DECEMBER: Seasonal foods and menu choice (From Worcester News)

DECEMBER: Seasonal foods and menu choice

11:05am Wednesday 6th January 2010 in News

THIS is the month that shops are full of great food choices of home-grown and imported foods. With everyone preparing for Christmas there are some great choices of vegetables, fruits and of course meats, birds being the main such as turkey, goose and duck. A month full of great flavours to suit all.

Foods for the month:

Meat: Turkey, pork, beef, geese and ducks

Fish: Halibut, herring, plaice, mackerel and scallops

Vegetables: Leeks, maincrop parsnips, Brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes

Fruit: Cox’s apples, oranges, tangerines, nuts, dried figs and dates

Menu (Serves 4)

Starter: Pears in Tarragon Cream

Main: Wild Goose in Cider, served with red cabbage cooked with apple and vinegar, Roast Potatoes

Dessert: Meringue a La Reine

Starter: Pears in Tarragon Cream

Ingredients:

6 Dessert pears
½ pint Double cream
2 tblspns tarragon vinegar
Caster sugar
Salt and black paper

Method:

Chill the pears in the fridge. Beat the cream and vinegar together until thick, but not too stiff. Season to taste with sugar, salt and freshly ground pepper.
Peel and have the pears and scoop out the centre cores with a teaspoon.
Serve the pears, rounded side up, on individual plates and with the tarragon cream spooned over them.

Main: Wild Goose in Cider, served with red cabbage cooked with apple and vinegar, Roast Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 wild goose
4oz butter
1 onion
6 cloves
Half an orange
Salt and black pepper
1/2lb belly pork
1 pint dry cider
1/2 pint stock
2 tablespoons Calvados (optional)
For the garnish: Watercress and oranges

Method:

Wipe the goose thoroughly, inside and out. Use the giblets to make stock. Put 3oz butter, the peeled onion stuck with the cloves and half an orange inside the goose. Sew up the vent or secure it with small skewers. Rub salt, freshly ground pepper and the remaining butter over the skin. Remove any rind and gristle and cut the belly pork into thin slices.
Secure these over the breast of the goose.Place the goose, breast side down, in a large roasting tin, pour in half the cider and all the stock and cover the pan with foil.
Roast the goose in the lower half of an oven, pre-heated to 230c, 450f or gas mark 5, for 15 minutes. Baste with more cider, replace the foil and reduce the heat to 190c, gas mark 5. Continue roasting for about 3 hours, allowing 20 minutes to the pound, plus 20 minutes extra, basting every 20 minutes and topping up with more cider.
For the last 30 minutes of cooking, roast the goose on it's back.Remove the roasting pan from the oven, pour the warmed Calvados over the goose and set it alight. As soon as the flames die down, transfer the goose to a serving dish and keep it warm. Pour the pan juices into a saucepan and boil them briskly until they have reduced to a thin gravy.
Serve the goose and the crisp belly pork with sprigs of watercress, small halved oranges and the gravy. Serve with red cabbage cooked with apple and vinegar and roast potatoes.

Dessert: Meringue a la Reine

Ingredients:

3 egg whites
salt
3oz granulated sugar
3oz caster sugar
1oz lightly toasted almonds
½ pint double cream
3 tblspns sweet sherry
Juice of an orange

Garnish with crystalised fruits

Method:

In a warm dry and grease free bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt, until stiff but not dry.

Add the granulated sugar and continue to whisk for 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
Gently fold in the castor sugar and almonds.
Spoon the meringue into a forcing bag, fitted with a 1/2in rosette nozzle. Pipe out in 3in long oval shapes on a lightly floured baking tray. Bake meringues in the centre of the pre heated oven, 275f, 140c, gas mark 1 for 1 ½ hours. The meringues should be a lightly golden coloured. Leave them to cool on a wire rack.
Whip cream and being in sherry and strained orange juice. Fill in the hollows of your meringues with the cream mixture, garnish with dried fruits and serve.