Christmas is a strangely volatile period on the food front. One minute the fridge is bulging and a few days later you are left with a random collection of odds and ends ranging from half a side of smoked salmon, an assortment of cheese and a turkey carcass, to countless jars of chutney and cranberry sauce.
I always find that jars have a particular way, by great stealth, of claiming large amounts of shelf space in the fridge. It drives my husband crazy and every few months he embarks on a spontaneous, frustration-driven cull.
The era when Christmas meant stocking up on food provisions on the grounds of retail inaccessibility is long gone. But, personally, I quite enjoy a return to that sense of battening down the hatches, avoiding trips to town for a few days, and using the Christmas break to relax into simple, creative cooking – a wholly satisfying experience.
Over the years, I have found that the secret of survival and of making the best of Christmas food, while avoiding waste and monotony, is to have a store cupboard stocked with a few simple ingredients such as rice, both basmati and arborio, a few tins of chopped tomatoes, along with the usual suspects – sugar, flour, eggs, spices.
I think I inherited this gene from my grandmother, whose store cupboard was an expression of her wartime insecurity.
I love fresh herbs. I usually stock up before Christmas and buy a few pots of soft herbs which last, with a little watering, well into the new year. Fresh herbs can turn the simplest meal into something exciting, special and fragrant, bringing extra character to the table.
Do try the unusual grapefruit and smoked salmon combination on these pages. It is a fabulously refreshing, funky little salad and a perfect antidote to the richness of Christmas food.
Biryani is a great way to use up the last of the turkey in an appetising way, and the hot orange soufflé will take care of the glut of oranges and mandarins we usually have at this time of year.
I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas. Just don’t spend too much time in the kitchen.
You'll find more Christmas larder recipes, for cheese stuffed arancini with tomato sauce, and a simple, retro, caramelised mandarin dessert, at irishtimes.com/ life-and-style/food-and-drink
