We WISH you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !!!
This year’s dinner is a smaller affair compared to previous years. For one, Aa and C have gone down south, and two, Wy and Yr are working, also down south…
On the bright side, K and Xl are still here, together with their lovely new born S-G.
Most years, Aa whips up a massive meal (2011, 2010) that we stuff ourselves to the brink of over-indulgence.. … Just for a change, I decided this year’s theme should be “less is more”. i.e. Less quantity but more “quality”
To begin, a nice selection of antipasti featuring Chorizo, a lightly spiced Spanish cured pork sausage seasoned with paprika. Salchichon, a dry cured pork salami blended with pepper and Serrano, a sweet and mature Spanish dry cured ham. In addition, some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and Gruyere cheese, red onion foccacia.
Aa is a big fan of New England clam chowder. For the last 3 years, we eat clam chowder for days during the christmas periods. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. Its creamy and full of umami-ness. Shame he ain’t around to make it this year. So…. it was up to me to make the soup this time.
One thing I learnt is that, Waitrose sells amazing fish stock . On its own, the stock was good enough but when you are looking for that extra body of flavour, you really need a good sofrito and bacon!! or pancetta if you feel like splurging.
Just because its Christmas, I decided to add a little bit of luxury to my chowder. MAINE LOBSTER !!!… pieces hhahahaha….
(*next time remind me to get lobster from the Chinese supermarket where its probably cheaper).
Onto the mains… I adopted a Gordon Ramsey inspired recipe of bacon-rolled chicken thighs with a herb sausage filling. What I like about this dish is that its relatively easy to make and it looks pretty darn gourmet when done right !… even though my turn up slightly messy
I choosed Kale and a cranberry sauce to emulate the colours of Christmas. From a taste perspective, the bitterness of the kale helps to cut through the saltiness and fattiness of the meat and the tangy cranberry sauce keeps your taste buds whetted
Dessert was a combination of efforts from 3 ppl. The yule log which I bought. Christmas pudding from K and B&J from the Khoos. ❤❤❤ The winter edition Winter Berry Brownie Flavour. !!! ❤❤❤
The dessert officially tipped me into a post prandial state.. or perhaps its the tiny tipple of brandy from the Christmas pudding haha.
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One more year gone…. again I say, who knows what we can expect in the year to come other than to trust in the truth.
~~ Merry Christmas ~~
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: 8 Aa, 8 Char, 8 K, 8 Khoos, 8 Me, 8 XL, ~Christmas
