Post Christmas blue(berry scone)s

Seasons greetings to all! We are now in the period of the year where, if your household is anything like ours, you will be barely moving apart from the well trodden path between the sofa and the kitchen. Secretly, you will already be planning the health kick to end all health kicks on which you plan to embark at one minute past midnight on January 1st. And then you remember that you’ll have a fridge full of NYE leftovers at that point so best hold off until you return to work.

Today is my birthday. Most of the year, I dislike having a birthday so close to Christmas but, I must admit, there is something nice about having an event to look forward to post Boxing Day if only to punctuate the naps. I woke to the smell of blueberry scones in the oven - there are few better smells than home baking and, I might almost suggest that it beats the more commonly evoked scent of bacon frying into second place. But I digress. Behold these beauties which were sweet and buttery and perfect with a cup of tea. They were an almost exact replica of the old Starbucks berry scones that I used to adore back in the day and which the bastards saw fit to stop producing (in the U.K. at least).

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Christmas dinner? Our duck legs were as delicious as ever (I don’t really understand why we only tend to cook them once a year). And D’s last minute brainwave of making shredded duck and black pudding bonbons, very lightly flavoured with Chinese five spice, was a genius addition.

We were due to spend Boxing Day eating a Christmas dinner proper with my parents. And, indeed, D managed it. But I took to bed mid afternoon with a stomach like a washing machine - a potent combo of my gnarly digestive system in uproar about the surfeit of rich food and drink that I had dared to subject it to, and that wonderful monthly visitor that makes it such a pleasure to be female. I am rather sad about this, although 24 hours of barely eating seems to have calmed things down slightly and my Mum did package up some turkey and sausage-meat for me to enjoy a traditional post-Christmas sandwich. Hopefully, it will be sorted out early in the New Year (the gnarly digestive system rather than the being female bit) at which point I might buy a turkey breast and offer to cook them a not-Christmas dinner in recompense.

That aside, it has been a lovely festive season and I have once again been reminded of how lucky and blessed I am. A blog is a funny thing - even one which is ostensibly about dieting and food will often come to be treated as a sort of confessional and that means the focus here might be skewed towards the less positive aspects of my life. This year, like all years, has brought its issues and struggles but also its gifts and it will be the memory of these latter that will endure.

MPM: 20th August 2018

I meant to do this first thing this morning and then got distracted by, ugh, work.  And I meant to introduce the post by spending a good five minutes moaning about how TIRED I am but, actually, I might save that for tomorrow and just concentrate on meal planning today. 

This week, we have my parents coming for dinner on Saturday, which if D has his way will mean a multi-course, thousand point extravaganza.  I am wondering if everyone would settle for a couple of takeaway pizzas and a few hands of cards.  Other than that, the week is a quiet one which is fine by me.

Monday: Spiced tomato and lentil soup

Tuesday:  Thai spiced turkey patties with rice noodle salad

Wednesday: Crispy lemon sole with brown shrimp butter and cucumber salad

Thursday:  Pork with mushrooms in creamy tarragon sauce, mash

Friday:  Chilli con carne

Sunday:  Trout with horseradish

Recipe corner: Bang Bang Turkey

The period between Christmas and New Year never really feels like real time.  I have never, since entering adulthood, worked those few days - partly because my birthday falls on the 28^th and I have always insisted that I can’t work on my birthday.  I know that millions do, but there have to be some advantages to having a birthday at such a time and one of them is that I always spend it at home.

Food between Christmas and New Year is also a strange thing.  You’ve had one big celebration and are probably gearing up for another.  You don’t really want to cook much (because that would get in the way of all the lying around).  You probably have masses of leftovers lurking in the fridge but all you really want to do is munch your way through your selection box.  Normal rules don’t apply and you find yourself eating cheese for breakfast and cracking open a bottle at three in the afternoon (or is that just me?)

Anyway, turkey curry is a must for us during this period.  We don’t tend to have turkey for Christmas Day itself, so buy a crown in specially and get the curry made in advance so the flavours have time to develop.  I’ve blogged D’s special recipe here.

And this year, he found another turkey leftovers dish: “Bang Bang Turkey” which is absolutely perfect for the season.  It contains some fresh, raw veg for a bit of crunch and a zingy peanut sauce which wakes your sluggish taste buds up.  I think it should become a regular part of our festive routine, especially since the sauce can be made in advance and frozen (I have stashed some away already in my deep freeze so it can make a re-appearance on the menu later this year.)  If you can bear to do a bit of chopping and steaming of rice then have a go at this one.  I imagine it would also work well with chicken.  The list of ingredients is absolutely massive I know, but the method is easy, and most of these are things that you are likely to have in your store cupboard anyway.  It is honestly not an arduous task to assemble.

Photo credit: bbc.co.uk

 

Notes

The original recipe is a Hairy Bikers one, and can be found here.

We served this on top of steamed basmati rice to make it a more rounded meal. 

I found that the quantities listed for the sauce would dress six lots of salad generously.  I’ve given the amounts per the original recipe below but do note that you will have leftovers which can be bagged up and frozen. 

Ingredients

For the turkey:

1 tbsp soy sauce

Juice of half a lime

½ tsp of palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)

½ tsp of chilli powder

½ tsp Chinese Five Spice

125g cooked turkey, roughly chopped

For the peanut sauce:

Tbsp vegetable oil

2 shallots, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

5cm piece fresh ginger, grated

2 red chillies, seeds removed and chopped

200ml chicken stock

150ml coconut milk

75g crunchy peanut butter

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (you can substitute cider vinegar for this if that’s what you have in)

Tsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)

Tbsp fish sauce

Juice of half a lime

For the salad (suggestion only – select veg to suit):

Carrot, reduced to strips with a potato peeler

Red pepper, sliced into thin strips

2 spring onions, sliced

5 radishes, thinly sliced

To serve and garnish:

 

100g basmati rice, steamed

Red chilli, sliced

Fresh coriander and mint, roughly shredded

Roasted, unsalted peanuts

Serves 2, with leftover sauce

Whisk together the ingredients for the turkey marinade then add the turkey and combine well.  Cover, and set aside (I did this several hours in advance to no detrimental effect).

Make the sauce: gently heat the oil in a pan and then add the shallots, cover, and cook over a low heat until translucent (probably about 4-5 mins).  Add the garlic, ginger and chillies and continue to cook for a couple of minutes or until they have lost their “raw” smell (probably another 2-3 mins).  Now add all the other sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer and reduce by about half.  Set aside to cool.

To serve – add a couple of tablespoons of the cooled peanut sauce to the turkey and mix well. 

In a deep bowl, start with the rice, then the turkey and finally, divide the prepared salad veg.  Drizzle with some of the remaining sauce.  Garnish with chilli, herbs and peanuts as desired.