wine – LifestyleArchitects

Quick Christmas Party Recipes

LifestyleArchitects — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 14:51:29 +0000

Well, Christmas is just around the corner! How can you make a nice small homey little party without investing too much into cooking the real dinner?

Here is an idea!

Today we would like to suggest opting for a dessert meal.

Why not making a quick microwave pudding and accompany it with a glass of mulled wine? It is fast, it is easy, it is Christmassy and it is totally affordable.

Christmas Pudding

It’ll take you only fifteen minutes and serve about 6 people!

Take:

3½ oz or 100 g softened butter;

3½oz or 100g cranberry sauce (buy or make it yourself);

2 tbsp. golden syrup;

3½oz or 100 g brown sugar;

2 eggs;

3½oz or 100 g plain flour;

1 tbsp. mixed spice;

11oz or 300 g mixed dried fruit;

1 peeled and grated apple;

Do:

Grease a pudding basin. Stir together golden syrup and cranberry sauce in a bowl. Pour 2/3 of the mixture into the prepared basin.
Beat together the sugar, butter, flour, eggs, mixed spice, grated apple and dried fruit till combined. Place the mixture into the prepared basin. Put a large piece of parchment paper on the top of the pudding to cover the surface.
Microwave for about 9 minutes until firm. Leave for 10 minutes before placing it to a plate. Spoon over the rest of cranberry mixture and serve immediately.

By the way, you can find great British cakes, cranberry sauce, pates and festive drinks here at British Cornershop. They ship worldwide!

What about mulled wine? First of all, decide on wine! Usually they use red wine, however, you can experiment with white wine or cider. The spices are as well totally up to your taste, although traditionally they place orange, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pair it with a fancy barware (or consider this if you are invited for a party and need to prepare a gift). Here is a great website with loads of bar accessories for those who live in Australia – Gifts Australia:

Have you chosen your base wine? So, lets get started!

Take:

750 ml bottle red wine

1 sliced orange

4-7 dried apricots

1 large cinnamon stick (or powdered cinnamon)

4-6 cloves

1 star anise

a nutmeg (to grate)

1 vanilla bean

3 tbsp. sugar

Do:

Pour red (or other) wine into a pan. Add the dried apricots, orange slices, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla and sugar.
Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and leave for 20-30 minutes.
Strain the wine into a jug, keep the orange slices for serving. Reheat the wine and pour it into mugs, top with the orange slices and serve immediately.

Lazy to cook? Don’t worry, there is a perfect alternative! In case you have no time or energy, or maybe you are invited to a party and need to grab something cute and Christmassy – go to GourmetBasket if you live in Australia and order a lovely gift basket (same day delivery is available!).

If you live in the United States order from Gourmet Gift Baskets, they have all your favorite treats including popcorn (don’t worry, they pack it well). And they ship internationally!

Luxury Venison Bourguignon (or simply French deer stew)

LifestyleArchitects — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 14:49:47 +0000

Have you ever eaten deer meat?

Are you a fan of red meat? Venison has 50% less fat than beef! That is a much healthier alternative for passionate meat-eaters!

So, we think you should try our beautiful and a bit posh recipe! Cooking time is 3 hours 30 minutes but you won’t have to actually cook all this time.

For this recipe you will need deer meat which might not be in you local store but you can always order online at FossilFarm’s, they have a rich variety of wild meats! Moreover, as it is obvious from the headline, we need wine. Buy anywhere, or use this great seller for high quality dry red wine for your luxury stew.

Preparation time is 30 minutes.

It makes approximately 6 servings.

Ingredients:

3 tblspoons oil
8 ounces chopped bacon
3 pounds deer meat chopped into several chunks
1-2 pounds carrots(chopped into large pieces)
2-3 onions roughly sliced/chopped
6 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 pound mushrooms (cut in halves)
1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine
2 cups venison/beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 fresh herb bouquet with thyme, rosemary and a bay leaf
4 tablespoons soft butter
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper
3-4 pounds baby potatoes

Instructions

Heat oil in a pan, add the bacon and cook over medium heat until it is brown and crisp.
Sprinkle venison chunks with salt and pepper to taste. Fry the meat on all the sides until brown. Remove the meat.
Add the onions, garlic, and carrots to the pot. Stir for several minutes until the onions are ready, then add the mushrooms. Cook for 5-10 minutes more.
Put the meat back to the pot. Add wine, stock, and tomato paste. Add salt and pepper and the bouquet of herbs. Cover the pot.
NOTE: You can add some other spices according to your taste, here at RawSpiceBar you can even build your spice set!
Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for approximately 3 hours.
When the venison becomes tender, mix in half a stick of butter into flour. Use a fork to press into a paste.
Slowly stir the butter mixture into the stew until the desired thickness!

Potatoes are cooked separately:

- Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and add 2 tablespoons oil, salt and pepper.
- Roast for 30-40 minutes until soft.

TIP: What if you want a more down-to-earth option (but still delicious)? You can opt for another type of meat easily, check deals at D’Artagnan and choose what suits your taste (probably beef as it goes well with red wine).

What if you are lazy to cook but want to feel posh? Think about ordering a gift basket (to yourself) with cheese, sausage and nice wine? And even burgers? At Hickory Farms you can do it:

Can you be even lazier than this?

For those who are, we have one more idea – subscribe for a meal plan!

For example, Jet Fuel Meals offer meal plans to every taste! Are you in good shape? You can mantain your weight with Maintain plan. Trying to lose extra kilos? Subscribe for Ketogenic diet plan!

Quick and easy.

And delicious!