CHRISTMAS DINNER FOR TWO

Are you sick of turkey yet? I'm pretty sure Robin is...but that didn't stop me from cooking a Christmas dinner for two! 

I made my first fat bubba of a turkey last year and followed Nigella's recipe for brining it for Christmas. I had to buy a big plastic tub, endless bits and bobs to add to the brine, plonk it outside in the cold, and keep my fingers crossed that A) I wasn't going to kill us all with salmonella poisoning B) I wasn't about to feed the entire North London fox population and C) SLUGS. 

Luckily, none of the above happened and to my delight, the meat wasn't dry! 

This year, I decided to fall back on my favourite rancher, The Pioneer Woman, for a simpler brining recipe. And as always, she delivered. As I was just feeding myself and Robin, I only needed to brine a small turkey crown overnight. You can read the recipe here. SO much simpler! I didn't bother boiling down the ingredients though, and it still tasted delish. I also bought a brining bag from Amazon and it was a life changer. Who'd have thought I'd ever utter that sentence? 

Yeah. He pretty much finished that whole plate. 

I, however, saved room for dessert...

Underneath that custard lurks a portion of Christmas pudding. It was heavenly. 

I actually prefer custard because not only would brandy cream have me bust a heavy duty dairy sweat, but everything tastes better with custard. Even fish fingers (zomgi'llmissyouMattSmith)

Afterwards we had little shots of warm Bailey's- I added a sprinkling of orange zest to these. 

These cute little glasses are from the Ozeri Moderna Artisan range of glassware. I was quite pleased with these, maybe it's my soft spot for all things kooky, because despite being made of glass you can quite comfortably hold a hot drink in these. There are little indentations in the glass so that you can hold them without fear of slippage. Throughout the cold weather, they're perfect for little shots of espresso or mint tea...but I'm also brainstorming plans for gazpacho or jelly in the summer! They're pretty sturdy as well- they've survived the washing up bowl at Robin's hands, so in my eyes, that means they're indestructible. Thanks for letting me give them a whirl Ozeri! 

Tomorrow is my family's Christmas gathering for yes...more turkey. Hold me.