Joulutorttu (Finnish Christmas jam tarts)
Joulutorttu are pastry windmill-shaped tarts with a prune jam filling. You can also freeze them for a later date if you like.
Makes 20
300g pitted prunes, soaked
4 tbsp sugar
500g block puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Put the prunes and sugar in a saucepan, then add just enough water to cover them. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the prunes have completely softened. Once most of the water has been absorbed, remove from the heat. Puree the jam for a smooth texture, ormash with a fork if you prefer it chunkier.
2 Divide the pastry into three portions. Roll the first out, fold into three (like folding a letter to fit in an envelope) and roll out again into a square around ½-1cm thick. If you roll ittoo thin the tortut will be difficult to handle between the board and the baking tray, so lean more towards thicker than thinner. Use flour sparingly to ensure the pastry dough does notstick to the board.
3 Cut the pastry into 8cm squares. Make diagonal cuts in each corner of every square about halfway to the centre, leaving the middle of the square uncut for the jam. Place 1tsp jam into the centre of each square.
4 To make a windmill shape, lift one corner ofa square and fold into the middle on top of the jam. Brush the top of the pastry corner with egg, then fold the next corner on top of the egg. Continue with the remaining corners. Press down firmly in the middle to ensure thecorners stick.
5 Place the pastries on a baking tray and brush all over with egg. Bake at 220C/425F/gas mark7 for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brownand slightly puffed.
6 Dust with icing sugar when cool, then eat.
Recipe adapted from Peggy Saas, cakecrumbsbeachsand.com
Baby carrots roasted with hazelnuts, thyme and white wine
The added benefit of this side dish is that cooking in a parcel is relatively mess-free, and reduces the amount of washing up required – invaluable when dealing with the carnage that ensues after preparing Christmas dinner.
Serves 4
70g hazelnuts
2 bunches baby carrots, trimmed
5 thyme sprigs
3 tbsp dry white wine
Juice of 1 blood orange (or a regular orange)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 knobs of butter
Salt and black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Put the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast for 10–12 minutes, until lightly golden. Gently break up the nuts using a mortar and pestle until roughly crushed.
2 Place a large piece of foil or baking paper ona baking tray and lay the carrots along the middle. Scatter with thyme (use whole sprigs and a few loose leaves) and season. Place another piece of foil or baking paper on top, then fold over the side closest to you a few times to seal; repeat with left and right sides. Turn the open side of the parcel towards you. Carefully pour in the wine, juice and oil, then add the butter. Fold this side over to seal the parcel, and place inthe oven.
3 Cook for about 20 minutes or until the parcel is puffed up and the carrots are tender, but still have a little bite to them. (To check this, remove the parcel from the oven and carefully insert a small sharp knife through the parcel into the carrots.) Transfer the carrots to a serving dish, then spoon the juices left in the parcel all over the top. Sprinkle the hazelnuts, then season with salt and pepper and serve.
What Katie Ate by Katie Quinn Davies (HarperCollins)
Salt-baked salmon
Make sure you use rock salt, or you will have trouble uncasing the fish after baking.
Serves 8
1.5kg rock salt
4 egg whites
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1.8kg salmon fillet, skin on
1 tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed
2 large handfuls dill leaves, chopped
Lemon wedges, to serve
1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Mix the rock salt, egg whites and lemon juice in alarge bowl. Spread one-third of the salt mixture on the base of a large roasting tin. Laythe salmon on top, then spread the peppercorns, dill and lemon zest on top. Cover with the remaining salt mix and cook inthe oven for about 45 minutes, or until thesalmon has cooked through.
2 Remove from the oven and crack the salt topping, pushing it off the fish to expose the flesh – some patches of flesh might be quite salty at the top. Tumble in a few lemon wedges and serve straight to the table with steamed greens andboiled baby potatoes.
Homecooked by Donal Skeehan (HarperCollins)
Chilli and garlic crab
This dish first featured on Dishoom's Diwali menu. It's great served with paratha, but also makes a fast and flavour-packed canape when piled into Bombay buns or mini brioche rolls.
