might be of a little interest to some of you...

this is a selection of the things we've been making and eating over the Christmas period

french onion soup (starter on Christmas day)

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/018frenchonionsoupdone.jpg

fresh smoked salmon salad (again starter on Christmas day)

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/019smokedsalmonstarter.jpg

Steve

Christmas Dinner itself

Turkey, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, medley of roasted veg (carrot, parsnip, peppers and onion), roast potatoes, steamed cabbage, mash potato, chipolata sausage wrapped in bacon and finally stuffings

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/023christmasdinnerserved.jpg

then later the must have simple turkey sandwiches

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/027turkeybuttieshadtohappen.jpg

Steve

Then Boxing Day (the 26th Dec) this is the spread put on by my sister for another family get together.

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/DSCF1372.jpg

on to the 27th and Turkey Curry, basic mild curry with coconut milk (so everyone can eat it)

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/DSCF1434.jpg

Steve

finally yesterday 28th another Buffet meal at our house with our children/grandchildren around..

this time most of the food was shop bought frozen things so we could all have a rest ! The chicken however is coated using my secret chicken mix

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/DSCF1455.jpg

Steve

Looks like you had a pretty 'filling' Christmas Steve, LOL! Thanks for posting your pictures.

Mamta

Well done on the French Onion Soup, Steve: looks as good as my wife's (which is epic!).

A crucial thing is proper croutons, which should be fried in butter. Looks like you did that (French restaurants do too many bad croutons, which are just toasts bought in a bag).

What cheese did you use? We use comt?. Sticking the bowls under the grill is essential, and you've clearly done that.

You deserve to be an honorary Frenchman!

Phil

Steve: do you also do smoked trout? We do it on slices of walnut bread, spread with boursin, and served with salad. With freshly-squeezed lemon juice and black pepper, it' a winner!

Phil

Phil I'd reserve judgement on the onion soup, its my take on it.. I could show you but then you'd probably have to kill me ... LOL

I've had smoked trout (love it) but not made it myself.. sounds interesting with walnut though !

Steve

WOW! Great looking food Steve. Especially the plate of roast for Xmas lunch! Got enough mash on there? lol......and dont you just love cold turkey sandwiches.

Thanks for sharing (would you like to move next door to us)!

Cheers

Steve

there's no such thing as "too much mash"... lol...

My family (thats me and my parents/brothers/sister rather than my partner/children/grandchildren) have always been big carb eaters, lots of bread and potatoes... I suppose when you call your mother "mini" because she's tiny compared to the rest of you there is a need to eat a bit more than "average". My dad is over 6 foot, I'm 6'2" my old brother is six four ... none of us are small built so we need plenty of fuel in there.. lol

Steve

I suppose I should fill the details in for my style french onion soup which did go down very well... even with the toddlers !

French onion soup

Ingredients (for actual soup)

75ml olive oil

5 medium sized onions finely sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1/2 tsp fenugreek powder

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

3-4 tbsp flour (I use bread flour because its in the cupboard)

1 tsp blackpepper

3 beef stockpots/cubes

30ml balsamic vinegar

2 large glasses of redwine

In a large pan soften the onions and cook stirring a lot until they are very brown and sticky.

Add the fenugreek, mustard, oregano, paprika, garlic, stockpots and flour and stir in well for a couple of minutes.

de-glaze with the balsamic vineger then add the red wine

Top up with hot water (about 1.5litre) and leave to simmer down for an hour or so until its nicely cooked out and thickened up again.

onions in the beginning

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/009onionsforonionsoup.jpg

cooked well

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/012onionsforsoupbrowned.jpg

adding flour, herbs, spices and garlic

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/013onionsforsoupflourmustardpaprika.jpg

photo continued on next posts due to spam blocking!

de-glazing with Balsamic vinegar

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/014onionsforsoupbalsamic.jpg

wine added

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/015onionsforsoupredwine.jpg

now the bread and cheese part....

I have no real set idea about this and depending on what, when or where changes how I do this bit... I remember years and years ago (when I was about 16) that I'd seen french onion soup done on something where the soup was poured over cheese toast... since then I've seen other ways and experimented myself...

one way was to dry fry (on a low low heat) large cubes of bread until they had almost completely dried out (not quite to the stage where pressing them crushes them to dust!) Then take them out of the pan and turn the heat up, add olive oil, throw in the croutons with a little garlic, salt and pepper and fry (only take seconds) until golden brown, then sprinkle these on the soup and cover with grated cheese (leave in oven or under grill to melt)

I think it was possibly Jamie Oliver who made toast with a rustic thick cut bread then pushed it into the top of the soup covered with cheese and put in the oven to melt it, which gave a good luck to the dish...

This time I went back to my routes (mainly because the soup was completely unplanned and I decided on Christmas morning without any special bread being bought in to make it !)

So at something like 7-8 am I started to make some basic bread (my recipes for bread are already on the site) but because it was for onion soup and wanted the "cheesy" bread I add a good handfull or two of grated parmegano cheese to the bread dough....

leaving to proof

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/005parmeganobreadforonionsoup.jpg

cooked

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/011breadcooked.jpg

once the bread had cooled (which happened while I was making the soup...)

I then sliced it and added grated chedder cheese over it

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc26/TheAskCy/Christmas%20Dinner%202009/016cheesetoastforonionsoup.jpg

This was then left to one side until the dinner was being served (giving me time to deal with other parts of the menu).. it went in a warm oven to melt the cheese and toast the bread...

using what I've always thought to be the traditional method (back when I was 16 etc) I put the toast into the bowl and covered with the thick tasty soup....

(I told you... its my take on it... lol)

Steve

ps, yeah even has time to take recipe photos while adding extra dishes to an already massive Christmas dinner for 15 people... lol

Steve

Interesting take on French Onion Soup, Steve. We prefer pan-fried slices of baguette, but like you, we grate cheese onto the slices and stick the bowls of soup under the grill.

Have you had a go at fish soup?

Not had a go at fish soup but there is a full frozen salmon in the freezer so who knows..!

Steve

Steve: best not to use salmon for fish soup. Do let me know if you need a recipe. With proper croutons and a good rouille, it's fantastic!

Phil

Agree it seems a shame to put a whole salmon into soup! I think it is best simply poached/baked in a tin foil parcel in the oven.

I think a good fish soup have a good bite to like Thai soups, a bouillabaisse or using smoked mackerel or haddock.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall has a nice sounding Fish and chorizo on his site at:

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/fish-and-chorizo-soup-recipe-07-11-22_p_1.html