Beef Stroganoff

Typically for Christmas Eve we have either Fish Pie or a traditional English curry, both of which I have already cooked from the Master Chef Cookbook! Beef Stroganoff was the closest thing I could have made unless I wanted to cook an Aubergine and Massaman (vegetable) curry, sorry Aunty Katy maybe next year! Christmas Eve was no different from the rest of this part of the holiday in Margaret River, all I wanted to do was relax in the sun. So instead of cooking dinner when I got home later in the day, I browned the meat before we went to the River Mouth so that when I got home I had less to do. The instructions say that I need to take care not to overcook the strips of steak so they remain tender and juicy. The result was a creamy, satisfying dish that had a hint of spice that went well with rice and broccoli. The whole dish was prepared and eaten just in time for Father Christmas to visit 5 highly excited boys, 1 mildly excited older girl (me) and 1 slightly confused dog!
For similar recipe go to:
http://recipes.coles.com.au/recipes/2283/beef-stroganoff/

 
Ratings:
Taste: 7
Appearance: 6
Difficulty: 6- as it was Christmas eve I had a few Santa's little helpers

Salmon en croute with Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce

My Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and 3 cousins have joined us for an Australian Christmas. It is very hard to cater for 12 people, especially when most of the recipes serve 4 and I have to triple the recipe. This dish was no exception. I made 12 separate portions of salmon in pastry, all with the first letter of my cousins' names on the top to stop confusion between plates! I cheated with this dish, instead of making a cream cheese sauce, I just put the dill on the salmon and wrapped it in (pre bought) puff pastry. It was a huge success. For the adults I made Hollandaise sauce to accompany steamed asparagus- peas for the kids! I found that I had to stir the Hollandaise continually after adding lots and lots (and lots) of butter! Not the best for our summer figures! Did I mention that there was a bit of butter in the Hollandaise Sauce?!
For similar recipes go to: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/salmon_en_croute
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/asparagus_with_hollandaise_sauce/

Ratings: Salmon en Croute
Taste: 8
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 4

Ratings: Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce
Taste: 8
Appearance: 7
Difficulty: 6- the stirring hurt my arm

Mummy and Daddy's Christmas Party- Australian style

For all who know, my parents always used to have a Christmas party. In Holland it was winter and we used the snow to cool drinks down outside. Now we have brought it to a new level, we're in Australia, Christmas is in the middle of summer, and I was in charge of the food!
In total I made 8 different dishes; Profiteroles stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts, Profiteroles stuffed with Chicken Liver Pâté, Blinis with Créme Fraîche and Smoked Salmon, Gazpacho Shots, Shrimp with Mary Rose Sauce, Sausages with Mustard, Honey and Sesame Seed Sauce, Mozzarella,Tomato and Basil Bites, and to finish everyone off, Christmas Pudding with Brandy Cream. The brandy cream had too much brandy in it because of a small misunderstanding between my Mother and Father, when both separately added a generous measure for good cheer!
I started preparing the food a week in advance and have been cooking and baking since then. Having made 300 profiteroles (slightly too many!), 100 blinis and a vat of gazpacho, I have learned how to cater large quantities in advance. Oh the joys of frozen shrimp!
The two most popular dishes seemed to be the sausages and the Christmas pudding, both of which were taken in multiples of two's and three's! Although the 'Master-chef cook book' has the recipes for Chicken Liver Pâté and Profiteroles filled with Cream, the inspiration to stuff one with the other, came from the legendary wine tastings by Gerard at Le Bouchon in The Hague. Although my Parents are always supportive and complimentary about my cooking, it gave me huge confidence to receive so much praise from other adults.
It seems that I prefer to cook everything in advance. I enjoy having time before serving so that there isn't a mad panic at the end. That said, it's back to dinners and desserts, this time for 12 people once the English relatives arrive for Christmas.

