Mezzy Chrimblenast.

Well that's it over for another year. We had a good one. I was delighted that the boy broke the "no more cookbooks" rule and brung me "Ottolenghi: The Cookbook" for Chrimblenast. I've long been an admirer of Yotam's weekly recipes in the Guardian; he cooks a lot of wonderful, inventive veggie food, but he isn't actually a vegetarian and the cookbook contains lots of great meaty recipes. He focuses on a few "star ingredients", including salt, garlic, lemon, olive oil, coriander, mint, yoghurt, pomegranate, tahini, sumac and Za'atar and feta cheese. What's not to like? I will be cooking something speshul for NYE out of this book, I am considering the seared duck breasts with blood orange and star anise, I'll keep you posted.
As well as a foody book, the boy's sister brung us a basket full of tasty bits and pieces, with the emphasis on spices, including caraway seeds, green cardamon pods, cinnamon, lime leaves, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, pomegranate seeds, kalonji onion seeds, saffron,and dried birds eye chilis. All of which will come in well handy for making my Yotam Ottolenghi recipes. I haven't got around to mentioning the fascinating book she gave me for my birthday, also a foody present. It's called The Flavour Thesaurus and is by Niki Segnit. It is a study of taste and an exploration of food combinations; those that do and don't work. Bacon and banana anyone? It is a really fascinating book and useful if, like me, you want to break free from slavishly following recipes and develop your innate sense of what works in the kitchen.
We stuck to the traditional flavour combinations for Christmas day, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Grilled streaky bacon cobs with bucks fizz for brekko, then a steady drip of olives and gherkins kept us going until the main event. As there were only two of us we didn't have a whole turkey, but a free range stuffed turkey joint from Sainsbury's was very good quality and loads of meat, enough for boxing day curry and sandwiches on the train up to mum and dad's on Monday. Trimmings consisted of pigs in blankets, sage and onion stuffing, honey and thyme roasted carrots, roast parsnips, crisp fresh sprouts and divine, garlicky, buttery roasties. A few hours after this delight we were tucking into the third bottle of red and a smorgasmic cheese board. The day was quite sedate apart from a short, late visit to see the smoggy round the corner, a far cry from last years pineapple mojito fuelled mayhem!
Leftovers fuelled hangover dispatching bubble and squeak patties served with bacon and eggs. Toast and honey? Nah! We revisited the cheese, and are about to tuck into a classic boxing day turkey curry. The boy's folks gifted us with a spice grinder, and the brother with an ingenious chopping device so it has been an all mod-cons curry, so convenient we've hardly had to cook! Well, I've been sitting here typing to you and swilling down shiraz; nice work if you can get it, and still more than a week off. Cheers, and Merry Christmas.