Breakfast at Fanny's - Go Lightly with Grapefruit

Fanny continues her exploration of citrus fruits with a light, yet sophisticated of course, breakfast idea - perfect for those virtuous days of the early New Year. She unveils her Pamplemousses Chauds, or Hot Baked Grapefruit, to try and encourage our increased intake of Vitamin C in a wonderful way. Fanny recommends using Pink Grapefuits whenever possible - not only because they are 'superb' (and who would need any other reason?) but because she is hacked off that they have gone AWOL because the British public simply do not 'fancy' the idea of 'pink' ones. So, superb and snubbed by the British public is clearly ideal. I go pink.

Fanny wants to play a game - she bets that she can name more varieties of citrus fruit than we can. We are told to grab a pencil and write down as many as we know, and of course compare the list to her exhaustive one. Fanny wins. Every time. Fanny tells me the original Grapefruit was known as the Shaddock (and she strangely DOESN'T make any jokes about it...) which, within the 'trade' (I think she means restaurants perhaps, unless there is a black market for citrus?) as a Pomelo and is only obtainable in India. Handy. The 'pink' Red Blush Grapefruit she recommends has been developed in Texas and also South Africa, so it must be superb after all. Fanny has one plea, when choosing a grapefruit she wants us to be 'professional' buyers and not amateurs, and to do as the experts do and go for the ones with little brown blemishes on the skin, and never the all-over clear, yellow-skinned ones. The blemishes are the hall mark of top flavour and full fleshed juiciness! Phew, mine has brown blemishes...

So, confident that I have chosen well (as a professional might) I set to work, with Fanny's guidance, baking my grapefruit. It's a little more involved than I expected. Slice the grapefruit in half, and loosen all the sections from the skin with a grapefruit knife. Oh hang, I don't know what a grapefruit knife is, and clearly don't have one. Is this a good time to admit that I have never even liked grapefruit? Undeterred, I leave the halves upside down for 30 minutes to 'drain' before setting them right way up on a baking sheet and dotting them with pieces of brown sugar and flakes of butter. Then, simply bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Fanny notes that the grapefruit will have swollen during baking and will appear much larger than when raw. They do, and they actually look quite beautiful. Fanny suggests a simple garnish of glacé cherries and some orange leaves, which I just happen to have lurking in my fruit bowl. The Pamplemousses Chaud taste better than I expected, but I'm not sure I will continue to be quite this virtuous at breakfast. Fanny suggests adding a spoonful of dry Sherry or Madeira before baking if I fancy a more elegant evening starter course, which sounds much more like it...

It's All In The Booklet #4 - Christmas Pudding

Fanny has rescued this festive recipe from the vaults of the esteemed French Chef Escoffier, but of course is keen to add in her own twist too. She wants us to revive the perfectly round Christmas Pudding which was the centrepiece of dinner tables everywhere in bygone days. Only one problem, they used to always be made in the old 'coppers' which families boiled up their laundry in, on Mondays. Fanny however doesn't recommend flinging your pudding into the modern day washing machine, so instead turns to modifiying a standard kitchen sieve. I am less concerned with a perfectly round pudding, so I just use a pudding bowl, in truth I decide to make individual puddings in small moulds, please don't tell Fanny. I've never in my life made or tasted a Christmas Pudding, but the ingredients seem lovely - fruits, breadcrumbs, ginger, suet (I use some lovely vegetarian suet from Suma) nuts, alcohol... As ever, Fanny gives detailed instructions in the booklet. 

All the dried ingredients are mixed together, the chopped apples added, followed by the eggs, citrus juices, beer and Brandy. It's really quite boozy. Why have I never had this before? Once combined the loose, floppy mixture is left overnight to rest and become a firmer, thicker mixture as the breadcrumbs expand.

Next day the mixture is pressed into the buttered moulds (or large bowl, or indeed sieve), covered with greased butter papers (please don't do as Fanny does on TV and shamefully show the label) or ordinary squares of oiled greaseproof paper, cover again with foil, secure with string, tie a handle and steam. As mine as individual I am using my electric steamer, which is very rarely used but is perfect here as I can get three layers. Fanny of course uses a steriliser which is very large and deep but any large pot would do.

Fanny steams her pudding for 10 whole hours at first, my smaller ones take just 3, and then they are left to cool, stored away for a few weeks somewhere to mature until the Christmas feast. When they are required, on Christmas Day, they need to be steamed again - the large one for 3 hours, my individual ones just for an hour. Fanny wants us all to have the drama of wow-ing our guests with a flaming pudding, something to upset the neighbours and put their nose out of joint. Her trick is to use a mixture of Brandy and Vodka for the flame to give a longer burn time. This is something she often used when doing her demonstrations at the Royal Albert a Hall and such like, so if it's good enough for that it's grand for me. I have been making some fresh Cranberry Vodka this year, so this seems like the perfect time to crack it open. More booze!

The alcohol needs to be warmed gently, over a mere thread of heat. Fanny suggests until you can just feel the heat with your (spotlessly clean, before anyone thinks of writing in to complain) fingers, ouch. Fanny recommends training a friend to carry the flaming pudding to the table wiggling it all the time, which gives a boost of oxygen and keeps the flames going. I presume Fanny makes poor darling Sarah do this, as she points out on TV she gets VERY nervous in front of the camera and her hands tremble so badly - this sounds perfect. My first ever Christmas Pudding is lovely, very, very boozy and surprisingly light to taste as always with Fanny. Fanny serves hers with green coloured Brandy butter and tiny scraps of angelica and glacé cherry. Of course. Merry Christmas one and all, hic...

I've linked this post up other Fresh Cranberry recipes over at Blue Kitchen Bakes hosted by Jen - pop over for a look http://bluekitchenbakes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/fresh-cranberry-recipe-link-up.html