Happy Holidays! Quite unexpectedly we’ve had the best one ever here at Sabur-Cross inc. It was of course mainly dictated by our tiny overlords, but for the first time ever I really properly understood what all the fuss was about. It was definitely a far cry from that pre-kids time I spent Xmas day on my own watching eastenders and eating salt and vinegar crisps (don’t get me wrong, I definitely look back on that as the rare and deliciously self-indulgent luxury it was) This year we had smoked turkey which I can highly recommend to anyone who reckons turkey is a) boring b) a massive hassle to store and c) a colossal faff to cook. Smoked turkey just needs to be gently heated in some gravy, tastes bloody gorgeous and makes the best sandwiches. We also ate beef wellingtons made with fillet from the utterly brilliant East London sausage company which I will sorely miss when we’re living in NYC.
Ivan and I made a rainbow jelly trifle plus numerous gingerbread bits for the tree and we had the inaugural Sabur-Cross Boxing Day treasure hunt, which involved Ivan running all around the house like an overexcited puppy while Joe and I laughed at him. Baby Sufjan went completely fucking mental with excitement because we let him stay up late to watch Skyfall and Joe managed to drink an entire magnum of Champagne pretty much to himself.
But we’re eating a bit more sensibly now it’s New Year. When I say “we” I mean my husband, because I’ve never been on a diet in my life and certainly don’t intend to start now (I’m breastfeeding and definitely need the calories). In fact I’m enjoying a croissant stuffed with an unnecessary amount of Nutella as I type this and it’s very nice indeed thank you very much. Anyway, my crazy husband thinks he needs to go on a diet and I’ve been trying to explain that starvation diets really don’t work, according to everything anyone has ever said about diets (I’ll admit to being a bit fuzzy on the subject). So in a bid to tone it down a bit with the comfort food I’ve made this rather excellent yoğurtlu havuç which is basically a Turkish carrot salad. Sounds a bit crap I hear you say? It’s really quite fantastic actually, in a so much greater than the sum of it’s parts kind of way. Our local Turkish shop has started selling buffalo milk yoghurt, and it’s well worth the extra 40p.
Right, that’s my annual blog post done. Toodle pip for now, I’m off to catch up on the Legacy and steal the remainder of my son’s chocolate coins while I fob him off with real money which he’ll hopefully spend ages trying to peel open before he can work out what I’ve done.
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
2-3 tbsp. good olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
250g thick creamy Greek (or Turkish if you can get hold of it) yoghurt.
2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed with salt
finely chopped parsley to garnish
2-3 pitta bread, split in half
butter
a good slug of olive oil
1 tbsp. salt
1 clove garlic
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in a heavy based frying pan, heat the olive oil and stir in the carrot. Add the salt and sugar and continue to cook for about 15 minutes over a lowish heat.
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In a bowl, mix the garlic and yoghurt. Add the carrot and stir well. Sprinkle with the parsley and chill.
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Meanwhile, melt the butter and add the olive oil and crushed clove of garlic. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Cut the pitta bread into triangles and coat with the garlic butter. Spread out on a baking tray and bake at 200C for 7-10 mins, taking care not to burn them.
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Serve the hot pitta chips with the cold Turkish salad.
Gastrogeek 