Food Pron, or, A Very Veggie Christmas
Dec. 24th, 2008 11:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mstakenidentityI am helping out tomorrow by bringing food to Christmas lunch. I am very glad my mum is cool with this, as many people aren't. And while I doubt most of my family will eat the main I'm bringing hopefully some will try it and like it. No matter what, this vegetarian will we damned well-fed tomorrow!
I have prattled on and included pictures, feel free to take the recipes, in fact I'd be thrilled if you did! :-D
First; I am bringing a Roast Vegetable and Cous-Cous Salad. Served cold since it's summer in the Southern Hemispere, but makes a lovely warm salad in winter (or on those weird Christmas we sometimes get when the weather seems to forget we're in the Southern Hemisphere too...). I've cut up pumpkin, carrot, potato and sweet potato and placed in a baking dish with about 1cm deep olive oil, then chucked in a few cloves of garlic where they'd fit. I then sprinkled over salt, rosemary, parsley, mint and thyme and finally drizzled honey on top. This got bunged in the oven and came out like this:
I'm letting it cool, then tonight after work I'll make some cous-cous up and let that cool. Tomorrow morning before we go I will combine the two gently as roast pumpkin in particular has a tendency to lose it's structural integrity when treated roughly, squeeze over half a lemon and I'm done!
Next, the main Vegetarian Roast stuffed with Apricot and Camembert, with Pomegranate Molasses. First I bought a Sanitarium brand veggie roast. I then cut away a little "plug" on either end of it. I scooped out some of the middle with a teaspoon until I'd gotten right through, so it was hollow in the middle, roughly 1&1/2cm diametre, but got smaller in the middle, probably down to 1/2cm. I then cut about half a dozen dried apricots into strips and put then in a mixing bowl, to which I added a similar amount of sliced camembert cheese. I poured on about 1/4 tsp of the molasses (you can do this without it btw, I got it when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mc_shamo and I went away for the weekend to Olinda early this year, no idea where you'd get it in melb. I think you'd be right to replace it with apricot jam or cranberry sauce) and smushed! It was fun. :-) I then stuffed the veggie roast with the apricot camembert stuffing. I put the roast in a baking dish, again with about 1cm deep olive oil, I rolled the roast so it was lightly coated in oil then sprinkled over about an eighth of the contents of the rosemary and mint glaze that comes with the roast. I then poured a generous amount of molasses over it, I would guess about 1/8 cup, topped that with a slice of camembert and topped that with a few dried apricots. I then put a few more dried apricots in the surrounding oil, put the lid on the baking dish and put the whole thing in the oven for half an hour. This is what I got:
I will let it cool at room temperature and then put it in the fridge before work. It can be served cold (and probably will be) but loses nothing from being reheated.
Lastly, or at least where I'm up to, I am making for dessert a Red Summer Fruit Salad with Dressing I haven't done the actual salad yet but have the ingredients which are: 1kg seedless watermelon, .75kg cherries, 1 punnet strawberries. Cut them up, de-stone the cherries and toss, do not get cherry all over myself. Easy.
The dressing I am making now, because it's easy but takes time. I juiced half an orange and put in a small saucepan then cut up the rind finely like I was making marmalade and put that in two. To this I have added some water, about a cup, a large handful of brown sugar, three cloves, a cinnamon stick and a vanilla bean, which I split then scraped out the seeds and added separately. Let this simmer for a few hours until the water has reduced to the point that it looks the right amount to splash over your salad. When you serve make sure the vanilla bean and the cinnamon stick are visible, it looks impressive.
I will either make the fruit salad tonight after work or tomorrow morning just before we leave.
And that there is my idea of a fine Christmas lunch! Come to think of it if you took out the cheese from the main it could even be vegan.
Now to clean up, this bit isn't as much fun....
Merry Christmas!
I am glad I'm not a chef. I take such pleasure and find such happiness in cooking for people I love when I have the time, I think doing it every day for strangers would ruin it for me.
I have prattled on and included pictures, feel free to take the recipes, in fact I'd be thrilled if you did! :-D
First; I am bringing a Roast Vegetable and Cous-Cous Salad. Served cold since it's summer in the Southern Hemispere, but makes a lovely warm salad in winter (or on those weird Christmas we sometimes get when the weather seems to forget we're in the Southern Hemisphere too...). I've cut up pumpkin, carrot, potato and sweet potato and placed in a baking dish with about 1cm deep olive oil, then chucked in a few cloves of garlic where they'd fit. I then sprinkled over salt, rosemary, parsley, mint and thyme and finally drizzled honey on top. This got bunged in the oven and came out like this:
I'm letting it cool, then tonight after work I'll make some cous-cous up and let that cool. Tomorrow morning before we go I will combine the two gently as roast pumpkin in particular has a tendency to lose it's structural integrity when treated roughly, squeeze over half a lemon and I'm done!
Next, the main Vegetarian Roast stuffed with Apricot and Camembert, with Pomegranate Molasses. First I bought a Sanitarium brand veggie roast. I then cut away a little "plug" on either end of it. I scooped out some of the middle with a teaspoon until I'd gotten right through, so it was hollow in the middle, roughly 1&1/2cm diametre, but got smaller in the middle, probably down to 1/2cm. I then cut about half a dozen dried apricots into strips and put then in a mixing bowl, to which I added a similar amount of sliced camembert cheese. I poured on about 1/4 tsp of the molasses (you can do this without it btw, I got it when
mc_shamo and I went away for the weekend to Olinda early this year, no idea where you'd get it in melb. I think you'd be right to replace it with apricot jam or cranberry sauce) and smushed! It was fun. :-) I then stuffed the veggie roast with the apricot camembert stuffing. I put the roast in a baking dish, again with about 1cm deep olive oil, I rolled the roast so it was lightly coated in oil then sprinkled over about an eighth of the contents of the rosemary and mint glaze that comes with the roast. I then poured a generous amount of molasses over it, I would guess about 1/8 cup, topped that with a slice of camembert and topped that with a few dried apricots. I then put a few more dried apricots in the surrounding oil, put the lid on the baking dish and put the whole thing in the oven for half an hour. This is what I got:
I will let it cool at room temperature and then put it in the fridge before work. It can be served cold (and probably will be) but loses nothing from being reheated.
Lastly, or at least where I'm up to, I am making for dessert a Red Summer Fruit Salad with Dressing I haven't done the actual salad yet but have the ingredients which are: 1kg seedless watermelon, .75kg cherries, 1 punnet strawberries. Cut them up, de-stone the cherries and toss, do not get cherry all over myself. Easy.
The dressing I am making now, because it's easy but takes time. I juiced half an orange and put in a small saucepan then cut up the rind finely like I was making marmalade and put that in two. To this I have added some water, about a cup, a large handful of brown sugar, three cloves, a cinnamon stick and a vanilla bean, which I split then scraped out the seeds and added separately. Let this simmer for a few hours until the water has reduced to the point that it looks the right amount to splash over your salad. When you serve make sure the vanilla bean and the cinnamon stick are visible, it looks impressive.
I will either make the fruit salad tonight after work or tomorrow morning just before we leave.
And that there is my idea of a fine Christmas lunch! Come to think of it if you took out the cheese from the main it could even be vegan.
Now to clean up, this bit isn't as much fun....
Merry Christmas!
I am glad I'm not a chef. I take such pleasure and find such happiness in cooking for people I love when I have the time, I think doing it every day for strangers would ruin it for me.
