Nedra Wickremesinghe's party guide

It's Christmas time, lamb chops and wine

Try celebrity chef Koluu's special Christmas menu

After completing stints as personal chef to many famous personalities in exotic destinations across the globe from the Far East to the Middle East and Portugal, he is here to stay. Koluu is now the Food Consultant to Barefoot Garden Café 706 - the fashionable open-air café.

Cheese Roulade

60 g butter
1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup milk
salt, pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup grated cheese
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
3 eggs, separated
1 egg white, extra

Filling

3 rashers bacon
2 shallots
1 tsp french mustard
2 tbsp sour cream
Parsley Sauce
30g butter
3/4 cup water
1 chicken stock cube
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp cream
salt, pepper
2 tbsp chopped cheese

Method:

Melt butter in saucepan, add flour, stir 1 minute, add milk, stir until mixture boils and thickens. Add salt, pepper and mustard, mix well, add cheeses, stir in egg yolks, one at a time. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, fold into cheese mixture. 

Pour mixture into grease-proof paper lined 30cmx25cm swiss roll tin and, bake in hot oven for 15 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from oven, turn out onto wire rack covered with greaseproof paper. Carefully remove lining paper. Spread filling over with a spatula. Holding the paper with both hands gently roll roulade up. Serve cut in slices, with Parsley Sauce.

Filling - Chop bacon finely, place in dry pan and cook until crisp. Add chopped shallots and cook a further 1 minute. Remove from heat, add mustard, cool. Stir in sour cream.

Parsley sauce - Melt butter in pan, add water and crumbled stock cube and mix well. Add lemon juice and combined cornflour and cream, stir until sauce boils and thickens. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes, uncovered. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the chopped parsley.

Grilled Lamb with Thyme and Buttered Broccoli

12 Lamb Loin chops

Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp grated lemon rind

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp (dried) thyme

3 cloves garlic crushed

1/2 tsp. crushed peppercorns.

Thyme Butter

125g butter softened

1 tsp. grated lemon rind

2 tsp. (dried) thyme

1 tbsp. chopped fresh chives

1/2 tsp, crushed black pepper

Tomato Sauce

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic

100g peeled tomatoes

1/2 tsp. sugar

Method:

Combine marinade with lamb chops and refrigerate overnight.

Heat some olive oil in pan, add chops and cook until tender. Remove from pan, place on platter and keep warm. Combine all the tomato sauce ingredients and gently heat in a pan till the sugar melts, then pour over chops and place slice of thyme butter, (mix all ingredients given and refrigerate till firm). Serve with buttered broccoli and roast potatoes.

The Christmas pudding

200g almonds/cadjunuts, walnuts and brazil nuts

75g carrots

75g no-soak pitted dried prunes

125g butter, softened

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

125g soft dark brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

350g seedless raisins, currants and sultanas, mixed

25g chopped candid peal

50g fresh brown breadcrumbs

125g wholemeal plain flour

15 ml ground mixed spice

30 ml brandy

30 ml bees, honey

brandy to serve

Brandy Alexander Sauce to accompany

Roughly chop the nuts, coarsely grate the carrots and snip the prunes into small pieces. Mix together the butter and lemon rind. Gradually beat in the sugar, followed by the eggs. Mix in all the remaining ingredients, stirring well. Cover and leave in a cool place (not in the fridge) overnight.

The next day, lightly grease a 1.4-1.6 litre heat-proof pudding basin and base-line with nonstick baking parchment. Beat the pudding mixture again and spoon into the basin. Pleat a piece of greaseproof paper and foil together and tie securely over the pudding basin.

Steam the pudding for about 6 hrs or stand the basin in a large saucepan filled with enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the basin. Cover and boil for about 4 hours. 

Cool the pudding completely, re-cover the basin with fresh greaseproof paper and foil, and refrigerate for up to 2 months.

On the day, steam the pudding for about 3 hrs or boil for about 2 hrs. Warm 60 ml brandy in a small saucepan, pour over the pudding and set alight. Baste with the flaming brandy, then serve, accompanied by Brandy Alexander Sauce.

Brandy Alexander Sauce

600 ml double cream

100 ml brandy

100 ml crème de cacao

pinch freshly grated nutmeg

icing sugar to sweeten

Lightly whip the cream then fold in the rest of the ingredients with icing sugar to taste. Whip the cream mixture lightly again. Chill for at least 1hr before serving.

What to pour for that festive dinner

With the Lamb: Chateauneuf Du Pape (red) from the house of B&G. A powerful, full-bodied wines. (available at Keells - Rs. 1260.00)

With the pudding: Martell Cordon Bleu. This liqueur cognac is served after fine meals and on special occasions such as Christmas.

Culture and cuisine, that's what's cooking

By Tania Fernando

Hailing from Hyderabad, India, Kishore Reddy started travelling to various regions in the country to learn about the different cultures when he was just 12. He soon realized that culture and cuisine go hand in hand. "By the time I had finished my studies I realized I knew more about cooking than anything else."

He joined the Hotel School in New Delhi and won the award for the Best Chef. He was also the runner-up of the All-India Student Association.

He started his career at the Oberoi in Bombay ten years ago as Senior Kitchen Trainee and worked his way up. For the past four years, he's been at the Hotel Lanka Oberoi as the Chef of its Indian restaurant. He has also received a certificate of excellence from Queen Elizabeth II.

Unlike others who specialize in the cuisine of a particular region, Kishore says that he decided to focus on all regions, to give his clients the chance of experiencing different types of food.

Due to the popularity of Indian food, he hosted the ever popular TV programme "Cook with Kishore" which aired for more than three months. His popularity soared and wherever he goes there's someone asking him for cooking tips, he says good-humouredly. The programme will be repeated in Sinhala.

It is a myth that Indian food is too rich or unhealthy, he says, adding that all ingredients used in Indian cooking are healthy. Ghee, for example, is the only oil that nourishes the brain immediately. Our bodies need a certain percentage of oil but we have to be careful not to overdo it. "What you eat is what you turn out to be, that does not mean you turn out to be a pig just because you eat pork," he smiles.

He says that Indian food started as a science of medicine, but has now been distorted over the years with people adding unnecessary ingredients and deleting necessary ones.

Unlike some well-known chefs, Kishore Reddy says he has no secrets when it comes to his tempting dishes. "I am very open with regard to my recipes, but it all depends on the experience of cooking which varies from person to person," he adds.

He also said that none of his recipes have been altered to suit the Sri Lankan palate. "There was no necessity to do so as everyone seems to have taken to it, as it is quite close to Sri Lankan food."

His advice to those who want to pursue a career in cooking is that it should be considered as "an interest rather than a profession, and not just a job, but a sphere."

Since his TV programme was such a success, he recently released a book titled Regional Indian Food, so that those who have watched the TV programme can gain a better understanding of the recipes.

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