Christmas Dinner 2020

It was our third Christmas in England. Unlike the past two years, we didn't have any plan to travel during the holiday season, so we welcomed our first Christmas tree into our England home and enjoyed decorating the seasonal little green friend. On Christmas day, the main dish of dinner was Classic Rack of Lamb. Lamb was from Waitrose, and I adapted a recipe by Simply Recipes. The result was wonderful! Marinated the lamb with fresh rosemary and thyme from our window-garden as well as garlic for about two hours in room temperature, oven-baked for 10 minutes (180C w/fan) and additional 10 minutes (150C w/o fan), rested 15 minutes. I aimed for medium-rare, and the output looked like almost medium, which was my actual preference. I tend to overcook meat generally, so my original goal-setting worked well. The lamb was buttery, tender and tasty. No sauce or garnish needed. 

Side dishes were Dijon-braised brussels sprouts, which I have made several times and liked each time, and baked whole sweet potatoes, which were so sweet like a dessert. I bought brussels sprouts on the stalk first time. They were securely stored about a week in the refrigerator and kept their freshness nicely. I will go for the stalk if available instead of a store-packed pre-trimmed version, which often looks aged. I also served Waitrose Christmas Lobster Thermidor Vol au Vents, which was supposed to be an appetizer but became another side.

Dessert was homemade caramel custard puddings according to J's request. Since my old pudding basins are tiny, I bought a set of larger and taller basins and doubled the recipe for this special occasion. Topped with a glace cherry, the simple pudding looked Christmasy.

The sunrise of the day was beautiful. Then we checked the tree and found that Santa came to us!