Gnocchi with squash,spinach and prociutto

No more turkey for me.....we've done turkey curry, turkey stir fry,turkey pie.....really fancied something a bit different,yet not too taxing time wise.....So here we are...I'm using the vacuum packed gnocchi and precut butternut squash cubes - it doesn't get any easier my friends.

4 tbsp butter
6 slices deli prosciutto,cut into 1/4 inch strips....or use bacon
2 peeled and halved butternut squash halves,cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tbsp minced fresh thyme
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 lb vacuum packed gnocchi
salt and pepper
4 oz baby spinach

melt 1 tbsp of the butter in a frying pan and cook the prosciutto until crisp,about 3 minutes.If you are using bacon that will take a bit longer. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate.  As you can see in the picture ,I was using bacon.
Add the squash and remaining butter to the pan and cook until lightly browned,about 5 minutes. Add the thyme and cook for another minute.

Stir in the wine and cook  until reduced by half,about 3 minutes,then add the stock and again cook until slightly thickened,about 4 minutes. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the gnocchi until they start floating to the surface. I used wholegrain gnocchi,they look like little fat grubs, but taste great. Reserving half a cup of the cooking water,add the gnocchi to the squash mixture,stir in the spinach until its starting to wilt,and the cooked prosciutto/ bacon. Throw in the reserved cooking water if its looking too dry and season with salt and pepper.

I'm right about my description of these yes??

  Since The Teenager is a cheese freak I sprinkled some Parmesan on top to make him feel at home.....yum.

This is great for these cold dark night....got a big thumbs up from my turkied -out  family. (Is that even a word??)

Gingerbread reindeer

Normally at this time of year I am up to my oxters in baking mince pies.....listening to Carol's from Kings as I go. This is only our second  Christmas we've spent in the States....we've been back to England a couple of times to spend time with our families. So since this year is an American style Christmas I'm not going to do the mince pies ( traveling man does not know this yet..we may have a revolt.......) and I have been making Gingerbread reindeer instead. The teenager helped- well for a while- and I still had the carols playing,not the Kings College ones though....

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 stick butter,softened
2 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses
3 3/4 cups flour
2 teasp ground ginger
11/2 teasp baking soda
1/2 teap ground cinnamon
1/2 teasp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teasp salt

Using an electric mixer on low speed,cream the butter and sugar until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs and molasses and mix again until combined. Sift the flour,ginger,baking soda,cinnamon ,nutmeg and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and combine with a spoon or spatula.

Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap,then place it in the fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes.
  Line cookie sheets with baking parchment,and take small amounts of dough at a time,to roll on a floured surface. Roll til about 1/8 inch thick,then cut our our shapes.

Bake for 10 minutes until the edges are just beginning to brown. Cool and decorate - I used the ready made icing pens for quickness.

Don't they look festive!! A few of them need to go to the Gingerbread Hospital as they have broken legs.... Or we could just put them out of their misery straight away and eat them now,as the Teenager told me in no uncertain terms..

    I'll do the mince pies next year,traveling man,I promise!!

Venison Casserole

It  took me a while to find venison here in Oregon. It was always very easy in Cambridgeshire,I just needed to have a word with my butcher on the farm and he'd have it fresh the next day. Needless to say he had deer on his farm so he didn't have far to go to find the meat....but I don't want to think about that part......! I  managed to "special order " this meat ...turns out it came all the way from California....where are the Oregon deer I wonder as I'm all for eating locally....Anyway this casserole is made with venison,shallots,mushrooms,red wine and stock . Like all casseroles its best made the day before to allow the flavours to mingle . Oh and it makes alot....this is for 10 people ,but it freezes beautifully.


3 1/2 lb venison stew meat
1 pint red wine
2 springs fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic crushed
2 1/4 lb shallots
10 rashers bacon,chopped into small pieces
2 oz butter
4 tbsp veg oil
6 level tbsp flour
3/4 pint chicken stock
2 tbsp redcurrent jelly
1 lb mushrooms

Put the venison in a bowl with the wine,2 rosemary sprigs and garlic and marinate for 2 -24 hours. Put the shallots in a bowl and cover with boiling water, leave for 10 mins then peel.

In a large casserole dish fry the bacon until crisp,then fry the shallots in 1 oz butter - or in the bacon fat if there is lots. I halved the shallots to cook them,as they looked quite big boys,but I've also left them whole and that works too.Preheat oven to 300. Drain the venison,reserving the marinade,and using 2 tbsp oil and  the other 1 0z butter,fry the meat in batches until chestnut brown . Its important not to crowd the pan or the meat will steam rather than colour....Set the meat to the side and add the flour, cook 1 minute. Stir in the reserved marinade and stock,bring to the boil ,then add the bacon,shallots and venison. Add the redcurrant jelly and mushrooms,season ,cover the casserole with a lid and cook for 21/2 to 3 hours...the meat will be fall apart tender by then. Remove the rosemary sprigs before serving.

I like to serve this with a mash of potato and parsnip flavoured with sour cream and Dijon mustard....soaks up all of the lovely juices fantastically.

