Christmas Day ended up being a delightfully low-key event with my mother in Queensland. My husband had come down with my feeling of cruddiness, so he spent most of the day in bed after we opened our presents. My stepfather was spending 45 minutes out of every hour face down, in an effort to re-attach a wayward retina. It was a hot day, the pool was lovely and I had books to read and dogs to cuddle.Then in the evening, it was cool enough for a cooked meal. My mother produced a succulent stuffed turkey breast with some little potatoes and vegetables, then lovely cheese, coconut cream and kaffir lime pannacotta, and some excellent wines.
Paul had his usual polite bite of the dessert before focussing on the cheese. Which left an almost whole pannacotta for me to have for breakfast the following day, with a gorgeous ripe mango cheek cut into cubes. A taste of tropical heaven.
23 comments:
Mango, how I love thee. When mangoes ripen here in Florida, friends and neighbors come out of the woodwork with bagsful of beautiful fruit. I love mango season!
I have missed mangoes so much since being in the UK! The ones that get imported here are nothing compared to the Qld and NT ones you get in Australia.
Its so hard for me to imagine a tropical Christmas, it sounds like a nice treat
oh how exotic! kaffir lime pannacotta. sounds like mango is the perfect complement.
Sorry to hear about two of your party being down for the count on Christmas Day, but it did sound like a lovely, quiet treat of day!
Kat - I haven't had enough cold weather Christmases to get used to them!
Ali - It was gorgeous! So velvety and amazing flavour.
Rachel - "treat" is just the right word. It really was!
Spening Christmas somewhere tropical when everyone else is freezing is a wonderful luxury. Sounds like a wonderful time!
Pannacotta and mango all to yourself.. sounds wonderful!
I'm in love with mangoes; I just wish they weren't so calorific!
I'll be mobile while in the Goldcoast. A few days with family in Coolangatta, a couple more in Brisbane, Noosa and Eumundi. Have palates will travel :) Help?
Hi Foodycat. I love the idea of pannacotta with mangoes. Sounds like just the right dessert for me. Despite the feelings of cruddiness, and the wayward retina, I'm sure your holiday with your family was marvelous.
Dee, the Sunshine Coast is another story on the Foody front! Wonderful subtropical climate and the the rich soil of the hinterland is used for growing food not residential "development".
I hope you are there on a Sunday: the Noosa Farmers' Market showcases the wonderful produce of the area. Be there at 0600 to be sure to get some of the things that get snapped up fast. You can have a coffee after you have done the shopping.
Eumundi Markets have been going for ages & are not just food.
There are also cheese makers in the hinterland. The Maleny one is probably the most accessible.
Eating tips - The Spirit House at Ynadina is legendary. I haven't been there for ages so can't vouch for it. River Edge on Gympie Terrace at Noosaville is owned by friends & open 7 days during holiday season.
PS. It was wonderful to have FoodyCat visit.
Somewhat challenging to go from expecting to be in NSW for the festivities to hosting them with ~ 10 days notice. (Thanks to the wayward retina.) Especially in the knowledge that it was likely to end up reported on this blog!
When the fridge is not so full with legs of ham etc, I would serve the pannacotta in pretty glass dessert bowls. The pottery took up less space.
Esi - we flew back in to -8C! Sublime to the ridiculous.
Natashya - and it was breakfast, oh the decadence!
Dee - that is much better! Noosa is a great place to eat.
Mother - thank you!
That Appenzell cheese that we had with our Christmas dessert comes from the Fromart cheesemakers - they are somewhere on the Sunshine Coast too.
Oh my, I may have to try to make the pannacotta, I love kaffir lime and always buy the leaves at the Asian store. And with paired with mango--yum! The dinner, cheese plate and dessert sound lovely,
Your breakfast looks so yummy and decadent!
All of your traveling adventures are simply wonderful! I'm so glad you got to visit your Mom (and I love it when she comments here on your blog!!!)
Sorry you guys were sick on Christmas.
That looks sinfully delicious!! My wife absolutely loves Mangoes and would kill for some of that!!
Thank you, Foodycat's mother :)
We've rented a car, so we're mobile enough to make some of your suggestions happen. I'm intrigued by the Spirit House so I'm off to check that out in a bit. And my husband's uncle and aunt will definitely take us to the Eumundi Markets.
Hooray for holidays!
Mother - that appenzell was lovely, but my heart belonged to the roquefort!
Deb - I am hoping my mother will share the recipe! It was coconut cream and dairy cream so it had the most luscious texture.
Laurie - I have heard from so many people who were sick for Christmas! It must have been a really mean bug.
Dharm - your wife has good taste! What is not to love about a mango?
Dee - I have never eaten at the Spirit House but I have the Spirit House Cookbook and everything I have cooked from it has been wonderful. So go there!
I see the travelogue has moved on (can't wait to go to Pilu myself).
Coconut & kaffir lime pannacotta:
250ml coconut cream
250 ml pure cream (pouring)
1/4 cup caster sugar
4 kaffir lime leaves
warm cream, sugar and kaffir lime leaves in saucepan - take off heat and leave to infuse the flavours.
(I also added grated kaffir lime rind.)
Soak 2 leaves gelatine in cold water until soft. remove from water and add to cream mixture. Stir gelatine to dissolve (put on gentle heat if needed). Pour into serving glasses. Refrigerate 3 hours or until set.
Deb - I have a kaffir lime tree in a pot outside. It grows very well in the Brisbane climate and I never have to buy kaffir lime leaves and can use the rind of the fruit when it is available as well. I would think Hawaii would also be a good place for them?
Thank you! I look forward to making that (I will need a trip to an Asian shop to get fresh kaffir lime leaves).
The panna cotta sounds heavenly! Glad to here you had a good Christmas, even it it was a quiet one!
It was very nice - hope you had a good one too, Sam!
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