Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: Fresh cranberry sauce and cranberry sausage rolls
I always get very excited when I see fresh cranberries arrive in our local shops. Not only because it is a signal that Christmas is very close, but also because I adore cranberries. Christmas just is not Christmas without them.
Be it in fluffy orange and cranberry muffins, in cookies or a trifle or in gorgeous tangy cranberry sauce, the essential condiment for a traditional Christmas lunch. I always make my own cranberry sauce. I am not a fan of the shop-bought variety. I find that they are generally two sweet and lack the depth of flavour you get with homemade cranberry sauce. It is incredibly easy to make. Some recip0es you will see use a lot more sugar than mine, which I think is a mistake.
My recipe uses orange zest and juice, as well as some Cointreau, which adds some more sweetens. I also use some finely chopped fresh red chilli, just a little, about two teaspoons worth. It adds a little background heat that you will barely notice but which makes this sauce a bit special. We go through heaps of this every Christmas. Not just with lunch on the day itself, but for days afterwards with the leftovers. There is nothing better than a big fat toasted turkey and ham sandwich with melted cheddar cheese and lots of cranberry sauce. A little horseradish makes it even more sublime.
I love a traditional Christmas lunch, roast turkey, ham and all the trimmings. A table laden with food, with family and loved ones all around it. It is a very special meal. Once that is over though, our Christmas food becomes much less formal for a few days. I love having the fridge stocked with tasty food that everyone can just go help themselves to as they feel like it. Getting out for a run or a walk on the beach with the dogs, before settling back down in front of the fire with everyone else and a plate of food on my lap. Bliss.
That is the routine for two or three days after Christmas. The most cooking I will usually do is making up a batch of cranberry sausage rolls to use up leftover sausage meat. These are simple enough to make and taste great. You could also make a lovely vegetarian pastry using some brie cheese and cranberry sauce. Just cut the pastry into squares, tuck the squares into muffin or cupcake trays and fill each with some cubes of brie, topped off with cranberry sauce and maybe some chopped pecans or walnuts. Bake as per the recipe below for my sausage rolls. A gorgeous snack to use up some Christmas cheese that will take about thirty minutes to make.
- 300g fresh cranberries
- 1 small shallot
- 1 small red chilli
- 50g soft dark brown sugar
- 1 orange
- 2 tbsp Cointreau liqueur
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 knob butter
Finely chop the shallot, you want about two tablespoons for this recipe. Remove the seeds and stalks from the chilli and dice it very finely. Melt about 20g of butter in a medium sized saucepan, and when it starts to foam, add the shallot.
Cook until it is softened, about two to three minutes. Next add the chilli and cook for another minute or so.
Rinse the cranberries and add them, along with the zest and juice of the orange. Add the sugar and stir well, season with a little sea salt and a good grind of black pepper. Bring to a soft boil and add the Cointreau. Stir again and reduce to a simmer. Let it cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the fruit softens and begins to break up and the sauce begins to thicken. This should take about fifteen minutes.
Do not over cook it. I like my sauce to have some texture with the berries retaining some shape. Taste and add more seasoning if required.
- 300g sausage meat
- 30g breadcrumbs
- 1tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
- 1tsp fresh chopped thyme
- 2 spring onions
- Salt and black pepper
- Cranberry sauce
- 1 egg
- 1 sheet readymade puff pastry
Warm your oven to 200c for a fan oven or 200c for a conventional one. Finely slice the spring onions. Put them in a bowl along with the sausage meat, herbs, breadcrumbs, half a teaspoon of flaky sea salt and a good grind of black pepper. Combine it all well. I find it easiest to use my hands for this. Do not overwork it though, it is best to make sure the mixture stays as cool as possible so that you can shape it more easily.
Unroll the sheet of pastry and cut it in half, slicing longways down the middle. Divide the sausage mixture in two. Spread some cranberry sauce down the centre of one strip of pastry. I use about three to four tablespoons for this.
Shape half the sausage mixture into a strip the length of the pastry and place it on top of the cranberry sauce. Brush the nearest edge of the pastry with some beaten egg.
Now roll the pastry over to form a long roll tucking the cranberry and sausage in as you go. Brush the seam with a little more egg to seal.
Roll over so that the seam is underneath and cut into four individual sausage rolls. Repeat with the other half sheet of pastry and the rest of the sausage meat and you will have eight individual sausage rolls.
Place them on a non-stick baking tray, brush the tops with more of the beaten egg. Pick each roll three to four times along the top with a fork. Bake for 20-22 minutes until crisp and golden. Enjoy warm or cold.
