In my kitchen in January

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you got to the new year just fine. I spent rather quiet Christmas and New Years with a little work in between, but it was relaxing. I now want to share some of my Christmas cookings with you, just to close the circle. I know that not many might want to see these anymore, but I’m still in Christmas mood and it’s only Epiphany today.

Here are first of all some lovely foodie gifts that I received from my family. My mum had made wonderful hedgehog and willow grouse oven mittens and she also sent me my favourite cheese Oltermanni.

 

 

Then there was a balcony seed kit containing radish, lettuce, pea, courgette, beans and tomato seeds. I’m ready to go for the gardening season.

I also got Yotam Ottolenghi’s new vegetarian cookbook Flavour, quality teas and a marzipan and dark chocolate pig.

Then we ate loads and loads primarily vegan food, but we also had some cheeses. Here is our little Christmas table for two and my Christmas dinner plate.

This year’s food highlight was our homemade cold hay-smoked tofu “ham”. I found the recipe on a Finnish webpage, but instead of using smoked tofu, we made a small smoker out of foil take-away containers. We gathered the hay in a field nearby and then came home to work on that tofu. It was a great process and I’m sure we’ll smoke some more stuff when we feel like it.

 

We also had some Danish Christmas snacks like “Isalamande”, vegan ice-cream made in the style of a popular Christmas rice pudding dish “Risalamande”. And Æbleskiver, aka apple slices, that do not contain any apple. They are round pancake balls eaten with icing sugar and strawberry jam. I selected the vegan variant. I’m glad that we got some Danish traditions fitted in as well, now that we spent our first Christmas in Denmark.

 

This aronia kombucha was also very refreshing and in an appealing bottle with a swan on the label. Perfect refreshment with a heavy cheese platter.

 

Before Christmas I cooked an upside down brussels sprout and potato pizza with lingonberry. I made something similar last year. 

 

Just before Christmas I also made a pasta dish with fresh organic and artisanal take-away pasta from the brilliant local pasta makers Il Mattarello. They were incredibly tasty smoked mozzarella and beetroot tortelli. 

 

So this was my foodie Christmas in a nutshell. I’m curious to see yours. I’m sharing my post with Sherry from Sherry’s Pickings, who is hosting the In My Kitchen blogger event.

Your VegHog