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing sticks and burns.
When the stock has fully sweated, add the flour and cook over a very low heat for five minutes, stirring continuously.
Add the thyme, sage, tomato puree, soy sauce, water and a good twist of black pepper.
Cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring occassionally.
While the gravy stock is cooking, in a medium pan gently heat the sugar over a very low heat. When melted, add the wine. The sugar will crystallise but will melt again.
Simmer the sweetened wine for 10 minutes to burn off the alcohol, and then set to one side.
Place a fine sieve over the wine/sugar pot and pour the gravy stock into it. Stir and press with the back of a ladle to squeeze as much liquid from the mixture as possible.
When finished, discard the vegetables and whisk the liquid so it mixes. This can be prepared the night before and heated on the day. It will keep for about 3 days in the fridge.
En croûte filling
3 medium sweet potatoes (500g)
400g hazelnuts
2 bulbs of garlic
EV olive oil
25g each fresh sage/thyme/parsley (or a small bunch each)
600g red onions (divide into two batches of 300g)
125ml vegetarian red wine
80g breadcrumbs
250g baby spinach (washed)
Half teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 free range eggs
Salt and pepper
Preheat over to 180c. Puncture skin of sweet potatoes, place on a baking tray and roast until soft (about 40-45 minutes).
Set aside to cool and remove the skins, slice them lengthways into quarters. (I left them whole and it looked quite attractive when the pastry is sliced).
Meanwhile, place the hazelnuts on a tray and roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
Set them aside to cool and then rub vigrously to remove the loose skins.
At the same time, roast the garlic. Slice the tops off both bulbs, pour in olive oil, ensuring all the cloves are coated, add salt and pepper.
Roast garlic in oven until soft, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
When cooled, squeeze the soft flesh out, discard the skins afterward.
Chop the fresh herbs very finely and thinly slice the red onions. Set 300g of the onions to one side.
Cover the base of a large pot with olive oil and place over a medium heat. Add 300g of the onions, coat with the oil. Place lid on the pot, reduce to a low heat and allow onions to sweat for 15 minutes.
Add the red wine to the pot, and reduce over a low heat for 15 minutes, to burn off the alcohol.
Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, and most of the finely chopped herbs (keep aside a small bit for garnishing at the end.) Season to taste.
Coat a frying pan sparsely with olive oil, place over a high heat and add half of the baby spinach. Add some salt and pepper and wilt the spinach until no moisture remains in the pan. Repeat with the remainder of the spinach.
In a food processor, grind the remaining 300g of raw red onions, the flesh of the roast garlic, the wilted spinach and the nutmeg.
Add one egg and half of the roasted hazelnuts, blend for one minute.
Add the second egg and blend for another minute until completely smooth.
Add the remaining hazelnuts, pulse for a few seconds until just roughly chopped. Season to taste.
To assemble:
You can make all of the above the night before to save on time, on the day
When you are ready to assemble, preheat the oven to 180c and prepare an egg wash by whisking 1 free range egg and a pinch of salt.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out your pastry into a 34 x 26cm rectangle, with the longest side facing you.
Transfer the rolled pastry to a large baking tray, with 8 cm of the pastry flopped over the side of the tray. This is the side that will fold over the filling.
Leave a border of 3cm around the pastry so it won't bubble out while it bakes.
Cover 15cm of the pastry with the herb and onion stuffing.
On top of the onions, place half of the spinach mixture on top of the onions.
Nestle the sweet potato batons lengthways into the centre and cover with the remaining spinach mixture.
Cover this with the reaminder of the pastry, ensuring it is securely sealed on all sides, brush the pastry all over with egg wash.
Slice an attractive pattern in the pastry, and grind some black pepper over the pastry.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, allow for 10 minutes rest after removing from the oven.
Slice, serve and enjoy!
We had ours with roast potatoes and grilled vegetables. My meat-eating family adored it. I think its set to become my Christmas tradition.
A note to say: you may end up with twice as much onion and spinach mix as you need. I set this to one side in the fridge, and then remade this a couple of days later. I used shop bought shortcrust pastry for this, you can make your own, but this was much more convenient for me!
A bûche de Noël, with chestnut cream filling.
As you can see the glossy skin of the yule log came off in parts when I gently removed the baking parchment from the cake when it cooled. I added some festive glitter, and left it as is, excusing it as a 'rustic' look. You can add cream to the outside to conceal this, but I don't like very creamy desserts personally.
