THIS week’s recipes are things you can prepare in advance and have them ticked off your Christmas dinner list, so you're under less pressure on the 25th.
I am not alone in thinking that Christmas Day should be treated as the most special Sunday roast dinner of the year – with added bells on. At The Cookery School, during all my classes about Christmas dinner, the mantra I keep plugging is: ‘The more you can prepare, the easier it is on the day’.
With that in mind, now is the ideal time to have your Christmas pudding ready to go. The stuffing is actually one that I tend to use year-round with a simple roast chicken and cranberry sauce (any excuse!) and can be placed in the freezer along with the pudding so you don’t even need to think about it taking up room in your fridge which will no doubt be groaning over the next few weeks. Cranberry sauce is an essential accompaniment to any Christmas dinner and our recipe should keep you going through the dinner, and on to the turkey sandwiches and beyond.
Next week I will show you a few alternative vegetable options which you can try with next Sunday’s dinner. Of course, should you want the most relaxed Christmas meal ever, we are offering a fully prepped Christmas dinner that can be picked up and it all will just need cooked. To be in with a chance of winning, visit our Facebook page for more details.
SAGE AND ONION STUFFING
4 onions
10 sage leaves fresh
50g butter
150g breadcrumbs
1 egg
Finely chop the onion (1cm dice) and fry in butter on medium heat until soft (about 10 minutes). The best way to do breadcrumbs is put in a blender with the sage and mix.
Take the egg, beat with a fork and add to the pan; add in the breadcrumbs and bind. I always roll into a long cylinder shape as it is then easy to slice and serve. To do this, place the stuffing on a large piece of cling film. Lay the mix down the centre of the cling film and start to roll it up into a long cylinder shape. Roll like a rolling pin until perfectly round and then tie each end. This can be placed in the freezer to store.
When ready to cook, remove from the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge. Cut away the cling film and place on tin foil on a roasting tray; cook for 30 minutes at 180C.
To serve, slice two inches high and place like a tower on the plate.
CRANBERRY SAUCE
(Serves up to 12; can be stored in Kilner jar in fridge)
400ml of orange juice (freshly squeezed, about six oranges)
400g caster sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/3 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1kg cranberries
Peel and rough dice the cranberries (discarding the pith); put in a pot with cold water and 1 tsp of caster sugar and bring to boil. Refresh in cold water and repeat this process three times. Place the orange juice, mixed spice and remaining sugar into pot with the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, ground black pepper and bring to boil. Simmer to reduce liquid by half. Add in your cranberries and bring back to boil; reduce by half again. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and pass through a sieve if you prefer smooth cranberry sauce. If, however, you prefer chunky cranberry sauce, strain all juice away and let cool.
Place in Kilner jar and refrigerate until required. Always use a clean spoon to decant from the jar, if you don’t you can contaminate the ingredients which is one of the reasons it will go off quickly.
INDIVIDUAL CHRISTMAS PUDDING
(Makes 8)
250g sultanas
250g raisins
250g currants
3 tbsp brandy
Zest and juice of 2 oranges
2 tsp mixed spice
50g almonds, chopped
200g light brown sugar
100g butter, softened
2 large eggs, beaten
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
75g plain flour
Place the sultanas, raisins and currants in a large bowl and pour over brandy, orange zest and juice and mix well and cover. Leave overnight for mix to absorb. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until well combined. Grease eight 175ml pudding basins and then line with a disc of grease proof paper.
Spoon the pudding mix between the pudding basins. Cover the top of each pudding basin with a buttered piece of tin foil, with butter side down on each pudding basin and tie with piece of string so no steam can escape.
Arrange the basins in the base of a steamer; put steamer on top of a saucepan filled with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2.5 hours. Check water regularly and top up as necessary. Once cooked, remove foil and replace with a new piece of foil. These can be stored in the fridge or frozen. To serve, you need to steam again for up to 90 minutes until piping hot and serve with a brandy cream.
