Getting ready (or: Preparation is twice the fun)

Christmas comes but once a year and always requires planning. We all know that preparation's half the work but, for me, it is also twice the fun and I can hardly wait to start. It is the third day of November, Christmas is still 51 (!!!) days away, but I have already planned Christmas dinner.

As there is only my husband and me, I have decided against a bird but, in stead, have opted for a nice roast. Not something we usually eat as there are only two of us so it should be a nice change.

Our menu is going to look something like this:

Christmas Menu

Starter

Grilled Goats Cheese and Cranberry Compote

served with pan fried chicory

Main Course

Rose Veal 'Prince Orloff'

served with Baked Brussels Sprouts and

Goose Fat Roast Potatoes

Dessert

Mulled Wine Poached Pears

served with sweetened crème fraîche

Cheeseboard

Selection of soft and hard cheeses

served with home-made mini rolls and

roasted chestnuts, cranberry compote and onion chutney

Note to self: Invite people for Christmas dinner or we'll be eating Christmas 'dinner' for the next five days...

Veal Prince Orloff is a dish that was created by the French chef Urbain Dubois for Prince Orloff, a former Russian ambassador to France in the 1800s. It sounds impressive and tastes even better but is easy to make.

I know that many people do not like the idea of eating veal as it is often associated with animal cruelty but standards here in the UK have significantly improved over the years but some awareness is necessary. Make sure to ask your butcher for Non-formula-fed ("red" or "grain-fed") veal, Rose veal, Pasture-raised veal or Free-raised veal. If you really do not want to eat veal, you could substitute the veal for beef or venison or even pork.

Veal Prince Orloff

Ingredients:
For the meat

• 1 kilo veal (beef, venison, pork) roast
• 150 gram butter (plus extra for greasing an oven proof dish)
• 100 millilitre water
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 250 gram mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 100 millilitre cream
• 1 slice of bacon per finger-thick slice of meat
• Salt and pepper

For the sauce (Mornay)

• 20 gram butter
• 25 gram flour
• 250 millilitre gravy
• 100 gram grated cheese (extra mature cheddar is perfect) (plus extra to sprinkle on top)

Method:

For the meat

1. Season the meat all over with salt and pepper
2. Heat a frying pan on high heat, add 125 gram of the butter, let it melt and wait until it has stopped foaming
3. Add the meat to the pan and brown on all sides
4. Once browned, lower the temperature to medium, add the water and cover the pan with a lid
5. Cook the meat for approximately 1 hour, basting the meat with the juices in the pan
6. After 1 hour remove the meat (leaving the juices) from the pan and let it rest
7. Add enough water to the pan to create 250 millilitre of gravy, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan (to get all the brown bits), and pour into a jug
8. In a separate frying pan add the rest of the butter and fry the onion until golden
9. Add the mushrooms and fry until all the liquid has evaporated
10. Season the mushroom mix with salt and pepper and add the cream, letting the cream reduce slightly
11. Grease an oven proof dish and slice the meat into 1 finger-thick slices
12. In a frying pan, fry 1 rasher of bacon per slice of meat until crispy (for 5 slices of meat, 5 rashers of bacon)
13. In the oven proof dish:
1. place 1 slice of meat
2. cover with a rasher of bacon
3. add 1 spoonful of the mushrooms (make sure to have enough for every slice of meat
4. repeat until all the meat, bacon and mushrooms have been used, in an overlapping manner (like shingles on a roof)

For the sauce (Mornay)

1. In a sauce pan, melt the butter, let it foam and brown slightly
2. Whisk in the flour and, whilst whisking, let it 'cook' until it smells like biscuits
3. Add the gravy bit by bit, whilst whisking, and let it cook and thicken for about five minutes
4. Whisk in the cheese and let it melt

To finish the dish:

1. Pour the sauce over the meat and sprinkle with some grated cheese
2. Preheat the oven to 200º Celsius
3. Bake meat in the oven for approximately 30 minutes, cover with tinfoil if it is starting to brown too quickly

The meat can be prepared a couple of days in advance and then assembled when needed. Make sure to cover everything with tinfoil and place in the fridge: remove the meat at least 1 hour before cooking from the fridge to come to room temperature otherwise the meat will be tough.

As they say in Russia

приятного аппетита

Or, in English

Enjoy