Empty Nest Syndrome.

The ice skating rink in Winchester, a stone's throw away from Bert and Holly's new home.

The run up to Christmas has been rather an emotional roller coaster for me this year. I've hated the unseasonably warm weather we've been experiencing, endless grey skies and perpetual rain are hardly conducive to feeling festive. I want to wake up to snow (or at least some Jack frost) let's face it, snow has the power to alter a picture and is a disconnect from reality. Most of us become giddy and childlike when our surroundings are transformed with this magical white powder.

Shopping excursions to my local town have felt spectacularly un festive! Fareham has become like any other archetypal shopping centre, full of commercial outlets staffed by youngsters who are probably on the minimum wage and consequently don't really want to be bothered serving nuisance customers.

Added to which, Bert moved out officially at the weekend and whilst it was an exciting whirlwind of packing and moving, the reality suddenly struck today when I wandered into his room empty of all his belongings. I guess we can never be prepared for the confusing shift of roles, Bert is now master of his own home, I shall no longer know what he will be eating for dinner each night (today is hotchpotch Monday - Bert certainly won't miss that.)  And how often do I get in touch? I don't want to tread on Holly's toes by bombarding him with texts and quite frankly, a few texts are no compensation for not being able to look someone in the eye or give them a hug anyway.

It's not all doom and gloom, I actually felt very festive over the weekend spending time in the beautiful city of Winchester, with its magnificent cathedral, historic architecture, chiming cathedral bells and everywhere adorned with beautiful Christmas lights it felt like I'd been transported into a Dickensian Christmas. The city was heaving with people and the atmosphere was full of bonhomie and festive cheer.

It had been arranged that Bert and Holly would come on Sunday for our mock Christmas day/dinner. Thankfully I had precooked my meat as the celebrations of the night before had left me feeling slightly the worse for wear.

Fortuitously I had watched Nigella Lawson smother a gammon ham in black treacle and slow cook it for 12-24 hours on her Christmas special, I decided to cook a largish joint of pork smothered in maple syrup (one has to adapt recipes to the ingredients on hand) and it worked really well. Thankfully on Sunday all that was left to do was roast some vegetables drizzled in some of the liquid I'd reserved from my cooked pork.

Maple syrup glazed pork

Recipe
3.5 kilograms pork joint
150g maple syrup

Preheat oven to 250c/gas mark 9
Lay the pork on two layers of tinfoil going in opposite directions so that you can make a loose tent, place in a baking tray
Smother pork in maple syrup and create a well sealed foil tent around the pork
Place in oven for 30 minutes then reduce heat to 100c/gas mark 1/4 and cook for 12 hours
Remove from oven and after 10 minutes carefully open foil seal, lift pork out and set aside to rest for 15 minutes before carving
Add the reserved liquid to moisten carved meat

This might seem like a long winded way to cook a joint of meat, however, once in the oven you can completely forget about it. The result is a lovely soft caramelised joint, be it pork or gammon.

'Son, you are the closest I will ever come to magic'
-Suzanne Finnamore.

Love Donna xxxxxxx

The Only Way To Have A Friend Is To Be One

So, I have received my first Christmas present, a very befitting pink bejewelled apron embellished with the words: Auntie Angel Queen of hotchpotch meals. Angel is a byname I acquired years ago and one used by most of my closest friends (with the exception of those who met me in a working environment, where of course, I used my birth name Donna.) I respond to both names without distinction, I am Angel and Donna equally (although Angel tends to prevail.)

More relevant is the reference to hotchpotch meals. My friend Clarrie, who designed my beautiful apron, knows better than anyone about my obsession regarding wasting nothing food wise. Our history as work colleagues gave her some insight into the ruminations of my culinary mind, but for her the fun really started when she met my son Bert who has been subjected to a lifetime of leftovers, the joke being: the original meal has never been found. Very much a foodie himself, Bert has been known to refer to my hotchpotch dinners as bush tucker trials (sometimes the ingredients are literally such a hotchpotch that nothing is individually discernible.)

Anyway, I was thrilled with my apron and proceeded to hand out my presents. Todd received his usual Christmas pyjamas (I always bought Bert pyjamas at Christmas and he would open them on Christmas eve, he had batman pj's one year which he refused to take off for several days) which naturally for a two year old wasn't overly exciting. However, Todd loved a cookery book I'd given to Clarrie and sat for ages thumbing through it, he was particularly taken with a photo of a salmon terrine which he thought was a 'cake.'

