Braised Red Cabbage with Pomegranate Molasses and Cranberries

Red cabbage always comes out at Christmas time, it goes perfectly with my favourite festive meats, goose and gammon. It also has the bonus of benefiting of being prepared a day of so in advance, something that's definitely helpful around Christmas if you're responsible for most of the cooking. At other times of year, it's a fantastic foil for the fattiness of duck and salmon.

Pomegranate molasses had it's heyday as a fashionable ingredient a few years ago, when Nigella brought it to the masses, and might be dismissed by the trend conscious now. But like other foodstuffs that suffered overuse-balsamic vinegar, sundried tomatoes, that doesn't mean they're not good. Pomegranate molasses is dark, sticky and sour, adding an extra depth to the cabbage.

Ingredient
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 red cabbage, cored and finely sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
25g dried cranberries
250ml cranberry juice
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Method
In a casserole, heat the olive oil over a medium heat, and fry the onion in it until softened. Add the garlic, and cook for a few minutes more. Stir in the remaining ingredients except the vinegar, season, and just bring the liquid to a simmer. Put on a lid, turn the heat down and leave to cook, stirring when you remember. You can't really overcook red cabbage, but 2 hours should do it. Reheat when you are ready to eat.

Vacherin Mont D'or

There are certain foods that make the cold weather almost bearable, and this pungent, instant fondue is one of them. It's one of the few cheeses that is still considered seasonal- September to April, according to its website, but I tend to eat it around Christmas time. Unless you are feeling extravagant, it's probably the only time of year that you'd justify its price.
Once you have obtained your cheese, preheat your oven to 180C. Remove any plastic wrapping from the box. Take off the lid and score a cross about 3cm wide in the centre of the cheese. Poke in a few thin slices of garlic, drizzle over a few spoonfuls of dry white wine, and season with pepper. Replace the lid, and wrap the entire box in foil. Bake for around 25 minutes until it is liquid and piping hot all the way through- test with a skewer if you are not sure.
Remove from the foil, and serve with baguette, cornichons and some bitter leaves. A little charcuterie alongside is wonderful but not obligatory.

Lamb, Feta and Sumac Piroshki

Piroshki is a blanket term for little Russian pies that come with various fillings and can be baked, fried or poached. My filling is inauthentic, I've gone for Middle-Eastern flavours, but the pastry is traditional. I've justified the feta and sumac with some stretches of geography, Georgia borders Russia, Georgian food has influences from the Middle East... but really, they taste so good, so that should be reason enough to make them.

I first came across the idea for these pastries in Meat by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, as a way to use up leftover roast lamb, it does make a change from the usual shepherd's pie. When I came to make them this time, I only had about 1/2 the amount of suggested meat, so made up the remaining weight with crumbled feta. That inspired the use of sumac, a tart red spice that is favoured in Turkey and the Middle East.


Ingredients
For the pastry:
225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
a little beaten egg, to glaze
For the filling:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
100 grams leftover roast lamb, finely chopped
a little liquid- stock, wine or water
1 tsp sumac
pinch chilli powder
100 grams feta, crumbled
 
Method
Start by making the pastry: sift the flour, salt and baking powder together into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. Whisk together the oil and eggs, then pour into the well. Gradually draw in the dry ingredients to the liquid with a wooden spoon, then beat until smooth. You are looking for a soft but not sticky dough, add a little cold water if you need it. On a lightly floured surface, knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, covered, and leave for around an hour while you get on with the filling.

Heat the olive oil over  medium heat, and add the spices. Cook for about 1 minute, then add the onion and garlic. Let them cook gently until they are softened. The turn up the heat and add the lamb. Let it brown slightly, then turn the heat down, and add your chosen liquid, jut enough to lubricate it, not so much as to drown it. Let it cook for another 3 minutes over a low heat, then remove. Stir in the sumac and chilli powder and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool, then mix in the crumbled feta.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking tray Roll out the dough on a floured surface, and cut out 8cm rounds with a cutter. Put a spoonful of filling onto each round, slightly off-centre. Moisten the edges with a little water and a pastry brush, and fold the dough over to meet the other side, pressing down to seal. Using your hands, shape them into a crescent. Transfer to the baking sheet, and brush with beaten egg. Bake for 10-15 minute until the piroshki are nicely browned, and serve warm.

Christmas Cantuccini

Cantuccini are more commonly known in the UK as biscotti, the hard, twice-baked biscuits that need a long dip in coffee, or more traditionally Vin Santo before they can be eaten. Here I have played around with the traditional recipe given by Anna Del Conte, to include cranberries and pistachios to give the colours of Christmas, plus nutmeg and lots of orange zest. 

Ingredients
100ml Cointreau or orange juice
75g dried cranberries
50g pistachios
250g  plain flour 
225g caster sugar
 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs, beaten
Zest of 1 large orange

Method
A few hours before, or overnight, soak the dried cranberries in the Cointreau or orange juice.
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in the beaten eggs, and work it into the dry ingredients, adding the zest, fruit and nuts in at the end. When everything is well mixed, pat into a ciabatta shape about 7cm across. Place on a lined baking tray and cook for 15-18 minutes.
Take the tray out of the oven and reduce the temperature to 150 C.Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then cut them diagonally into 1 cm slices. Lay them side by side, cut side up on the tray and return to the oven for the second baking - for 45 minutes or so, until well dried out. 

