Best of 2011

It's the last day of 2011, the day we start reflecting and looking back at the year. I wanted to do a recap of the best moments of 2011. It turned out to be a horrible process that took me a lot longer than I wanted to, because I really couldn't choose. I ended up forcing myself to choose one from each of the categories on my RECIPES page (which I will finally update in a while so make me happy and go see it tomorrow).

So,

Favourite Vegetable Recipe

Soy Sauce Roasted Eggplant with Satay Peanut Sauce Dressing

The slow-roastd flesh of the eggplant is deliciously soft and savoury from absorbing the marinade, and it goes wonderfully texture-wise and taste-wise with the slightly sweet, aromatic and crunchy peanut dressing. Of course, I am generally biased towards anything with that sauce-- freshly ground roasted peanuts simmered with tamarind and spices, homemade (or satay man-made) with love. Refer to the chicken satay post for the singapore satay peanut sauce.

Favourite Meat Recipe

Mum's Sesame Oil Chicken

When I first came to London, I got pretty homesick in the first few months. My mum used to send me ridiculously large parcels which complained about because the fact that they were ridiculously large meant that, for her, they were ridiculously expensive, and for me, they were ridiculously heavy (I had to carry them from the post office in the snow). Secretly though, these parcels of love made things just a little better, and though most of the things were pretty useles--she sent me toothbrushes once-- some things I've still kept as treasures, one of which is a handwritten list of some of her recipes. Sesame oil chicken is one of them.

Favourite Fish Recipe

Baked Herring with Gooseberries, Chilli and Star Anise

As perfectly normal and even boring as it may sound to some people., gooseberries are really very new to me. I've never seen them before coming to London, though I've heard of them, but only in Enid Blyton/similar storybooks.

Herring and gooseberries turned out to be a good combination, as the tart juices bursting from the gooseberries help to cut the richness of the herring. I couldn't resist adding the chillies and spices, and though it may sound off, I thought it'd work somehow. The sour-sweet gooseberries work kind of like tamarind in the Southeast Asian recipes I'm familiar with, which is often combined with soy sauce and chillies for a balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy.

Favourite Rice Recipe

Leftover Turkey Congee

I know it was the previous post. But congee is the chinese equivalent of a bowl of risotto-- just simply rice, plump with the flavour from the stock it's simmered in, so each spoonful is a scoop of light yet creamy and comforting goodness.

Favourite Sweet Recipe

Sourdough Crepes with Caramelised Peaches in Ginger Syrup

There is something about a peach, that fuzzy exterior which just begs to be stroked, and that bright yellow soft and juicy flesh inside. I loved them with the tangy sourdough crepes to mop up the sweet lemony gingery peachy juices and the smooth creamy yogurt. Refer to the "Sourdough crepe, that was easy!" post too.

Favourite Sauce Recipe

Sambal Tumis (All-important Belachan Chilli Paste)

This is not any ordinary chilli paste. Yes, you use this as a dip at the side, but you also use this as the base for creating so many classic Singaporean/ Malaysian fried rice/noodles/barbeques/curries/sauces. That said, it's an extraordinary dip, and nasi lemak is not nasi lemak, fried hokkien prawn mee is not fried hokkien prawn mee, without this sambal chilli on the side. What's unique about this cilli paste is belachan- a potent smelling fermented ground shrimp paste. I still remember cooking with it last year when I was still staying in halls and my Turkish flatmate kind of flew from the kitchen. But don't judge, because I guarantee you'll love this chilli for it's sweet, spicy, salty, savoury and just a tiny bit tangy and smoky flavour.

I tried game meat for the first time

Ragu of Venison Slow-braised in Shaoxing Wine (with homemade Sourdough Papardelle)

Venison just sounded so fancy and..restaurant-y, so I had the impression I would be much better off without it, pocket-wise. But then I realised how cheap the venison necks were. I'm a fan of using the less popular cuts of meat. You get so much more bang for your buck, plus there's loads of flavour, especially if the meat is still hanging onto the bone (marrow bones in this case, score!). And, it's definitely tender if you remember to go low and slow. I found recipes calling for it to be braised in red wine, but because I'm not one to have red wine around the house, I used Shaoxing rice wine instead, and to complement that, some typical Chinese braising spices, which would also counter any gamey-ness.

Oh, and more.

I met Santa in the form of Charles from Five Euro Food.

