Christmas Nut Roast and a lovely Mushroom and Tarragon Pate

So I'm being a bit lazy tonight. Been rushing around the country seeing family which has been so lovely. But I DO NOT feel like cooking tonight. Especially as tomorrow for New Year's, Nel and I are cooking a lavish meal. I'll write about that instead I think this week. However, we did have a great veggie Christmas ( as well as the Turkey crown). As I said on Christmas Day, I made a mushroom and tarragon pate. I based it on a really nice recipe I found on BBC Food but added a few extras like white wine and lemon zest. It was delish actually. And Mum and I made an Onion, Fig, Tomato and Pineapple Chutney. See recipe below.

For the Nut Roast, I roasted a butternut squash with garlic, olive oil and paprika. Once roasted I mixed this in a bowl with bread crumbs, crushed nuts, chopped chestnuts, spinach (I used frozen spinach), feta, orange zest and 2 eggs. We made this mix on Christmas Eve and kept it in the fridge overnight and on Christmas day baked it for about 40 minutes on 180 degrees. I was perhaps a little generous on the orange zest so maybe you should only put in a little for a Christmassy twist. But all in all, we all had a very jolly gastrotastic Christmas Dinner. I haven't stopped eating since Christmas but yet I am off now to have Steak and Chips at the local pub. A bit bad but back to the veggie roasts on Sunday in the New Year as well as hitting the gym. Honest :). Next Sunday will be A-May-Zing!!

My Recipes: serves about 6

Chutney:
2 Red Onions, fried in butter and olive oil
Chinese Five Spice
Celery Salt to season the onions
1 teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper to season
glug of balsamic vinegar
1 handful of cherry tomatoes
half a pineapple cut very finely
Let it all simmer slowly for about an hour.

Nut Roast:

Half a bag of Waitrose fresh breadcrumbs
1 butternut Squash:
chopped and roasted for 45 minutes with 2 garlic cloves, olive oil and seasoning.
1 feta cheese
half a bag of mixed chopped nuts
About 10 precooked and peeled Chestnuts
Spinach: 
I used about half a bag of pre-cooked spinach but use what you think. I'd say 1 bag if fresh.
orange zest to your taste
Fresh herbs such as marjoram or thyme
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Put in an oiled roasting tin and bake at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes. 

Table Set, Starters prepared. It's the calm before the Big Christmas Storm. Merry Christmas!!

It's Christmas!! Yay! We spent a few hours cooking yesterday and we've made a lovely Mushroom and Tarragon Pate with Leeks, Onion, White Wine, Lemon and Creme Fraiche. Mum iced the cake and dressed the table. I also prepared a Nut Roast with Butternut Squash, Nuts, Spinach and Feta for Billy. We're about to start all of the rest in a bit so must dash. Recipes to follow.

Christmas Roast...on it's way. Not this Sunday though

So, it IS Sunday and we're about to embark on 2 days worth of cooking (veggie and non) for Christmas day) so I'm definitely not cooking a roast tonight. I've now left London and am now down in Sidmouth relaxing after a fairly hectic few weeks of work. On our way down here we went via Longleat Safari Park. The best day ever...apart from when the monkeys stole my windscreen washers. I LOVED the sea lions though!!

Tomorrow will be a day of manic last minute shopping but we are starting our Christmas cooking fest and I will be blogging!!!

Yay!

Chick Pea Cutlets on Pea and Mint Puree with a Tangy Cucumber Raita

OK so this week isn't technically a roast but I will at least have a few roasted new potatoes and I am roasting the cutlets. Also, Christmas is around the corner and I think we're all going to be eating roasts galore. I know my Mum and I always go over the top with our Christmas day meal often resulting in kitchen chaos. So, I decided to make something a bit different this week and I love fallafel. This dinner is inspired by the lovely Lebanese place I often go to when at work. 

I work as a Production Buyer in Film and on TV shows so I cheekily borrowed some lovely plates from one of the prop houses. The plates have a floral pattern in red around the outside so I decided I wanted to cook something bright green to contrast it, hence the decision to do pea and mint puree. 

To make the cutlets, I blend a tin of chick peas, add a squeeze of lemon juice, a glug of olive oil, lots of fresh parsley, 3 chopped spring onions, bread crumbs and an egg to bind. I then add the spices: cumin, salt, pepper, crushed chillis (crushed in my everso indulgent Allessi Chilli crusher given to me as a gift) and some Italian mixed spices. I'm leaving this mixture to develop in flavour for a bit before I cook them. I'm cooking quite early tonight as I want to watch Strictly.

The pea and mint puree is easy. I bought some frozen peas to the boil with a garlic clove and a left over bit of onion. I added a little bit of vegetable bouillon and a big handful of fresh mint. Once cooked, I strain off most of the water and then blend. Easy!

