Christmas at home is very relaxing, a bit of suspense and tension in the early morning as presents get unwrapped slowly, one by one, so we have the time to look at each one, appreciate and then to the next one...and the next one, ....and for the grand finale, the big one: the car racing track! The grand prix commences...
Oh the tension was inside me as I wanted to make sure that the car racing track was assembled gently and now that it works I am fine!

Christmas breakfats was Pain de Noel from our local Boulanjerie Jade in Blackheath, and chocolate spread, a good one this time ( Whole Earth).
Now onto the meal...by the way I only worked out the menu now! This is exciting! A sort of ready steady cook: with the ingredients we have in the kitchen today and an electric cooker and grill that I can use, but not the oven ( BROKEN!), what can I do?
This time I am going to ask people to peel potatoes for me ( people: my husband and Morgana, my daughter)

So I decided to cut the potatoes in tiny cubes, boil in stock and then fry them with rosemary, sage and garlic, a bit like hash browns:

So here is the preview:

am browsing now the internet for the best recipes, I need to remind you that these recipes and images are not mine, I am simply preparing mentally for my Christmas meal!

Cotolette di Seitan al rosmarino

per 2 porzioni:

400gr. of fresh cutlets of wheat protein: seitan

pane grattugiato- breadcrumbs

rosmarino

origano

aglio

salsa di soya(shoyu)

olio di oliva for shallow frying

per la pastella- the batter:

farina - wholemeal flour

acqua san pellegrino or lager- not Prosecco! needs a few bubbles!

Prendo fettine sottili di seitan, trito l'aglio, con il rosmarino e l'origano e lo unisco al pane grattugiato, lo condisco con un pò di olio di oliva e shoyu sbriciolando tutto con le mani, passo le fettine nella pastella, poi nell'impanatura e friggo, scolo bene, asciugo nella carta assorbente e a piacere salo ancora un pò con il sale fino rosa himalayano!

I take the cutlets and dip them in my batter, then the breadcrumbs I am using the sage and onion pack of stuffing as well as breadcrumbs, garlic finely chopped and rosemary...
So dip in batter cover with crumbs and shallow fry for a few minutes both sides until golden and crisp and dry on kitchen paper- getting rid of excess oil. Yes I used Pink Hymalaian salt too!

I am going to serve the above with some kind of Parsnip dish...here I am going to browse and choose the best: I have in mind thinly sliced parsnip chips...let's see what I find:

I think I am going to thinly slice the parsnips and parboil them and then shallow fry them...

Then I am going to mash the swede:

then I am going to steam the brussel sprouts:

then I am making onion gravy :
my recipe is 1 onion cut in half moons and tamari soya sauce and miso gravy:

Ingredients
1tbsp Clearspring Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, sliced in half moons
1 tsp Clearspring Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp Clearspring Mikawa Mirin
1 tbsp plain flour
1 sachet Clearspring Miso Bouillon mixed with 750ml hot water
or a tbsp of miso paste
1 tsp wholegrain mustard (optional)

Method

Fry the onion in the olive oil on a very low heat until soft and brown.
Stir when necessary. This will take around 15 to 20 minutes minutes.
Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to evaporate.
Add the flour and stir in thoroughly.
Add the stock a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the gravy is thick and you cannot taste the flour.

Stir in the mustard if using, check the seasoning and serve.

I am not sure if this is enough or should I add some boiled carrots too...

Not sure about pudding either...but we got seriously dark chocolate truffles and I think that is enough!

So, as it is now nearly 11.30 am and I like to serve at around 1pm, I get on with prep and cooking...

Having a nice Christmas so far...

update:

the meal for real this time, my recipes and the outcome: