JAMIE Oliver has written enough cookbooks to fill a small library, but, rather shockingly, not once has the culinary maestro penned a 'pukka' festive tome. So why now?
"It was like a howler right in front of me – I mean it's the time of year when people who don't cook, cook," exclaims the 41-year-old. "I know for a fact, certainly since social media, people are nervous. Everyone is trying to up their game."
And "the more kids, the more stressful", he adds with a smirk. And if anyone should know about the pressure of feeding the masses, it's Oliver, who has five children with wife Jools – the latest edition being their baby son, River Rocket, born this summer.
But he's adamant that catering for your clan at Christmas – however big or small – can be hassle-free and fun. And as for his opting to release this book now, when he's arguably busier than ever: "You only get to do one in your life," he says, "so it feels like a good time to do it."
Oliver describes the book as "half greatest hits" – taking a nostalgic look back his near on 20-year-career – while the other half knits together what people really want and what they need. "We titillate to get them excited about how they can swap out and change a few things," he says. "So it was really nice process."
Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook is also intended to be the ultimate Yuletide companion: a mix of classic recipes for the big day and beyond, as well as loads of delicious ideas for edible gifts, party food, a whole chapter dedicated to potatoes and new ways to scoff the leftovers.
And in typical Oliver fashion – the busy father, whose career catapulted to then-unimaginable heights after his debut TV series, The Naked Chef, back in 1999, now heads his own Fifteen restaurant chain, writes for publications around the world, fronts numerous TV shows and campaigns and has single-handedly revolutionised home-cooking – it should evoke minimal stress.
"Even though it's Christmas, it underpins the challenge of cooking at any time of year," says the friendly Essex-born star, who reveals that this year, he's set to have an Oliver-only Christmas Day, fuelled by traditions, but plans to "go big" with the rest of the family on Boxing Day.
"Really, if the meat is diligently and brilliantly cooked, if the gravy is bad-ass, and the potatoes are extraordinary, that's Christmas done," he assures. "Everything else is just kind of... gravy!
"The nice thing about this book is you've got full permission to go nuts."
JAMIE'S 3 TOP TIPS FOR CHRISTMAS CATERING
:: Plan like a pro
"By nature I am not a planner or a pre-planner, so I am the best example of what not to be at Christmas. If you want to have a nice road to success that doesn't involve running around and getting sweaty just before everyone turns up, plan, plan, plan. Definitely girls are much better at that than boys, but the day before is mega. Your pleasure on the big day is totally sculpted by how effective you are on the day before and the week before."
:: Delegate
"There are always people in your family that cook well, cook pretty well and can't cook for toffee. So who you ask to do what, you can be strategic about. So if my main man is always a disaster – you will die if you eat that food – delegate the port. Be specific: 'Get this cheese from this place and get a nice bottle of whiskey'. And when you've got mates and family that can cook, it's, 'Can you do something like this?' Text them the recipe. I like the idea that my sister turns up with a big tray of cauliflower cheese; my mum turns up with a trifle; and my dad turns up with his pudding, always."
:: Get more Ninja
"The reality is, our houses turn into mini restaurants for the day. It's like, OK, it's very lovely having our kitchens turned into our front rooms and vice-versa, but actually, get the stuff that shouldn't be in the kitchen out of the kitchen and actually get your kitchen back. Get some surface area. Have you got enough plates? Bin liners? All that boring sh**e, but it's hard to cook for 15-20 people when you've got stuff everywhere. So get a bit more ninja, get ahead, use the freezer."
:: BAKED SQUASH
STUFFED WITH NUTTY CRANBERRY-SPIKED RICE
(Serves 6)
Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes
1 butternut squash (1.2kg)
Olive oil
1 red onion
1 clove of garlic
1 bunch of fresh sage (30g)
10 sun-dried tomatoes
75g vac-packed chestnuts
75g basmati rice
75g dried cranberries
1 pinch of ground allspice
Red wine
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Wash the squash, carefully cut it in half lengthways, then remove and reserve the seeds. Use a spoon to score and scoop some flesh out, making a gully for the stuffing all along the length of the squash. Finely chop the scooped-out flesh with the seeds and put into a frying pan on a medium heat with two tablespoons of oil.
