Spinach and artichoke dip stuffed garlic bread

 

How are Christmas preps going on you loverly people? I am off to my sister in laws next weekend for a pre Christmas bash and then to a blogger friend's place for a fun pot luck. We have a tradition of exchanging home made gifts for Christmas, and last year we all went out to brunch to a fancy restaurant sans the husbands, and exchanged them there over cocktails and conversation. This year we have been so busy with chaiparty pop-up stalls and other interesting business ventures, that we couldn't actually do a day out. We are still doing home made gifts (I have taken the plunge and made something I'm very excited about, fingers crossed on how it would ultimately turn out) but exchanging it on Christmas day, like it should be, with family and dear ones.

We have been busy on our whatsapp group discussing the theme, menu, gifts and so on and I have been entrusted with the vegetarian starter. I've made this recipe as a dip again and again at parties, and was quite convinced this is what I was going to take to the party, when I thought I should try this version, one that I book marked eons ago, a try before i decided. It's a fab appetiser idea and you score points on uniqueness. It doesn't take any time to put together, and you can cart it off anywhere and finish off the last baking in the oven just before serving. Stress free, hassle free and delicious.

I decided to use the Norwegian cheese Jarlsberg instead of the traditional mozzarella because I was sure the nutty flavour from the cheese would be a perfect match with spinach and artichoke and it was. Maybe next time I'll up the quantity to 1.5 cups (oh please, its the holiday season, no ones on a diet). Its a cheese I was not familiar with until I attended a soiree hosted by Jarlsberg at the Good Housekeeping Institute where Signe Johansen and Lucie Bruckner took us through a session on how to use the cheese in different recipes, and of course treated to some delicious canapés using the same. After creating our own mac and cheese sandwish, we sat down to a glorious meal with wine and chatter. (I also got to drink a shot of the famous Aquavit for the first time. It shall be remembered is all i can say).

Recipe adapted from here

 

Baguette- 1

Oil- 1/2 tbsp

Shallot- 1 small, finely chopped

Spinach- 250 gms 

Canned artichoke hearts- 200 gms, drained and chopped

Salt and pepper- to taste

Chilli flakes- 1/2 tsp (optional)

Garlic powder- 1/2 tsp

Cream cheese- 230 gms

Jarlsberg cheese- 1 cup + enough to garnish

Butter- 2 tbsp

Garlic- 3 cloves, finely chopped

Slice the baguette into 4 and using a long serrated knife cut out the insides, leaving about a cm of bread around the edges, and scoop/ or push it out to make the baguette slices hollow. Keep aside. (Use the scooped out bread to make bread crumbs)

Heat oil in a frying pan and saute the shallots till translucent. 

Add the chopped artichoke hearts and saute for a couple of minutes.

Tip in the spinach, mix it all together and cover and cook till they have all wilted.

Open lid and cook till all the water has evaporated. 

Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and chilli flakes and transfer the mix into a mixing bowl.

Add the cream cheese and Jarlsberg cheese and give a thorough mix, making sure all the cheese melts.

Pre heat the oven to 175C and line a baking tray with silver foil.

Stuff the baguette quarters with the dip, using a teaspoon and pack it in as much possible. I found it was much easier to do this using a piping bag. Fill it with the dip, nip off the end and pipe into the baguette. 

Place the filled baguette quarters on to a chopping board and slice them carefully to pieces that are about an inch thick.

Place the sliced pieces on to the lined baking tray, arranging them back into the shape of a full baguette, or if your tray isn't that big, you can arrange them side by side.

Mix together the butter, garlic and parsley in a small bowl .

Cover and melt in the microwave for a couple of seconds.

Brush the garlic butter generously over the bread, and in between the slices if possible. Also make sure all the minced garlic gets used up, just top it all on the bread.

Cover the baguette with another foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Take the tray out of the oven, open the foil, sprinkle the remaining cheese and place back in the oven open, for a couple more minutes, for the bread to lightly brown and the cheese to melt.

Serve warm as a starter or as a side with soup.