For my raita, I have decided to grate the cucumbers after taking off the skin. I added half a garlic clove (finely chopped), one spring onion, a little mint, a squeeze of lemon juice and two tablespoons of Greek yoghurt. Season with salt. That's it. Again I've made this early so that the flavours can develop until we eat later.

Finally, shape the cutlets into whatever shape you fancy. Bake for half an hour  to 40 minutes on an oiled tray at 180 degrees. I have also put in some mini new potatoes, which I've part boiled. 

When I plate up I'm going to serve the cutlets on the pea and mint puree with a dollop of raita on the top as well as some fresh tomatoes. Cannot wait to eat!

My Recipe (serves two to three people, greedy ones)

Chick pea Cutlets:
1 tin of chickpeas
1 lemon
1 pack of fresh flat leaf parsley
4 spring onions
1 clove of garlic
1 handful of dried breadcrumbs ( I had some left over from the nut roast week. Waitrose)
1 egg
seasoning ( as above)
one tomato to garnish if you are trying to be a bit of a fancy ponce like me ;)

Raita:
half a cucumber
a little bunch of mint
half a clove of garlic
juice of half a lemon
salt

Pea and mint puree:
200g peas (roughly)
one garlic clove
a large bunch of mint
stock

Roast in a Stack with a Red Onion, Tomato and Caper Dressing

So this week we had a lovely breakfast at a local little Italian place called Piccolo Diavolo. In fact it's about 30 seconds from our house and it's run by a charming man from Roma. After our breakfast we had a long walk along the old railway line up to Highgate from Crouch Hill.  It was freezing and I misjudged the route so it took about three hours to get to Muswell Hill. In the woods we saw some really cute young children having a history lesson on a log by an ex teacher dressed up as some sort of old King. We were lost but it was entertaining to bump into such a rabble. We also walked past so many beautiful houses. How depressing that you probably have to be a billionaire in order to ever own one. What do you have to do these days? I ended up peering through the windows at their oh so wonderful kitchens. One day....

So we got back and embarked upon the roast. I am using the bits I bought in Essex last week and have decided (with the help of Billy) to do a roast in a stack with a tangy sauce.

Using my new potato ring things I pile up my stack: starting with potatoes, then a mushroom and chestnut stuffing and topped by green cabbage. I then make a sweet potato puree and a drizzle sauce. In the sauce I put butter, olive oil, red onions, capers, tomatoes, parsley and lemon juice. I warmed up the butter and oil first in a pan, and added the ingredients gradually with some seasoning, leaving  a rich and tangy (quite acidic) sauce, which I think went really well with the sweetness of the puree.

My Recipe (for a hungry twosome)

Roast:
Bottom layer:
2 potatoes, part boiled in stock. Sliced thinly

Middle Layer: Stuffing:
mushrooms
chestnuts
garlic
1 egg
1 handful of breadcrumbs
herbs of choice

Top Layer:
Cabbage cooked with butter and nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Sweet Potato Puree:
1 sweet potato, cooked in stock and pureed with a knob of butter. Yummy. 

Sauce:
butter
olive oil
2 red onions
2 cloves of garlic
massive handful of parsley
1 lemon- zest and juice
1 tomato chopped very finely and added when you've fried off the onions and garlic
2 tablespoons of capers
salt and pepper

Yay!

The TOWIE Experience

So this weekend, I experienced Essex. It was Billy's friend's Birthday and so we decided to embrace Essex to the full and stay overnight. We lodged at the Marygreen Manor Hotel in Brentwood.  As ever we were late setting off so we didn't spend long in the hotel going out, but the hotel was gorgeous. An old Tudor Inn with lovely ceilings and fireplaces and I loved the Lion Lamps.

Anyways, so we hit Brentwood town, starting at a classy sports bar and ending at an equally classy pub-club opposite Sugar Hut (which had a massive queue of TOWIEbies tarted up to the nines outside in the pouring rain). The evening consisted of quick drinking and shouting over 90s dance tunes. Actually I really enjoyed myself. The night ended up with a lot of walking in high heals though, (which really is not my forte) and was finished with a not so savoury version of the card game trumps. Oh Gavin!

I did feel a bit worse for wear the next day, but we decided to go to Southend on Sea which was just the thing for clearing my head. We had a stroll along the esplanade and a fry up on the sea front, followed by the slot machines in the amusement arcades. Perfect British sea side behaviour in the freezing winter weather.

Later, Billy went to see the football with his mates back in Brentwood. So I went for a spot of shopping. There was a lovely cook shop which I made a beeline for and bought some lovely bits including a potato ricer, various squeezy bottles and potato ring things.  This has inspired me to do some sort of roast stack and some fancy drizzling.

However, due to the exploits of the previous evening, I really don't feel like embarking on a roast. In fact all that sea air and Essex pub-going makes me feel more like  ordering a take away curry. So Tiffin Tin it is. Next week we'll have the stack. Sorry if you were expecting a recipe but sometimes a girl needs a Sunday off.