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As mentioned in Day 100 of The Challenge My grandmother was a big lover of veal, and so ordered and bought an entire veal which went into the chest freezer. Her health then declined, she cooked less and then passed away, leaving a still significant amount of veal behind. We cooked stuffed veal breast while at my parents' this summer, and then we were sent away with the other one. I had been toying with what to do with it when I started my adventures into fenugreek exploration, and for the past couple of months had been sitting on this idea, of using orange, fenugreek seeds and fenugreek leaves. All in all it came out very well! Ingredients: 3-4 slices of bread, toasted 1 apple, chopped 2 onions, chopped 1/2 head of garlic, minced or sliced fine 1/2 tbsp olive oil A handful of dates, chopped A handful of raisins 2 tsp orange peel 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 1/4 -1/2 tsp tandoori powder 1 tsp thyme 1/2 tsp fenugreek leaves 1/3 c apple juice Salt and pepper Broth or apple juice (optional) for moistening if roasting separate from the meat 1) Sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent. 2) Crumble the toasted slices of bread into a large bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix well. 3) Stuff your bird, or roll up in veal breast and roast. Alternatively add a little extra liquid (broth or apple juice) and roast in an oven proof dish for 30-40 minutes at 180°C. We have now had this stuffing on two occasions. The first time I rolled some up in the veal breast and placed the rest under the meat in the roasting pan. On this occasion the stuffing was perhaps the best part of the meal and we fell in love with it, bathed in the veal's roasting juices, and very moist. The tandoori came across a little too strongly though (although whether that was from the stuffing or the rosehip glaze on top of the veal I am not sure). The second time, we used this stuffing instead of our traditional cornbread stuffing to have with our Thanksgiving chicken for our much-delayed Thanksgiving dinner (I am afraid I forgot to take a picture of the roast). On this occasion I layered the roasting pan with sweet potatoes, then the stuffing which didn't fit in the bird, then the bird with chestnuts (parboiled and peeled) snuggled in around it. I did not use any tandoori powder this time, and the flavours played off of each other very nicely, with the exception of a little bitterness from the fenugreek leaves. This stuffing I think is better suited to a slightly more strongly flavoured meat, and if I were to do it with chicken again I would use less of the fenugreek leaves, and possibly a little less garlic. The third use of this stuffing has been in leftovers pies, made using the remaining sweet potato, stuffing and chestnuts from Thanksgiving dinner. I spread cranberry sauce on one side of the pastry, placed the roasting side mix in the middle and sealed the pies into half moons and brushed with a little milk. They were super tasty! No issues with the garlic or fenugreek in this little lunch dish. The sweeter notes of the sweet potato and chestnut played well with the more savoury tones from the stuffing. It also worked well with a slice or two of roast pumpkin stuffed in there, or a couple of pieces of persimmon in the pie. I highly recommend doing this if you don't know what to do with roast dinner left-overs any time, but this stuffing lent itself particularly well to this.

