Post Christmas ,and New Year.

Wll, here we are 4th January already.Where has the time gone? I had a busy time cooking over the holiday period, starting with Christmas Eve dinner, which has now become a ritual when I'm staying with Rupert's family.So here's what we had.
First af all, I did the Pink Picante Prawns,raw prawns dipped in beaten egg white and then in a mix of smoked paprika, sea salt and crushed Cardamoms, just served plain with lemon slices. Then i made Jamie Oliver's Slow Roasted Shoulder of Lamb, involving marinating the lamb for 24 hours !
It is slashed all over, and a mix ofYoghurt, lemonjuice and paprika rubbed into the meat, then it is placed on a bed of 2 sliced red onions, and a whole head of unpeeled garlic cloves,seasoned ,and half a bottle of red wine is poured over , it is covered with foil and left . Then roasted at 170o for 2 and a half hours covered, the foil removed for the last half hour, and finally  left to rest on a dish for another half hour, loosely covered.
The meat falls off the bone,(or rather someone takes it off for me, )but there's no need to carve!  The residue in the pan I whizzed up and made a delicious sauce. Then we had couscous with it ,and the lamb was scattered with Pomegranate seeds and Coriander. Some extra yoghurt was served as well, to which i had added some finely chooped mint.  We couldn't eat anything more after that.
It was rather difficult for me, as being one handed ,I can put a reasonably heavy pan into the oven, but when it's hot, I find it much harder,and have the experience of a nasty burn to remind me that I must ask for help .
I made mincepies and some biscuits ,cheese biscuits also ,but i am giving the recipe here for the
Walnut Gazelle's Horns.   This recipe has been given to me by a good friend who is American,
Sorry there won't be a photo of them , but they disappear very quickly..
I shall have to convert the recipe to grammes, as it's in ounces...
250 g butter
90 g caster sugar
300 g plain flour
200 g walnuts

Put the walnuts into the processor, then add the sugar and butter, and finaly the flour. add a few drops of vanilla.
Shape into a roll, and then cut pieces off the roll ,and form into crescents.The dough is very soft, so you will need to use a little more flour to amalgamate the dough before forming it inot the shapes.
Put onto a baking sheet, and bake for 15-18 minutes at 180 o   They burn easily so watch them like a hawk!
I usually make half the ammount given, which is qute enough.
  Last week I had friends round for a meal, and I braised the pheasants  shot by my son in law, just with some root vegetables with a little bacon and Calvados.I added chestnuts at the end,as they tend to break up easily.
I have also made an interesting coffee jelly (had some left over from the morning) just a touch of sugar, but served with Greek yoghurt,and some dates that I had marinated in very strong coffee with some sugar,  cardamom seeds and a cinnamon stick  overnight in the fridge. Have taken a photo of this ,plus one of  the potato, pea and goat's cheese tart that I made as well. now I have to get tHem onto this posting.  AND I HAVE LEFT THE CAMERA DOWNSTAIRS!!Hopefully I can do it, but the pics may appear on the next posting.