I made cranberry, almond and dark chocolate biscotti to give as gifts, by adapting this BBC Good Food recipe. It certainly made the kitchen smell like Christmas!
I hope you and yours are having a lovely Christmas, wherever you are. It's a difficult and stressful time of year for others, but you're never alone. I wish you all the best for 2013.
Before I skipped off to university I used to make the family Christmas cards every year. Mostly nativity or twee winter scenes in watercolours. While I was an undergrad the motivation slipped away, my time was precious, any spare time was spent with my new college friends who 'got' me, at that particular moment in time anyway.
Now that I'm back home for the time being, my days are long, with few friends with as much spare time nearby. So five years after making the last Xmas card, I shook out my dusty crafting skills and plotted to make a card this year.
Cutting out a small piece of lino is tricky so I kept the design as simple as possible.
One the lino is cut out, it takes a few prints for the paint to fully adhere to the surface of the lino, to give a successful impression. (Printing while listening to Christmas music is the best way to go about it).
I then added some simple embellishment to the peacock to make it sparkle!
I then left them to dry overnight.
Then I wrote them up and posted them before the last posting dates for Christmas! As you can see I also printed a greeting on the inside with the leftover vinyl.
My design was inspired by a peacock decoration I bought in Liberty of London in October. The peacock was a popular symbol and decorative trope used by the Aesthetic movement and in Art Nouveau designs, I felt this tied in with my plan to lino print the image onto the card (the inclination to art & craft). I chose secular imagery because I'd be sending them to friends who didn't celebrate Christmas, or were agnostics themselves.
The Cake Café Bake Book
My favourite café in Dublin have recently released a striking bakebook, aided by crowd sourcing funds through fundit.ie!
Bill Gibb: Fashion and Fantasy
A fascinating history and pictorial focusing on one of Britian's most innovative designers, the Scottish born Bill Gibb. Gibb was inspired by Celtic craft and design, and worked heavily in natural fabrics at his peak during the seventies.
La Double Vie de Veronique poster (Japan)
I've had this on my list for a couple of years, I dream of having my own place one day, and having this framed on the wall.
Black Victorians: Black People in British Art, 1800-1900
Jan Marsh is one of the foremost voices in academia on nineteenth-century art history, this text seems fascinating and highlights new directions in Victorian art history.
Star Wars Death Star Tea Infuser
Something I'd never buy for myself, but I like tea and Star Wars, so I love this.
Grace: A Memoir
The enigmatic Grace Coddington has recently released a memoir. Softly spoken, the creative force behind Vogue has a colourful past and I want to read all about it! Love the cover too, reminds me of **Cecil Beaton's series of memoirs** designed by himself.
Poetic Licence Women's Corporate Beauty Brogue, Size 6
Ográ Beauty Peat Face & Body Mask
Von Follies By Dita Von Teese Animal Print Set
This whole set, but mostly the suspender belt (UK 12!)
Hurrah! My essays and presentations for this semester have all been handed in, bar one that's due in January. I can rest easy for a while.
Two weekends ago I took a break from the library and three of us dedicated the day to baking our Christmas cakes, it's tradition apparently. We brought the day forward and had a 'stir up saturday', which is the traditional day for preparing your Christmas pudding/cake it seems. We listened to classic Christmas tunes, for that day only, to get us in the mood and after a few hours our house smelt deliciously like Christmas.
Originally my housemate and I were going to use the Xmas cake recipe posted on The Archers website, but when she checked the night before, the page had disappeared, it seems that the website has has a revamp. So instead she found this alternative. All the meticulous planning and subsequent smooth running of this operation are all to her credit. I'm glad to be living with an enthusiastic baker!
Hannah mixing cake number three.
This cake called for so much fruit that we weren't sure if it would all fit in the tin, but blessedly it did!
First cake from the oven (after four and a half hours)
I prepared the parchment for the tins. The layer of newspaper is to insulate the cake tin so it doesn't cook too quickly. I think it looks quite sweet and nostalgic all tied up with string.
Sitting proudly, admiring my handiwork.
My cake, unwrapped and doused with brandy.
William and Kate keeping my cake free from dust overnight.
My housemate and I are impatient for the chance to start eating this, but theres four weeks to go yet.
Most of the pictures were taken on Hannah's Panasonic DMC-L10, so much sharper quality and colours!
That evening with cake number three safely deposited in the oven, we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I and I was not disappointed.