                                    I think we might have a budding chef on our hands

I stupidly missed out on another present this week, my dear little friend Carron had booked afternoon tea at The Sanderson hotel which is an amazing Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter's tea. I let her down (not for the first time) and understandably she treated another friend in my place.

I appreciate how lucky I am to have a friend who, not only wanted to treat me to such a lovely occasion in the first place, but took it with such good grace when I looked this gift horse in the mouth.

I guess we all assess our relationships from time to time, but particularly so at Christmas when we take out our address books ready to send our Christmas cards. There are certainly a couple of people off my Christmas card list this year, friends who, unlike Carron, have taken umbrage, possibly at something I've said, or not said - done or not done? Anyway, the word 'friend' has become rather void of meaning in a world governed by social media (how can anyone have eleven hundred friends?)

Personally I enjoy Facebook, it's reconnected me to old school friends and distant relatives and is a great form of communication and although we all post banalities about our lives, it's a great vehicle for getting things off our chests. However, the downside is that people can become very antagonistic behind the safety of a computer screen (invariably people who wouldn't say the things they're posting out loud in conversation.) And then there's the narcissism, you know, the people who expect you to 'like' every photo or status update zzzzzzzzzz. Added to which, we're all judging each other by what we 'like' or comment on, and unlike my namesake, I'm no Angel if someone presses my buttons!

There is a very pertinent saying which goes: betrayals rarely come from an enemy! I guess the by product of spending so much time online is that we forget how to navigate real-world relationships, and where once we communicated face to face or by phone (especially if we wanted to resolve a problem) we now text, email or Facebook each other.

True friendship doesn't have to be about grand gestures and if you're only doing something for a friend because you expect something in return, you're doing business, not kindness. One of the nicest gifts I've received recently was from my dear friend Jude who gave me a pot of her homemade fig chutney. This was one of the tastiest chutneys I've ever had and went superbly well with cheese, therefore I felt I must share her recipe.

Fig chutney

Recipe
1kg fresh figs, coarsely chopped
250g brown sugar
150ml malt vinegar
150ml cider vinegar
250g chopped onions
250g raisins
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Place figs in a large saucepan, add the vinegars, onions, raisins, allspice, coriander, salt and pepper
Bring to the boil, simmer for 30 minutes
Stir in the sugar, bring back to the boil, then turn the heat down so that the chutney bubbles gently
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan
Bottle in sterilised jars while hot and seal

'There are going to be some people who at some point of your life will become your friends.
And there are some friends, who at some point, will become just people.'
- Anonymous.

Love Donna xxxxxxxx

Queen Of The Fairy Lights

Simply Nigella concluded last night with a Christmas special and was, as expected, full of head wobbling, saucy lines and innuendos, not least about covering her bundits with lashings of caramel sauce. Nigella's right up there with the Carry On team and Kenny Everett (remember his hilarious double entendre, Cupid Stunt.)

Nigella declared herself Queen of the fairy lights, I'd say it's a close run thing Nigella, as I have fairy lights scattered around my home all year round, particularly in my kitchen and dining room, as I think they add to the ambience of cooking, dining and entertaining. 

Of course the problem with Christmas specials is that we've seen it all before, in fact, the least problematic meal for most of us is Christmas dinner as invariably we all cook the same thing every year. Without fail, my Nigella's Christmas comes out every year, just for the pure pleasure of looking at it as I can cook most of her recipes with my eyes closed and lets face it, there's only so many ways to stuff a bird (guffaw guffaw.)

Amongst the recipes delivered in Simply Nigella's Christmas Special was a stir fry which she 'knocked up' using sprouts, brown basmati rice, pickled peppers and pineapple topped with a fried egg, a sort of posh persons bubble and squeak. The reason it grabbed my fancy was twofold, I love vegetarian dishes and it wasn't very calorific, Nigella used coconut oil (although she was keen to point out that whilst it's the most raved about healthy option now - we'll be told the opposite sometime soon no doubt!)

I think we all fall into the trap of thinking vegetarian and healthy food is bland, there is a funny advert on TV demonstrating this where a family are all gathered ready to watch a dvd and dad says 'let's call out for some cous cous.' Of course in reality we want loaded burgers, pizzas, Chinese takeaways and Haagen daz ice cream. However, some of the most flavoursome meals I cook are both vegetarian and healthy, I adapted Nigella's recipe slightly and I can only tell you that everyone wanted seconds!

This recipe might be worth thinking about on Boxing day, it's the perfect anecdote to all the richness and over-indulgence from the day before because it's light. The ginger (which has a myriad of healing properties) is warming and soothing and gives it an aromatic kick, and it would be the perfect accompaniment to leftover cold cuts as a change from potatoes and piccalilli, alternatively you could serve it with a couple of fried eggs.

