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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / December 2005Otis and Christmas
Well I've bought Otis a tin of Turkey cat food for his Xmas treat, that's as far as it goes in our house as we don't really celebrate Xmas in terms of presents, decorations etc. But we are having our best friends and baby over for a meal. My DH (the Savoy-trained chef) did a trial run of our meal yesterday, as he hasn't made it before, and it was delish. It was a chestnut and mushroom bourgignon pie - very rich and warming. I'll be doing the veg, roast spuds, chilli roasted parsnips and sprouts with garlic and ginger. The friends are bringing a chocolate pudding and I'm making an olive and mushroom pate to start, I can feel the weight piling on just thinking about it. Poor old Otis is going to have to be locked upstairs for the duration of lunch, as baby (aged 13 months) will be there, and I have to keep his litter box/food tray out of her way as she's just started walking. Also, we have to keep the downstairs door shut so she can't climb up stairs (or they'd have to bring their stair guard with and it's too much to carry). I think Otis will be fine, as he's scared of kids anyway (just I think because he's never really got used to them), so hopefully he won't feel left out and will just have his afternoon snooze as normal then come down in the evening when they've gone home. Although we don't really exchange gifts either, I've made some marinated Feta, marinated olives and am going to try the homemade Baileys recipe that was posted here, but I'll have to make that at the last minute so I don't drink it! Have a happy Xmas those that do celebrate it, and a nice time off work for those who don't! Marcia > Have a happy Xmas those that do celebrate it, and a nice time off work > for those who don't! You too, Marcia! Your dinner sounds absolutely delicious. What a luxury, to have your very own private chef! :oP  SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/ Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki Yes, you should see the luxurious addition to my waistline over the last 8 years! He doesn't actually work as a chef any more, but does cook for me when he's over. The other trouble is that he's incredibly skinny and would like to put weight on, but can't - we eat tons, but it all goes on me - he's very wiry and heats up and burns off food as soon as he's eaten it, grrr. I can't sleep next to him if he's just eaten as he's like a furnace. Ignorant people make me laugh when they see him and say he's just skinny cos he's a veggie, and then I tell them I'm a veggie too and I've put on 2 stone in 8 years. He likes my cooking too, but I have to use recipes whereas he can "create" something out of nothing it would appear. The downside of his being hotel-trained is his analness about cleanliness in the kitchen, he drives me bonkers, washing everything up as he goes, and shouting at me if I taste something and then don't wash the spoon straight up. I can understand that it's right if we have company, but when it's just the 2 of us it seems a bid ridiculous. > > Have a happy Xmas those that do celebrate it, and a nice time off work > > for those who don't! [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ > and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki Dang that sounds good! > Well I've bought Otis a tin of Turkey cat food for his Xmas treat, > that's as far as it goes in our house as we don't really celebrate Xmas [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Marcia > It was a chestnut and mushroom bourgignon pie - very rich > and warming. Oh my!!!!! That sounds utterly scrumptious! Would he be willing to share the recipe? (I know professional chefs are a bit touchy about such things, but if he would, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who'd like to have it.) I have to admit the title of this one caught my eye :-) My Otis is sleeping here beside me now and looks innocent enough now. Your menu sounds lovely and I can't imagine chili roasted parsnips. As a rule, I don't really go for parsnips though we eat a fair amount of brussels sprouts. Do you mind sharing your recipe???? Happy Christmas to you too and I hope Otis enjoys his special turkey dinner. Susan M Otis and Chester Who get catnip for Christmas > Well I've bought Otis a tin of Turkey cat food for his Xmas treat, > that's as far as it goes in our house as we don't really celebrate Xmas [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Marcia Here's the recipe for the pie (he didn't invent it, it's copied from the Vegetarian Society website (hope they don't mind me copying it here!) but substituted and added a couple of things. You can substitute fresh pre-cooked chestnuts if you can't find the dried ones. Also, this is not a massive pie, it's supposed to feed 4 people, but we managed it ourselves (going back for 2nds), so you may want to put more filling in (we used twice the amount of chestnuts), or