Serves 4-6 as canapes/starters
60g butter
40ml vegetable oil
8-10 cloves garlic
A large knob of ginger, chopped
6-8 whole spring onions, roughly chopped
300g mixed crabmeat
Pinch chopped green chilli
Handful chopped dill leaves
Handful chopped coriander
20 black peppercorns
Lime, for squeezing
Salt, to taste
1 In a heavy-bottomed frying pan, gently heat the butter and oil. Add the chopped garlic and saute until golden brown.
2 Crush the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar, then add them to the pan along with the chopped ginger and spring onion bulbs, then frylightly for 30 seconds.
3 Add the crabmeat and fry for 2-3 minutes, adding a little water if the crab begins to stickto the pan.
4 Add all of the remaining ingredients, including the green stems of the spring onions and toss for a further 2 minutes. Finish with asqueeze of fresh lime and serve in soft pau(Bombay buns), mini brioche buns orwithparatha.
Recipe supplied by Naved Nasir, dishoom.com
Venison steaks with red cabbage and clove
There is plenty of acidity and sweetness all over this recipe, so balancing the flavours isvery important. Taste as you go along.
Serves 4
50g butter
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 venison T-bone steaks, about 250g each
½ lemon
150g creme fraiche, to serve
1 tsp crushed Szechuan peppercorns
Juice of 1 lime, to serve
Salt, to taste
For the red cabbage
½ red cabbage, shredded
150g demerara sugar
40g salt flakes
20 juniper berries, crushed
50g butter
For the clove sauce
200ml red wine
100ml red wine vinegar
100g redcurrant jelly
4 cloves
500ml beef stock
1 Half an hour before you plan on starting tocook the meat, mix the red cabbage, demerarasugar, salt flakes and juniper berriesin a non‑metallic bowl and leave thecabbage tosoften.
2 For the clove sauce, bring the wine, vinegar, jelly and cloves to the boil in a saucepan over a high heat, stirring to dissolve the jelly and then boiling until the liquid reduces to a glaze.Pour in the stock and bring it back theboil and let it reduce by half to make thesauce. Pour it out of the pan through a sieve (this gets rid of the cloves) then leave tooneside and keep warm.
3 Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat and add the cabbage to it to heat through, but not to overcook. We still want the cabbage tohave a crunch toit. Set this to one side andkeep hot.
4 Melt the remaining 50g butter with the oil ina large frying pan over a high heat till the butter starts to turn hazelnut brown. Season the steaks with a pinch of salt, put them to thepan and fry for 3–4 minutes each side until they are a lovely dark colour. Squeeze in the lemon juice and baste them with the pan juices. Do not overcook them, asvenison has a very low fat content, so the more well done it is, the drier it will be. Remove the steaks from the pan and leave to rest, covered with foil, for 10minutes.
5 Meanwhile, mix together the creme fraiche, peppercorns and lime juice. To serve, put some cabbage and a steak on each plate, thenpour the clove sauce on top. Serve withthe cremefraiche.
Recipe adapted from Proper Pub Food byTomKerridge (Absolute Press)
Chestnut hummus with rosemary caramel and pitta
You can serve this without the sherry caramel to make it even quicker, but it does add a lovely sweet touch.
Serves 6-8 as a snack
500g vacuum-packed whole chestnuts (savesomefor grating)
250ml water
25g butter
10g sugar
1 garlic clove
100ml olive oil
Lemon juice
1 tsp salt
Celery, finely chopped
Flatbread or pitta
For the caramel
250g sugar
100ml sherry vinegar
1 sprig rosemary
1 Put the chestnuts, water, butter, sugar and garlic in a pan then bring to a boil, and cook until the chestnuts are soft. Blend until smooth with the oil, and check for seasoning, possibly adding more water to make the right consistency, and lemon and salt to taste.
2 For the caramel, put the sugar and water in apan, then cook to a dark golden colour. Add the vinegar – but be careful, it will spit. Then add the rosemary. Allow to cool, then strain.
3 To serve, put the hummus on individual plates or in a bowl, scatter with the celery, drizzle with the sherry caramel then grate over the remaining chestnuts to finish. Servewith warm flatbreads or pitta.
Recipe supplied by Jesse Dunford Wood, parlourkensal.com
Blonde mince pies
You can make the mincemeat in advance, thenstore in the fridge in a sterilised jar forupto two weeks.
