things I may (or may not) cook this Christmas

BEETROOT CARPACCIO

INGREDIENTS

• 8 medium beetroots – a mixture
of colours looks wonderful
• 2 lemons
• A small bunch of dill, finely chopped
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed

snacks and sides | serves 8

This is an impressive yet effortless starter – you can even make it the day before if you want to save time on the day. Serve with our rye and caraway bread (see recipe right) – the nutty flavours go beautifully with the sweet, earthy beetroot. (gluten free, vegan, nut free)

1 Begin by trimming the leaves from the beetroot, leaving about 2.5cm of stalk on each one. Place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and leave to simmer gently, partially covered, for 40 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2 Finely grate the zest of one of the lemons and squeeze the juice from both, passing it through a fine sieve to ensure no pith or pips remain. Add to a bowl with the dill, onion, sugar, olive oil, capers and 1 teaspoon of salt. Whisk all of the ingredients together until fully amalgamated.
3 Run the beetroots under a cold tap and gently slide off the skins (they should peel off easily). Trim the tops and bottoms from the beetroots and discard. Then, using a mandolin or a sharp knife, slice
the beetroot into very thin rounds.
4 Arrange the beetroot slices on a serving platter or individual plates and spoon over the dressing, letting it sink into every crevice of the beetroots. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at
least 2 hours before serving.

Asian-style tuna ceviche

 Ingredients

BUY INGREDIENTS AT

·       200 g tuna steak, sashimi quality, from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger

·       1 small bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked and finely sliced, stalks finely sliced

·       zest and juice of 2 limes

·       1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

·       1 teaspoon sesame oil

·       3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

·       2 tablespoons low-salt soy sauce

·       2 baby gem lettuces

·       1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, optional

Method

This is a lovely little dish that uses raw tuna and really fresh Asian-style flavours. It's really quick to pull together so is perfect as a starter, plus a little tuna goes a long way prepared like this so you'll save on your pennies too. Make sure you use the freshest tuna you can get your hands on – ask your fishmonger for sashimi- quality fish. 

Finely slice the tuna steak then finely chop and slice the other way until you have a good, evenly-chopped consistency. Scrape it into a bowl with half the coriander leaves and all the stalks. 

In a separate bowl, mix the lime zest and juice with the ginger, sesame oil, extra virgin olive oil and soy sauce to make a delicious dressing. Have a taste, and tweak with extra lime, oil or soy until you've got a good balance. Pour the dressing over your tuna and gently mix together – as soon as the acid from the limes hits the tuna it will begin to cook it so you only need to mix lightly. 

Click off the stronger outer leaves of your little gem lettuces – you want about 16 in total. Wash them and spin dry well, then line them up on a board. The leaves are going to act as a vessel to hold your ceviche. Divide the tuna ceviche between the lettuce leaves, sprinkle with a little fresh chilli, if using, the reserved coriander leaves, then serve straight away.

Nutritional Information Amount per serving:

WINTER GINGER, PEAR AND ALMOND CAKE

INGREDIENTS

• 200g butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 200g eggs (approx 4)
• 220g ground almonds
Caramelised ginger pears
• 550g caster sugar
• 300g ginger, grated
• 1 vanilla pod, split 
• 4 pears
• 20g butter

dessert recipes | serves 16

This flourless upside-down cake, with a base of ginger-poached pears, is spicy, sweet and satisfying. And because this uses ground almonds instead of flour, it’s suitable for gluten-intolerant friends and family members. 


Method

1. For the pears, put 400g of the sugar in a pan with the ginger, vanilla pod and 700ml water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for a few minutes for the flavours to develop. Using a spoon, carefully lower the pears into the hot liquid and simmer for 10 minutes, until tender. Remove the pears from the liquid and set aside to cool. 
2. Line the base of a 25cm springform cake tin with baking paper. Combine the remaining 150g sugar and 100ml water in a pan and place over a high heat, simmering until it turns a dark golden brown, about 15 minutes. Stir in the butter until you get a caramel, then pour it into the cake tin. Cut the cooled pears into slices and carefully arrange them in the warm caramel.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. For the cake, beat the butter and sugar with a whisk until smooth (an electric one will be best for this). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add the almonds and mix to combine. Pour the cake mixture over the pears and bake in the oven for 30–35 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin, then remove and carefully flip upside down to serve.

Home-cured beetroot gravadlax

With delicious herby horseradish

·       For the beetroot cure

·       2 large fresh beetroots, peeled and quartered

·       zest of 1 orange

·       zest of 2 lemons

·       2 juniper berries, bashed

·       6 tablespoons rock salt

·       2 tablespoons demerara sugar

·       50 ml gin

·       800 g side of salmon, fromsustainable sources, ask your fishmonger

·       For the herb cure

·       1 small bunch fresh dill, finely chopped

·       1 small bunch fresh tarragon, leaves picked and finely chopped

·       4 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish

·       50 ml gin

·       To serve

·       1 loaf brown bread

·       a few handfuls watercress, washed and spun dry

·       1 lemon, cut into wedges

Method

This recipe may sound like a lot of work, but curing your own salmon is much easier than you think. You do need to plan ahead, as the flavours need about two days to sink into the salmon properly, but it's worth the wait. You'll only spend about 20 minutes doing the actual curing, and you'll end up with a delicate pink gravadlax which tastes impressive. Although curing is easy, it is important to follow the measurements, so try to get a side of salmon as close as possible to the weight I've suggested here. 