make 2 pies! Also, although we're veggies, we not so strict and used non-veggie red wine, and frozen pastry and ordinary marge. CHESTNUT BOURGINGNONNE PIE 4oz / 110g dried chestnuts, soaked for 6-8 hours 2 bay leaves 1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1tsp / 5ml dried rosemary 7floz / 210ml vegetarian red wine 10floz / 300ml vegetable stock or water 1oz / 25g butter or soya margarine 8 small pickling onions or shallots, peeled 4oz / 110g chestnut mushrooms, wiped 2oz / 50g button mushrooms, wiped 2tsp / 10ml Dijon mustard 2-3tbsp / 30-45ml tamari or soy sauce freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley, finely chopped 8oz / 225g vegetarian puff pastry, thawed if frozen 1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Place the soaked chestnuts, herbs and 5floz of wine in a saucepan with vegetable stock to cover and cook until just tender, approximately 50-60 minutes. 2. Drain the chestnuts, reserving the liquid. 3. Melt the butter in a frying pan and saute the onions until lightly browned. 4. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. 5. Add the chestnuts, the remaining red wine and sufficient chestnut cooking liquor to cover. 6. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes to reduce the liquid a little. 7. Stir in the mustard, tamari and black pepper to taste. Cook for a further 5 minutes. 8. Check seasoning and consistency and adjust as necessary. 9. Spoon the mixture into a pie dish. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and place on top of filling. 10. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll have to dig out the parsnip recipe later. I like my chilli flakes (just a little bit though) on lots of things, such as roast potatoes and parsnips etc. A large miaow to brother Otis! Marcia Thank for this too Marcia. My husband has anaphylactic shock to tree nuts and we keep my son, who has a peanut allergy, away from nuts too. This sounds absolutely delicious though! Susan M Otis and Chester Here's the recipe for the pie (he didn't invent it, it's copied from the Vegetarian Society website (hope they don't mind me copying it here!) but substituted and added a couple of things. You can substitute fresh pre-cooked chestnuts if you can't find the dried ones. Also, this is not a massive pie, it's supposed to feed 4 people, but we managed it ourselves (going back for 2nds), so you may want to put more filling in (we used twice the amount of chestnuts), or make 2 pies! Also, although we're veggies, we not so strict and used non-veggie red wine, and frozen pastry and ordinary marge. CHESTNUT BOURGINGNONNE PIE 4oz / 110g dried chestnuts, soaked for 6-8 hours 2 bay leaves 1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1tsp / 5ml dried rosemary 7floz / 210ml vegetarian red wine 10floz / 300ml vegetable stock or water 1oz / 25g butter or soya margarine 8 small pickling onions or shallots, peeled 4oz / 110g chestnut mushrooms, wiped 2oz / 50g button mushrooms, wiped 2tsp / 10ml Dijon mustard 2-3tbsp / 30-45ml tamari or soy sauce freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley, finely chopped 8oz / 225g vegetarian puff pastry, thawed if frozen 1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Place the soaked chestnuts, herbs and 5floz of wine in a saucepan with vegetable stock to cover and cook until just tender, approximately 50-60 minutes. 2. Drain the chestnuts, reserving the liquid. 3. Melt the butter in a frying pan and saute the onions until lightly browned. 4. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. 5. Add the chestnuts, the remaining red wine and sufficient chestnut cooking liquor to cover. 6. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes to reduce the liquid a little. 7. Stir in the mustard, tamari and black pepper to taste. Cook for a further 5 minutes. 8. Check seasoning and consistency and adjust as necessary. 9. Spoon the mixture into a pie dish. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and place on top of filling. 10. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll have to dig out the parsnip recipe later. I like my chilli flakes (just a little bit though) on lots of things, such as roast potatoes and parsnips etc. A large miaow to brother Otis! Marcia > Thank for this too Marcia. My husband has anaphylactic shock to tree nuts > and we keep my son, who has a peanut allergy, away from nuts too. This [quoted text clipped - 53 lines] > > Marcia Probably not a good idea then! Just got back from the Xmas do, and although the food was delicious, it was that nouvelle cuisine excuse to print money (i.e. very expensive but I know babies that can eat more), and I'm hungry, plus I didn't want to drink much but they kept filling the glasses instead of leaving the bottles on the table so I'm going to feel rough in the morning, luckily I don't have to be at work until 2pm. Thank goodness DH didn't attend or he'd have asked the waitress where his dinner was! |
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