A tasty twist
Neither do you have to serve turkey or goose just because it’s Christmas and you certainly shouldn’t bother unless you can get a really well-reared bird. Taste must take precedence over tradition.
Christmas food should be a little luxurious, festive and, of course, suitably seasonal.
For those wanting something non-traditional, I have cooked up a Christmas menu with a little twist. Those who are wedded to familiar flavours needn’t fret — we’ve still got the turkey and sprouts but not in the predictable way.
I’ve chosen some gorgeous Dublin Bay prawns as a starter.
They can be cooked ahead and served in a myriad of ways but as ever I believe less is more. I cook them in the shells and serve them with a big bowl of homemade mayonnaise and crusty brown soda bread.
I am also including a parsley and chilli oil dressing as an alternative for those who want a lighter sauce with the prawns.
This can be made ahead and is also delicious on pasta, pan-grilled chicken breast or squid.
The recipe for the brussel sprout salad is from Skye Gyngell of Petersham Nurseries Café, near Richmond in London, one of my all-time favourite lunchtime restaurants.
For the main course, I’ve chosen a Chinese cooking method to poach the crown of turkey. Make sure your saucepan has a tight-fitting lid. This gentle cooking method produces a tender, succulent texture and the dish can be served warm or at room temperature.
The salad of crunchy leaves, cucumber ribbons and fresh herbs tastes deliciously fresh.
Kale is in season now and is the most nutritious of all brassicas, as well as having cholesterol-reducing qualities.
For pudding, the boozy plum pudding is a hedonistic choice.
A less calorific and equally delicious option would be a ruby grapefruit and mint granita sprinkled with cholesterol-busting pomegranate seeds.
You may not have room for cheese at this meal, but make sure you’ve got some handmade dark chocolate from an Irish artisan chocolatier to nibble with a cup of coffee before you settle down to open presents.
Meanwhile, spare a thought for the less fortunate and reflect on how you can enhance their festive season.
Skye Gyngell told us that this is one of her favourite winter starters — it gives a whole new dimension to the much abused sprout.
Serves 8
12 large brussel sprouts — trimmed of outer leaves, washed and patted dry
240g (8½oz) parmesan cheese
6 stalks of celery (sweet white hearts)
24 slices of speck or parma ham
The zest of 2 lemons
The juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp of very finely chopped parsley
6 tbsp of good quality new season extra virgin olive oil
Slice the brussel sprouts as finely as you can — they should fall apart so that they are like finely sliced ribbon.
Wash and dry the celery and slice it into long shards (you can achieve this by cutting it on the bias).
Slice the parmesan using a sharp knife — odd slices are nicest — some very, very fine — some slightly thicker (in terms of taste and texture this is far more interesting).
Place the sprouts, celery and parmesan in a bowl, season with a little salt & pepper — add the lemon zest, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil — toss well to combine! Divide among 8 plates and lay the speck over the top. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and serve!
Serves 8
1 x crown of organic turkey, 2½kg/ 5lb10oz approximately (save the legs for another dish)
4 large spring onions
1 head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
250ml (9fl oz) soy sauce
250ml (9fl oz) Chinese rice wine
1 head garlic
2 x 8cm (2½oz / 7g) pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped thinly peeled
Rind of 1 orange
2 sticks cinnamon
4 star anise
Homemade chicken stock to cover
4 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
4 little gem lettuce, leaves washed and separated
4 spring onions, sliced diagonally
2–3 mild red chillies, thinly sliced at an angle
Leaves from a large bunch of coriander
2-3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Put the coarsely chopped spring onion, soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, sliced ginger, orange rind, cinnamon, star anise into a deep saucepan. Add the turkey crown and enough chicken stock to cover.
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer over a gentle heat for 15 minutes, remove from the heat and allow it to stand tightly covered for 20 minutes.
Take 10fl oz of the cooking liquid, skim the fat from the surface; add rice vinegar and sesame oil.
Just before serving, combine the little gem leaves, with the spring onions cucumber ribbons and sliced red chillies. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
Remove the turkey from the poaching liquid.
Slice the turkey into chunky slices, arrange overlapping slices on a large platter and pile the salad alongside. Spoon some of the dressing over the turkey and the salad. Scatter with toasted sesame seeds.
Serves 8
900g (2lb) curly kale or cavalo nero
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
250g (9oz) streaky bacon
200g (7oz) peeled chestnuts
Bring 6 litres (10 pints) of water to the boil in a large saucepan, add 2 tbsp salt.
Destalk the kale; wash quickly in lots of cold water. Drain. Cook the kale at a fast rolling boil until tender for 8–10 minutes, depending on how tough it is.
Meanwhile, cut the bacon into 5mm (¼in) lardons. Heat a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan, add the bacon and cook until crisp and golden. Add roughly chopped chestnuts and cook for a minute or two.
Drain the kale well and add to the bacon and chestnuts, toss and drizzle generously with olive oil. Add a knob of butter, taste and season with lots of freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.
Note: The bacon can be omitted for a vegetarian version.
We get the most wonderful juicy prawns from Ballycotton Seafood — they are known as Dublin Bay prawns but the species is Nephrops norvegicus.
We eat them in several ways but they are best freshly cooked and served with homemade mayonnaise and some crusty bread. If you don’t fancy or can’t get fresh dill, fennel would also be good, or leave it out.
