I'm really in the cooking mood at the moment and all this time off work has meant I've had the time to think about and plan menus and meals. We had another day of feasting yesterday. I kept it simple but it was very tasty.
I started out inspired by Nigella (on UK TV) to cook a joint of gammon ham in a bottle of good ginger beer. Inspired by Nigel Slater (ditto), I added a couple of bay leaves, 3 cloves, 2 star anise and a few black peppercorns to the ginger beer. I cooked the ham for 7 hours in the slow cooker. It was almost falling apart when I lifted it out. I then took off the top covering of fat and smothered it in ginger preserve and put it in the oven for half an hour. It was delicious!
I served it hot with the thickened the cooking liquid. First, I removed the spices and then boiled it steadily for 20 minutes until it reduced a bit and added some cornflour dissolved in water. No further seasoning was needed as the gammon had made it salty enough.
As side dishes, I made fruity red cabbage (shallot fried in butter & oil, chopped peeled apple and a big handful of cranberries - until softened - then red cabbage added and two ladles of the gammon's cooking liquid - simmer until soft). And veggie mash (potatoes, swede, carrot and parsnip all mashed together with butter, salt & pepper).
With tamari pumpkin & sunflower seeds as nibbles, goat's cheese grilled on toast with beetroot salad to start and chocolate mousse & ice cream to follow ... it was a great gf winter meal!
I started out inspired by Nigella (on UK TV) to cook a joint of gammon ham in a bottle of good ginger beer. Inspired by Nigel Slater (ditto), I added a couple of bay leaves, 3 cloves, 2 star anise and a few black peppercorns to the ginger beer. I cooked the ham for 7 hours in the slow cooker. It was almost falling apart when I lifted it out. I then took off the top covering of fat and smothered it in ginger preserve and put it in the oven for half an hour. It was delicious!
I served it hot with the thickened the cooking liquid. First, I removed the spices and then boiled it steadily for 20 minutes until it reduced a bit and added some cornflour dissolved in water. No further seasoning was needed as the gammon had made it salty enough.
As side dishes, I made fruity red cabbage (shallot fried in butter & oil, chopped peeled apple and a big handful of cranberries - until softened - then red cabbage added and two ladles of the gammon's cooking liquid - simmer until soft). And veggie mash (potatoes, swede, carrot and parsnip all mashed together with butter, salt & pepper).
With tamari pumpkin & sunflower seeds as nibbles, goat's cheese grilled on toast with beetroot salad to start and chocolate mousse & ice cream to follow ... it was a great gf winter meal!
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