I’m shopped out; I’ve bought the gifts, bought the outfits and now my attention has turned to food. Cooking for others over the festive period can be a daunting and time consuming business so for this week’s WishList I’ve selected some of my favourite recipes that I’ll be making to feed the hoards this year. None of these ideas should take you more than 20 minutes to prep although feel free to tell anyone listening that you have slaved away for hours to lovingly prepare these beauties.
If I ever replaced the obligatory pigs in blankets at Christmas dinner there would be uproar in my house. This dreamy variation of pancetta wrapped cheese would be great for buffets and would also sit happily alongside the traditional sausage staple.
Two of my favourite foods are bread and cheese and I have been known to demolish an entire baked camembert and French bread in one sitting. Really easy to prepare and always popular, go for the simple option here or I like to add some apricot jam and a handful of walnuts to ramp up the taste factor.
Every year I buy or give a Panettone which always look so beautifully packaged but I rarely do anything with them other than toast it and smear with butter. This recipe is a serious stodge fest but I serve this in preference to a Christmas pudding.
The video version of this idea kept popping up on my Facebook feed and it’s a pretty impressive dish that looks a lot more complicated and time consuming to prepare than it actually is.
This Bara Brith recipe from Queen Mary of Berry is a tried and trusted favourite. I leave the tea to soak overnight and add a pinch of mixed spice. It does take practically three days to cook right through but it is delicious and will keep for a good few days if you store in an airtight container. There was a huge debate recently about whether it was wrong to eat cheese with Christmas cake personally, I’ll take the cheese and replace the cake with this.
After Christmas I always get the craving for some spicy food to cut through the richness of and spark the taste buds back to life. The left-over Turkey curry is great but this tagine is packed full of flavour and easy to prepare.
My next three recipes are for that whole ‘New Year, New phase’ that we all do where we promise ourselves that we’re going to eat cleaner and better. Soup is always comforting when the weather is still cold. This one is a little spicy but will warm your bones and fill you up whilst still being a healthy option.
I have to give credit to my good friend Liz who first made this for me. In her version, she uses pre-packed and pre-cooked beetroot for ease. Packed full of goodness and so tasty it remains one of my favourite salads whatever the time of year.
Start the day as you mean to go on with these breakfast tostadas. I don’t add the eggs but I do prepare the chopped vegetable mix in advance and keep in the fridge until needed.
So that’s my favourites for this week I hope you find them helpful. I’ll be back next week with a roundup of the usual WishList mix and as some stores go to sale next week there should be some bargains to be found.
Hannah x