The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, stories & 100 essential recipes for midwinter

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Put the granulated sugar into a medium-sized stainless-steel saucepan and add the maple syrup, white wine and aniseed. Cut half the figs in two, then put them into the pan. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and let the figs simmer for 20 minutes until soft and plump, and bloated with wine.

Chronicles: A Podcast Nigel Slater - Apple Podcasts A Cook‘s Chronicles: A Podcast Nigel Slater - Apple Podcasts

The idea is to keep the cake moist and to help preserve it. I have a suspicion that the task isn’t really necessary, but the idea makes sense and I’m happy to go along with it. Nigel Slater is a British food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for The Observer Magazine for seventeen years and is the principal writer for the Observer Food Monthly supplement. Prior to this, Slater was food writer for Marie Claire for five years. He also serves as art director for his books. It is as if my entire childhood was lived out in the cold months, a decade spent togged up in duffel coats and mittens, wellingtons and woolly hats. To this day, I am never happier than when there is frost on the roof and a fire in the hearth. I have always preferred snow underfoot to sand between my toes. Although best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in early bestselling books such as The 30-Minute Cook and Real Cooking, as well as his engaging, memoir-like columns for The Observer, Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, a moving and award-winning autobiography focused on his love of food, his childhood, his family relationships (his mother died of asthma when he was nine), and his burgeoning sexuality. Note: Reading by candle light can be particularly enjoyable. Cire Trudon may be one of Nige's candle of choice, but it's somewhat pricey. We don't discriminate against other less expensive brands - even if they are NVN (Not Very Nigel)His description of Nuremberg Lebkuchen and the Nurnberger Christkindlesmarkt especially delighted me and led me to seek out a local Christkindl market this December where I was thrilled to find some imported chocolate-covered gingerbread. Outstanding! Then there's his description of panettone, which he titles 'a love story' and describes as 'a fairy cake made by angels.' I definitely agree!

The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and 100 Essential The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and 100 Essential

I've begun a re-reading of this splendid book which is an ode to winter. I had promised myself I would begin reading on November 1st, where Nigel begins, but I'm a few days late. Winter, however, has begun early around here, with snow on Halloween and an Arctic blast that began on November 11th and is just beginning to loosen its icy grip after three days. Perhaps Nigel can help me to appreciate winter just a little bit more, as I hunker down with an afghan and a mug of hot cider and read about his love affair with winter.** There is variance in the writing and some passages are beautiful. The recipes and photographs look good and I will be trying out several recipes this winter.

Summary

Pot of gold: roast partridge with parsnips and smoked garlic. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin/The Observer A very personalstir-up of diary, memoir and cookbook, here are stories of Bonfire Night and Halloween, ofChristmases past and present, trips to the best Christmas Markets, shopping for decorationsand how to choose TheTree. There are mincepies and malt loaf, winter drinks and Christmas wreaths, candlelight and carols. This is mycelebration of the coldmonths from late autumn to well into the New Year,a day by day story of the winter solstice and its pleasures. I should add that if your idea of Christmas is all candy canes and fluffy kittens then this is not the book for you. (We should never forget that winter is as deadly as she is beautiful.) I have never enjoyed writing a book more than this.

Cook‘s Chronicles: A Podcast Nigel Slater - Apple Podcasts A Cook‘s Chronicles: A Podcast Nigel Slater - Apple Podcasts

Cut the leeks into discs 1cm in width, wash thoroughly, then put them in a deep heavy-based pan with the butter over a moderate heat. Let the leeks cook for eight to 10 minutes, covered with a round piece of greaseproof paper and a lid, so they cook in their own steam and soften without browning.It is a pleasure to announce thatIn May 2018, The Christmas Chronicles was named winner of the Food Book of the Year in the2018 Fortnum and Mason Awards. Put the apricots into a stainless-steel saucepan. Using a vegetable peeler, slice thin strips of zest from the orange and drop them into the pan. Add the star anise, brandy and sugar and bring to the boil. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. As the season slides into winter – you can feel the heavy, sweet air of autumn turning crisp and clean with each passing dawn – there is the return of chestnuts and sweet potatoes, almonds in their shells, cream-fleshed parsnips, fat leeks and muscat grapes with their scent of sugary wine and honey. There are squashes shaped like acorns and others that resemble turbans to bake and stuff and beat into piles of fluffy mash; pomegranates – I love to see one or two cut in half on the display so we know whether we are buying jewels or pith – and proper big-as-your-hat apples for baking. Its all about the cold and crisp months leading up to including Christmas,new Year and into January/February. It is the Winter of my youth.The recipes are divine and I do mean angelic with feet planted firmly in winter. dried and vine fruits, the brandy and citrus zest and juice. Now mix the baking powder and flour together and fold them lightly into the mix.

Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater. Read - Mumsnet The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater. Read - Mumsnet

For anyone who has not already had the pleasure, the annual Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles read along is a real time annual MN tradition. But it's not all about food. There's descriptions of evergreen trees for instance; memories of Christmases past, and family traditions. It often reads like a memoir. Partridge does it for me. Expensive without being prohibitive, neat, lean and sweet-fleshed, they have a sense of jollity to them that I suspect comes from the carol. (There are no songs about a guinea fowl.)

A welcoming drink, may I suggest, is not just about other people. Something good in a glass can be a rather lovely way to welcome our own arrival home. Finding a rare moment of peace and quiet, there are surely few greater joys than pouring ourselves a drink as we curl up on the sofa with a book after a long, hard day. It might only be a stolen few minutes, but I regard this time as deeply grounding. Something that, just for once, is about no one but ourselves. Bake the pears in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then turn them over. At this point they will look decidedly uninteresting, but carry on anyway. Let the pears bake for a further 20 minutes, then watch them carefully. The sauce will be bubbling now, the colour of amber and rising up the pears. Test them for tenderness – a small knife should slide through them effortlessly. They should be translucent and soft as butter. If they aren’t quite ready or if the sauce isn’t syrupy, give them a further 5 minutes. This is one of those good-natured recipes that can be multiplied successfully for large parties, or made earlier and reheated as necessary. Possibly the best idea of all came about quite by accident. After a long day of photography for this book, I sat down with a glass of the apricot and fig liqueurs, accompanied by the plumped-up fruits. On the table was some gorgonzola, though it could just as well have been stilton, stichelton or any of the other blues. The marrying of the blue cheese and the velvety, wine-filled fruits was simply gorgeous. 5 November: Fire and baked pears Using the base of the cake tin as a template, cut a disc of baking parchment to fit neatly into the base. Now cut a long, wide strip that will fit not only around the inside of the tin, but a good 9cm above it. Place it around the inside of the tin.