Boxing Day Dinner

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What a perfectly lovely meal we had last night! I have to share, even though I forgot my camera…very stupid mistake, as dinner was at my mother’s and she is a fabulous cook with the most beautiful sense of charm and style you can imagine. Her platters and dinnerware, her table setting: all perfect.

France is my mother’s favourite country in the whole wide world and she and my step-father spent some years living there. They lived in a village in the South-West called Villereal. France has influenced my mother’s cooking, wine drinking and style I think. Always generous, charming hosts, they have brought a little bit of France to our gatherings en famille.

My step-sister and her husband were there. He works in Switzerland and is home for the holidays. Their daughter charmed us with a flute and violin recital. Tres European salon I thought to myself.

I am not really 100% sure why, but mum wanted me to make the main course. It is a recipe I won a competition in a magazine with, some years ago now: Thai Chicken Salad. Basically stir-fried chicken and bok-choy ( and a spoon-full of Tom Yum paste), mixed salad greens, spring onion, mint, coriander, rice noodle and blanched bean sprouts, it gets tossed with a sweetish chilli, lime, garlic dressing. Delicious! Anyway, I made it after taking my special floaty Christmas shirt off as I thought I might catch on fire at one point.

We served it in two large, white shallow bowls.

It was dessert that was the stand out in my opinion:

• creme caramel on the most gorgeous Portmeirion platter you’ve ever seen, surrounded by prunes soaked in brandy.
• tarte tatin picture perfect and served with cream
• the most unbelievably beautiful huge stemmed glass filled with whole, peeled oranges in a spice, Cointreau syrup. Mum had left dome cinnamon quills and whole cloves in and it was just dazzling.
• little home-made fruit mince tarts with a rich, buttery, shortcrust pastry.

They are having “drinks & nibbles” for friends tomorrow evening. We have said we’ll go. I think I might make some sausage rolls to take. If I do I will definitely take photos this time…

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