As a child, I always knew that Christmas had arrived by the encouraging state of our 'fridge. My mother was (is) an excellent cook; and at Christmas, this meant: Glazed York Ham, Potted Mushroom Salad, Cumberland and Cranberry Sauce, Home-Made Chutneys, Sage Stuffing, Gravlax with Dill Sauce, Smoked Eel, Spiced Beef, Mince Pies and Christmas Pudding.
I have to put my hand up and admit that I am a hypocrite. In yesterday's post I accused Nigella Lawson of late-night 'fridge raiding, and when it comes to the jar of Potted Mushroom Salad lurking tantilisingly in my mother's 'fridge, I am utterly guilty of this crime myself.
Here's how you make Potted Mushroom Salad: You'll need 900g of mushrooms. I would suggest that for extra flavour, you go for the brown chestnut variety; button mushrooms are, frankly, a bit of a yawn. Chop up the mushrooms into quarters, and then sauté them in a mixture of butter and oil at a high heat. The addition of oil will help to stop the butter burning. Add two crushed cloves of garlic, and cook briefly, making sure the garlic doesn't burn.
Turn down the heat, and pour over 150ml of white wine, or a decent cider, and then add plenty of salt and pepper. Crank up the heat, and bring the mushrooms and wine to the boil. Keep at it, until there is hardly any liquid left in the pan. This will take, say, ten minutes.
Reduce the heat, and leave the mushrooms to cool. Mix in some finely chopped parsley. (Chop the parsley up as finely as you can, otherwise it will go soggy). Spoon the mushrooms into sterilised jars with an airtight lid, and top the mushrooms up with French Dressing. The dressing's up to you- I make a classic dressing from mustard, olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and sugar.
That's it.