I have the best job possible for a real food lover, working at the Pimlico Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings.

I'm thankful for all the good things that have happened, and for the bad, food and cooking have helped make it very much more tolerable. All in all, this was a brilliant first year for me food-blogging wise, I don't know what I see for the year ahead, but I hope to be able to continue doing the things I love and meeting people who also enjoy doing the things I love. May everybody have a lovely 2012, and enjoy your last few hours of 2011!

Leftover Turkey Congee

Christmas is actually over, after all the hype and excitement in the lead-up to the big day, it's finally over. And after a night with too much good food and wine, you really just want something quite light and comforting and ideally uses up the leftover turkey. For me, that's congee. It's the chinese equivalent of a bowl of risotto- just simply rice, plump with the flavour from the stock it's cooked in, so each spoonful is a soothing scoop of goodness. Unlike risotto though, you don't want separate grains, and in fact you don't even want to see any grains. The rice should have all disintegrated into a thick porridge. The ratio is about 10 cups water/stock to 1 cup of rice, you can use less or more depending on how thick you like your congee.

Turkey Congee

serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 cup of jasmine rice, washed till water runs clear

5 cups of homemade stock (in this case, turkey. refer stock 2.)

unrefined sea salt (to taste)

To serve:

leftover turkey, shredded

chopped spring onions

fried shallots and shallot oil (replace with toasted sesame oil if unavailable and lazy)

dash of good traditionally fermented soy sauce

dash of white pepper

Method

1. Add the rice to the stock in a preferably heavy-bottomed pot and bring to the boil.

2. Lower the heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom and burning. It will take quite long, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, though unlike a risotto, you don't have to constantly stir.

Not yet, still not yet there, almost there, there!

3. When rice has reached the right consistency, scoop into bowls and top with the shredded turkey, spring onions, fried shallots, and finish with a drizzle of shallot oil. The soy sauce and pepper is usually at the side so the eater can add to taste.

Oh and another option. You can crack in an egg at the end, after you remove it from the stovetop, the residual heat from the congee sort of poaching the egg. I wish I remembered earlier, that's my sister's and my favourite part about congee.

Nonetheless, this was just what I needed after all that rich and sweet food, something plain and familiar, but deliciously creamy and comforting at the same time. The rice has fully soaked up all the yummy and nourishing goodness of the stock, and turned almost soup-like so you can just slurp it down without even chewing.

By the way, there are other methods out there to speed up the process, like pre-cooking the rice first, or using a rice cooker, but I think there's still no better way than to do it the traditional way, slowly letting it cook and stirring it with love, and though it takes long, honestly, there is almost zero effort involved.

I'm entering this in the One Ingredient challenge, hosted by Laura (how to cook good food) and Nazime (working london mummy), the ingredient this month being turkey of course!

Giblet Pate (with Shiitake Mushroom, Thyme and lots of Butter)

I can't believe it, it's finally here. Even though my family never really celebrated Christmas while I was growing up, all the countdowns and jingles and christmas lights and all those festive recipes on everyone's blogs have gotten to me. I'm actually pretty excited about it. Going to roast my first whole turkey in a few hours' time, fingers crossed. I know everyone will probably be too busy preparing/eating a feast to check on your blog feed, so no one's going to read this post, but I thought I'll just do it anyway. A final little entry before I go and make merry.

Whether you decide to roast a turkey or a goose or a duck or even a chicken, the unfortunate bird will very likely come with giblets, i.e. the liver, heart, and gizzard. I know they don't look the most appetising of things, but please, don't throw them away! I hate the idea of wasting good food, food that's good not only health-wise (it is one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can get), but good taste-wise. Make stock with it for fantastic gravy, or chop it up for fantastic stuffing. Or make this pate and serve with posh crackers or thin slices of toast as appetisers.

Giblet Mushroom Pate

Ingredient

giblets from 1 turkey, minus the neck (about 250g), chopped up

small handful of dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked to soften and sliced

2 shallots, chopped

2 sprigs of thyme

75g grassfed butter, plus 50g at the end

unrefined sea salt and black pepper, to taste, be generous

Method

1. Heat about 25g of the butter in a frying pan until foaming. Add the mushrooms and cook till softened. Set aside, along with mushroom juices.

2. Add another 25g of the butter in the frying pan and allow the shallots to sweat and slightly caramelise. Add the chopped giblets and let cook till a golden brown crust forms but the insides still remain pink.