Special jewelled stuffing

There's got to be lots of stuffing in my house over Christmas....its what makes a good turkey sandwich great. We also go big on bacon ....and this bacon wrapped stuffing  roll  fits the bill perfectly...and you can prepare it in advance ,freeze it and cross one more thing off your list of Christmas preparations!! How cool is that.
What is essential when you make this is to have some festive music blaring and sing your little heart out as you cook....

I recommend this Delia Smith cookery book..the guru of English cooking  -that I have used for ever and get most of my Christmas ideas from.....

 Chestnut and cranberry roll - makes 2 rolls ,each cuts into 8 slices.



1 tbsp olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
2 apples,peeled and finely chopped
3 lb pork sausage meat
12 oz vacuum packed or jarred chestnuts
small bunch parsley ,roughly chopped
small bunch sage and thyme,finely chopped
1 egg
4 oz breadcrumbs-i used gluten free bread to allow one of my Christmas guests with an intolerance to be able to partake.....
6 oz fresh cranberries
24 -yes 24- rashers bacon
butter for greasing

I'm realising as I'm writing this that this is a very English recipe,and I bet the American audience don't recognise the word rasher...we'll see.......

Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion for about 5 minutes until softened. In a large bowl, add all the ingredients apart from the cranberries and bacon ,get your hands in and mix it all up. Season well. Keep a couple of handfuls of the stuffing mixture separate and add a few cranberries to this. This can be used to stuff the neck of the turkey. To assemble, butter and season a large sheet of foil. Stretch the bacon rashers slightly with a kitchen knife to make them longer,then overlap 12  rashers on the foil.

Spoon half of the stuffing mix over the bacon,leaving about an inch around the edge. Scatter with half of the cranberries.

Using the foil to help, roll the stuffing up to make a log shape. Repeat to make a second roll.

You can either freeze your two rolls now,or cook.....With the oven at375, place the foil wrapped rolls on a backing sheet and roast for 45 mins. Unwrap,draining off any juice,and finish roasting for 15 mins until the bacon is crisp.

Travelling Man's favourite tart.....

This is travelling man's fav dessert.....he isn't really a dessert kind of a guy...unfortunately  the opposite to me....I love desserts..... so I was so excited when I cooked this...years ago and he actually enthused  about it !
 French pear Tart....french tarts are always the best n'est pas??!

2 tins pear halves in natural juice
4 tbsp apricot jam
 For the almond filling.. 3 1/2 oz ground almonds
2 oz sugar
5 tbsp butter
1 egg plus 1 egg white
few drops of vanilla essence

For the pastry..
7 oz -3 2/4 cups plain flour
pinch salt
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup butter,cubed
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp cold water

First make the pastry (or cheat and buy ready made...) Sift the flour with the salt and sugar. Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs. Mix the egg yolks and water and sprinkle over the dry ingredients,then mix to a dough. I've also done this all in a food processor.... Knead for a few seconds and then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Roll out the pastry and line a 9 inch flan tin ,and chill again whist you make the filling.
    Pulse the almonds and sugar together in a processor,add the butter and process until creamy. Mix in the egg plus extra yolk and the vanilla essence.
   Place a baking sheet in an oven and preheat to 375. Pour the almond cream filling into the tart shell. Drain the pear halves and arrange over the almond mixture.  Cook for 50 minutes until the filling is set and well browned.  Meanwhile  warm the jam in a small saucepan and brush over the warm tart when its cooked.

About to go in the oven......

The finished tart..!!

Make ahead chicken and chorizo paella

Although you don't normally think of paella as a make ahead dish, you can prepare this recipe up to the point of adding the liquid....as I did and finished it off the next day...


I made this for some friends who came to dinner this week....they are going to the Galapagos Islands for Christmas.....how exotic is that....can't give such globe trotters something like spag bol...oh no ,I had to think of something,well ,Continental..!! This was about as continental as I could manage on a cold grey winters day....but it was GOOD!!

14 o z fresh chorizo cut into 1 inch thick slices0
14 oz chicken breast cut into quarters
2 red  onions finely chopped
6 garlic gloves finely chopped
2 teasp smoked hot paprika
1 teasp saffron threads soaked in 1 tbsp boiling water for 1 minute
7 oz jar marinated artichokes,drained
9 oz calasparra or arborio rice
1/3 cup dry sherry
28 oz chicken stock
14 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 large handful flat leaf parsley,chopped

Heat a large paella pan,or heavy based skillet over a medium heat and cook the sliced chorizo for 2-3 minutes each side until browned. Drain the sausage on kitchen paper,and add the chicken to the pan where you will fry it until golden- maybe 3 - 4  minutes each side ,in the leftover oil that the chorizo "exuded".

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside with the chorizo.Now add the onion and garlic,season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes until golden and softened. Add the paprika,saffron mixture and artichokes and mix in. I stopped cooking at this point and keep everything in the fridge to carry on with the next day.....

About 25 minutes before serving, return the onion mixture to the pan and heat through. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains. Add the sherry and simmer until reduced by half, then add the stock and  tomatoes, and bring to the boil.   Return the chicken and chorizo to the pan, reduce the heat to low,and simmer ,without stirring for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.Add the peas,remove from the heat and cover with foil and let it stand for 10 minutes. Scatter with the parsley...

There it is , the finished dish. Enough for  about 8!!   I served mine with a spinach and feta salad with pistachios.

OLE!!