Sprout stir fry

Recipe

500g sprouts, shredded

1 dessert spoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 dessert spoon pickled ginger

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon dried chillies

300g spinach (if using frozen, cook in a microwave for 3-4 minutes and squeeze out excess water)

Pre-cooked rice (Nigella used a pouch of brown basmati rice, I used a 200g bag of frozen rice with Mediterranean vegetables which I cooked in the microwave)

Heat the oil in a large pan, add shredded sprouts and cook for 6-8 minutes or until tender

Blitz pickled ginger and garlic with some of the vinegar from the jar and add to the sprouts

Add soy sauce, chillies and season with black pepper

Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes and add spinach

Combine everything well so as the vegetables are infused with flavour

Add pre-cooked rice and continue stirring and cooking for 2-3 minutes

Serve while piping hot

'People eat meat and think they will become as strong as an ox, forgetting that the ox eats grass!'

- Pino Caruso

Love Donna xxxxxx

A Lighter Way To Bake

                                          In my mid-twenties on a beach in Kenya

It's funny how the weight creeps up on you. As a young woman I was a petite size 10, mind you, I grew up in an era before eating a Big Mac between meals became the norm. My mother's kitchen contained a tiny fridge with a freezer compartment only big enough for a packet of frozen peas and an ice cube tray. There was a small larder which contained baking ingredients and a cupboard with non perishables ie a few tins, therefore I couldn't raid the cupboard or freezer for goodies, neither was there a Costa Coffee on every street corner, doleing out coffees at around 400 calories a throw.

British people now spend nearly 30 billion pounds on fast food every year, shopping centres are choc full with fast food outlets tempting us to eat and drink calorific foodstuffs, a far cry from my youth when we only had Wimpy bars.

I have never subscribed to this new fad of 'fast food' I don't eat McDonald's or Kentucky fried chicken, the smell alone emanating from Subway makes me queasy, I dislike everything Nandos and Ranchos stand for (quantity over quality) and as you already know, I avoid processed ready-meals like the plague. I've never been to Sprinkles or eaten a Krispy Kreme doughnut, I don't even buy biscuits for goodness sake, however, I have seen a significant hike in my weight these last 10 years!

Women's bodies can often alter shape in their 40s, a change in the balance of hormones and a slowing metabolism plays a part. As we approach the menopause, oestrogen levels fluctuate and fat distribution is often affected. During my teenage years I went to bed each night hoping that I would awake the next morning with big bosoms, all my friends had sprouted breasts to rival page 3 models. Unfortunately it never happened (thank God for Wonder bras and chicken fillets!) However, when I least wanted them, (like every other part of my body) they started to grow!

Ok, so it doesn't help that I am a restaurant reviewer, or that I enjoy red wine, the high calorific content of which sees the average wine drinker putting on half a stone of fat a year. Each bottle of wine I drink = 644 calories = a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries, (I know which I'd prefer.)

I often wonder, in the current climate of obesity, if young girls who are already hugely overweight in their 20s, understand the ramifications?

            A group of young girls who tucked into massive meals with gay abandon

I've never dieted, however, for many years I ate sensibly Monday through to Friday and then indulged at the weekend - this effectively was similar to the 5 2 diet in reverse. Fad diets are proven not to work and are just a money-spinner for both food and health corporations. Recently, my friend Clarrie (who has featured on this blog several times) decided to go on a diet, she has successfully and sensibly overhauled her eating habits with a view to the long term, (shakes and bars are just a quick fix) she is cooking and preparing fresh ingredients and has eschewed many of the calorific treats she consumed.....although not all. A long term healthy eating plan has to be realistic, none of us can envisage living on whole grains, beans and goji berries without the odd treat and as I've always said: 'Everything in moderation.'

With Christmas fast approaching, Clarrie has been looking at ways to enjoy some seasonal excess without adding too many calories. She recently made these delicious mince pies using filo pastry which has the huge advantage of no fat in the pastry but all the taste.

Filo mince pies

Recipe
1 packet of filo pastry sheets
Spray oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 jar of mincemeat

Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4
Lay the sheets of filo pastry out

Cut into 6 strips

On both halves of each strip place a spoonful of mincemeat
Form 12 triangle parcels

Spray a baking tray with a little oil and brush your parcels with egg wash
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden and crisp

These little parcels are absolutely scrumptious without all the added fat of your regular mince pies, well worth making.


'True discipline is really just self-remembering; no forcing or fighting is necessary.'


Love Donna xxxxxxxx  

Pushing The Boundaries.

