And the Winner Is...

Not the Oscars, but my thoughts on the best food of the Christmas break, from which I am returning today.

Of the bought-in stuff there is no debate, the bargain Serrano ham from Aldi at £39.99 including stand, knife and sharpening steel was clearly the best. When we first cut into it my heart sank, as those two or three initial slices were not tasty. It improved after a day or so, and is now (kept in a cold conservatory) deeply salty-meaty.

As it won't last forever ham has of late been included in numerous recipes, like last night's chicken in wine (dry January so party leftover finding a home too) and cream, and our pizza-fest. Such luxury.

Is it strange or not that the best thing I cooked was one of the simplest, done in haste? Returning from picking up my father to spend Christmas with us I was allowed three minutes to sit down, then asked what was I going to cook. As a restorative and with an eye on the upcoming relative lack of veg I did a take on Jane Grigson's classic curried parsnip soup, or maybe an unnatural union between that and potage bonne femme.

My version was a curried vegetable soup, with just one (very big) parsnip though that did dominate the flavour. As ever chopped onions were sweated in a little butter, to which four large carrots, that parsnip, three potatoes, two leeks, and several cloves of garlic were added, all chopped or chunked. Hot water and a cheaty spoonful of Swiss vegetable bouillon powder went in, plus - and this was not planned, I found a dearth of ready-made curry powder - my own version ground from pepper, cumin, fenugreek, a tiny bit of star anise, a tsp of turmeric and more of coriander seeds. Simmered for 20 minutes until the veg were beyond soft it was finished with a little cream then zapped with the stick of ultimate power. It was warming, tasty and even a little virtuous.

If you cost it out the veg maybe ran to £1.50, the cream 25p, and the curry ingredients 10p. So four fed for well under £2, and it kept us going (in two senses) until the evening when the chocolates, snacks and other indulgences kicked in. They cost a bit more.

Big Ham for Little Money

Christmas can be a time for foodie bargains. On Saturday I was feeding eight, and as it was a rare family get-together I wanted to do something better than sarnies for lunch. Our local supermarket Booth's had some 3kg hams for £12.99, so figuring we would have plenty and then some for weekday breakfast I bought one. Cooking time was 2 hours 45 minutes, firstly simmered gently in water (starting the watch when the water reached simmering point) with stock veg and other flavourings like bay and pepper, then for the last 45 minutes with skin off, fat scored into diamonds and glazed with a simple Golden Syrup, mustard and Worcestershire sauce mix in an oven at 200C. Served after the important rest for 20 minutes (meat and cook) in thick slices with onion sauce, glazed carrots and potato and parsnip mash it was a hit. So much so that we had just two half slices left afterwards.

The onion sauce is made with finely chopped onions sweated for 30 minutes, after which plain flour is stirred in and stock from the ham added until it feels right. Cook gently for at least 20 minutes so no floury flavour remains. I sometimes whizz it with the hand-blender, but at we had mash it wanted some texture, so didn't zap it this time. A filling family feast for about £2 per head. Not my primary consideration for once, but compare that with buying in the much advertised at this time of year 'party food' - £3 for a few nibbly bits, £5 for some tarty dessert.