3. Tip the mushrooms and juices back into the pan, along with the leaves from 1 sprig of thyme, and let all the flavours mix for a little while. If you want a slightly chunky pate, reserve a bit of the mushrooms for later.

4. Puree everything with the 25g of butter till smooth. If you want a very smooth pate, pass through a sieve. If you want a chunky pate, chop finely the reserved mushrooms and add to the puree.

Ooh more butter!

5. Spoon into ramekins, or teacups for me. If not eating imediately, you can add a sprig of thyme for prettiness, then melt the last 50g of butter over a low heat, and pour the yellow liquid clarified butter over the top of each cup. Once chilled, the butter will solidify and that layer protects the pate and allows it to keep so you can make it in advance!

This is rich and buttery smooth, but chunky at the same time with little bits of shiitake mushrooms. I would imagine an offal-lover loving it, but an offal-hater quite liking it too, with the sweetness from the caramelised shallots, savouriness from the shiitake mushrooms and fragrance from the thyme. I hope this comes in useful, and in time before you throw away your pack of giblets.

Last of all, here's wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS, ho ho ho!

Flourless Chocolate Orange and Ginger Cake

One thing I left out from my Spain post, was the desserts and sweets. I don't have a massive sweet tooth, so I often favour the savoury. I don't think anyone noticed, because Spain doesn't exactly come to mind when you think of sweets, and Spanish treats don't seem to go beyond churros dipped in hot chocolate.

We did have quite a few nibbles of their candies and cakes, and what's most different about them is that they are quite often made with almonds instead of flour, probably because it's one of their major produce. Another is the orange. When we first arrived in Seville, our mouths literally dropped when we realised that ALL the trees on the streets had oranges growing on them. We didn't know if we could pluck them, but we picked a fallen one from the ground, and giggling excitedly, washed it and ate it (it was sour).

Anyway, all that- the chocolate, the almonds, the orange- got me inspired to try making Nigella Lawson's flourless chocolate orange almond cake, which has rave reviews from almost everyone who has tried it. I tweaked it a little, added a bit of ginger for that Christmassy spice and a bit of Asian character, and used unrefined muscavado sugar instead for a deeper caramel-sweetness and colour, plus it's healthier.

Flourless Chocolate Orange and Ginger Cake

Makes a 6" round cake (I halved the original recipe, so you can double and do an 8" one)

Ingredients

1 small orange, about 200g (haha mine was really from Spain)

3 free range eggs, lightly beaten

100g ground almonds

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

125g light muscavado sugar

4 tbsp of good cocoa powder

1 tsp of grated fresh ginger

Method

1. Put the whole orange in a pot with some water, bring to a boil and cook for 2 hours. Drain, and cut in half to remove the seeds when cool, then pulp everything- skin, pith and all.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

3. Mix in everything else. You can do it in the food processor too.

4. Pour into a greased, lined 6" cake tin. Bake for about 45 minutes, you may need slightly longer or shorter depending on your oven so check at about 30 min to see if you need to cover with foil to prevent the top from burning.

You'll see mine cracked on top ): I don't know why, but it still tasted good so I didn't mind, I just sliced from the centre for the photo taking hehe.

5. Leave the cake to cool before slicing. I also just brushed the top with some honey for a easy prettier glaze. And this is optional but it's lovely served with some cream(preferably grassfed, full-fat).

It's the easiest cake I've ever made, there's no creaming of butter or whipping of egg whites etc. In fact, I realise there's no butter in this, nor is there gluten or dairy, or refined sugar in my version. Healthy cakes shouldn't taste quite as good, but this is deliciously chocolatey, with the fragrance of orange and slight spice from ginger. I hate airy chiffon-style cakes so I really liked that it's so moist, oh but at the same time, it's surprisingly quite light and not too rich you feel like you're eating a bar of chocolate shaped like a slice of cake, as many chocolate tortes are.

Recipe challenge mania: I realise this is perfect for entering Choclette's We Should Cocoa challenge(Chocolate and Orange this month), yay it's the first time I'm doing something chocolate. And if they don't mind me being sneaky here, also Karen and Kate's Teatime Treats (Christmas Bake). I was slightly chuffed that I couldn't take part in Dom's Random Recipes this month because I had no cookbook to even choose to give away to charity, though I did give away Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone, which mentioned a rich chocolate cake Hagrid gave to Harry on his birthday, if that counts... but I'm probably pushing it. Ok enough.