Traditionally for New Year's Eve in my family we have a chocolate fondue. This being the case, I was looking for something light to make for lunch before an afternoon of sweet rich chocolatiness. I had also recently read a new trick for firming up the egg whites which I wanted to try and had some broccoli on hand and nine (yes, 9) egg whites left over from making leckerli and eggnog pudding...So I made broccoli soufflés, which came out airy and light and delicate, and were the perfect precursor to the New Year's chocolate fondue. Ingredients (makes 7 individual soufflés): A head to a head an a half of broccoli, chopped 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp flour 1 c milk 1 c grated parmesan 1 tsp sumac ( or more) salt and pepper to taste 9 egg whites 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tbsp white wine (optional) 1) Steam the broccoli until tender (not mushy. You want it to blitz well but still retain its flavour). Blitz until smooth, adding a little of the water from steaming if it needs some extra liquid. 2) Make a roux. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Stir constantly, not allowing any browning and gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. 3) Mix in the blitzed broccoli and 2 tbsp of parmesan. Pepper generously. If the batter is too thick, add a splash of white wine (optional) or milk. 4) Butter individual soufflé dishes - well! the soufflés won't rise as well if they stick to the sides of the pan. Mix sumac and pepper with the remaining parmesan and then sprinkle the insides of the dishes with the parmesan, tapping out the excess (you can do one big dish instead). Preheat the oven to 220°C and boil the kettle. 5) In a large bowl, beat the egg whites to STIFF peaks with a pinch of salt and the lemon juice (my new trick for making them rise better). 6) Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the broccoli mix then gently fold this into the remaining egg whites, and sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the tops. 7) Spoon into the soufflé dishes and place these on a baking tray. Pour the boiling water from the kettle into the tray to come about half way up the sides of the soufflé dishes and place in the hot oven. 8 ) Bake for 20 minutes without opening the door of the oven. This takes trust, so do something else in the mean time. After this, take a peek. If they still look too jiggly, lower the temperature and leave for another 5 minutes. If they are set but need to brown, increase the temperature for 2 minutes and then remove. 9) Serve immediately before they fall. These came out beautifully! I was very happy with them. I had been a little worried as our fridge decided to freeze about half the whites. I melted these over the hot water from steaming the broccoli and kept my fingers crossed. I had not tried this flavour combination before but was very pleased with it and will certainly do it again! Good baby food too - Little Bit loved his (the one in the little red dish)! My sister did mention that it made for an odd breakfast though (at 1 pm), so maybe don't plan it too early in the day ;). Note: Toying with how to make this recipe keto, it occurred to me that it might be possible either to skip the roux altogether or to use almond flour instead. I have not tested this theory yet, but I would like to do so. If you test it, do let me know how things go!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me twelve Wax-less Cookies, eleven Almond Crescents, ten Christmas Butter Balls, nine Greek Apple Cookies, eight Cinnamon Stars, seven Basler Christmas Cookies, six Pumpkin and Pineapple Cookies, five Chestnut Rings, four Poppy Seed Cookies, three Peppermint Macaroons, two Orange Date Cookies and a freshly baked Ginger Snap The last day of Christmas cookies! And another different type. These aren't baked, but mixed and coated in chocolate. While some of the recipes, notably the ginger snaps on Day 1, and the butter balls and almond crescents on days 10 and 11 were traditional Christmas cookies in my family, these, with a couple of modifications, are from my husband's family Christmases. They have always been his favourites, and so were a must. As such, he did most of the work on these, although I did help with the chocolating a bit. Ingredients: 1 c butter, melted 1 1/2 c biscuit crumbs (the original recipe calls for graham crackers, but those are unfindable here so we use digestive biscuits or some other plain biscuit type) 1 c chopped nuts, toasted (pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, your choice!) 1 c dried coconut 3/4 c peanut butter 2 c powdered sugar about 300 g of chocolate - we used a mix of dark and milk 1) Mix all ingredients except the chocolate in a bowl until well combined. 