Notes: Feel free to use mozzarella cheese instead of Jarlsberg and sprinkle parmesan right at the very end.
Add some shredded chicken to it and make it a non veg starter
If you want to do the dip, after you mix in the cheese, dump the mix on to an oven safe bowl, top with more cheese an dbake for about 20 minutes or till the mix is bubbling away. Serve with crusty bread.

With thanks to Jarlsberg cheese for the fab evening and for the cheese sample.

Sri Lankan beef smore

 

This beef pot roast of sorts has been quite popular. I served it at a Christmas party a couple of years ago and got some good reviews and the recipe has been passed on to friends and family over the years. I made it so often for a while and then decided to go off it for the longest time. I find something i like and i eat it or make it till i get sick of it and then not look it at forever. This was something like that, only I went back and made it again last week and fell in love with it all over again. I had a good enough reason too...

...a gorgeous piece of meat from Donald Russell, Britain's leading mail order meat supplier. They are based in Aberdeenshire and guarantees the best-tasting meat you'll ever find. From traditional cuts of naturally reared beef, pork and lamb to more contemporary ones like game and veal, they have quite a wide range of products. They also have a unique collection of marinades for different kinds of meat, which is worth checking out when you've run out of ideas to impress.

My handsome piece of meat came nicely packed in a chilled box, shock frozen and i removed it immediately and transferred it into my freezer. It was a large thick piece of meat, so i had to thaw it at room temperature for quite a bit of time. The quality of meat was excellent and i can safely say, one of the best so far. We paired the beef dish with a full bodied red wine, and mashed potato and vegetables to soak up all the gravy. It was so difficult to make the end product look nice in the picture. But trust me it tasted fabulous.

Recipe adapted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey (serves 4 as part of main meal)

 

Beef shoulder/ brisket meat- 1kg, tied as a roast

Salt- to taste

Pepper- to taste

Coriander seeds- 4 tsp

Cumin seeds- 1tsp

Fennel seeds- 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp

Oil- 3 tbsp

Cinnamon stick- 1, 2 inch piece

Cardamom- 3 pods

Cloves- 3 pods

Onion- 1 large, finely chopped

Ginger- 1 tsp, peeled and finely chopped

Garlic- 1 tbsp- peeled and finely chopped

Chilli powder- 1 tsp

Tomato paste- 1 tsp, diluted in 1/4 cup water

Red wine vinegar- 2 tbsp

Chicken stock- 1 1/2 cups

Coconut milk- 1 cup

Pat dry the piece of meat and season generously with salt and pepper on all sides.

Dry roast the coriander, cumin, fennel and fenugreek seeds for about 2 to 3 minutes or till fragrant, keep aside to cool and then grind to a fine powder.

Heat a pressure cooker over medium-high heat and sear the meat on all sides, to tap in all the flavour. Transfer to a plate and rest.

Reduce heat to medium and into the same pressure cooker add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and sauté for a couple of seconds, making sure you don't burn them.

Add the onions, ginger and garlic and continue sautéing till the onions turn a golden brown and the raw smell from the garlic and ginger disappears, around 7 to 8 minutes on medium heat.

Add the ground masala powder and chilli powder and stir well.

Pour in the diluted tomato paste and continue to stir, till oil slowly starts appearing on the sides.

Add the red wine vinegar and chicken stock at this point and bring to a gentle boil.

Check for salt and add if needed

Carefully place the seared meat , along with any juices, into the gravy, ladle over some of the liquid and close the pressure cooker.

Wait for steam to appear and put on the weights. Reduce heat to low and cook for about an hour.

You will have to play this by ear because cooking times depend on the cut of meat and your pressure cooker. For me, one hour was perfectly fine, in fact 50 minutes to be precise, as the meat was almost fall off consistency.

Open the cooker and stir in the coconut milk.

Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.

Transfer the meat to a chopping board and slice lengthwise.

Place on a serving tray/ bowl, pour over the gravy and serve with crusty bread or mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables like how we did :)

Notes: Original recipe calls for slow cooking in an oven, covered, at 175C for 2 1/2 hours, while basting and tuning at intervals.

I'm thinking this recipe would be just as fine with stewing beef pieces.

With thanks to Donald Russell for sending me the gorgeous piece of meat.

