Delicious food for special day

Roast pheasant with gravy
A truly versatile bird and certainly plentiful during the winter months. The flavour and texture are dependent on several things: the age of the bird, its sex and how long it has been allowed to hang. Likewise these factors determine the best way to cook it. A younger bird will be more tender and makes a nice roast; an older bird is better suited to long, slow cooking in a stew or casserole. One bird will feed two people and they are often sold in a brace. It's just as easy to roast two as it is one and if there are any leftovers, the meat makes an excellent cold winter salad.

INGREDIENTS:

2 oven-ready pheasants
1 small apple, cut into quarters
salt and pepper
softened butter
4 pieces of unsmoked streaky bacon
good quality chicken stock
2 tbsp port or full-bodies red wine
1 tsp flour


PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6. Place the pheasants in a medium size roasting tin so they fit comfortably but not too close together.
2. Stuff each of the cavities with 2 of the apple quarters. Season all over with salt and pepper and smear the breasts, legs and thigh with the softened butter, keeping 1 tea spoon aside for the gravy.

3. Cut the bacon in half and lay over the breasts. Tie the legs together loosley with string. Pour enough chicken stock into the bottom of the roasting tin so it comes approximately 1cm / 1/2 inch up the sides.

4. Roast for 40-45 minutes, basting with the pan juices every 10 minutes or so. For the final 10 minutes, add the port or red wine.

5. When cooked, remove the pheasants to a serving dish and keep warm. Place the roasting tin with the pan juices on a high heat and bring to a simmer. Mash the reserved butter and flour together to make a paste and whisk into the gravy to help thicken it. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding more stock, port or wine, depending on how thick or thin you like it.

Delicious food for special day

Roast pheasant with gravy
A truly versatile bird and certainly plentiful during the winter months. The flavour and texture are dependent on several things: the age of the bird, its sex and how long it has been allowed to hang. Likewise these factors determine the best way to cook it. A younger bird will be more tender and makes a nice roast; an older bird is better suited to long, slow cooking in a stew or casserole. One bird will feed two people and they are often sold in a brace. It's just as easy to roast two as it is one and if there are any leftovers, the meat makes an excellent cold winter salad.
Dish Details:




INGREDIENTS:

2 oven-ready pheasants
1 small apple, cut into quarters
salt and pepper
softened butter
4 pieces of unsmoked streaky bacon
good quality chicken stock
2 tbsp port or full-bodies red wine
1 tsp flour





PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6. Place the pheasants in a medium size roasting tin so they fit comfortably but not too close together.
2. Stuff each of the cavities with 2 of the apple quarters. Season all over with salt and pepper and smear the breasts, legs and thigh with the softened butter, keeping 1 tea spoon aside for the gravy.

3. Cut the bacon in half and lay over the breasts. Tie the legs together loosley with string. Pour enough chicken stock into the bottom of the roasting tin so it comes approximately 1cm / 1/2 inch up the sides.

4. Roast for 40-45 minutes, basting with the pan juices every 10 minutes or so. For the final 10 minutes, add the port or red wine.

5. When cooked, remove the pheasants to a serving dish and keep warm. Place the roasting tin with the pan juices on a high heat and bring to a simmer. Mash the reserved butter and flour together to make a paste and whisk into the gravy to help thicken it. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding more stock, port or wine, depending on how thick or thin you like it.

Enjoy and Save money this Christmas

For the past few years, I've had a recurring nightmare. It's the day before Christmas and I haven't bought anything for my family and friends. Since it's the 11th hour, I'm throwing caution to the wind, buying overpriced, impersonal gifts as my panic rises.

The moral of this dream is that gift-giving angst is not about generosity; it's about projecting an image. Because I've waited until the last minute (because I'm not in control of my money) my Christmas will put me in the poorhouse once again.

And as I'm wrapping those presents I won't even feel good about them. How could I, knowing what their consequences will be and how little real thought they reflect?

So what could be some alternatives to the great Christmas shopping binge?

Imagine that you will only spend what you have. No credit card purchases. And no putting yourself last, so that come January you have to forgo the root canal because your gift buying put you in hock. It may mean you can spend very little. Is this terrible? No. And by using these tips, you can make the holidays meaningful without breaking the bank.

Make it personal
Why not purchase something small but relevant for each person on your list, and write out a note by hand telling them how you feel about them? You can include in your note your new decision about Christmas, and what it means to you.

Agree on spending amounts as a family
Another possibility for avoiding self-destruction is 'The Limit'. With The Limit, everyone agrees ahead of time not to spend more than such-and-such for each person's gift.
Sound stringent? Not really in the true spirit of Christmas? Not so. One of the best Christmases my family ever had was when we decided on a £20 limit per person. My son and his wife initiated the idea (they'd had a lot of expenses that year) and it turned out the rest of us were only too thrilled to comply. The presents were more fun that year. And gone was the great Christmas morning anxiety: will my gifts be good enough? Will they fit? Will she think I'm slighting her?

Think small
Finally, there's 'The Stocking.' Using this technique, you only buy what fits into the Christmas stocking. This can be the main Christmas present or the launch of festivities that makes smaller presents later feel quite satisfying.
Good gifts for the stocking include soaps, scents, candles, a favourite chocolate, funny little toys, gloves, whatever fits. Somebody in our family even got a turbocharged nose hair clipper!The idea is to be witty, have fun and enjoy small luxuries. I'd rather have one Godiva chocolate than ten thousand chocolate buttons.

Sure, it takes guts to deconstruct Christmas and make it work for you, but the payoff is fabulous. You are with loved ones. It is warm and the candles are glowing. When you have a Christmas created with thoughtfulness and affection, as well as within budgetary constraints, January looks a whole lot brighter.


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