2) Melt chocolate over a Bain Marie (keep it nice and gentle! The water should be barely simmering) 3) Form the peanut butter mix into marble sized balls and swirl in the melted chocolate to coat, then fish the balls out and allow to chill on a baking tray until set (we put them on the balcony in snowy January temperatures and the set fast and well). Note: Using the left-over melted chocolate for hot chocolate is a little odd when you come across pieces of coconut or nuts... It works though! These are my husband's favourites (although he says that about any cookie in his mouth at the time). We did both find them a little sweet. We reduced the sugar from 3 1/2 c to 2 c but it could be reduced even further. In the original recipe, paraffin was used, melted in with the chocolate to stabilise it. Given the ambient temperature here, we don't need to do anything to keep the chocolate from melting, but elsewhere, like Florida where my husband comes from, I could see why this might be necessary.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me eleven Almond Crescents, ten Christmas Butter Balls, nine Greek Apple Cookies, eight Cinnamon Stars, seven Basler Christmas Cookies, six Pumpkin and Pineapple Cookies, five Chestnut Rings, four Poppyseed Cookies, three Peppermint Macaroons, two Orange Date Cookies and a freshly baked Ginger Snap Trouvez la version fançaise en commentaire! As with the Christmas Butter Balls on Day 10, it is not Christmas without my Oma's Almond Crescents (and as with the Butter Balls, I have permission to post the recipe). These are crumbly and wonderful, with a delicate flavour, almost shortbread type cookies. Very simple to make, the hardest part of the process is shaping the crescents. (And thank Covid for them being posted late, but as we are all together, now is the time...Also, the 12th day of Christmas traditionally isn't until the 6th of January, so I have a few more days before I'm properly late...) Ingredients: 1 c butter, soft 1/2 tsp almond extract 3/4 c powdered sugar and enough to dust 2 c flour 1 c oats 1/2 c ground almonds 1) Beat the butter and almond extract until fluffy. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar. 2) Add flour and mix well. Stir in oats and almonds, then shape the dough into small crescents. 3) Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 165°C for 15-18 minutes until they are firm and lightly golden on the bottom. 4) Optional: Sift powdered sugar over warm crescents. As with the Butter Balls, these hold up well without the sugar, although the emphasis ends up on different flavour notes sugared or undusted. Either way they are a delight and highly worth including in any Christmas cookie list!

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ten Christmas Butter Balls, nine Greek Apple Cookies, eight Cinnamon Stars, seven Basler Christmas Cookies, six Pumpkin and Pineapple Cookes, five Chestnut Rings, four Poppyseed Cookies, three Peppermint Macaroons, two Orange Date Cookies and a freshly baked Ginger Snap Trouvez la version française en commentaire These have been Christmas cookies which have been traditional in my family for as long as I can remember. They come out at Christmas time and no other. Now that we are all together, Covid quarantining being over, it was time to get back on track for the 12 days of Christmas cookies and make them! They are decadent and crumbly, with a sweet coating and a deep, rich chocolatey interior. I absolutely love them and am very excited to share (with express permission from the gate keeper of family recipes). Ingredients: 1 c softened butter 3 tbsp sugar 3/4 c finely chopped walnuts 1 tsp vanilla (ish) 1 tbsp semi sweet mini chocolate chips 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tsp cinnamon (ish) 1 1/2 c flour Powdered sugar for dusting 1) Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add nuts, vanilla and chocolate chips and stir well. 2) Gradually stir in dry ingredients. Shape the dough into marble-sized balls and space out on an ungreased cookie sheet. 3) Bake at 165°C for 15-17 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for a minute, then optionally, roll in powdered sugar. It is only recently that I have tried making some of these without the powdered sugar. They are just as tasty but with a surprisingly different flavour profile, a deeper note without the extra sweetness. I absolutely love these! Happy New Year!

