Cosy Cooking
Tis the season to be jolly (busy) in the kitchen!
The days grow shorter and colder in the Northern Hemisphere as we approach Winter Solstice. Four inches of snow fell in Snowdonia last weekend, which added to the festive feel of the Christmas decorations and preparations.
We are lucky to have a cosy kitchen. A real fire draws well in the 1930s open grate, which gilds the pine cupboards and wooden floor. On the coldest days we can watch the flames flicker and throw discarded orange peel on to watch the flare of citrus oils as we wait for the kettle to boil. Here we can warm the family, cook, comforting meals and prepare some advance Christmas treats.
Even something as simple as potatoes baked in the oven can get things going and the crisp dark skins, cut open to reveal steaming white fluffiness served with good butter and salt tastes great – a treat when you have been out in the cold. But we usually manage to get a pork shoulder in the slow cooker too, a recipe which requires ginger, garlic, bay leaves, and cloves, all of which add to the beautiful aromas.
With this meal prepped and cooking itself, we can potter and make a few festive things in advance.
We bought a good batch of fresh cranberries, so we made Nigella’s cranberry studded mincemeat for the mince pie season.
(The recipe is part of her recipe for star topped mince pies here).
It is a lovely recipe full of cinnamon, ginger spices and clementine zest, soft dark sugar, honey, port and brandy, so while it’s simmering on the hob it releases many festive aromas of Christmas! We like this recipe because it does not require suet, is pretty simple and the result is gorgeous – the cranberries are a lovely ruby colour among the dark currants and raisins, and it is not too sweet which suits our family tastes. You can store in the fridge in sterilized jars, or even in freezer bags in the freezer and defrost the night before baking up your mince pies.
We tend to use the gluten free pastry recipe from BBC good food here and though it’s a bit of a fiddle the results are usually tasty.
Next, we hope to get the Christmas cake dried fruits, cherries and orange and lemon zests soaking in brandy overnight ready for cooking the next day (and filling the house with lovely aromas once more).
The days grow shorter and colder in the Northern Hemisphere as we approach Winter Solstice. Four inches of snow fell in Snowdonia last weekend, which added to the festive feel of the Christmas decorations and preparations.
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| Snow in Snowdonia (photo by Remy Dean) |
Even something as simple as potatoes baked in the oven can get things going and the crisp dark skins, cut open to reveal steaming white fluffiness served with good butter and salt tastes great – a treat when you have been out in the cold. But we usually manage to get a pork shoulder in the slow cooker too, a recipe which requires ginger, garlic, bay leaves, and cloves, all of which add to the beautiful aromas.
With this meal prepped and cooking itself, we can potter and make a few festive things in advance.
We bought a good batch of fresh cranberries, so we made Nigella’s cranberry studded mincemeat for the mince pie season.
(The recipe is part of her recipe for star topped mince pies here).
It is a lovely recipe full of cinnamon, ginger spices and clementine zest, soft dark sugar, honey, port and brandy, so while it’s simmering on the hob it releases many festive aromas of Christmas! We like this recipe because it does not require suet, is pretty simple and the result is gorgeous – the cranberries are a lovely ruby colour among the dark currants and raisins, and it is not too sweet which suits our family tastes. You can store in the fridge in sterilized jars, or even in freezer bags in the freezer and defrost the night before baking up your mince pies.
We tend to use the gluten free pastry recipe from BBC good food here and though it’s a bit of a fiddle the results are usually tasty.
Next, we hope to get the Christmas cake dried fruits, cherries and orange and lemon zests soaking in brandy overnight ready for cooking the next day (and filling the house with lovely aromas once more).
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