Let me just say this first .. it was meant to be a simple get together of our little circle of Uni friends ... fuss free in the sense that we would prepare the meal (count it ... one) together and quietly get drunk and toast Christmas!
How it turned into the biggest production number this side of Ben Hur I have NFI!! But the menu seemed to grow and shrink and grow again with each successive email reply. Although it really was only me and D running the show and we pretty much had to force the issue with some of the others. BUT we did invite ourselves!
So with a 3.5kg beef fillet, a South Indian Easter chicken and a bowl of guacamole in tow, we headed out to spend a day with the Gays. We started at about 11.30-ish .... on a bubbly note of verve cliquot (I am more of a Moet girl meself) .. assorted lesbians dropped by during the day, but the core group from lunch included the lovely W and also J's friend A and his new partner C (3 months into the relationship and they're already engaged). I gather that A has a bit of wealth behind him as he made pains to rattle off the various properties he has around the nation (me a bitch? Wha?? Never!!). C apparently has led the Mardi Gras parade several times in ott costumes ... and won awards for costume making ... so we have an intellectual and an old skool gay in perfect union ... aah! Its like friggin Tales from the City.
Anyhoo, D apparently had a thing for him so he got quietly sloshed and slurred about his arrogance throughout the night ... sorry D, but it was a bit on the giggly side .. I'm sure you must see the humour in the cold sober light of day .. NOT!! And now I have to come clean and confess to being the bigot that I am .... A is a ginge!!! And that's an immediate droop for me I'm afraid!! I know I know ... and he was a little bit on the arrogant side with some rather aggrandizing views on politics and commerce ... over compensating perhaps?? Oh no , stop me!! J obviously lapped it up ... and I once again felt like the "past it" twinkie in the corner with nothing between my big anime eyes ... its not that I'm completely a-political, I just hate grandstanding ... I want to just cut to the chase and I absolutely hate to presume things particularly where politics and culture are so completely enmeshed ... I'm afraid the burden of collonialism hangs heavy on the white shoulder ...
Chicago soundtrack, complete with sashaying kitchen towels and pot lids ... Oh and Celia Cruz brought out the latino in all of us and C gave W some tango tips ...
As always D outdid himself with his Rendang, spicy tofu, and home made ketupat for his sayur lodeh. I sweated through my South Indian Easter chicken, thinking it would not stand up to the culinary alchemy that D manages to stir up in his pots!! But by the end of the night, even the wish bone had gone missing. Lunch was to put it mlidly a success. And damn you D, even when we're using the same sauce pack ... erm ... I mean ingredients, yours still turns out like the real deal and mine's the poor cousin in polyester crying into her Jay Jay top!
As with all these affairs, the drink kept flowing and more tomfoolery occured with the crackers, or bon bons, or whatever the hell they're called these days. Hence the silly hats!
You know what ... it was the perfect day ... even washing the dishes was fun .. and so organising the roast beef for dinner was a piece of piss ... thank god .. coz D and CC were about to crash .. well D did, CC held on long enough to assist with the roast potatoes and cauliflower baked with Swiss Gruyere.
I followed G's recipe for Roast beef fillet ... which is (and I kid you not) simply to smear it with Dijon mustard and leave for about half an hour to marinade. Shove into a roasting pan with about 2 cups of water, put a lid on and into the oven at about 220 deg for roughly 3 hours ... depending on the size of course.
To make the gravy, I had the pan on top of the stove on high so that most of the water bubbled away, added a bit of salt and pepper and slopped in about 3/4 cup of red wine ... and finally thickened with a bit of plain flour ... scumptious!
I still can't believe we had the appetite .. but it smellt too good not to have a taste ... we had about less than a quarter of the piece leftover ... plenty of sandwhiches there!!\
Roast Potatoes with Pumpkin and lemongrass
Cauliflower baked with Swiss Gruyere
My final word - christmas should always be like this - no fuss no muss - good food, good wine, good company!!
PS: Gin and Tonics on a sunny afternoon - BLISS!!
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