Due to Covid quarantining we could not be with all the family for Christmas, so I am waiting on the last 3 days of Christmas cookies until we are all together. And in the mean time, something a little different... It sounds a little strange I know, but give it a chance. The arrival at this dish was a little peripatetic. We had peeled a pomelo for breakfast, excited for Little Bit to try another new food, especially a citrus, and we are both very fond of pomelos. We discovered with disappointment though that it was not very juicy, and was too dry with a bitter aftertaste. Fine then. I'll make it into a smoothie. SO I peeled it and prepped it, then spotted a beet in the fridge and decided that the acidity, mild bitterness and sweetness of the pomelo would play nicely with the earthy sweetness of the beetroot. I therefore peeled the latter and chucked it into the blender with the pomelo. I added some orange peel and some spices for good measure, then had to go do something else and left it there on the counter. The plan for dinner at this stage was spiralised sweet potato in a creamy mushroom sauce. When I came to make dinner though, having spiralised the sweet potato I spotted the almost purple smoothie sitting on the counter, and decided that tonight was a test night. Let's see what happens if we use the almost smoothie as a sauce for the sweet potato spirals, with the mushrooms chucked in. So that is what we did, and with a little tweaking it worked. The bitterness from the unjuicy pomelo still came through, but less so when sopped up with bread, so we decided to have the leftover sauce with cheesy gnocchi a couple of days later and it sang. Ingredients: 1 pomelo 1 beetroot 1 - 1 1/2 tsp dried orange peel 2 tbsp lemon juice 1/4 tsp cloves 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tbsp honey 2 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao Salt and pepper to taste 1) Blitz the ingredients together ( if you prefer a mellower flavour for your beetroot, steam or roast it first. I used raw beet and it worked well though.) 2) Heat slowly in a saucepan, stirring gradually, 3) Add to spirals of veg or to cheesy gnocchi or pasta. The first night the bitterness from the pomelo was a bit much. The dish had promise but needed some tweaking. We found that the starch helped counter the bitterness though and so cooking it with gnocchi, heavier in starch than the sweet potatoes with a less delicate flavour of their own, With a pomelo that was perfectly ripe though, instead of one we needed to use in something rather than just eating, I don't know if we would have encountered the same problem. This is definitely going to stick around though, it was so tasty! EDIT: After making mozzarella of my own for the first time, I used the sauce in puff pastry pockets with the mozzarella and dates. They were beautiful (and tasty!) The sauce also works well as a pink base for pizza.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me nine Greek Apple Cookies, eight Cinnamon Stars, seven Basler Christmas Cookies, six Pumpkin and Pineapple Cookes, five Chestnut Rings, four Poppyseed Cookies, three Peppermint Macaroons, two Orange Date Cookies and a freshly baked Ginger Snap For the ninth day of Christmas cookies, I was rather undecided about what to make. On a whim I pulled my big Greek cookbook off the shelf and stumbled on these cookies - Apple-filled cookies. I half-read through the recipe and without really knowing what to expect, I started on them. They were rather labour intensive in the stuffing phase, but tasty in the end. Ingredients: For the dough: 3 1/2 c flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 c butter, chilled and diced 4-5 tbsp yogurt Powdered sugar to dust For the filling: 4 apples, peeled and finely grated 2 tbsp lemon juice 4 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon + some for dusting 1/2 tsp cloves 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1) Place flour in a mixing bowl and add cubes of diced butter. Rub the butter through the flour with fingertips until you get a crumby mixture. 2) Spoon in the yoghurt and mix to evenly spread the yoghurt through the crumbs and press together into a loose dough. Chill for at least 30 minutes 3) Heat Apple, lemon, sugar and spices in a pan, stirring, until all the liquid has cooked off. Allow to cool. 4) Roll the dough into 30'ish small balls. Press a deep hole into the middle of each, spoon in a little filling and then press the dough over to seal the balls. Place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes at 180°C. 5) Place on a cooling rack and sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Surprisingly (although I guess looking at the ingredients I shouldn't have been surprised), these came out like little apple pie balls. They were tasty but I would tweak the recipe a little next time, making the dough moister, or even changing it for a different type of dough. Nuts could go well in it too. If you like apple pie though, you'll like these. They look fancy are have no serving difficulties, so they could be good for a party!

