The Christmas Menu & Recipes

As most of my friends will tell you, I should have been a cook. I love to cook, I love to entertain & I love to be challenged. I learnt through growing up with chef's in my life, teaching me little bit by little bit & then me experimenting myself. Nowadays, I would confidently host a party for say 20 people or make a full CHRISTMAS lunch for say 10.

I thought I would give those that wanted to try doing the cooking (or have been forced into this year!) a little help, here is a 4 stage Christmas menu that may help you get through the day with people thinking you are a pro! (Nibbles, Main, Trimmings, Dessert)

Let me know how you get on with the recipes or if anyone has some easier or slightly different recipes they'd like to see on the blog, please feel free to let me know!

NIBBLES

Sausage Rolls

Ingredients

• 30g Butter
• 100g button mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 450g sausage meat (you can easily push the meat out from the skins of ready made sausage)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 450g ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1 free-range egg, beaten

Preparation/Cooking

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the mushrooms until soft. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Add the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, thyme and sausage meat and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.
4. Roll the puff pastry out into a large rectangle, then cut into two long rectangles.
5. Place a layer of sausage meat mixture down the middle of each pastry rectangle, then brush each with beaten egg on one edge.
6. Fold the other side of the pastry over onto the egg-washed edge. Press down to seal and trim any excess. Cut each pastry roll into 8-10 small sausage rolls.
7. Place the sausage rolls onto a baking tray and transfer to the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes, or until crisp and golden and the sausage meat is completely cooked through.

 

Smoked salmon pâté 

 

Ingredients

• 255g smoked salmon
• 110g cream cheese
• 2 tbsp double cream
• ½ lemon, juice only
• 2 tbsp chopped chives (plus some extra chives to sprinkle over the top)
• pinch of sugar
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation/Cooking

1. Pop all the ingredients into a blender and pulse until it has a consistency that you desire. Plenty of pepper is good but go easy on the salt, as the smoked salmon will be salty already. Occasionally I would substitute lime and coriander instead of lemon and chives.

 

Red onion & brie tartlets

 

Ingredients

• 250g ready-made shortcrust pastry
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium red onions, peeled, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled, thinly sliced
• 1tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dark soft brown sugar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 125g Brie, cut into 24 small pieces

Preparation/Cooking

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Roll the pastry out until 0.25cm/⅛in thickness and cut 24 circles from it, using a 5cm/2in pastry cutter.
3. Place the circles onto a baking tray and prick all over with a fork.
4. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through and golden-brown. Remove the pastry from the oven and set aside to cool.
5. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring regularly.
6. Increase the heat, add the garlic and thyme and cook for a further five minutes.
7. Add the vinegar and brown sugar and cook, stirring well, until the onions have caramelised. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
8. To assemble the tartlets, spoon some of the red onion mixture into each pastry circle and top with a piece of brie.

 

Whiskey & chilli tiger prawns

 

Ingredients

• 2 limes, 1 juice and zest, 1 juice only
• 90ml whiskey
• 180g soft light brown sugar
• 20 raw tiger prawns, peeled, deveined
• 1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Preparation/Cooking

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Heat the lime juice, whisky and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring gently, until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has all dissolved, stop stirring, turn up the heat and boil for 5–7 minutes, or until the mixture becomes syrupy and thickens. To tell if it is ready, dip a wooden spoon in the mixture and tap off the excess – some glaze should still stick to the spoon, but it will not be as thick as honey. (Sometimes the whisky catches alight and you will see a blue-orange flame coming from the pan. Just take it off the heat and the whisky will burn itself out. )
3. Stir in the finely grated lime zest, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
4. Put the prawns in a shallow ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the chilli. Brush the prawns with the oil and then with the glaze. Bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes, or until the prawns turn opaque. Remove from the oven and brush with more glaze, reserving any extra glaze for dipping, and set aside to cool slightly before serving.