                                                                      Two Fat Ladies

Last night I happened upon some old re-runs of the TV cookery show Two Fat Ladies. The series ended in 1999 therefore I was probably watching something that was at least 16 years old, however, it seemed utterly ancient compared with modern cookery programmes.

Clarissa Dickson Wright and co star Jennifer Paterson were two eccentric, loud, formidably intelligent, fat women who shared a love of food and an affected unconcern regarding fat or calories and pushing the boundaries.

Both women had plummy accents, rich with haughty disdain, they were both utterly un-pc and Jennifer in particular was wont to drink on set and regularly 'nipped out for a fag.' They used phrases such as 'yummo' whilst mixing large quantities of butter or lard into their recipes with fat fingers clad in chunky jewels.

They drove around the country in a Triumph Thunderbird motorbike and sidecar with the number plate N88 TFL the British bingo call for number 88 was 'Two Fat Ladies.' Clarissa once commented 'I never minded sitting in the sidecar when Jennifer drove, even if I knew she was on her second bottle of vodka.' One can see why the show was apparently the Queen Mother's favourite viewing!

Watching this old episode made me realise how times have changed, we are now constantly under the gaze of self-appointed pc warriors, it is virtually impossible to do or say anything challenging without incurring their wrath. The very notion of calling themselves Two Fat Ladies would now be seen as offensive, thus they belong to a bygone era (although I have no doubt they would have stuck two fat fingers up at the ideology of controlled public speech and thought.)

I've been watching the current series of Professional Masterchef and am amazed that many of the supposedly skilled chefs can't execute basic recipes. Innovation is the lingua franca of the food world and whilst most of the chefs can produce dishes such as chicken, foie, quince and cobnut ravioli or lapsang souchong infused saddle of venison, they can't make a pancake batter or cheese sauce.

In a recent episode chefs were challenged to make buck rarebit, a glorified cheese on toast, but surprisingly they all struggled with this very simple dish. Therefore I think it's worth posting because it really is the ultimate comfort food.

Buck rarebit
Recipe

White sauce
25g butter
25g plain flour
300ml milk

Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat
Stir in the flour and combine with the butter to form a paste

Add a little milk at a time, stirring continuously until you have a smooth, slightly thick sauce

Now you can add 1 free range egg and combine into sauce

Add 1 teaspoon of mustard

Add 225g of cheese, I like Stilton but mature Cheddar works equally well

Once the cheese has melted your sauce is ready
Place your bread under the grill and toast it on both sides until crisp and golden
Spread the cheese mixture onto the toast - right to the edges, then sprinkle with a light dusting of cayenne pepper

Place under the grill, 3 inches from the heat, until golden brown and bubbling

                                                                   Deeeeelicious!

'Never throw away squeezed lemons, keep them by the sink. Then you can use them to remove fish, onion or garlic smells from your fingers. Or you can stick them on your elbows while you are reading a book, to soften and whiten your skin.'
- Jennifer Paterson.

'The term 'political correctness' has always appalled me, reminding me of Orwell's 'thought police' and fascist regimes.'
- Helmut Newton.

Love Donna xxxxxx

A Juicy Secret.

Whilst I make no claims to be a connoisseur, I do love a good red wine and when I am in Spain I can lose myself amongst the wine racks of our local bodega for hours at a time. I love that I can select Vintage and Gran Reserva wines for a fraction of the price here in the UK.

They say that women and wine go together like melted chocolate and strawberries, that it's a sacred functional relationship, however, I quite happily supped my way through malibu and coke, pernod and black (blackcurrant cordial) pina colada's and white wine spritzers (all very sweet, which with hindsight appealed to my unrefined palette) before I acquired a taste for red wine, which after all, is the most healthy and hygienic of beverages according to Louis Pasteur!

Experts have discovered the 'gastronomic watershed' an age at which we start to appreciate grown up food and drink (ie not sickly sweet malibu and coke!) Sophisticated adults veer towards olives, blue cheese and anchovies, all firm favourites of mine which coincidentally go very well with red wine. Bizarrely, given I was a vegetarian for many years, I now enjoy the occasional steak, but I'm glad that as with wine, I really appreciate it and look for good quality. A good steak accompanied with an excellent wine is a thing of pleasure, cheap steak and plonk, so readily available, is by no means comparable, as I've found out in my local Beefeater restaurant!

