So, it’s Wednesday evening.  My darling husband is out at his 2nd christmas do and I’m home alone with the littl’uns asleep.  I decide to watch ‘Kirsties Homemade Christmas’  which I’d Sky +’d from Tuesday.  I didn’t watch any of the original series (not sure why) but having seen last nights programme, I’m disappointed that I didn’t.

If you’ve been reading my previous blog posts you’ll know that I’ve been doing a lot of homemade bits and pieces for Christmas.  So when I saw Kirsty making salt-dough decorations I switched off the telly and decided to give it a go myself!  At that stage, the detail wasn’t online, but it’s very straightforward to make:

• 1 cup salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups flour

I just bunged it all into my kitchenaid mixer and let it work for about 5 minutes, then got to work and started rolling the dough out.  I found that I had to add extra flour as my dough was too sticky – it definitely got easier to work with as I went on, mainly because I’d added more flour to the worksurface for rolling out.

I tried cutting stars but they were too tricky (again probably because my mixture was a little on the wet side) but had a lot more success with heart shapes.  Once I had them cut out, I nuked them in the microwave for about 3 minutes per plate, which was enough to dry some of them out but not others – the last batch went in the oven this morning at 180c for 15 mins.

Once cooled, I sprayed both sides with gold spray paint which I just happened to have to hand (randomly).  I then threaded red bias binding material through, but you could use ribbon instead?

I thought about creating a garland, but wasn’t sure what I would actually attach it to, so decided on creating a centerpiece over our table instead.  I’m chuffed with the result – they definitely look homemade but isn’t that the point?   Would love to hear what you think.

Another one of my (bah, humbug) irritants about Christmas is the fact that we’re all feel obliged to stock up on loads of ‘luxury’ treats. For me though, luxury doesn’t necessarily mean cost, but in the case of this gravadlax recipe, it’s time.

Home-made gravadlax is a fantastic, tasty alternative to smoked salmon. It’s scandanavian in origin, hence the use of dill and mustard to give it a lovely flavour. It’s really simple to make, but you need to allow 5 – 8 days for the salmon to cure.

Ingredients

1 side of salmon (fillet, skin removed) about 1-2kg
2-3 large bunches fresh dill
125g/4oz rough sea salt crystals
250g/8oz caster sugar
30g/1oz freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp English mustard
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp crème fraîche
1 tbsp wine vinegar

Method

1. Ask your fishmonger to skin and pinbone your salmon fillets – I’ve used salmon with the skin on in the past, but prefer it without
2. Roughly chop the dill and mix thoroughly in a bowl with the salt, sugar and pepper. Lay out a sheet of cling film about four times the width of a salmon fillet. Spread a quarter of the cure mix over a fillet-size area on one side of the clingfilm with a good 15cm/6in margin for folding over.
3. Place one fillet, on top of the pickle mixture and cover with slightly more than half of what is left. Place the second fillet on top, to make a sandwich. Scatter the remaining cure mixture over the skin.
4. Wrap up the parcel tightly, tucking the ends and edges in underneath the fish.
5. Put the package on the tray and place a similar size tray, or a plank of wood on the top. Weigh it down, with something heavy – I use 6L of milk.Turn the package daily for between 5 & 8 days. Do not discard the liquid that oozes from the package unless it threatens to spill over the side of the tray.
6. At least one hour before serving, combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar and shake well together. Leave to stand and shake again before serving.
7. To serve, unwrap the gravadlax and wipe off any excess pickling liquid. There is no need to scrape off the dill pieces. Slice fairly thinly then serve with the sauce and buttered wheaten bread. (Unused gravadlax can be re-wrapped in clean cling film and kept in the fridge for up to five days. It also freezes very successfully.)

I’ve got 2 kg of this in my fridge at the moment which has cost me about £10 in total. There’s enough to do me for my ‘Come Dine with Me’ Extravaganza during the week, plus as a starter for our Christmas dinner. And it’s all done well in advance – so no stressing!