 

 

Mini Yorkshire puddings with roast beef & horseradish cream

 

Ingredients

For the Yorkshire puddings

• 1 egg
• 85g plain flour
• 85ml milk and water mixed
• vegetable oil

For the horseradish cream

• 1 tub crème fraîche
• 2 tbsp fresh horseradish
• salt and pepper

For the filling

• 2-3 beef fillets (depending on size)
• flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Preparation/Cooking

1. To make the Yorkshire puddings, gently add the egg to the flour. Slowly add the water and milk to the mix, stirring continuously to keep it smooth.
2. Put a few drops of oil into each small muffin tray and put into a medium hot oven to heat. When the tray is hot, pour 2.5cm/1in of mixture into each space and replace in the oven. Cook for about 8-10 minutes until the mixture has puffed up. Then cool on a cooling rack.
3. To make the horseradish cream, simply mix all the ingredients together.
4. Cook fillet of beef rare (or more done if you prefer), slice thinly and arrange on the baby Yorkshire puddings. Add a dollop of horseradish cream and decorate with a sprig of flat leaf parsley.

 

CHRISTMAS DINNER - MAIN DISHES

How to roast a Turkey (Serves 8)

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 free-range turkey weighing 4kg
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 175g unsalted or lightly salted butter

For the bread sauce

• 450ml/15fl oz full-cream milk
• 1 small onion
• 4 cloves
• 75-100g fresh white breadcrumbs
• freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 40g butter or 2 tbsp double cream
• cayenne pepper, for sprinkling

Preparation/Cooking

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Check that you have not left the plastic bag of giblets lurking inside the bird. Put the turkey in a large, deep roasting tin. Season generously all over with salt and pepper and massage the seasoning into the skin.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Fold the muslin in four and lower it into the melted butter, pushing it in so that it soaks up virtually all the butter.
3. Lift out the butter-soaked muslin and lay it over the turkey, making sure that it completely covers the breast and upper thighs.
4. Pour about 300ml/½ pint water into the roasting tin and slide it into the oven. Cook for approximately 3 hours 20 minutes, basting the bird approximately every 30 minutes with the pan juices.
5. Test that the turkey is properly cooked in just the same way as you would a chicken. Pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer. If the juices run clear then the turkey is done. If they are pink, slide it straight back into the oven for a further 15 minutes before testing again and continue to do this until they do run clear.
6. Once it's done, transfer the turkey to a large serving dish, discard the muslin and leave in a warm place to rest for at least half an hour. Cover with foil to stop the meat going cold.
7. While the turkey is cooking, make the bread sauce. Pour the milk into a heavy-based saucepan. Stick the four cloves into the onion, add to the milk and bring very, very slowly up to the boil, so that the milk has plenty of time to absorb the flavours of the onion and the cloves.
8. Remove the onion and cloves and stir enough breadcrumbs into the milk to give a thick sauce. Season to taste with nutmeg and salt. Stir in the butter or cream, adjust the seasoning, then spoon into a warm serving bowl, sprinkle with a little cayenne pepper and place on the table. If making in advance, leave to cool, then cover with cling film and store in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat thoroughly before serving. Sprinkle with the cayenne pepper just before serving.

Top recipe tip

You'll need a large piece of butter muslin (available from good cook shops or fabric shops) for this most classic of Christmas recipes.
 

Christmas Veggie Wellington

 

Ingredients

For the filling

• 60g basmati rice, cooked according to the packet instructions
• pinch turmeric
• 1 lemon, zest only
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 600g brown cap mushrooms, sliced
• 50g butter, melted
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 tbsp dried cranberries
• 2 free-range eggs, hard-boiled, chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pastry

• 250g ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• vegetarian gravy, to serve

Preparation/Cooking

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Combine the cooked rice, turmeric and lemon zest and set aside, covered, in the refrigerator.
3. Heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion and mushroom and fry for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Set aside to cool.
4. Stir in the cooked rice, herbs, cranberries and hard-boiled eggs until well combined. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5. For the pastry, cut a 40cm x 20cm/15in x 8in rectangle from the puff pastry.
6. Spoon the rice mixture down the centre of the pastry. Bring the sides of the pastry together and seal. Brush all over with beaten egg and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Sprinkle the pastry parcel with sesame seeds and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown.
8. To serve, place one slice of the Wellington onto each of six serving plates. Pour over vegetarian gravy.