Season's Greetings & Christmas Specials

How are last minute preparations for Christmas coming along? Are you frantically baking and cooking or relaxing with your feet up while your parents put together the Christmas feast? Either ways, I'm sure you are all looking forward to Christmas celebs tomorrow.

The husband has pushed off to India and I had to stay back because of a hectic work schedule and Id be joining him only in Jan. I was all ready to have frozen pizza and get drunk on wine on 25th, when a friend invited me over to hers for Christmas. Since the entire transport system comes to a standstill on 25th I am heading to hers tonight, attend a midnight Christmas service at the church and ring in Christmas with friends tomorrow. I would have loved to be with family, but hey, I'm not complaining. Atleast I'm not having frozen pizza and watching Downton Abbey reruns in my Pj's.

Anyways, here's wishing all you guys a very Merry Christmas. Have a glass or two of wine on me and enjoy your day to the max. Leaving you with some fun Christmassy stuff ...

Oddka

I love my cocktails and am forever trying to recreate new ones at home, which means scouting the drinks aisle at the supermarket is a treat. I came across this vodka drink called ODDKA and was thoroughly amazed at the flavours on offer. Fresh cut grass.. seriously.. now that's a flavour I'm completely intrigued by. Other flavours include Electricity, Salty caramel popcorn, Twisted melon and Peach Bellini. As luck would have it, I was asked if I'd like to try some Christmas cocktails using ODDKA and how on earth could I say no? Since I'm home alone, I've not really made any cocktails as yet but if I have a girls night out around New Years, I'd definitely be trying out a few cocktails from the list ODDKA has put together. If you do want to try something different this Christmas, then head on over to the ODDKA website and give some of their cocktails a go. Your local Asda or Sainsburys should stock a few flavours of ODDKA.

Castello Cheese

I received this really adorable Christmas stocking, with my name on it and all, filled with Castello Cheese. I had big plans to make Ronnie Murray's Baked leek tart with Castello Jersey Blue and I even bought all the ingredients, but with crazy work schedules I had to put the cooking on hold. I shall definitely give it a go one of these days I'm home. The Castello range includes Creamy Blue, Creamy White, Traditional Danish Blue, Extra creamy Danish Blue, Pineapple Halo i (I made a macaron filling with the Pineapple cheese), and the latest addition just in time for Christmas is the Tickler Cheddar, with a sweet, strong and tangy taste. If you are doing a cheese platter for the parties, don't forget to include this one, its a winner. Pair it with a Rioja Gran Reserva 2001 or a an Italian Barolo wine.

Christmas food and drink matching

Pairing the right drink with the food you serve is really an art. I try hard to actually do this and mostly, because of lack of knowledge, I just do a theme and follow with drinks from the same cuisine. When you do a large spread like for Christmas, this becomes a bit of an issue, especially when you have invited people with different tastes. To make matters easy for people like me, Waitrose has teamed up with wine lover Philip Schofield and wine connoisseur Olly Smith to develop a food and wine matching guide to get the combinations right. The infographic gives you a basic knowledge of pairings which would help you manage your Christmas meal pretty easily. I am sooo going to keep this for future references. There are also some great videos here for some festive inspiration

Parmigiano Reggiano Christmas Cook-off

Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) is one cheese I regularly use in cooking- in soufflés, bakes, dips and just to grate atop pasta. I was recently invited to a Parmigiano Reggiano Christmas Cookalong organised by the Consorzio del Formaggio and lead by top chef Valentina Harris. We started off the evening tasting some amazing starters like dates filled with PR and wrapped in Parma Ham, PR lollipops with sesame seeds and chilli (an absolute favourite) and a 30 month matured PR with balsamic vinegar. We were then split into two teams and set about creating our meal for the night- Venetian duck stuffed with a PR mix, Fennel topped PR and Rosotto PR. It was my first time cooking with duck, and although not really a favourite, I quite enjoyed the whole cooking experience. Highlight of the evening, however, was cracking open a 45kg PR wheel which we all got to taste, after which we all sat down to a fabulous meal. After an evening of like minded food enthusiasts and after gaining such indepth knowledge about PR, I cant wait to cook with the cheese. For more information and recipes check out the website

With thanks to all the brands for inviting me to their events and for review samples.