The only problem I have found with buying steak (and readers will know I don't do economy, factory farmed meat) is the cut. Of course, fillet is the best steak but comes at a high price, I have decided I don't like rump steak, but definitely like rib eye and t bone. However, having bought two expensive pieces of sirloin steak recently I was disappointed at how chewy and unpalatable they were (I simply cannot do chewy meat!) It occurred to me that my mother always marinated steak prior to cooking so I did a bit of swotting up and found this advice. Salting your steaks prior to cooking breaks down the protein molecules of the meat, causing them to attach to fat molecules helping to seal in moisture and flavour. Salt has a high affinity for water and steak is full of moisture, the salt coating will pull the moisture to the surface.

You must use coarse sea salt or pink Himalayan salt which is stone ground and has bigger granules (hence you use less) and is less processed than table salt.

Salt your steaks at least 1 hour prior to cooking
Lay the steaks on a plate and sprinkle approximately 1 teaspoon of salt over the surface (for extra flavour add crushed garlic, as the salt enters the muscle fibres it will take the garlic with it.)
Flip the steaks over and cover with salt, pressing the granules into the steak

After an hour, rinse the steaks and then pat completely dry with paper towels (if the steaks are wet they will steam)
Cook steaks to your requirements, place on a plate with a knob of homemade garlic butter and enjoy

I tried this method and our steaks were literally as soft as butter, however, they were expensive grass-fed outdoor reared steaks and the salting method is advised for an inexpensive cut of steak, either way, I shall certainly use this simple trick again.

'Age appears best in four things; old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust and old authors to read.'
- Francis Bacon.

Love Donna xxxxx

Love Is In The Air

                                              Bertie and Holly in Winchester Cathedral.

So, at the grand age of twenty seven my darling boy has flown the nest. Never one to rush in to anything, Bert has kept girls at bay and has led a rather spectacular single life. To be fair, I never encouraged him to move out, he's spent the last few years growing his own business and needed our moral support and with UK property prices soaring, it was almost impossible for him to get a mortgage on anything bigger than a cupboard. Added to which, given that 42% of marriages in England end in divorce, I admired his caution regarding relationships, Bert has always taken emotional intimacy quite seriously and didn't want a trail of abandonment, particularly where children were concerned, behind him, something which is all too common these days.

Although he kept Holly a closely guarded secret for several months, he finally introduced us and both Glenn and I were immediately smitten. Like Bert and I, Holly was born and bred in London before moving to Hampshire, she is smart, full of cockney spirit, funny, beautiful but most importantly, sweet and kind, she seems to be the perfect match for Bertie.

The happy couple have found a lovely starter home, a bijou mews apartment in the centre of Winchester, an ideal destination for young lovers with its world class attractions and architecture, unrivalled shopping and dining, it's a city which is firmly established as a foodie destination (right up Bert's street) and is crammed with hidden treasures, all waiting to be explored.

As the saying goes: I haven't lost a son, I've gained a daughter in law! However, for twenty seven years Bert has always eaten Christmas lunch with me, therefore when he casually told me that he will be spending Christmas with Holly's family I was initially taken a back. But all is not lost, we shall have a mock Christmas day on the Sunday preceeding Christmas with turkey and all the trimmings.

On Christmas day I shall do a lunch that is quick and easy as I've decided Glenn and I will join friends in our local pub for pre dinner drinks. I did a trial run last Sunday and was pleased with the results, for anyone not entertaining a huge crowd this Christmas but still wanting a festive lunch that can be pre-prepared and cooked quickly and effortlessly this is ideal.

Winter spiced chicken

1 medium free range chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
Zest and juice of 2 clementines
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Combiine spices, orange zest and juice with olive oil in a small bowl
Preheat oven 200c/gas 6
Make some cuts in the chicken legs as this will help the chicken cook quicker
Rub the marinade over the chicken and place in the oven
Put frozen Brussels in a baking tray and pour in a good glug of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkle with salt and coat all the Brussels, put in the fridge

Go to the pub for an hour.............
Remove chicken from the oven

Add potatoes and parsnips (I par boiled and froze them a couple of days earlier as a time saving exercise) coat with the spiced chicken juices and add more oil if necessary, return to oven

Place Brussels in the oven for 30-40 minutes until tender and caramelised
Remove the chicken from the oven 10 minutes before the veg is cooked and cover with foil

Remove potatoes and parsnips and set aside
Add 2 tablespoons of plain flour to the baking tray and over a low heat stir into the spicy chicken juices, scraping up all the sticky bits at the bottom, gradually add boiling water until you have a thick glossy gravy

Carve the chicken and serve with trimmings and gravy

The Brussels are so much more tastier cooked in the oven and it's so effortless, I'd really recommend this method of cooking them.

'It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.'
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Love Donna xxxx