 

CHRISTMAS DINNER - TRIMMINGS

Easy roast Potaotes

 

Ingredients

• 16 medium-sized Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes, peeled, cut into equal-sized pieces
• 8 garlic cloves
• 5 tbsp duck fat
• 8 sprigs thyme
• sea salt, to taste

Preperation/Cooking

1. Turn up the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Put the duck fat for the roast potatoes into a small roasting tin and heat in the oven for five minutes. Add the potatoes to the tin with the garlic cloves, thyme and some sea salt and toss them around until well coated in the fat. Return the tin to the oven and roast for 30-35 minutes or so until golden and crunchy.
 

Creamed Brussel Sprouts

 

Ingredients

• 1 kg Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 8 rashers cured bacon, cut into lardons
• 250ml double cream 
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. Cook the Brussels sprouts in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 8-10 minutes. Drain and refresh in a bowl of ice and water. Drain again when the sprouts have cooled.
2. Add the bacon lardons to a non-stick frying pan, and fry over a medium heat until crisp.
3. Add the cream and crushed garlic to a small pan and bring to the boil.
4. Stir the sprouts into the crisp bacon; then stir in the hot cream.
5. Season with salt and pepper and serve straightaway.
 

Maple roast parsnips

 

Ingredients

• 1kg parsnips
• 125ml vegetable oil
• 80ml maple syrup

 

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Peel the parsnips and then halve them crosswise, then halve or quarter each piece lengthwise.
3. Place the parsnips into a roasting tin. Pour the oil over the parsnips and mix them well so that the oil covers all of the pieces.
4. Pour the maple syrup over the parsnips and transfer the roasting tin to the oven. Roast the parsnips for 35 minutes, or until they are tender and golden-brown.
5. To serve place on a clean serving dish.

 

Sage & Onion Stuffing

 

Ingredients

• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
• 80g fresh white breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg, beaten

Preparation method

1. Sweat the onion in the oil, until soft but not coloured
2. Mix together the onion, sage and breadcrumbs and season well.
3. Add enough of the beaten egg to bind the mixture together and use to stuff meat or poultry or to roll into individual stuffing balls.
4. If making stuffing balls, cook in the roasting tin with the meat for 30 minutes.
 

Bread Sauce

 

Ingredients

• 1 day-old loaf unsliced white bread
• 1 litre/2 pints full-fat milk
• 1 onion, peeled and quartered
• 4 cloves
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1 tsp white peppercorns
• 2 blades fresh mace or heaped ¼ tsp ground mace
• 2 tsp salt
• 30g butter
• 2 tbsp double cream, optional
• 1 fresh nutmeg, for grating

Preparation method

1. Remove the crust from the bread and tear the stripped loaf into a mound of rough chunks or cubes about 2cm/¾in in size. You should end up with 175-200g (6¼-7¼oz) of cubes. If the bread is not slightly stale already, leave the pieces out on a wire rack to dry out.
2. Pour the milk into a saucepan. Press a clove into each quarter of the onion.
3. Add the onion quarters, bay leaves, peppercorns and the blades of mace (or sprinkle the ground mace into the pan) along with the salt and bring to the mixture almost to its boiling point.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan with a lid and let the ingredients infuse for at least half an hour, though you can leave it for a few hours if that helps with your cooking schedule.
5. After the mixture has infused, place the pan back on a very low heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the onions, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves and the blades of mace.
6. Add the bread to the saucepan and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring every now and then, by which time the sauce should have become thick and warm.
7. Just before serving the bread sauce, add the butter to the saucepan and stir until the butter has melted and combined with the sauce and season, to taste, with salt.
8. Add the cream (if using). Grate over quite a bit of nutmeg, adding more once you have poured the bread sauce into a warmed bowl or gravy boat.