Peel, finely chop and add the onion and garlic, stirring regularly while you pick the sage leaves and finely chop them with the sun-dried tomatoes and chestnuts. Stir into the pan with the rice, cranberries and allspice, add a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper and a swig of red wine, and mix well. Fry for 10 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
Pack the mixture tightly into the gully in the two squash halves, then press the halves firmly back together. Rub the skin of the squash with a little oil, salt and pepper, and if you've got them, pat on any extra herb leaves you have to hand. Place the squash in the centre of a double layer of tin foil, then tightly wrap it up. Bake for around two hours, or until soft and cooked through.
Once ready, take the squash to the table and open up the foil in front of everyone, then carve into nice thick slices and serve with all the usual trimmings.
:: ROAST GOOSE
SLOW-COOKED WITH CHRISTMAS SPICES
(Serves 8)
Total time: 3 hours 30 minutes
1 large goose (4-5kg), halved lengthways by your butcher
6cm piece of ginger
6 large sticks of cinnamon
6 star anise
2 teaspoons whole cloves
Olive oil
2 oranges
Red wine vinegar
Get your meat out of the fridge and up to room temperature before you cook it. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Peel and finely slice the ginger, then, keeping everything quite coarse, lightly crush it in a pestle and mortar with the cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Rub into the skin of the goose halves, then put both halves skin side up in your biggest deep-sided roasting tray and drizzle with a little oil.
Roast for three hours (depending on the size of your goose), basting every hour. After the goose has been in for two hours, slice the oranges and carefully add to the tray.
The goose is cooked when the leg meat falls easily off the bone. Now you've got two choices. Leave it to rest, covered, for 30 minutes, then serve up while it's hot and crispy-skinned, in which case simply remove the meat to a board, shred the leg meat and slice the breast. Pour all the fat into a jar, cool, and place in the fridge for tasty cooking another day, such roast potatoes. Stir a good swig of vinegar into the tray to pick up all the sticky goodness from the base, then drizzle over your meat. Serve with spuds, veg and all the usual trimmings.
Your second choice is to let everything cool in the tray, then place it in the fridge for up to two days, with the goose submerged and protected in its own fat, ready to reheat when you need it, getting you ahead of the game and saving you time and oven space another day. To reheat, put the whole tray back in a preheated oven at 180C/gas 4 and let the goose crisp up for around 30 minutes, or until hot through, then shred, slice and serve as above.
:: WINTER BOMBE
CHOCOLATE, CHERRIES, VIN SANTO, PANETTONE & PISTACHIOS
(Serves 12)
Total time: 20 minutes, plus freezing
2 x 500g tubs of quality vanilla ice cream
1kg panettone
125ml Vin Santo
3 heaped tablespoons quality raspberry jam
100g tinned cherries, in juice
75g glace clementines (or other glace fruit)
1 clementine
50g shelled pistachios
300g quality dark chocolate (70 per cent)
25g unsalted butter
Get the ice cream out of the freezer so it can soften a little while you get things ready. Line a 2-litre pudding bowl with three layers of clingfilm. Use a serrated knife to slice four 2cm-thick rounds off your panettone, then cut them in half. You'll have some panettone left over, so keep this for another day. Arrange six of your panettone slices in a single layer around the inside of the bowl, pushing them down if they overlap. Drizzle some of the Vin Santo on to the panettone so it soaks in, then use the back of a spoon to spread the jam all over it.
Drain the cherries, and thinly slice the glace clementines. Finely grate the fresh clementine zest and put aside, then peel and finely slice the clementine into rounds. Spoon one tub of ice cream into the bowl, spreading it around in a thick layer. Sprinkle in the pistachios, cherries and glace fruit, then layer on the clementine slices. Add the other tub of ice cream. Spread it out, working quickly so the ice cream doesn't completely melt. Put the remaining two panettone slices on top of the ice cream, drizzle over the rest of the Vin Santo, then cover the bowl tightly with clingfilm. Press a plate down on top to push and compact everything down, pop a weight on, then freeze overnight, or until needed.
Around 20 minutes before you want to serve it, unwrap your winter bombe, carefully turn it out on to a serving dish, then leave to thaw slightly (I tend to transfer my bombe from the freezer to the fridge just before serving up the main to give it a head start). Snap up the chocolate, place in a heatproof bowl with the butter over a pan of gently simmering water on a low heat, and leave to melt. Once nicely melted, stir in the reserved clementine zest, then pour the chocolate over the pudding so it oozes down the sides and looks super-tempting and delicious. Serve up any extra sauce in a little jug.
:: Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook by Jamie Oliver, photography by David Loftus, is published by Penguin Random House, priced £26. Available now (All content copyright Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited)