A little bit of December sun and a lot of Spanish food

I'm back! I write this now in a sleep-deprived, over-stuffed state, so I'll let the photos do more of the speaking. I went to Barcelona and Seville for a little 4-day escape from the cold and grey skies of London. As with most of my travels, the experience is largely gastronomic. Spain was always one of those countries on my to-go list after the Brindisa chorizo sandwich I had at Borough market.

And chorizo I did have, along with some of their other less-famous cured sausages and hams.

Little 1 euro sampler sticks for the indecisive like me

Jamon is Spanish for ham, and the slicing of the ham is a fine art in itself. The whole cured leg is usually hung up proudly for display, not just in the markets, but also in the restaurants and tapas bars.

You would think I stuffed myself silly with pork there, but actually, I had a lot more seafood. Barcelona and Seville are both coastal, and you can tell from the amount of seafood on their menus. I had the best seafood I ever had (and that's saying a lot because I grew up in Singapore!) at the Mercat (market) de La Boqueria. I was shocked, because, really, it was just plain-grilled, and then finished off with a drizzle of Spanish olive oil and sea salt, but it was amazing and just bursting with the fresh flavours of the sea.

Mind-blowing seafood platter done to perfection, not overcooked or overladen with excessive seasoning or flavourings

Oh and speaking of the market. I love to visit markets, and even in London, I still get excited every Saturday when I work at the farmers' market. I must say it's been one of the most impressive markets I've seen so far. Rows and rows of fresh vegetables and meat (including offal) and of course, the aforementioned seafood-- probably why the grill was so good.

The mushroom stall!

Just one of the maybe 20 seafood stalls there

It's not just your usual cod or salmon they sell though, often times, it's really the cheap fishes, things like sardines and the tiny oily fishes we often turn our noses up at, just simply fried up as little snacks, or tapas.

Pescadito fritos (fried little fishes)

Which brings me to the tapas. I think what was most immediately obvious about the Spanish were that they were really friendly people; everyone was like family, whether or not they've grown up together or only just spent the last five minutes together. That whole concept of tapas is based on the idea of sharing- just little plates of snacks and appetisers that everyone can all munch on over a beer and a conversation. It's not at all like a formal, stuffy dinner where no one really dares to speak much because you're busy making sure you don't accidentally open your mouth while you're chewing.

Haha. The very friendly owner at a busy tapas bar overflowing with locals all through the day and night.

Our never-ending appetite. The series of tapas we had, starting from the top left:

Croquetas, chorizo on bread, tortilla de patatas (Spanish thick potato omelette), fried sardines, and something he put a plate down of with a "Bueno!"

Oh and of course, what would Spain be without some paella! Our hostel was supposed to have a paella night on the rooftop where everyone will learn and have a hand in making paella, but disappointingly, it got cancelled ):

I got so excited when I saw that huge pan hanging in the kitchen, but, oh well.

We didn't have the chance to make it to Valencia, the birthplace of paella, but this dish is all over Spain. The most interesting one we had was the paella negra, kind of like seafood paella, but in a wicked black colour because of the squid ink.

(Black) Lip-smackingly good, but we came to the conclusion that this was not food you should order on a date, unless I find a foodie boyfriend just as greedy.

And now I need to get back to the realities of briefs and projects (yes, over the Christmas break; oh the cruel uni life!) I will still find time to do a thing or two inspired by my Spanish adventures; it should be great because the upcoming festivities are all about sharing and food and family and friends-- and that's Spain in a nutshell for me (:

Bok Choy and Bacon Quiche

It's getting harder to be excited about the stodgy winter vegetables, and though I've been on a root veggie kick lately, I'm starting to count down to the delicate greens of spring..Enter the bok choy, or pak choy! It's actually a member of the cabbage family and is in its peak season in winter. But unlike the rest of the winter veg, it quite reminds me of a spring vegetable with its tender leaves and juicy crunchy stalks.

Another thing it reminds me of, is home; it's one of the most common vegetables in asian dishes. This time though, I'm sharing something more exciting than the usual stirfry or soup. Quiche!

