christmas menu

Posted on | December 24, 2009 | 2 Comments

it’s about a million degrees celsius here at this time of the year….the traditional northern hemisphere type of christmas dinner is completely out of the question!
i’ll be starting the day with a trot around the lake as usual and maybe a swim afterwards.
i’ve decided on a baked ham and some simple salads, then fruit and cheese and then coffee and christmas cake biscuits, glazed with ginger icing.

the butcher in yungaburra cures hams once a year and they are so good, they are ridiculous.
for me, it just isn’t christmas unless there is a baked ham…..and we will be eating ham in various guises (sandwiches, soups, pastas, omelettes, salads) until the new year at least.
for a glaze this year, i am doing a mix of brown sugar, apricot nectar, sweet sherry, balsamic vinegar and five spice.
this evening i mixed the glaze and then reduced it to a thick syrup.
tomorrow, i’ll baste the ham with it, just thirty minutes before it’s finished baking.
i’m hoping for a shiny, sticky, spicy, sweet, tart effect.
it will be a bit different and i think quite fabulous.

we are having my favourite summer salads:
kipflers with herbed mayonnaise
tomatoes/red onions/basil with a red wine vinaigrette
coleslaw
nothing earth-shattering there, but it’s all good simple stuff we enjoy.

then cherries and grapes with some king island brie/blue/camembert and walnut and prune paste and some homemade plain crackers.

a bit of veuve clicquot and alicante bouchet to wash it all down and maybe we’ll open the already-chilling 1996 de bortoli noble one to go with the cheese, if anyone is still thirsty.
and i think a swim at the lake in the late afternoon should cool everything off beautifully.

and of course, we get to eat delicious leftovers on boxing day and probably all weekend too.

i wish you all a very merry christmas!

Comments