A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

 

Christmas morning. My grandson, Leo Searl, home from university, is spending a few days at my house. He makes breakfast on Christmas morning--smoked salmon on toast with cream cheese and scrambled eggs. What a pleasure to catch up with what's going on in his life.

What's in this strangely-shaped present under the tree for Ben?

Oh, wow! Look what's in my Christmas box! It's a sampler of ibérico ham, a selection of sliced ham, shoulder-ham, chorizo and cured fat from Dehesa Monteros, made from ibérico pigs of the Rubio Dorado breed. They start out eating chestnuts in the forests of Ronda and are finished on bellotas, wild acorns. 

Christmas lunch for three. On a sunny afternoon we started with sopa de galets, a rich chicken broth with giant pasta shells stuffed with pâté. Marinated "standing rib roast" of ibérico pork centered the main course, accompanied by potatoes and squash roasted with onions and apples. 

The pork loin has been boned to facilitate carving, but the rack of ribs tied back on for roasting to keep the meat moist. Ibérico pork with its marbling of fat is especially juicy. Ibérico pork is usually cooked medium-rare to medium--still pink in the center. (The recipe for the pork marinade is here.)

A side dish of chard sautéd with garlic, raisins and pine nuts was served in a colorful hand-made ceramic bowl by Tara Chapman, Leo's mum. 

I bought a kilo of locally-grown pecans, called nueces americanas, from a chica in my aerobics class. The pecans, which I adore, inspired me to make a nut torte just for me! It was sugar-free and gluten free as well. (I used this recipe for walnut torte, swapping King Arthur baking sugar substitute and gluten-free bread crumbs.) For the guys there were also fig brownies with real sugar, sweet figs and lots of nuts. Both desserts are good served with a dollop of rich Greek yogurt or whipped cream.

Pecan torte with a dollop of rich Greek yogurt.

From my kitchen to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.