Basic Quiche Ratio

(I realised if I go by weight, this actually also fits in with Michael Ruhlman's ratios)

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cup of a mix of whole cream and milk (preferably grassfed and not ultra-pasteurised)

about 1/2 cup of grated cheese, e.g. swiss or feta (There's no cheese in this one though, and apparently, according to Julia Child, we should skip cheese if there's bacon already)

See Sambal Asparagus and Gruyere Crustless Quiche for custard ratios for crustless quiche. Either way though, there's always more liquid than eggs. Quiche should be luscious and custardy, not like a hardened frittata!

Bok Choy and Bacon Quiche

Makes an 8" quiche, 1 1/2" high

Ingredients

Homemade all-butter shortcrust pastry (with GF option)

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup of whole (full-fat please!) grassfed single cream

2 large shallots

6-8 slices of bacon from happy outdoor-bred pigs

4-5 bunches of baby bok choy

pinch of grated nutmeg

lots of freshly ground black pepper, and sea salt to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees celsius.

2. Get your pastry ready first. So that while it's in the oven for the 20 min pre-baking and out of it to cool down, you can get the filling ready!

3. Chop up your bacon and shallots, and slice thinly your bok choy, the stalks included, that's the nice juicy bit.

4. Saute the bacon till crispy, drain and set aside. In the remaining bacon fat, saute the shallots till softened and translucent, then add the bok choy to wilt. Season.

5. Scatter the cooked bacon, shallots and bok choy as evenly as you can over the pastry shell.

6. Whisk together the eggs and cream, season, and then pour it over the ingredients, into the pastry shell. I like to do this at the oven because I know myself and I know I'm sure to spill the filling while carrying it over.

7. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for about 35-40 min, or until puffed (it will deflate once out of the oven though) and golden. Remove from oven, let cool before removing from the tart case and slicing.

Sweet caramelised shallots, savoury bacon, and a rich velvety custard-- no wonder the quiche lorraine works. But this has added greens in it to make you feel slightly better about yourself what with all the other Christmassy treats. And bok choy works great here, kind of like the more commonly used spinach but with a sweet peppery crunch.

Yes, school has ended and I'm finally getting into the holiday mood! I'll be escaping the Christmassy tunes of a white Christmas for the rest of this week though; I'm off backpacking in Spain for a bit of sunshine and flamenco and seafood and paprika and chorizo and all things wonderfully spanish and delicious (:

Braised Chestnuts and Chestnut Mushrooms

I thought I would do something with something that's a little more Christmassy. So I got a bag of chestnuts, because that seems to be the nut of choice around this period.

Chestnuts don't taste like normal nuts at all. They're actually quite sweet and not really crunchy. Apparently in some places in Europe, chestnuts form the staple of their diet, so they're more like carby nuts. Some of you may be surprised to know that chestnuts aren't a European thing, the way I was surprised to know that they aren't an Asian thing when I first saw vendors roasting chestnuts on the streets of London.

This is adapted from my mum's "dao you ji", chicken braised with chestnuts and shiitake mushrooms in soy+oyster sauce. I used chestnut mushrooms instead that I got for free from the farmers' market that day, also because I like the idea of putting the two "chestnuts" together. And I used no chicken, which makes this a really easy and simple side that you can serve up (maybe for Christmas if you've got some leftover from preparing stuffing?)

Braised Chestnuts and Chestnut Mushrooms

Ingredients

400g of chestnuts in shell (or you can use ready prepared ones which will make this even simpler)

2 large handfuls of baby chestnut mushrooms

1 tbsp traditionally fermented/brewed soy sauce

1 tbsp traditionally fermented oyster sauce

1 tsp ground white pepper

few slices of ginger

few cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole

Method

To prepare the chestnuts

1. My mum always used dried chestnuts so fresh chestnuts was totally new to me. I found this really useful website teaching you how to.

Cut an 'X' on the flat side of the chestnut (important, or they will explode!!). If you can, soak overnight in water, which will help it cook and peel easier, plus it will help with the issue of anti-nutrients and digestion.

You can boil or roast, I decided to roast for ~25 min in a 200 degrees celsius oven, to bring out its sweet flavour more. Once the shells split, peel them from their shells. If you leave them to cool too long, the shells stick so it becomes harder to peel.

You'll end up with a lot less chestnuts than 400g, because of course, it's de-shelled, plus you'll have to discard the bad ones, and you'll probably munch on a couple as you go ;)

2. Add the chestnuts, together with all the rest of the ingredients, and enough water to cover in a pot. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 30 min.

Easy, no frying first, no fuss.

