THE CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES ONE

ALL MY FAVOURITE FESTIVE FOOD FOR FRIENDS

Menu to serve 6 people

Leek and Gruyère Croquettes

Wheaten Bread Spread

Big Ragu with Paccheri and Gremolata 

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Ostensibly, this is a Christmas episode but it’s not going to have any Christmas food in it. Perhaps it’s the fact that, as a food stylist, most years Christmas starts in June and sometimes before, so by the time December rolls around you’ve already cooked that meal 6 times. Or perhaps it’s that, as a meal, it’s just not my favourite. I think it’s too many things that are impossible to do well all at the same time so you always end up disappointed in something. And ultimately, if I am going to stuff my face on a fabulous dinner then I really, really want it to be as excellent as possible. 

So instead of a Christmas dinner I’ve written a menu of dishes I always cook around Christmas for the people I love the most. 

Canapés at Christmas are so important, not just on the big day but also for all those parties, drinks, drop-ins that happen over the season. Cheesy Leek and Gruyère croquettes are impressive, exceptionally delicious, easy to make and a bloody fabulous celebratory bite. Ever made a bechamel before? Good, that’s all you need to know for these. These would be a killer NYE party snack - they are little creamy disco balls. 

In my house on the big day, we don’t eat “the Dinner” until 4 or 5 pm, so over the years I have taken to baking a Wheaten Bread the morning of, to serve with smoked fish or ham. My dad grew up in Northern Ireland and Wheaten Bread is the Ulster version of Irish soda bread. Made with wholemeal flour, buttermilk and other good things it is a super simple, no-knead no-proof recipe and the finished product toasts up a dream, soaking in butter exceptionally (perfect on a Boxing Day hangover). You can either serve it canape style, already sliced and topped, or you can do a Wheaten Bread Spread of all the divine bits for people to pick at, which works so well as a sharing starter too.

A Big Ragu is a bloody great way to feed a crowd, I’ve always said it. You can make it way ahead and freeze if you wish, and it is a really easy pasta dish to finish so it’s great when there are many plates to fill. I always have one done for Christmas, usually a double batch that can do a big meal before and a big meal after, when you’re sick of cooking but might still have people showing up who you want to impress.

Finally, another tradition in my family is that we skip Christmas Pudding and have Sticky Toffee Pudding instead. My approach is a classic triple-the-sauce situation which involves freezing a layer of it on the bottom of my dish then baking the sponge on top of it, covering with a second layer and serving with more still. IT’S VERY SAUCY OK AND VERY, VERY GOOD. 

Ok loves, Happy Christmas and Happy Cooking - thanks for sticking with me in 2022, I can’t wait to see what 2023 brings! 

LEEK AND GRUYÈRE CROQUETTES

I don’t know who invented the croquette, but I do think they should be widely congratulated. I can’t imagine a situation where someone who had made a thick bechamel thought “Hey! We should deep fry this!” but I am so glad they did. Croquettes involve a couple of processes but ultimately are as easy as arancini or beignets and even cheesier, I do recommend getting ahead though. I love the leeks with gruyère here but if you have other strong, nutty cheese that needs using up then whack that in too. 

Makes 32 croquettes 

For the mix

• 800ml whole milk

• 110g plain flour

• 60g butter

• 2 leeks, finely sliced

• 80g gruyère cheese plus extra for garnish

• Plenty of salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg 

To Crumb

• 150g plain flour

• 3 eggs, beaten

• 170g panko breadcrumbs

• 1l vegetable oil, to fry

• A small handful of chives, finely chopped

Makes 32

In a heavy based saucepan melt the butter and then add the leeks. Cook on a medium heat for 8 - 10 minutes until the leeks have softened but haven’t taken on any colour, you don’t want them or the butter to brown. Meanwhile, gently heat the milk in another saucepan. When the leeks are cooked add the flour and mix it in well - the mix will look horrible at this point but don’t fret. Cook the flour out for a minute or so, stirring all the while, before adding your first ladle of milk. Croquette mix is an extra thick bechamel so follow the normal method of adding milk bit by bit, beating really well to mix each and allowing it to come to almost boiling before adding more. A whisk here is a hindrance, so use a wooden spoon or spatula instead. When all the milk is incorporated you should have a thick, glossy sauce. Cook for a further 5 minutes or so on a low heat to thicken. Take the pan off the heat, add in the cheese and season really well with plenty of salt, pepper and lots of nutmeg. Line a roasting tin (I used one that was 30cm/20cm/4cm) with cling film. Pour in the mix, level it out and then cover the surface with another piece of cling film to prevent it from getting a skin. Leave to cool completely before popping in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight. 

