Starter: champagne and canapés
I haven’t definitively decided on the canapé selection for our Christmas lunch but I have a few ideas! I will provide the recipes on the day. We will not be making anything too complicated; tasty bites that will not require much if any cooking but will focus on a balance and combination of flavours. And of course will look pretty on our jolly Christmas table!
Main: Ottolenghi’s Holiday Vegetable Pie
The main course recipes are taken from Yottam Ottolenghi’s Substack post entitled ‘My Big Vegetarian Holiday Feast’. The pie quietly steals the show on the festive table. It’s got all the good things - flaky pastry, layers of potato, baharat onions, cooked down greens, and just enough melted cheese to hold it all together. It’s rich and comforting without being heavy, and most of it can be made ahead, which is exactly what you want during the holidays. Come Christmas Day, you just bake it until golden and puffed and serve it alongside something bright and/or a big jug of mushroom gravy.
method:
- Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with lightly salted water. Place on high heat and once bubbling reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, until tender. Drain and allow to air-dry and cool completely while you get on with the rest.
- For the onions, place the oil, onions, baharat and ½ teaspoon of salt in a large saute pan on medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, for 25-30 minutes, until deeply caramelised, adding the currants in the last 5 minutes, then transfer to a bowl.
- Next, cook the chard. Increase the heat to medium high, pour the oil into the pan and once hot, add in the chard, pine nuts, and lemon zest, and juice and ½ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, then increase the heat to high. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes until all of the moisture has gone from the pan. Take off the heat, stir in the dill and set aside to cool completely.
- Whisk the creme fraiche and eggs in a large bowl with ½ teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of black pepper until smooth then add in the gruyere and potatoes. Mix well and set aside until needed.
- Line the base of a 23cm, 7cm deep springform cake tin with parchment paper and lightly oil the sides. Lift and place one of the puff pastry sheets into the tin, pushing and manipulating the pastry gently to fit the base. Trim any excess and patch as needed to fully line the tin.
- Scatter the onion mixture to evenly cover the base of the pastry, followed by the feta. Arrange the potato slices on top and pour over all the cream, then spoon over the chard mixture.
- Unroll the second sheet of puff pastry and place on top of the filling to cover completely. Trim away any excess and use your fingers to pinch and seal the edges. Brush over the egg yolk and, using a sharp knife, score the top of the pastry into 8 wedges. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes until the pastry is cold and preheat the oven to 190C.
- Place the tin on a tray and bake for about 1 hour until deeply golden. Remove from the oven, set aside for 5 minutes and carefully release the pie from the tin (you may want to use the pointy end of a knife to do so) leaving it on the base and parchment. Return to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes to ensure the pastry base and sides crisp up. Set aside to rest on a rack for 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Place the pie on a plate and arrange the remaining 15 grams of dill around the pie so it resembles a crown, then serve.
Bourbon glazed carrots
These carrots bring a touch of sweet, boozy magic to the holiday table. The ginger in the glaze adds warmth and the citrus keeps them bright and fresh. You can roast the carrots and make the glaze ahead, then toss in the glaze at the last minute.
method:
- Preheat the oven to 220C.
- Place the carrots on a large parchment lined tray, along with the garlic, rosemary, pepper, olive oil and 1¾ teaspoon of salt. Mix well and roast for 25-30 minutes, until tender and slightly charred in places, stirring halfway through. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- To make the glaze, put the ginger, sugar, bourbon, butter, ¼ tsp of salt and lemon and orange zest in a large sauté pan, placed on medium high heat. Cook for 5 minutes, until the butter has melted and the glaze thickened. Stir in the lemon juice, add in the carrots and mix to coat. Sprinkle urfa chili flakes, if using.
ingredients:
- Place the onions in the large bowl of a food processor and pulse 3-4 times until roughly chopped and put in a bowl. Pulse the chestnut mushrooms 2-3 times until very roughly chopped and add to the bowl. Roughly crumble in the chestnuts and add in the garlic. Drain the porcini through a fine sieve, reserving the liquid for later, and add them to the bowl.
- Put a large sautpé pan on medium high heat with the oil and thyme. Once the thyme starts to sizzle, tip in the contents of the bowl, stir and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until nicely browned.
- Take the pan off the heat, carefully pick out and discard the thyme stems, then return the pan to the heat, adding in the flour. Stir and cook for 2 minutes, then add in the stock, sieved mushroom stock, soy sauce and molasses.
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Reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 7- 9 minutes, until thickened to your liking. Serve hot.
Dessert: Coffee caramel and rum choux tower Christmas showstopper
Christmas is the perfect time for something a bit more extravagant and theatrical. And a very good way to achieve this is to bring a tower of puffy choux buns to the table and pour over a jugful of boozy chocolate sauce and coffee caramel while everyone looks on in awe. To help avoid any stress on the day, most of the elements can be made ahead: the chocolate sauce and caramel can be gently reheated before pouring, while the choux shells can be baked the day before and crisped up in the oven for 10 minutes before filling. And to completely avoid the stress at cook and eat and also to save time, I will provide the choux buns already baked by my lovely friend Valérie. So we will be just filling the buns, making the sauce and enjoying! I will provide the full recipe in case you want to try at home.
We will have Christmas pudding ice cream to accompagny dessert. I will also make this the day before.
ingredients:
method:
- Heat the oven to 210C (190C fan)/410F/gas 6½ and line two large baking trays with baking paper. To make the choux, put the milk, 120ml water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Tip in the flour and stir quickly until you have a thick dough. Cook for a minute, then transfer to a clean bowl and leave to cool for five minutes.
- Add some beaten egg a little at a time, beating well after each addition until the mix takes on a slightly thick, smooth dropping consistency (you may not need all the egg). Spoon the dough into a piping bag and snip off the end (or fit with a round nozzle).
- Pipe roughly 4cm-wide rounds of dough on to the lined trays, leaving just under 2½cm of space between them. Sprinkle generously with demerara sugar and bake for 25-28 minutes, until deeply browned and puffy. Set aside to cool completely.
- For the coffee caramel, heat the cream and coffee in a small saucepan until warmed through and the coffee has dissolved.
- Put the sugar in a large saucepan and heat gently until it completely dissolves and turns a deep amber colour. Add the butter, whisking well to combine, then slowly pour in the coffee cream – be careful, because it will bubble and spit. Simmer for 30 seconds, take off the heat and stir in the salt. Leave to cool and thicken.
- For the chocolate sauce, put the chocolate, 120ml water and sugar in a saucepan and simmer until melted. Once smooth and glossy, stir in the rum and salt, and take off the heat.
- To assemble, whip the cream, vanilla and sugar to soft peaks. Fill a piping bag with the whipped cream, and fill a second one with three-quarters of the cooled caramel. Use a knife to make an opening in the base of each choux bun and fill three-quarters full with cream. Top up with caramel. (Alternatively, cut each bun in half and spoon in the cream and caramel.)
Pile the filled buns on a large plate or platter, using a little caramel as glue to help. To serve, gently reheat the chocolate sauce, if it has cooled and thickened, then pour all over the buns. If the leftover caramel has also thickened, reheat in a pan until runny and pour over the top, too. Serve immediately.
Christmas Pudding Ice Cream
- Tip the cream, condensed milk and rum into a large bowl, and use electric beaters to whisk until it holds peaks. Add the Christmas pud and use a large spoon to fold it in until evenly distributed. Tip into a 900g loaf tin or container and freeze for at least 5 hours, overnight or until frozen solid.
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Remove from the freezer for 5 minutes before serving, then scoop and serve with the choux buns.
