Jamie’s Family Christmas featured a recipe for stuffing which, as soon as I saw it, thought would make for a comforting and nourishing meatloaf. I wasn’t far off but I roasted it too quickly – a slower roast next time, so the juice doesn’t get wringed from it.
Meatloaf:
500g pork shoulder
Grated nutmeg
Grated zest of an orange
handful of sage leaves
1 onion
Handful of breadcrumbs
Good pinch of salt, pepper
Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor. Pile into a baking dish and top with bacon. Roast for 45 minutes at 180°C.
To make his stuffing Jamie blitzes pork shoulder, sea salt, pepper, lemon zest, nutmeg, orange, sage and smoked bacon before adding onion and breadcrumbs.
maple sprouts with lardons, chestnuts and maple syrup
Yet another ode to the sprout. This one is my king of sprout recipes, decreeing that anything inedible to some can be rendered palatable if paired with bacon. I wouldn’t be without these on Christmas day; salty, sweet, chewy, with the greenery providing an excellent foil for all that indulgence.
Merry Christmas!
Maple sprouts with lardons and chestnuts:
About 20 sprouts
200g bacon lardons, pancetta or streaky bacon
1 vac pack of chestnuts, bashed up
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Parboil the sprouts until just tender. Drain.
In a frying pan cook the bacon in a little butter until turning crisp. Add the chestnuts and sprouts and cook for a couple of minutes, then season – watch for the saltiness of the bacon here.
Add the maple syrup, stir briefly and serve alongside a lovely fat roasting joint.
Food Urchin is a jolly good blogger. Very entertaining, passionate about his food and nothing if not pragmatically resourceful, as he attempts to be fed daily by generous foodsters. A post of his popped up containing Two Soups, and one in particular caught my eye. It’s earthy, it’s Wintry, it’s warm and has two of my favourite things in: chorizo and chestnuts. Reminds me a little of another chorizo soup I did, though it sounds a little more interesting.
It’s a fairly simple (and quick) soup, of the bung-it-in-a-pot-and-simmer variety, which is endearing. A couple of tweaks I made though: not so fussed about chilli in my house so left that aside and instead added a measure of smoky sweet paprika. Then as I was about to serve I thought a couple of dressings would really lift the final bowl: a swirl of seasame oil to remind of the rich nuttiness, and a drizzle of sweetest balsamic vinegar to give a nice acid finish. It’s a really lovely bowl of soup, and served with some brown bread it’s perfect for these dark October evenings. Thanks Food Urchin 🙂
Chestnut and chorizo soup:
1 large onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
120g chorizo, diced
2 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tin tomatoes
500g cooked peeled chestnuts (fresh or vacuum-packed), roughly chopped
20 saffron threads, infused in 3-4 tbs boiling water
1 ltr water
sesame oil and balsamic vinegar to serve
Fry the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, chorizo and a pinch of salt for about 10 minutesuntil browned.
Add the cumin, thyme and paprika and cook for 1 more minute, followed by the tomato and chestnuts.
Give everything a stir and then add the saffron-infused liquid, the water and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Season well with salt and pepper and lightly pulse it with a hand blender. Serve with a drizzle each of oil and vinegar, with breadsticks or bread on the side.