When the mix is completely cold and solid, prepare your breadcrumb with the flour, eggs and panko each in their own little tray. Remove the top layer of clingfilm from the mix and invert onto a larger tray or board. Using a large knife cut the mix into 32 rough squares; they don’t have to be perfect. Roll the squares into balls, the mix might feel soft but don’t worry it will work, wet your hands with water to help the rolling process. Roll 10 balls at a time then pop on another lined tray and into the fridge to re-firm up while you do the rest. When you have rolled all the croquettes, dip them into the flour, then egg and breadcrumbs coating really well, put them back onto a tray and then into the freezer for 30 minutes if you’re in a rush or fridge for 2 hours. 

When you’re ready to fry, heat the oil in a large deep saucepan or fryer to 170. Carefully drop the croquettes in the hot oil in batches and fry for 5 minutes or so, until deep golden and sizzling. Some cheese might start to melt out of the shell - that’s fine! It means it’s properly hot inside. Drain the croquettes on kitchen paper, season with sea salt and then plate, garnished with a small pile of more gruyère and some chopped chives. 

MAKE AHEAD -

• You can make the mix, chill it and roll it up to 3 days in advance. 

• Alternatively you can do all of the above and freeze the mix for 1 month, or even bread crumb the croquettes and then freeze. Simply defrost completely in the fridge before frying. 

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• Caramelised onions, mushrooms, chopped ham, bacon or even smoked fish would be lovely in these if you don’t have any leeks.

• You could fold in some chopped tarragon or parsley if you want a more herbaceous kick. 

WHEATEN BREAD SPREAD

This is honestly a dream starter for me - gorgeous fresh bread with excellent smoked fish and lovely toppings. Wheaten bread is addictive to both eat and make as it is so easy - it’s not the kind of bread that requires lots of time and attention. This version is based on my VERY FABULOUS Aunt Georgia’s, but I’ve tweaked it to include treacle and Guinness, as the Guinness bread at Cafe Cecilia in Hackney was one of the best things I ate this year and I wanted to emulate its yeasty sweetness. You can make this a more luxy affair like I have with trout roe and quail eggs or adapt the toppings to suit your needs - it’s your spread! 

For the bread

• 500g wholemeal flour plus extra for dusting

• 200g plain flour

• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

• 2 tsps fine salt

• 100g unsalted butter

• 50g treacle

• 30g runny honey or golden syrup

• 400ml buttermilk 

• 160ml Guinness

For the marinated cucumber 

• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced

• 1 tsp fine salt

• 3 tbsps white wine vinegar

• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard

• 1 tsp creamed horseradish

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp caster sugar

The spread

• 12 quails eggs or 6 normal eggs

• 300g smoked trout

• 300g creme fraiche

• 3 tbsps trout roe (optional)

• A small handful of chives, finely chopped

• Soft salted butter

• A small handful of dill, roughly chopped

• 1 lemon cut into 6

• Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 190 fan and line a large flat baking sheet with greaseproof paper and dust with a teaspoon of wholemeal flour. In a pan on a low heat, warm the butter, treacle and honey until melted and liquid. Mix the flours, bicarb and salt in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Combine the Guinness with the warm butter and treacle, stirring away any foam, then pour into the well, followed by the buttermilk. Use a butter knife to mix the liquids into the flour so that you are less likely to activate the gluten in the flour. When the dough is very thick and the knife feels useless, switch to a spatula and gently fold to make sure any pockets of flour have been properly mixed in. Do not mix too much - this is more like a scone dough and it won’t thank you for overworking it. When the dough is stiff and craggy, scoop it onto the floured tray and shape into a rough circle. Use a sharp knife to cut a deep cross across the top then place in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes - the top will be well risen and browned but as this bread is quite dense it needs a decent stint in the oven. If you are worried about the top getting too dark, lightly cover it with a piece of foil after 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. This is much easier to slice when it has cooled down a bit. 

For the cucumber, cover the sliced cucumber in the salt and leave to sit for 1 hour to purge it of some of its juice. Drain away the juice and combine all of the dressing ingredients until well mixed, then use to coat the cucumber. You can serve this right away or leave to marinate overnight - it works both ways! 

If you’re using quails eggs, bring a saucepan of water to a rolling boil then gently lower in the eggs on a spoon. Boil for 3 minutes 20 seconds and then transfer immediately to an ice bath before carefully peeling. If you are using normal eggs, boil them for 7 minutes and peel as above. To serve, slice the eggs in half and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped dill. Arrange the smoked trout on a plate in little ruffles with the sliced lemons. Spoon the creme fraiche into a shallow bowl or plate, then top with the trout roe and chopped chives. Serve all your little toppings together with the warm, sliced bread. 