Serves 4
24 large fresh prawns
2.3 litres (4 pints) water
2 tbsp salt
4-8 tbsp home-made mayonnaise (recipe below)
1 tbsp freshly chopped dill
Chilli and flat parsley relish (recipe below)
Wild watercress leaves
4 segments lemon
First, cook the prawns. Bring the water to the boil and add the salt. Put the prawns into the boiling salted water and as soon as the water returns to the boil, test a prawn to see if it is cooked. It should be firm and white, not opaque or mushy. If cooked, remove prawns immediately. Very large ones may take ½ to 1 minute more. Allow to cool in a single layer.
Note: Do not cook too many prawns together, otherwise they may overcook before the water even comes back to the boil.
Put 5 or 6 cooked whole prawns on each plate. Add the dill to the mayonnaise. Spoon a tablespoon or two of homemade mayonnaise into a little bowl or oyster shell on the side of the plate. Pop a segment of lemon on the plate. Garnish with some fresh wild watercress. Serve with fresh crusty brown soda bread and Irish butter.
I know it is very tempting to reach for the jar of ‘well-known brand’ but most people don’t seem to be aware that mayonnaise can be made in under five minutes, even with a hand whisk. If you use a food processor the technique is still the same, but it is made in just a couple of minutes. The great secret is to have all your ingredients at room temperature and to drip the oil very slowly into the egg yolks at the beginning. The quality of your mayonnaise will depend totally on the quality of your egg yolks, oil and vinegar and it’s perfectly possible to make a bland mayonnaise if you use poor-quality ingredients.
2 egg yolks, preferably free range
¼ tsp salt
Pinch of English mustard or ¼ teaspoon French mustard
1 dstp white wine vinegar
8 fl ozs (250ml) oil (sunflower, arachide or olive oil or a mixture). We use 6 fl ozs (175ml) arachide oil and 2 fl ozs (50ml) olive oil, alternatively use 7/1
Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the mustard, salt and the white wine vinegar (keep the whites to make meringues). Put the oil into a measure. Take a whisk in one hand and the oil in the other and drip the oil onto the egg yolks, drop by drop whisking at the same time. Within a minute you will notice that the mixture is beginning to thicken. When this happens you can add the oil a little faster, but don’t get too cheeky or it will suddenly curdle because the egg yolks can only absorb the oil at a certain pace. Taste and add a little more seasoning and vinegar if necessary.
If the mayonnaise curdles it will suddenly become quite thin, and if left sitting, the oil will start to float to the top of the sauce. If this happens you can quite easily rectify the situation by putting another egg yolk or 1-2 tablespoons of boiling water into a clean bowl, then whisk in the curdled mayonnaise, a half teaspoon at a time until it emulsifies again.
Serve with cold cooked meats, fowl, fish, eggs and vegetables.
Serves 8
3 cloves garlic
8 tbsp flat leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 large red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
4 fl ozs (120 ml) extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To make the sauce, chop the garlic. Add the seeded and chopped chilli, and the flat parsley. Continue to chop until fine. Put into a bowl with the olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Note: This sauce will keep a week in the fridge and is also good served with pasta or steak.
Ruby grapefruit sorbet is terrifically versatile; it can be served at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a meal.
Serves 6-8
1 litre (1¾ pint) ruby grapefruit juice (10 grapefruit approx)
225g (8oz) caster sugar approx
1 egg white (optional)
4 tbsp freshly chopped spearmint
1 pomegranate
Fresh spearmint leaves
8 chilled white side plates
Put the freshly squeezed grapefruit into a bowl, add the sugar and the chopped mint and dissolve by stirring it into the juice. Taste.
The juice should taste rather too sweet to drink, it will lose some of its sweetness in the freezing.
Make the sorbet in one of the following ways.
Method 1: Pour into the drum of an ice-cream maker or sorbetiere and freeze for 20-25 minutes. Scoop out and serve immediately or store in a covered bowl in the freezer until needed.
Method 2: Pour the juice into a stainless steel or plastic container and put into the freezer. After about 4-5 hours when the sorbet is semi-frozen, remove and whisk until granular. Return to freezer. Repeat several times. Keep covered in the freezer until needed.
Method 3: If you have a food processor, simply freeze the sorbet completely in a covered stainless steel or plastic bowl, then break into large pieces and whizz up in the food processor for a few seconds. Add one slightly beaten egg white, whizz again for another few seconds, then return to the bowl. Freeze again until needed.
Meanwhile, remove the seeds from the pomegranate and keep chilled in the fridge.
To Serve: Chill the plates in a refrigerator or freezer. Put 1 or 2 scoops of sorbet on each chilled plate; sprinkle with a few pomegranate seeds.
Decorate with fresh mint leaves and serve immediately.
New Addition to Cork Culinary Scene: McCarthy’s Village Food Fare, Eden Hall, Model Farm Road, Cork. They stock locally-sourced products, deluxe Christmas Hampers; they will offer outside catering and cooking classes in the New Year.
Ightermurragh Garden Allotments, Ladysbridge, Co Cork: Give a present of an allotment to someone who would love to grow their own vegetables, fruit and flowers — various sizes available, ready for planting, water on site, private parking — great family Christmas present, or maybe for somebody about to retire, tel Liam at 021-4667330 or 086-3003810; Gift vouchers available.
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