 

CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS

Christmas chocolate yule log

 

Ingredients

• vegetable oil, for greasing
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 6 large free-range eggs, separated
• 250g high quality dark chocolate
 

For the buttercream icing filling

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 450g golden icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 50g cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 tbsp milk
 

For the cream filling

• 400ml/14fl oz double cream, lightly whipped
• 250g/9 oz raspberries
• dash whisky liqueur (optional)

Preparation method

1. This Christmas roll can be made two ways: with buttercream icing and festive decorations, or filled with cream and berries.
2. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Line a 23x33cm/9x13 in Swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper and brush this lightly with oil.
3. Combine the caster sugar and egg yolks in a bowl and whisk them together until light and thick. Melt the chocolate with 4tbsp cold water in a bowl over a pan of very gently simmering water. When you can see the chocolate has melted until smooth, stir in the sugar and egg mixture.
   
   (Google the technique: Melting chocolate)
    
4. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gently fold a spoonful of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites using a large metal spoon. Do not overmix, and always use a gentle action. Pour the batter gently into the prepared tin and bake for 12-14 minutes (no longer), until risen and just firm to the touch.
   
   (Google the technique: Folding)
    
5. Remove to a wire rack and leave to cool in the tin for at least 2 hours.
6. Once cold, lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a board. With one bold movement, turn the whole cake onto the sheet of paper, then lift the tin off. Carefully peel away the paper and trim away any scraggy edges of cake.
7. To make the buttercream icing, beat the butter until soft, then sift in the icing sugar and cocoa. Add the milk and combine together until soft. Spread half the icing over the cake up to the edges.
8. Roll up as you would a Swiss roll: starting at the long side opposite you, use the paper to roll the cake towards you, around the icing; don't worry about the cracks. Transfer to a flat serving dish. Carefully spread the remaining icing over the cake (you can pipe the icing if you like). Chill until needed, then decorate with festive decorations and sift over some icing sugar.
9. To make the cream filling, spread the inverted cake with the whipped cream, scatter over the berries and add a few dribbles of Drambuie, if you like. Carefully roll up as described above. Sift over icing sugar just before serving.

 

Sloe gin & blackberry jelly

 

Ingredients

• 4 gelatine leaves, broken up and soaked in warm water
• 600g blackberries
• 400ml water
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• ½ lemon
• 150ml (¼ pint) sloe gin

Preparation method

1. Break up the gelantine leaves and place in a small bowl and vocer with just enough water to cover. Soak for 1½ hours.
2. Place the blackberries, water, sugar and lemon juice into a pan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to simmer until the fruit has broken down completely to a sauce.
3. Place a sieve lined with two layers of muslin over a bowl and strain the blackberry mixture into the bowl. (Don't press the pulp, as this will make for a cloudy jelly.) Once all the liquid has drained through discard the fruit pulp.
4. Place the collected liquid into a clean pan and cook over a low heat, until just warm, then whisk in the gelatine and water. Make sure you dissolve any lumps.
5. Remove from the heat and add the sloe gin.
6. Pour the mixture into a 700ml/1 pint 3fl oz jelly mould and cover with a plate. Chill overnight in the fridge.
7. To serve, fill a large pan or bowl with hot water to just under the level of the jelly in its mould. Place the mould into the hot water and leave there for no more than 20 seconds.
8. Place a plate over the top of the mould, remove from the water and turn over. Lift the mould off the jelly carefully and serve. (If the jelly does not come loose, return to the hot water for another ten seconds, then try again.)