MAKE AHEAD - 

• The bread can be made up to 3 days ahead, simply keep covered in clingfilm, then give a quick spritz with water before microwaving to get any stale off, or slice and toast. You can also freeze the bread for up to 3 months. 

• The marinated cucumber can be made 2 days before. 

• You can boil the eggs and peel up to 2 days ahead, store the quails eggs in cold water so they don’t lose their shape.

SUBSTITUTIONS - 

• Smoked mackerel is great here as well. Almost all Smoked Salmon in the UK uses intensively farmed salmon that is of low welfare and with a very negative environmental impact. Please think about avoiding salmon, especially from supermarkets and using trout instead. Read more here.

• Other lovely toppings can be brown shrimp, prawns and dressed crab. Or cooked chicken, beef or ham, prosciutto, cheese, pickles and salad. Think smorrebrod vibes. 

BIG RAGU WITH PACCHERI AND GREMOLATA

The Ragu at Christmas tradition was started because my village carol service is so memorably and laughably bad that family friends from far and wide decided they wanted to attend too, so we would always end up hosting a big dinner after. I loved  getting a big ragu cooked the day I got home to Mum and Dads so I would have this meal, and another after Christmas, covered with something exceedingly yummy and perfect for hungry, slightly boozed guests. Gremolata is a funny little magic sprinkle made of chopped lemon zest, raw garlic and parsley. Most often it’s seen on Osso Buco but it is delicious here too, lifting the whole dish with almost spicy freshness.

For a Big Ragu to serve 12 -14 people

• 6 tbsps vegetable oil

• 1 tbsp salt

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 1kg Oxtail

• 1.2kg short rib or beef shin on the bone

• 700g beef chuck steak, diced

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 sticks celery, chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced

• 1 tin of plum tomatoes

• 500ml red wine

• 8 bay leaves

• 2l beef stock

To serve 6 people

• 1.2kg of prepped, chilled ragu

• 700g paccheri or rigatoni

• Zest of 1 lemon, peeled with a peeler

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled 

• Large handful of parsley leaves

• Parmesan and good olive oil to serve

At least the day before, preheat your oven to 150 fan. Put two large saucepans or casseroles on a medium high heat and add in the oil. Season all the meat well with the salt and pepper. Seal the oxtail, ribs or shin and chuck pieces in the hot oil until brown and caramelised on all sides, taking care not to overload the pans. I like to split this recipe over two pans to spread the load and for a more even cook. If one pan is liberated from browning sooner than the other, then that's the one to start your veg in. Cook them for 10 -15 minutes, until they start to go golden, before adding half the wine. Use the other half of the wine in the other pan to scrape up any golden goodness that has caught on the bottom, then pour it into your veg pan mix. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the tomatoes with a large pinch of salt and crush them lightly with the back of a spoon. Now using a ladle, transfer half of the mix back into the other pan, then spread the browned meat between the two, trying to balance smaller and larger pieces across both pans. Split the stock between the pans, tear the bay leaves and put four in each, cover with a lid and pop into the oven for 4 hours. After it’s long bath the meat will be very tender and spoonable. Remove all the meat from the liquid and take some time to shred it and separate the bones while it is still hot. 

Mix the shredded meat back into the liquid, then leave to cool completely before chilling in the fridge overnight. 

When you are ready to cook, for 6 people get 1.2kg of the ragu into a pan, fridge or freeze the rest. Warm gently in a large pan on a low heat until simmering. Prepare the gremolata by very finely chopping the lemon zest, garlic and parsley and mixing together. It is important to try and use a very sharp knife for this, the final result should be dry and sprinkable rather than mushy, which could happen if a blunter knife bruises the ingredients. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and season well like a soup. Cook the paccheri in the water until it is al dente, then use a kitchen spider to transfer it straight into the waiting ragu. Mix well and bring to a simmer for a couple of minutes before taking off the heat. Stir in a glug of olive oil, check the seasoning and plate onto one or two large platters. Scatter a bit of gremolata in between heaping spoons of pasta to make sure it is evenly distributed, saving a good whack of it for the top. Serve with parmesan and excellent red wine.

MAKE AHEAD - 

• The ragu is best made at least a day ahead, but it will be fine for 4 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. 

SUBSTITUTIONS - 

• If you can’t get hold of oxtail, switch it for more shin or short rib. 

• If you are doing a half recipe, keep the vegetable quantities the same. 

