This is my new Christmas stuffing recipe, which I adapted from a recipe in GoodFood magazine. Mix sausage meat, herbs, breadcrumbs and chopped chestnuts, then form into patties. Wrap the patties in bacon and roast alongside your spuds. I like this method because the turkey/chicken does not take as long to cook, resulting in moister meat.
Ingredients
- 200g good-quality sausage meat
- 100g white breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp sage, finely chopped
- 1 tsp parsley, finely chopped
- ½ tsp rosemary, finely chopped
- 50g chestnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 apple
- salt & pepper
- 8 slices streaky bacon
- 8 sage leaves
Method
- In a mixing bowl, combine the sausagemeat, breadcrumbs, apple, herbs, chestnuts and egg.
- Remove the core and skin from the apple and grate into the mixing bowl.
- Season with black pepper and a little salt (remember that your sausagemeat will already be well seasoned). Mix well with your hands.
- Form into 8 patties and wrap each patty with a slice of streaky bacon, tucking a sage leaf under the bacon.
- Place on a baking sheet (or alongside your roast potatoes) and roast at 180°C for 45 minutes.
Serves 8.
I couldn’t have Christmas dinner without red cabbage. This one tastes just right with a little port and a hint of cinnamon. It also freezes very well, so you can make a large batch and portion into freezer bags. Just defrost and microwave on Christmas day for a tasty side dish.
This would also go well with some roast duck or a good steak, with maybe some pomme dauphinoise on the side.
Finely sliced 1 large red cabbage (about 1kg) and add to a large saucepan. Add 2 finely sliced red onions. Now add 150ml port, 150ml water, the juice and zest of 1 orange, 1 cinnamon stick and 2 star anise. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and leave on a gentle simmer for 1 hour.
Serves 8.
This makes a subtly spicy cranberry sauce, with a little added port for some festive cheer. I made a couple of batches of this last week which are sitting happily in the freezer, waiting for the big day. Vastly superior to the ready-made version.
Put 500g fresh cranberries in a small saucepan along with 100g golden caster sugar, 100ml water, 100ml port, zest of 1 orange, 2 cloves and 1 star anise. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently until the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened. Cool and serve.
Serves 6.
In a rare moment of kitchen experimentation, I came up with this Christmas version of an old family recipe, Poor Man’s Cake. It’s got lots of Christmassy flavours like orange zest and warm spice. If you’re not into Christmas cake or pudding, give this a try.
Ingredients
- 450g self-raising flour
- 225g caster sugar
- 225g butter
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 cardamom pods
- zest 1 small orange
- 125g sultanas
- 125g raisins
- 50g dried cranberries
- 3 tbsp brandy (or dark rum)
- 2 free-range eggs
- 240ml whole milk
- 3 tbsp demerera sugar
Method
- Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl along with the salt and ground spices. Rub butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Now add the caster sugar and orange zest.
- Slit open the cardamom pods and grind the black seeds using a mortar and pestle and add to the mixing bowl.
- Toss the dried fruit in a little flour (this stops the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the baking tin) and add to the mixing bowl.
- Beat the eggs into the milk and rum, then mix well with the dry ingredients.
- Pour (this is quite a wet batter) into a greased 8″ (20cm) square tin and sprinkle the top liberally with the demerera sugar. Bake at 160°C (140°C fan) for 2 hours.
- Leave to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes before removing. It’s best eaten on the day you bake it, but it will keep very well in an airtight box for 2-3 days. It also freezes quite well; just wrap in greaseproof paper and foil.
Makes 20-25 portions.