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me eight cinnamon stars, seven Basler Christmas Cookies, six Pumpkin and Pineapple Cookies, five Chestnut Rings, four Poppyseed cookies, three peppermint macaroons, two orange date cookies and a freshly baked ginger snap As with the Basler Christmas Cookies on Day 7, these are a Christmas cookie that are traditional locally so I grew up with them, but we never made them at home. This was the first time I made them, and am glad I did so. They are a different type of cookie to many of the others included in this list, but I think, a fitting inclusion none-the-less. The batter was easy to make, but the icing is a bit of a pain to spread on each cookie individually (Thanks to my sister who had the patience to do so!), and as with the Basler cookies, these are supposed to be left to dry for at least 6 hours, if not over night. Unlike with the Basler ones, I actually did this with these (I am not sure what difference it makes), so the wait time can be a bit of a pain. Ingredients: 3 egg whites 1 pinch of salt 1 1/2 c icing sugar 2 tbsp of cinnamon 3 c ground almonds 2 tsp of Kirsch 1) Beat the egg whites with the salt to form stiff peaks. Fold in the icing sugar and set aside about 2 tbsp for the icing. 2) Add the cinnamon and the ground almonds, and the kirsch if using. Mix until you get a stiff dough. 3) Roll out the cookie dough on a sugared surface to about 1 cm thick and then cut out stars using a small star cookie cutter (or a toy from your Little One's shape sorter, as I did...) 4) Ice the stars, placing a dollop of icing in the middle of the star and using the blade of a knife or a toothpick to draw it out towards the tips. (Optional: 5) Allow the stars to dry for at least 6 hours or overnight. I did for these but not for the Basler cookies. Neither seems to have suffered for the different treatment. 6) Bake at 250°C for 5 minutes (take them out while the icing is still white as I clearly didn't do...) These are very tasty! I did miss our the kirsch by mistake ( trying to make a very belated Thanksgiving dinner at the same time and put Little Bit down for bed was maybe not very conducive to following a recipe), and I do think they suffered for the lack of Kirsch. The allowing them to dry for hours is also a bit irritating, but the cookies in the end are well worth it, and very cute. And no one need ever know that I used a toy instead of a cookie cutter ;)

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me seven Basler Christmas Cookies, six Pumpkin and Pineapple Cookies, five Chestnut Rings, four Poppyseed cookies, three peppermint macaroons, two orange date cookies and a freshly baked ginger snap Days 7 and 8 are cookies which are traditional in Switzerland and I have grown up with them but never made them before. They are ubiquitous at this time of year and taste like Christmas to me as much as the ones I grew up making. I therefore thought it only appropriate that they should make it into the 12 days of Christmas cookies. These were surprisingly easy to make and bake very quickly. Ingredients: 2 c ground almonds 3/4 c sugar 1 tbsp cocoa powder 2 tbsp flour 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cloves 2 egg whites, lightly beaten 150 g dark chocolate 3-4 tsp kirsch 1) Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl then stir in the egg whites. 2) Melt the chocolate in a bain Marie and stir in the kirsch. heat it and mix until they form a smooth mass. 3) Stir the chocolate into the almond mixture, then roll out on a sugared surface to 1 cm thickness. cut into different shapes using a cookie cutter . 4) (Optional - as in called for by the original recipe but I didn't do it and the cookies didn't suffer - allow to dry out for 5 hours or over night). 5) Bake for 4 minutes at 240°C. Cool on a wire rack. The initial assessment was that they were better hot and straight out of the oven than an hour later once they had cooled. Having one a day later though. I had to reconsider. They were even better a day old. The flavours had had a chance to meld as it were.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me six Pumpkin Pineapple Cookies, five Chestnut Rings, four Poppyseed cookies, three peppermint macaroons, two orange date cookies and a freshly baked ginger snap This is the first time I tried these cookies, but I got the recipe from my sister, for whom they are a Christmas cookie staple. I was intrigued by the name of these cookies and am delighted to have tried them. They came out a little too soft and moist, to the point that they were sticking to things and didn't cohere very well. This may either be because I made my own pumpkin purée by roasting a pumpkin and then cooking it down as much as possible (we can't really find tinned pumpkin purée here).This usually ends up wetter than the tinned stuff. The other possible culprit was my crushed pineapple which I didn't drain and may therefore have been a little too wet. Only having baked the six cookies pictured last night, I will try to add 1/4 c of flour to the rest of the batch and see if that solves the issue. Also, the original recipe called for pecans, but I used walnuts. It still worked very nicely, just choose whichever you like :) Ingredients: 2 c flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp cloves 1/2 cup softened butter 1 1/3 cups white sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 cup pumpkin 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup rolled oats 1/2 cup crushed pineapple 1 cup chopped pecans 1) Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and stir in the pumpkin purée and cream. 2) Add the dry ingredients, stir until combined then add the pineapple and pecans. 3) Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes at 205°C. Very tasty. I can highly recommend these and am very grateful to my sister for sharing the recipe!