For the first cure, blitz the beetroots, orange and lemon zest, and bashed juniper berries in a food processor until you get a fairly smooth paste. Transfer this to a bowl and stir in the rock salt and sugar. Pour in the gin and give it a good mix.

Lay the side of salmon skin-side down on a large baking tray and slowly pour over the beetroot cure. Use a spatula to spread it all over the salmon flesh. Once it is all well covered, wrap the salmon in a double layer of greaseproof paper then wrap it tightly with cling film and place it in the fridge for 24 hours.

The next day, take the salmon out of the fridge and carefully unwrap it so you can rinse off the cure. Either use 100ml of cold water or gin. Hold the salmon over a baking tray and pour a splash at a time over your salmon. Use a spoon to gently push the beetroot cure off the fish. By now it should have shared its wonderful flavours with the fish and turned it a really vibrant colour. Put the rinsed salmon to one side and run the tray under the tap.

For the second cure, mix together the chopped herbs, grated horseradish and gin. Put the salmon back into the clean tray, skin-side down, and pack the herby cure onto the salmon using your hands. Make sure you cover all the flesh – you don't want any air getting to it. Wrap it again with a double layer of greaseproof paper, then a tight layer of cling film. Pop the salmon back in the fridge for another 24 hours.

The next day your salmon will be perfectly cured and ready to eat. You don't need to rinse off that second cure – simply slice the salmon as finely as you can on an angle so you get gorgeous thin slices of gravadlax tinged with pink and topped with herbs. Pile these onto a plate and serve with a couple of slices of buttered brown bread, and some watercress and wedges of lemon.

Spiced orange cake with plum sauce and Christmas pudding ice cream

A wonderful dessert for Boxing day that's packed with festive flavours but a little lighter than most Christmas fare. Plus, the ice cream is a great way to use up any leftover Christmas pudding.

Equipment and preparation: you will need a 24cm/9½in loaf tin, an ice cream maker, food processor and a blender.

Ingredients

For the ice cream

• 375g/13oz milk
• 375g/13oz cream
• 150g/5½oz egg yolks
• 110g/4oz sugar
• 25g/1oz glycerine (optional)
• 500g/1lb 2oz crumbled Christmas pudding

For the cake

• 3 oranges
• 300g/10½oz ground almonds
• 300g/10½oz caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 7 free-range eggs

For the sauce

• 1.5kg/3lb 5oz plums, halved and stoned
• 150g/5½oz butter
• 100g/3½oz sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 lemon, juice only

Preparation method

1. For the ice cream, make a custard base. In a pan, bring the milk and cream up to the boil. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale. Pour the milk and cream over the yolk mixture and whisk together. Place back into a pan and cook over a low heat (to reach 82C/180F on a cooking thermometer) until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
2. Add the glycerine, if using, to help prevent ice crystals forming during freezing. Pour the hot custard over the crumbled Christmas pudding and stir to mix. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, churn according to manufacturer's instructions and freeze.
3. For the cake, put the unpeeled oranges in a pan with a lid. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 1½-2 hours, or until the skins are soft and the insides broken down.
4. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, cut each orange in half and remove the seeds. Chop everything finely — skins, pith, fruit — in the food processor.
5. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3 and grease and line a 24cm/9½in loaf tin or a 20cm/8in cake tin.
6. Weigh the orange pulp and keep 450g/1lb (discard the rest). Place back in food processor with all the dry ingredients and add the eggs one at a time until you have a smooth batter.
7. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour -1 hour 20 minutes, or until the sides start to come away from the tin. Check the cake after 40 minutes and cover with aluminium foil to stop the top burning.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. When the cake is cold, remove it from the tin.
9. For the sauce, add all the ingredients to a saucepan and place over a low heat until simmering. Continue to cook until the plums are very soft and almost a purée.
10. Remove the cinnamon stick. Blend the spiced plums in a blender until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl and set aside until needed. If you find the purée too thick, add a little water.
11. Serve the cake in slices with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of sauce.

Christmas carrots

A great way to brush up the humble carrot. Star anise adds a touch of Christmas spice to the sweet buttery glaze.

Ingredients

• 9 medium carrots, peeled, topped and tailed
• 250g/9oz butter
• 150g/5½oz sugar
• 3 tsp salt
• 4 star anise

Preparation method

1. Use a clean scourer to smooth the carrots and remove any peel marks (optional).
2. In a pan combine 400ml/14fl oz of water, the butter, sugar, salt and star anise. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and add the carrots. Cook until the carrots are tender (approximately 45 minutes) and the volume of liquid has reduced by half.
3. Serve the carrots as a side dish with the reduced cooking liquid poured over.

·