Merry Christmas!

I love everything about Christmas. I love the parties, the food, the traffic jams, the presents, the crackers and reaffirming family and friend love. I love cooking something outrageous – so here's my suggestion for this year ... forget the big bird and go for tiny birds. This is my recipe for rose roasted quails – allow one per person. Throw rose petals all over the table. As it happens the recipe's in my latest book 'Eat Your Heart Out'.

Quail Roasted with Roses

Marinate the quails in the below mix for at least 2 hours (serves 6).

6 quails
2tbsp rosewater
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sumac
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
sea salt and black pepper

Stuffing

2 cups fresh chunky breadcrumbs
2 tbsp lemon zest
sml handful freshly chopped parsley
1 tbsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp dried rose petals
4 tbsp roasted pinenuts
sea salt and black pepper
a head of roasted garlic

Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin into a bowl and add all the other ingredients. Stuff this mixture into the quails

To Roast Garlic

Slice off the top quarter of as many heads of garlic as you like. Place in a roasting dish, drench with olive oil and top with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast in a 180 degree oven for an hour or till the garlic cloves are very soft and popping out of the skins.

To Cook

White wine
fresh rose petals

Heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Place the quails breast side down in a roasting tray big enough to hold them snugly. Pour over any remaining marinade and half a cup of white wine. Cover with foil and roast for half an hour. Turn the quails over, remove the tin foil and roast for another half hour or till golden. Tip the sauce from the tray into a saucepan, simmer sauce a little to thicken while beating with a whisk. Serve the quails on a platter, pour sauce over and sprinkle with rose petals.
 

Tours in 2020

I'll be kicking off 2020 with Vietnam at the end of March followed by Marrakech at the end of May. I adore Morocco – it is my most party tour because Moroccans are so warm and generous and love dancing and music. This is a personal, emotional tour of the people, places and food I like – it's about understanding a culture in an intense and experiential way. 

Vietnam – 28 March – 7 April 2020 – nearly full!
Marrakech  – 31 May – 7 June 2020 – places available
Basque Country – 27 June – 4 July 2020 – full!
Puglia – 30 August – 6 September – nearly full!
Portugal – 13– 19 September – places available
North India – 3 – 13 October 2020 – places available
Rajasthan – 20 – 29 October 2020 – places available

My new book 'Eat Your Heart Out' has hit the shelves and I've had a great time reading from it at various book launches around the country. According to one critic it's 'entertaining, hilarious, informative and a smorgasbord of love'. Perfect Christmas present just saying ...

I wish you peace, laughter and harmony for Christmas and the New Year and stay away from the karaoke Christmas songs OK – it's God's way of telling you you've drunk too much.