My Gingerbread House

This house was so much fun to make and now I've done it I hope I can keep up the tradition every year. I wanted to make something a bit more simple and understated than the usual bright candy covered creations that people make not that there's anything wrong with that but I am so pleased with how my little house turned out.

I made the template with cardboard then traced around it onto rolled gingerbread. Then it was baked and cooled and assembled with royal icing. I also made some window boxes with scraps of leftover gingerbread, very effective and not too fiddly. Toffee windows and a royal icing wreath and flowers, drizzle on some icing snow and a dust of icing sugar. Pine needles shaken of bugs look lovely around the house and I put a little battery pack with a light inside. I got my brother to wire it with a little switch and tucked it under the wall of the house so it can be turned on and off.

Butternut Pumpkin Risotto

Ingredients

1/2 butternut pumpkin, chopped into small cubes
40ml dry white wine
1/2 cup of arborio rice
500ml organic chicken stock
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced
handful of grated parmesan
10 sprigs of chives, chopped
1 tablespoon mascarpone
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
olive oil
sea salt and cracked pepper
squeeze of fresh lemon

Method

Warm the stock in a saucepan. Fry the pumpkin in olive oil until it is browned and just cooked. In a new pan fry the garlic and onion in butter until it is translucent then add the rice and stir until glossy. Add the wine, stir well and simmer until it has all be absorbed. Add the pumpkin and start adding the stock, 1 ladleful at a time. Simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed before adding the next. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring regularly until the rice is tender. If you run out of stock use a little hot water. Take of the heat and stir in the mascarpone and parmesan. Season to taste and add the chives and a squeeze of lemon to freshen it up.

Braised Lamb Shanks

Braised Lamb Shanks with White Wine and Rosemary

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil
5 lamb shanks
12 shallots, peeled
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons tomato paste
250ml dry white wine
1 bulb of garlic separated into cloves but not peeled
3 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs
leaves from a small bunch of thyme, about 1 tablespoon
1 bay leaf
800ml fresh chicken stock, preferably organic
2 tablespoons of fresh mint, roughly chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Season the lamb all over with salt and pepper and fry for 10 - 15 minutes until browned on all sides.
While the lamb is browning heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan or casserole and fry the shallots and carrots for 10 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Preheat oven to 180°.
Remove the cooked lamb from the frying pan. Add the white wine to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon making sure to get all the richly flavored sediment from the bottom of the pan.
Add the shanks to the casserole and stir in the deglazed pan juices, garlic, tomatoes, herbs and stock. The liquid should just cover the lamb. Cover and simmer on the stove or in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until the lamb is tender. Adjust seasoning and scatter with chopped mint leaves just before serving.

Serve with mashed potato.