John & I tend to have a little mini-Christmas with just the two of us before we go to visit our families. I've generally found that the key to cooking a nice roast is the timings. As a huge nerd, naturally I have used a Gantt chart to organise my thoughts.
I used this recipe for the sweet potato and chestnut roast - largely because I had chestnuts and sweet potatoes that needed eating, so I searched for a nut roast recipe with those ingredients. I omitted the spinach layer because it didn't feel very Christmassy, and switched the walnuts for Brazil nuts. I loved the use of sun dried tomatoes in it - they added a great kick of flavour.
As always, I rely on Delia to remind me how to make Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes. I rounded it out with some mash, roasted sweet potatoes, boiled carrots and sprouts, fried garlicky kale, and onion gravy.
I intended to serve the whole meal inside a Yorkshire pudding, but it turns out that when cooking Yorkshire puddings, it's a good idea to check that you've actually closed the oven door rather than just thinking that you have. As such, dinner was served on top of rather flat Yorkshire puddings.
I also invented a festive cocktail out of ingredients we happened to have lying around:
The Jolly Navel
1 measure peach schnapps
Juice of 3 clementines
Mix in a nearby glass, and drink while watching A Muppet Christmas Carol for maximum Christmas.
Merry Festive, everyone!
