Christmas 2014 @ Mita Cliff

it's everything christmas to me....

 Chicken broth & tortellini, winter veg tart tartin, glaxed ham, crunchy goose fat-basted potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, turkey, sprouts, stuffing, killer cranberry relish, ....have I forgotten anything?

 Then the dessert that has been the stuff of dreams and nightmares....Forest Floor... 8 page recipe, 11 components, 3 contestants, pressure test....the loser gets kicked off. Not really, but the stress was palpable :)

 And...the proud moment of unveiling..............................................VOILA!

Happy Holidays everyone, Christmas was a cracker as usual!!

The gift swap (never buy, raid your house for presents theme) was successful: the cane returned home, after an absence of 3 years. I hope to find the topless slippers for next year, and I'm pretty sure Andrea and Dorte will not be bringing the nipple tassles back in 2015. Just a prediction.

Thanks Mita and Cliff for hosting with plenty of love and abundance xx

'Nederlandse kost* with your homeland twist’

We give Dutch food a pretty hard time. A really hard time actually. So what better way to mend the relationship than to give it a good old fashioned makeover....

'Nederlandse kost* with your homeland twist’ 

You may choose any of the recipes below, and then work it (if you want) to give it your own little twist. Any ingredient is allowed, but the basic recipe/main ingredient should still be recognisable.

Of course, if you know of or find another typically Dutch dish, feel free to use it!

Dishes were judged on....

1. Originality
2. Number of Dutch ingredients used
3. Best suited ‘twist’ to go with recipe
4. The yumminess of your dish

Traditional Dutch Party Nibbles

Deconstructed Hutspot of mash with smoked butter...inspired by the BBQs of australia, carrot confit in nutmeg, crispy fried onions (kelly)

Dutch delights- quintessential dutch on a plate with gorgeous presentation (roggebrood met haring en aardappel salade, puree en peterselie olie, roast beef rosettes with rode bieten en geitenkaas, paling, spek en bloemkool puree)...inspired by the colours of Africa (Winnie)

Pannekoek stack with rocket pesto...inspired by the colours of Africa (Colleen)

Ouderwetse garnarlen cocktail...with a NZ twist (Mascha)

SPECULOOS KIP, salad of rocket, oudekaas, apple, appelstroop...inspired by Monique

Kibbeling: UK style Ale battered fish, oven fried chippies pea and mint puree, tartar (Mita)

Meestreechs Zuurvlees met pomme duchesse, poached pear and plum confit...Inspired by Dutchiness, so dutch it's dutch (Dorte)

Oma's appeltaart...Heston Style (inspired by my would-be husband) poached apple in apple gel stacked with flaky pastry, caramelised walnuts, apple caviar & cinnamon ice cream (Kelly)

Dutch food has managed to win us back...made over it can be sexy and dish-lickingly good (it happened). The winners were:............ 1. Kelly, 2. Monique 3. Mita!!! 

Kelly's Box of Mysteries

BOX CHALLENGE. Get in Quick and select your box! (One person per box!)
Mystery box 1- Colleen
fish, sesame seeds , peas/snow peas, ginger

Mystery box 2- Winnie
Lamb, corn, ricotta, tomatoes, barley, sweet potato

Mystery box 3- Dorte
Goats cheese, lemon, mint, cream, beetroot, nuts

Dorte's Beetroot risotto (sorry no photo :(

Mystery box 4- Monique
Coconut, white chocolate, hazelnuts, lemon, passion fruit

Mystery box 5- Michelle
Pear, liqueur, chocolate, mint, basil, cream, chilli

Mystery box 7- Mascha
Figs, vanilla, honey, cream, balsamic vinegar

Mystery Box 8- Kelly

Chicken, Brussel Sprouts, cauliflower, lemon, 

KFC reinvented with brussel sprout slaw, cauliflower puree, and southern fried chicken

 The winner....Congratulations Mascha with the bizarrely good caramelised fig with balsamic vinegar ice cream!!

Monique's Brazil vs Portugal World Cup

I think it was a win for Brazil (the actual game, who knows), and some photos seem to be missing :/

Moqueca Brazilian Fish stew http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/33421/moqueca+brazilian+fish+stew (Kelly)

Ordem e Progresso Salad (Dorte)

Beets, Goat cheese, gherkins, coriander, chick peas salad (Winnie)

Killer Kale (Winnie)

Marinated and Grilled prawns (Colleen)

Mascha's Japanese Kaiseki

Kaiseki (懐石^?) or kaiseki-ryōri (懐石料理^?) is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. The term also refers to the collection of skills and techniques that allow the preparation of such meals, and are reminiscent of Western haute cuisine.^[1]

There are basically two kinds of traditional Japanese meal styles called kaiseki or kaiseki-ryōri. The first, where kaiseki is written as 会席 and kaiseki-ryōrias 会席料理, refers to a set menu of select food served on an individual tray (to each member of a gathering).^[2] The second, written as 懐石 and as 懐石料理, refers to the simple meal that the host of a chanoyu gathering serves to the guests before a ceremonial tea,^[2] and is also known as cha-kaiseki (茶懐石).^[3]

From top left, clockwise: Genmaicha (roasted rice green tea), wakame sarada, salmon teriyaki noodles, dengaku nasu (miso grilled eggplant), chawan mushi (top right corner), miso soup, gyoza, grilled mushrooms, teriyaki chicken, sashimi, sunomono (cucumber salad). 

One of the most refined and delicious meals we have ever had together xxx

Winnie's finger food dinner (ETC attempting to go 'lite')

In Winnie's invitation to the Finger food dinner, there was something mentioned in the trend of: after the holiday excesses, let's go easy. However, we proved that finger food does not necessarily mean light. 

Crab corn cakes

Potted garden salad with gribiche sauce

Delectable tortillas

Mmm empanadas

Felafels

Mackerel rilletes 1.0

Mackerel rilettes version 2.0

Cheese 'cakejes'

Miracle Fudge

Flapjacks

Christmas home sweet home

Dorte's Mega Vega