Ratings:
Taste: Profiteroles stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts 8: Profiteroles stuffed with Chicken Liver Pâté 9: Blinis with Créme Fraîche and Smoked Salmon 10: Gazpacho Shots 9: Shrimp with Mary Rose Sauce 8: Sausages with Mustard, Honey and Sesame Seed Sauce 9: Mozzarella,Tomato and Basil Bites 8: Christmas Pudding with Brandy Cream 9.
Appearance: Profiteroles stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts 7: Profiteroles stuffed with Chicken Liver Pâté 7: Blinis with Créme Fraîche and Smoked Salmon 10: Gazpacho Shots 10: Shrimp with Mary Rose Sauce 7: Sausages with Mustard, Honey and Sesame Seed Sauce 6: Mozzarella,Tomato and Basil Bites 9: Christmas Pudding with Brandy Cream 6.
Difficulty: Profiteroles stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts 7: Profiteroles stuffed with Chicken Liver Pâté 7: Blinis with Créme Fraîche and Smoked Salmon 6: Gazpacho Shots 5: Shrimp with Mary Rose Sauce 3: Sausages with Mustard, Honey and Sesame Seed Sauce 4: Mozzarella,Tomato and Basil Bites 6: Christmas Pudding with Brandy Cream 5.

Chicken, sweetcorn and courgette Pasties

My family and I decided to go to the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) Christmas concert in Langley Park (just outside Daddy's office) along with 20,000 other people.  The recipe in the book was for Chicken and Parsley Pot Pie but Mummy does not like parsley and it would be easier to made small pasties than pies for a picnic.  I made the filling with a white sauce and added chicken, sweetcorn and courgettes from Mummy's garden.  They were a bit crumbly but were filling and welcome on what was a very cold and windy night next to the river.
For similar recipe go to:
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/13218/chicken-and-vegetable-pasties.aspx

Ratings:
Taste: 7
Appearance: 6
Difficulty: 4

Wholemeal Bread

When I made the bread I cheated, instead of spending ages kneading the dough and it all taking a while. I put in all the ingredients into the bread machine and 4:30 hours later… BOOM I have a loaf of bread. It always smells amazing when you make a loaf of bread and it is done. The bread was moist on the inside and the crust was crusty on the outside.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10121/bread-in-four-easy-steps

Ratings:
Taste: 7
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 2

Roast Pork Belly with Gratin Dauphinois followed by Orange Sorbet

Cholesterol disaster! Gastronomic delight! The advantage of having parents who can cook well, is that I am learning how to adapt the recipes in the 'MasterChef Cookery course' cook book, to fit in with a busy family weekend. The trick to fabulous crackling, is apparently to score the skin and use plenty of salt on a high temperature. Then lower the temperature right down and cook the pork belly at a low heat for a long time. I used wine instead of water (3 guesses who suggested that?!) If anyone has any suggestions for a different approach to crackling - please comment on this blog - all input welcome! There was a divide in opinions with this meat. My parents and siblings adored it, claiming it was delicious, melt in the mouth, with very crunchy crackling. Personally, it wasn't my favourite because it was just too fatty for my palette.

For similar recipe go to:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/pork-belly-roast/

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 7
Just to add insult to injury, I decided to completely clog up everyone's arteries by baking sliced potatoes in milk, then in cream, which keeps them sweet and tender. I can now add 'mastering a mandolin' to my list of achievements! The fact that our mandolin requires a major in physics and mechanical engineering to assemble, again required tuition from my father, who loves all culinary gadgets! The end product was perfectly al-denté (with a little crunch) and creamy with melted gruyère on the top. To balance out this health disaster, I steamed some broccoli to serve with the meal!

For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3253/ultimate-gratin-dauphinois

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 6

Although we have an ice cream machine, it wasn't cold enough to use, so I adopted the traditional method of stirring the sorbet by hand! Each individual instruction taught me something new; how to make syrup, how to whisk egg whites into soft peaks and finally how to make a sorbet. The recipe suggests adding Campari for a grown up sorbet, obviously I didn't comply! I love citrus flavours, what is your favourite sorbet flavour? Please comment.
This was very simple to make and a wonderfully refreshing end to an indulgent meal.

For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8760/orange-sorbet

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 5