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I LOVE CHRISTMAS — the buzz, the lights, the decorations. And, of course, the food.
It’s a wonderful time of the year when family and friends are together. But that joy can sometimes be overshadowed by the worry of cooking the Christmas dinner. As Group Executive Chef at Trigon Hotels, I know only too well about the pressures of preparing a meal.
I use a few simple tips for cooking at home for a crowd, especially on a big day like Christmas Day. Write out lists of what you will be serving and what you need for each course; get a good meat thermometer; prepare what you can the night before and remember presentation isn’t everything – it doesn’t have to be Instagram perfect!
For those of you who want to entertain at home, here are four recipes that will impress your guests, including my own Christmas Pudding recipe.
Start your Christmas dinner this year with a showstopper starter recipe. This delicious recipe is easier than it looks and can be done for the most part one day ahead, leaving just the prawns to cook on the day. If you aren’t a fan of the local prawns, you could always replace those with some marinated chicken.
Ingredients for four people:
50 g red quinoa
50 g black quinoa
100 g white quinoa
50 ml white wine
0.5 ltr vegetable bouillon
5 g natural yeast
3 shallots, peeled and diced.
1 bay leaves
20 Prawns
2 tbsp Cajun spice mix
20 ml olive oil
1 head fennel, shaved finely
1 lemon, zest and juice
8 radishes, shaved finely
25 ml orange juice
25 ml white wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
75 ml olive oil
1 bunch dill
Method
In a large mixing bowl, mix the prawns with the Cajun spice and a little olive oil.
In a large saucepan, sweat off the shallots in little olive oil, add the quinoa and fold into the oil.
Add the white wine and cook for 5 minutes, add the stock, bay leaves and cook slowly until the liquid has evaporated.
Check for tenderness, if needed add more stock and cook a bit more.
Remove from the heat and add the nutritional yeast, lemon zest, check for seasoning.
In a hot frying pan, cook off the prawns marinated in the Cajun spice and olive oil.
Cook fully and add a little lemon juice at the end.
Shave the fennel finely and add the rest of the lemon juice to avoid getting brown.
Shave the radishes and place them into iced water to keep them crispy.
To make the lemon dressing, mix the lemon juice, vinegar, honey and olive oil together, check for seasoning.
Add some freshly chopped dill to the dressing.
Using a pastry ring cutter, place some quinoa in a ring shape.
Place 5 prawns per person on the quinoa and garnish with the shaved vegetables.
Finish the dish with the lemon dressing and some fresh dill sprigs.
Ingredients for brine
750 ml apple juice
2 gallons cold water
5 springs fresh rosemary, chopped roughly
5 cloves garlic, cut in slices
270 g fine slat
550 g brown sugar
3 tbsp. peppercorns
5 whole bay leaves
3 oranges, peels and pulp
Method
Boil 2 ltr water with the salt and brown sugar until dissolved.
In a large clean bucket, big enough to hold the turkey, pour in the rest of the water.
Add the warm water mix and the rest of the ingredients.
Give it a stir and let it cool down.
Place the turkey gently in the cold brine and leave it for 12 hours.
You can do that just before going to bed so that the following morning, the turkey is ready to go first thing.
The following morning, take out the turkey from the brine and discard the liquid.
Pour some fresh cool water into the bucket and submerge the turkey in it for 15 minutes to rinse it out and reduce the saltiness.
Preheat your oven to 165 degree celsius.
To get your turkey oven ready, start by lifting the skin carefully from both the back and the front of the bird. You will do that by gently lifting the skin from the breasts with your finger.
When this is done, wash your hands carefully, then apply a generous amount of soft butter in between the breast and the skin by spreading it evenly.
Place your turkey in the oven and calculate 20 minutes per pounds of weight plus an extra 20 minutes. As an example, a 10 pound turkey will take 220 minutes to cook or 3 hours and 40 minutes.
When the time is up, take the turkey out of the oven, cover it with a clean cloth and let the turkey rest for 20 minutes before serving.
Ingredients
75 g butter
1 onion, diced
2 tsp chopped fresh mixed herbs (rosemary, sage and thyme)
50 g fresh cranberries
50 g dried cranberries
175 g fresh white breadcrumbs
225 g Rosscarbery free range pork sausage meat
Salt and pepper
Method
In a medium size pan, melt the butter and add the finely diced onions.
Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent and add the dried and fresh
cranberries.
Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
In a separate bowl, mix the sausage meat, breadcrumbs and fresh herbs.
Mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.
Add the cooled butter mix and mix until fully combined.
You can either stuff the turkey with this stuffing or else bake it separately in a preheated
oven at 170 degree celsius for 25 minutes.
Ingredients:
187 g unsalted butter
210 g fresh breadcrumbs
120 g self raising flour
335 g sultanas
185 g currants
185 g soft brown sugar
100 g mixed peel
100 g ground almonds
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 grated carrot
4 eggs
250 ml Murphy’s stout
2 oranges, juice and zest
25 ml brandy
Method
On day 1, soak all the dried fruits with the brandy and stout in a large bowl, cover and leave to soak overnight.
The following day, start by mixing all the dried ingredients together including the spices.
In a separate bowl, mix the melted butter, grated carrot, eggs, juice and zest of the oranges.
Incorporate both and mix by hand until fully combined without overworking it.
Generously butter a 2 lbs pudding bowl.
Cut a small disc of baking parchment and press into the base of the basin.
Spoon into the prepared pudding basin and press the mixture down
Cover the pudding with a layer of baking parchment paper and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion.
Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil with scissors.
Put the pudding in the top of a steamer filled with simmering water, cover with a lid and
steam for four hours, topping up the water as necessary.
When cooked through, remove the pudding from the pan and cool completely.
To serve, on Christmas Day, steam or boil the pudding for about two hours to reheat. Turn the pudding onto a serving plate.
Alex Petit is Group Executive Chef at Trigon Hotels, which includes The Metropole Hotel in Cork City and the Cork International Hotel.
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