Hi everyone and welcome to the blog. When it comes to the all important Christmas Dinner, vegetables are a cook’s worse nightmare. I think we’ve all been to dinners where we’ve had to endure either bland, undercooked or overcooked vegetable accompaniments. We’ve all had bowling ball sprouts (or worse sprouts that have turned to mush as soon as you put a fork in them), carrots while still having their “fresh crunch” could have been used in a fresh salad, peas that could have been used for ammunition, and mash that just lacked taste and imagination. Hopefully the following information and serving suggestions will avoid any upsets on the great day.
Let’s start with the demon of all vegetables ... Brussels Sprouts.
Plump, bright green heads (the smaller, the sweeter) with tightly packed leaves. If you can buy them still attached to their long central stalk, so much the better - they'll keep fresh for longer that way.
To prepare them - If the sprouts are still on the stalk, twist each one off, trim any loose, yellow or damaged leaves, wash, then trim the base. Some people cut a cross in the base to make sure they cook evenly but with smaller ones it's not necessary, as it can cause them to go mushy. Larger ones can be cut in half.
To boil - Put into a pan with some salt, cover with boiling water, bring back to the boil and cook, covered, for 5-10 minutes. They take 5-10 minutes to steam.
To stir fry - Halve or slice finely and cook for about 10 minutes. Sprouts cook very quickly, and if overcooked are quite unpleasant, so test them regularly by piercing with a knife.
Alternatively, stir fry oil with onions and ginger; add cooked chestnuts at Christmas; boil until al dente (firm to the bite), then quickly pan fry with diced pancetta and chopped garlic.
Next ... Carrots.
Carrots should be firm, with unblemished, bright orange skins. In spring, look out for young, thin carrots with their feathery greens still attached - they're particularly tender and sweet. Those on sale later in the season will be larger and tougher. Some argue that, of all vegetables, carrots that are grown organically have the most marked improvement of flavour.
To prepare them - Very young carrots just need to be scrubbed clean and topped and tailed. Older carrots may need to be peeled (but try not to take too much off, as most of the nutrients are stored just beneath the skin) as well as topped and tailed.
To cook them - Grate raw and use to make carrot cake or coleslaw. Slice into ribbons with a peeler for a salad. Slice into chunks and roast (roasts in 30-35 minutes). Cut into batons and steam (5-6 minutes) or boil (5-7 minutes).
Alternatively try Glazed Carrots. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a small saucepan, mix in 1 tbsp of honey and 1 tbsp of Wholegrain Mustard. Drain the carrots, tip into a serving dish and pour over the glaze.
Parsnips are next in the firing line.
When choosing your parsnips go for small to medium parsnips, as larger ones can be fibrous, and always choose firm, rather than limp or shrivelled examples. Avoid those with lots of whiskers or brown patches as this indicates that they may well be rotten.
To prepare them - Young, small parsnips don't really need peeling - just scrub clean and serve whole. Older parsnips should be peeled very thinly with a peeler or sharp knife, then chopped into evenly sized chunks. If the central core is very fibrous, this should be cut away.
To cook them - Chop into chunks and roast (40-55 minutes). Cut into chunks and boil (15-20 minutes).
Alternatively try Roast parsnips with rosemary and garlic recipe by Debbie Major, Courtesy of Deliciousmagazine.co.uk.
Serves 8, take 10mins to prepare and approx. 50mins in the oven.
1kg x Small Parsnips, each 100-125g
200ml x Sunflower oil
6 x Garlic Cloves, unpeeled
15g x Butter
2 x Long Fresh Rosemary Sprigs, halved
Cut each parsnip in half lengthways. Drop into a pan of boiling salted water and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain the parsnips well in a colander, then wait for the steam to die down. Meanwhile, pour the sunflower oil into a roasting tin and heat in the oven at 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5 for 5 minutes or until the oil is really hot. Slightly crush the garlic cloves under the flat side of a large knife.
Add the parsnips to the tin, toss well in the hot oil then pour away the excess oil – this ensures the parsnips are dry and crisp, not greasy. Dot the parsnips with the butter and scatter over the rosemary and garlic. Roast for 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Turn the parsnips and roast for a further 20 minutes or until golden and crispy.
And finally, Potatoes.
When choosing your potatoes look for firm, blemish-free ones. Avoid those that are cracked, have sprouts, wrinkles or green tinges. The fine, filmy skin of new potatoes can rub off, but other potatoes should have no bald patches. Everyone has their favourite, my recommendation for the best all round potato is the Desiree, with its distinctive red skin. It is ideal for all sorts of dishes, boiled, chipped, mashed or roasted.
Prepare them - Older potatoes should be scrubbed well in cold water, and any eyes should be dug out with the tip of a peeler or a small, sharp knife. Much of the nutritional content is stored in or just under the skin, so leave it on if possible. Otherwise, peel very thinly with a potato peeler, then rinse. New potatoes just need a scrub in cold water - the skin is too thin to warrant peeling. If any area of an old or new potato is tinged with green it should be scraped or cut off, as it is mildly toxic.
Cook them - Bake whole (50 minutes -1 1/4 hours); chop into big chunks and roast (45-60 minutes for old, 30-40 for new); chop into big chunks and boil (15-20 minutes for old, 12-15 minutes for new). To make mash add a large knob of butter (salted or unsalted to your taste) to your pan of boiled potatoes and pass through a potato ricer (if you possess one) for best results.
For the perfect roast potatoes:-
cut fairly small - roughly egg size
sunflower or groundnut oil
Par-boil the potatoes in gently boiling salted water for about 8 minutes. Stop cooking before they're cooked right through. Leave to cool completely, then scratch roughly with a fork and season with a little fine salt.
Only roast around the joint if there is plenty of fat - at least ½cm/¾in in the tin - and plenty of room. It's better to preheat the oil in a separate pan, adding any beef fat from the roasting tin just before the potatoes go in. Don't add the potatoes until the oil is sizzling hot. Baste or turn the potatoes (carefully) as soon as they go into the pan so they have a light coating of oil from the start.
Roast for the last 45 minutes of your joint's cooking time, turning at least once. If they look like they could use a bit more browning/crisping, leave them in after the joint has come out to rest, while you increase the heat for the Yorkshire pudding. Then, when the preheated pudding tin is ready you'll have to decide whether the potatoes come out, or stay in for the full 15 minutes of pudding time.
Drain well and keep in a warm oven, uncovered and not too piled on top of each other. Season again with salt and pepper before serving.
Alternatively, try Celeriac Mash recipe by The Hairy Bikers, courtesy of http://www.bbc.co.uk/
350g x Celeriac, peeled, cut into chunks
800g x Maris Piper Potatoes
150ml x Double Cream
1 tbsp x Butter
Salt and white pepper
Place the celeriac and potatoes into separate pans of cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook the celeriac for 15-20 minutes and the potatoes for 10-12 minutes, or until both are tender. Drain well, then place both the celeriac and potatoes to one pan and place back over the heat for a few minutes to drive off any excess moisture.
Mash the celeriac and potatoes together, then beat in the butter and the cream until well combined. Season, to taste, with salt and white pepper.
If you have enjoyed my blog, or have tried out the recipes I have included and wish to comment, please feel free to comment using the comment button or by visiting my guestbook, all comments and suggestions will be gratefully received.
Hope you enjoy!!..... ChefGarfy =D
http://chefgarfy.blogspot.com/
http://chefgarfy.blog.co.uk/
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