3. Add the chestnut mushrooms, and continue to simmer for about 15 min till cooked.

Notice sauce has already reduced by quite a bit from earlier.

4. Increase the heat so the sauce reduces, until you get a yummy sticky sauce to coat everything. Yup, no need for cornstarch or anything to thicken.

The chestnuts add a mellow nutty sweetness to the braising sauce so you've got sweet and savoury altogether. The best part is, the chestnuts and mushrooms and the garlic cloves soak up that sauce, and biting into each of them is a delicious burst of flavour. You can skip the reducing step if you want, so it's more like chestnuts and mushrooms in a light braising liquor, the way my mum does her dao you ji, also yum. I know because I taste-tested about 10 times while reducing..It was addictive ):

Anyway I know there's still nothing Christmassy about this at all except for that one ingredient. Hmm.

Ragu of Venison Neck Slow-Braised in Shaoxing Wine

While working at the farmers' market one Saturday, Jessica's mum, who was manning the booth for South Downs Venison & Game, managed to convince me to try venison. I'm not against venison, especially the wild venison that they are selling. It's not only in season and sustainable for the environment; on your side, it's incredibly rich in protein and nutrients, low in cholestrol, and being wild, it's as natural and organic as you can get.

What kept putting me off venison was the price. Venison just sounded so fancy and..restaurant-y, so I had the impression I would be much better off without it, pocket-wise. But then I realised how cheap the venison necks were. I'm a fan of using the less popular cuts of meat. You get so much more bang for your buck, plus there's loads of flavour, especially if the meat is still hanging onto the bone (marrow bones in this case, score!). And, it's definitely tender if you remember to go low and slow. I found recipes calling for it to be braised in red wine, but because I'm not one to have red wine around the house, I used Shaoxing rice wine instead, and to complement that, some typical Chinese braising spices, which I hoped, would also counter any gamey-ness.

Ragout of Venison Neck Slow-Braised in Shaoxing Wine

serves 4

Ingredients

700g wild fallow neck, on the bone

1 very large onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 star anise

2 cinnamon sticks

2 cloves

2 strips of dried tangerine peel

2 tbsp soy sauce (traditionally fermented)

1/4 cup Shaoxing rice wine

1/2 cup homemade stock, or water if you're in a pinch

unrefined sea salt, black pepper

2-3 tbsp of olive oil/dripping (I had some fat saved from skimming some homemade stock)

Method

1. Season the venison necks generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil/fat in a not non-stick pan, and brown the venison necks until lightly golden-brown all over, then set aside.

See the marrow that will leak into and richen the sauce later?

2. Add the onions and carrots to the remaining oil in the pan and let cook till the onions brown slightly, then add in the spices to toast for a few seconds more.

3. Pour in Shaoxing wine to deglaze the pan and make sure you scrape to get all the yummy caramelised flavours.

4. Return the venison necks to the pan, add in the stock and soy sauce, bring to a boil, and then let simmer for 4 hours. What I did was to transfer it to my slow cooker, and I just left it on high. If you have a cast iron pot, you can just do everything in it, then cover and transfer to an oven for a few hours, something I hopefully can do in future (thanks again Charles!).

5. 4 hours later, the meat will be falling off the bone and the sauce should be nice and brown. You can thicken it up with a slurry or by reducing it, but I decided to just puree the vegetables into the sauce with my hand blender (remove the whole spices first!) and then strain. Shred the meat and return to the sauce.

The meat will be fork-tender, so you can easily get it all off the bones

6. I served this once with parsnip mash,

and then the next time, with homemade sourdough parpadelle (recipe updated by the way!)

Either way, it was delicious, the gravy rich and savoury, just thick enough to coat the pasta or run over polenta (or just a nice mash/puree like I did, because honestly, how many normal people stock polenta at home??) without being gloopy. If you were hesitant because you thought venison's too lean and tough, the photos of the clean bones and falling apart meat ought to change your mind. And if you were afraid of gamey smells, venison really is quite mild, and anyway all that aromatic Chinese braising spices and wine should settle any remaining fears.

I know it's nearing Christmas, and venison doesn't seem very Christmassy, but I'm sure people are getting a bit tired of all that on the web lately. My family never really celebrated Christmas, so I thought I'd save all the roast turkey and mince pies and christmas pudding recipes for other bloggers who probably will do a better job ;)

By the way, Taste of Christmas was really fun, I'll try to write more about that next time!