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

It’s just an elite pudding, let's be honest. I love making this every year, especially as it can be baked the day before and reheated when you need it. It is modelled on the excellent Simon Hopkinson method, but over the years I have tweaked it here and there. Soaking the dates in yorkshire tea gives a tannic, toasty note to the sponge and I love the pinch of cinnamon for a hint of warmth. I also developed my patented Secret Sauce Layer, whereby you freeze a third of your sauce on the bottom of the tin and bake the sponge on top, so when you dig into it there's a stunning toffee ooze at the bottom. 

For the sauce

• 800ml double cream

• 300g dark brown sugar

• 2 tbsp golden syrup

• 160g salted butter

• A pinch of sea salt

For the Sponge 

• 4 eggs, beaten

• 350g soft dates, chopped 

• 580ml freshly boiled Yorkshire or Builders tea (made with two teabags)

• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 80g butter

• 175g soft brown sugar

• 125g dark brown sugar

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• 350g self raising flour

• Double cream to serve

You will need a 30cm/37cm baking dish.

Start by making the sauce. Combine the sugar, golden syrup and butter in a pan and melt together on a medium heat. When the butter and sugar are a thick dark gloop, pour in the cream. Stir every so often - it will take a while for the sugar mix to dissolve in the cream and turn it a deep toffee colour. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, then remove from the heat. Pour ⅓ into the dish and pop into the freezer to set, ideally completely flat, for 2 hours. Cool the rest of the sauce down and refrigerate until needed. 

Preheat the oven to 180 fan. 

Soak the dates in the tea with the teabags until the mix has cooled down to lukewarm - around 20 minutes. Remove the teabags and put the dates and liquid into the base of a food processor and pulse until the mix is more of a dark paste. Then, if you have a large enough food processor, add in the rest of your ingredients and pulse until you have a thick, luxurious brown batter speckled with date flecks. If you don’t think your processor can hack it, beat the eggs, butter and sugar into the blitzed date mix with hand beaters, then fold in the flour, bicarb and cinnamon to make a smooth batter. Pour the batter over the frozen layer of sauce and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes, checking it with a skewer that should come out clean. If you are serving straight away, reheat the sauce and pour half on top of the pudding then place under a hot grill for 5 minutes until bubbling. If you are reheating from cold, remove from the fridge to come to room temperature 30 minutes before you cover with foil and heat a 160 oven for 25 - 30 minutes, then grill as above. Serve with extra hot sauce and double cream. 

MAKE AHEAD -  

• You can make the sauce up to three days ahead, or even bake the sponge with it up to 3 days ahead and keep covered in the fridge. 

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• Custard, ice cream or clotted cream are the only acceptable substitutions here. 

TIMEPLAN 

This first plan should help you see what you can get done in advance, so that for each course on the day you have at least 1, maybe 2 major parts of it taken care of. I appreciate that not everyone’s weeks are easily peppered with dinner party prep, but if you’re hosting after work or on a day where you can’t be in the kitchen, getting ahead is going to save your arse.

MISE-EN-PLACE

This is the fancy name we give to the food prep each section in the restaurant needs to do for their dishes. Hopefully breaking down each dish like this will help you feel organised. 

Use the hour before your guests arrive to organise your space too- I find it helpful to group ingredients by dish so it is all in the same place. Little ramekins are really useful for this.

STYLING GUIDE 

LEEK AND GRUYÈRE CROQUETTES

Topped with their little cheese hats and sprinkled with chives, these are so elegant and cute. I love doing them on little plates - pale chintzy blues, greens or yellows, and circulating throughout the party. You could just as easily plate on a little tray or a board if you have one, but functionally you need a few plates on rotation to keep filling as you fry.

WHEATEN BREAD SPREAD

Smoked trout always looks so luxurious, just take some time to furl it on your plate so that it gets some height, making it look more than it is and doubly beautiful. The trout roe here can be employed simply like I have, adorning the creme fraiche like coral jewels, or it could be atop the quail's eggs which would also be stunning and delicious in equal measure. Whatever spread items you go for, make sure you have plenty of finely chopped chives and filigree dill fronds to adorn them with. Lots of little bowls and plates here filled is better than one big plate, giving the impression of plenty. 

BIG RAGU WITH PACCHERI AND GREMOLATA 

Not wishing to sound like a broken record but you KNOW I love a giant plate of pasta plonked in the middle of the table. This is a perfect dish for that, with gremolata glittering  on top. However if you prefer single plates then by all means do, just top similarly with gremolata and a generous shower of cheese. The brown ragu with it’s green garnish is great on red and white, or simple plain white.

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

This isn’t an easy thing to style sadly, given it is baked in a large dish. However when serving, you could sprinkle some sea salt flakes on each portion - it will look and taste divine.