Food, Glorious Food....

I am back home for a brief break before heading off to visit elder son tomorrow until 2 January.

I had heard that a lot of preparations and cooking had been going on at the home of the best sister in the world, and this turned out to be an understatement.

On Christmas Eve, we had a Moroccan themed meal, starting with Chicken B’Stille, which is a pie in filo pastry rather than rough puff and so on – in fact the pastry strictly should be a hand moulded one (but life’s too short) I am not sure of the ingredients, but it was all of a moist, minced texture with some chicken pieces top and bottom. I gather that traditionally this is eaten with the hand, reaching down into the pie and pulling out what you wish, however in this case it was served up on a plate.

The main course was a tagine served with cous cous, again yummy.

Pudding was once again adhering to the Moroccan theme, being a very rich rice pudding flavoured with rose water and cardamom.

Christmas Day started off with thick slices of smoked salmon and continental cold meats which we rolled in lovely thin pancakes with some fresh lemon on the side. At this point I should also mention the Buck’s fizz, made with real home freshly squeezed orange juice and real champagne.

Dinner started with goose terrine and goose liver pate served with green salad and oatcakes. This was followed with roast goose, gravy and apple sauce together with roast vegetables – potatoes, carrots, onion, white turnip, fennel all roasted in goose fat. Pudding was figgy pudding with real home made custard and fresh figs.

Boxing Day was a little lighter, although even then more potatoes and vegetables were roasted to go with the cold roast goose, .and we started with the terrine and pate and green salad. I even managed to eat some more rice pudding as it was so good.

I give hearty thanks to Le Chef and The Best Sister in the World for putting on such a wonderful show, and coping with the comings and goings of so many of us,