Here are a few of the summer holiday meals I’ve shared with friends over this Christmas and New Year break.
I am always a big fan of the communal rustic platter, but even this quirky cook has taken “rustic” to new heights!
A broken ankle on my recent trip to Shanghai has meant cooking on crutches or one foot – so near enough has definitely been good enough! My very understanding friends have been great helpers in the serving department and in supplying some lovely Christmas cheer in bubbly form…
Smoked salmon, stuffed eggs and ham, a colourful vegetarian barbecue pizza with “the lot”, Christmas cake and ice-cream babas with meringue and chocolate ganache, were easy options for holiday entertaining.
Smoked Salmon Platter
Lots of things go well with smoked salmon – this platter is made up of salmon, stuffed eggs with mayonnaise, Christmas ham, sauteed potato salad, cherry tomatoes and greens.
Vegetarian Pizza with “The Lot”
This is my usual grilled pizza recipe from a previous post: https://thequirkandthecool.com/2013/10/20/pear-artichoke-and-blue-cheese-grilled-pizza-with-rose-and-cranberry-dressing/
The toppings for this pizza are: peach, avocado, feta, vintage cheddar, baby beetroot, cherry tomato, spring onion, quince paste and rosemary and basil. After barbecuing the pizza I served it with a dressing of home made mayonnaise.
Christmas Cake
This is the recipe from a previous post: https://thequirkandthecool.com/2013/12/08/little-christmas-cakes/
This is the medium size version – the cake quantities are the same as in the post. This cake has marzipan as well as royal icing.
Full recipe for cake plus icing to follow shortly.
Ice-cream Babas
Take 250 mls of good vanilla bean ice-cream softened and mix in a couple of generous tablespoons of whipped cream.
Add chopped glace fruit to taste and a tablespoon of rum or orange liqueur. Fold in some crushed meringue.
Spoon into rum baba molds – or any decorative individual molds and freeze for at least several hours.
Remove from molds by carefully running base under the hot water tap for a very few seconds.
Serve with more crushed meringue and chocolate ganache as a sauce.
The Quirk and the Cool 