Serves 10
40g soft dark brown sugar
30ml white port
½ vanilla pod, split and scraped
250g golden raisins
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 clementine, juiced and zest finely grated
1 tbsp brandy
1 tbsp honey
375g sweet shortcrust pastry
Caster sugar, to serve
1 Make the mincemeat in advance. In a large pan, dissolve the sugar in the port over a gentle heat, with the vanilla seeds. Add the raisins and stir. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves, along with the clementine zest and juice.Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20minutes, or until the fruit has broken down and absorbed most of the liquid. Remove from the heat to cool a little. Add the brandy and honey and stir well with a wooden spoon.
2 Using a biscuit cutter, cut circles to fit a 12‑hole muffin tin, then 12 circles slightly smaller, for the lids. Line the holes with the larger discs, then drop a generous teaspoon of the mixture into each. Brush a little water on the edges, then seal with the smaller discs.
3 Put in the oven and bake for 10–15 minutes at 170C/340F/gas mark 3½ until golden brown.
4 Remove from the oven, prising out the pies straight away, then sprinkle with caster sugar. When cool, store in an airtight container; they will last easily for 4-5 days. Serve warm with brandy butter, brandy creme anglaise, or both!
Recipe supplied by Andrew Turner, hotelcaferoyal.com
Caramelised shallot and sage pesto tart
A twist on sage and onion flavours, this tart combines traditional and familiar ingredients and the baking method gives a crispybase.
Serves 4
30g unsalted butter
Sugar, to taste
Salt and black pepper
600g shallots (peeled and sliced in half)
1 bunch sage
50g pine nuts
10g sugar
100ml olive oil
350g puff pastry
1 In a frying pan, melt the butter with a little salt, sugar and pepper. Add the shallots and allow to cook and caramelise for 10 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, add the sage leaves, pine nuts, sugar and olive oil to a blender and pulse until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
3 Add the shallots, cut side down, to a baking tray that fits the shallots in one snug layer. Cut the pastry so it is slightly larger than the tray. Spread the pesto over the pastry and place over the shallots, tucking in at the sides.
4 Bake at 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for 25minutes. Place a larger tray over the tin, very carefully invert and serve.
Recipe supplied by Andrew Dargue, orchard-kitchen
Chorizo and apple sausage rolls
These are delightful, sunny version of the ubiquitous Christmas buffet sausage roll. Buya quality chorizo that is semi-cooked and ensure you buy all-butter puff pastry. The marjoram adds delicious fragrant notes.
Makes 6
1 small braeburn apple, peeled and finely diced
1 small knob butter
6 soft cooking chorizo
375g all-butter puff pastry
3 tbsp apple sauce
Small handful marjoram, chopped
1 egg, beaten
Salt and black pepper
A pinch smoked paprika
1 Place the diced apple in a pan with the butter and apple sauce. Cook slowly until the apple has softened and the sauce slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and cool.
2 Cut the pastry in half and roll out each piece into a rectangle about 20x30cm in size and about 5mm thick.
3 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.Peel the chorizo and lay three in a row on each pastry rectangle. Spoon on the apple and sprinkle over the marjoram. Roll up the pastry and seal with a brush of egg. Cut each roll into thirds, then brush to glaze with the egg and lightly score along the top. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika, place on a tray and bake for 15-18 minutes until the pastry is cooked, browned and crisp, by which time the chorizo will also have cooked through. Rest for 5minutes before serving.
Recipe supplied by Ben Tish, saltyard.co.uk
Prune, sour cherry and sourdough stuffing
A deeply satisfying stuffing with richness from the prunes and little pops of sharp sweetness from the sour cherries. Perfect forstuffing into a sandwich, with or withoutleftover turkey.
Serves 4-6
2 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
2 onions, finely chopped
1 bunch sage, finely chopped
1 sprig rosemary, leaves only, chopped
10 ready-to-eat dried prunes, roughly chopped
120g sour cherries, roughly chopped
200g vacuum-packed chestnuts, roughly chopped
6 good quality pork sausages
3 thick slices sourdough bread, torn to small pieces
100ml cold stock
1 Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Heat the oil and half the butter in a large frying pan, cook the onion for 5 minutes, until softened.
2 Add the sage, rosemary, prunes, cherries and chestnuts and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
3 Squeeze the sausage meat out of the casing into the onion mix, add the torn bread, stock and plenty of seasoning. Mix until everything is well combined. Loosely pack in to an ovenproof dish (about 20x25cm). Dot the remaining butter over the top and cook for 30‑35 minutes, or until piping hot and golden.
Recipe supplied by Rosie Reynolds