Banana, Pecan and Maple Cake

I took a small gamble on this recipe, switching the Greek yogurt component in the hazelnut loaf cake with the same weight of mashed banana. Luckily it didn't do anything strange to the end result, the finished product was a definitely a success. I considered making some sort of maple frosting,  but partly out of laziness and partly because I thought icing might be a bit much, I drizzled maple syrup on top while the cake was still hot. It makes for a damp and sticky cake, perfect for teatime.

Update 11/02/16- I remade this, and was really pleased with it. I definitely don't think it needs the maple frosting, mentioned above- it's rich enough as is.
Ingredients
200 grams pecans
125 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
100 grams caster sugar
100 grams soft brown sugar
6 tbsp maple syrup
2 eggs, room temperature
2 medium bananas, peeled and mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
225 grams self raising flour
pinch salt

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade, line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
Finely grind the pecans in a food processor.
Combine the flour, salt and ground nuts in a bowl.Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one by one, and then add in the mashed bananas, 3 tablespoons of the maple syrup and the vanilla essence. Fold in the dry ingredients, then pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake for around 45 minutes until a knife or skewer comes out cleanly. Pierce with a skewer all over, and drizzle over the remaining maple syrup.

Cranberry and Orange Stollen

This is a vulgar and delicious adaptation of Delia's stollen recipe.

Ingredients
150ml Cointreau, Triple Sec or brandy
300ml full fat milk
100grams caster sugar
4tsp dried yeast
700 grams strong white bread flour
220 grams softened unsalted butter
2 eggs, beaten
140 grams dried cranberries
100 grams sultanas
80 grams dried no-soak apricots, chopped
50 grams glace cherries (natural colour, preferably), halved
50 grams almonds, chopped
grated zest of 1 lemon
grated zest of 1 orange
200 grams cranberry sauce
350 grams marzipan
To glaze
100 grams sifted icing sugar
1 tbsp orange juice (from the zested orange used in the dough)

 Method
 Put the dried fruit and glacé cherries in a small saucepan with your chosen alcohol. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Now get on with the dough while you allow the fruits to become imbued with festive spirit. Warm the milk  (I do this in the microwave, in  a glass measuring jug), add 2tsp of the caster sugar, and sprinkle of the yeast on the surface of the milk. Leave the yeast to create a frothy head on top of the milk. Now sift the flour into a large mixing bowl with the salt and remaining sugar. Make a well in the centre, and pour in the yeasted milk mixture, along with the eggs and butter. Mix with a wooden spoon, along with the dried fruits, almonds and zest. Knead the dough, either with your hands, or an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment. You may need to add more flour, you want a slightly sticky dough, it is ready when it feels springy and elastic. Put the dough in a bowl, clingfilm and leave to double in size, this could take up to 2 hours.
After the first prove, punch the dough down, and divide into two. Knead one of the halves of dough on a floured surface until it feels springy. Roll out into a rectangle 20cm x 25cm. Spread with half the cranberry sauce. Take half the marzipan and roll into a sausage that is almost the length of the stollen, place in the centre, and fold the dough over it. Remove carefully to a lined baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the stollen dough. Leave the loaves to rise again, this time about 20 minutes. Set your oven to 180 degrees, and when they have finished the second prove, bake for about 35-40 minutes.
Mix the icing sugar with the orange juice to make a thick icing, and drizzle over the stollens. I also sprinkled over extra cranberries and some pistachios.

Epaule d'Agneau Boulangère

This is Sunday lunch made easy, something for the days when the military precision of a traditional roast is too much to deal with. There's a little preparation, then you can forget about it while you get on with other things. A few hours later you are rewarded with fork-tender meat and melting potatoes, imbued with the fat and juices from the lamb. All you need alongside is something green, maybe some beans with a little butter, although recently I upped my game with purple sprouting broccoli, dressed in anchovy, garlic, parsley and olive oil.

 Ingredients
1 shoulder of lamb
olive oil
glass white wine
1-1.5 kg waxy potatoes
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
Leaves from a few sprigs of rosemary

Method
Preheat the oven to its highest setting. Sit the lamb in roasting tin that will be large enough to accommodate the lamb and the potatoes, sliced, later. Rub your joint with a little olive oil, and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. Now peel and slice the potatoes and onion, and peel and roughly chop the garlic. Chop the rosemary Turn the heat down to 160 degrees. Remove the pan from the oven, and put the lamb on a chopping board while you get in with arranging the vegetables. Deglaze the pan with some white wine, scraping at any browned bits in the pan. Now add the potatoes, onions, garlic and rosemary. Many recipes tell you to layer the onion and potato, but I find it easier and just as good to toss them all in together, along with some salt and pepper. Place the lamb back on top, and put the whole thing back in the oven. Leave for 3-4 hours, till the meat is tender.