THE ONE THAT'S A WINTRY BUFFET

Braised Sausages with 4 excellent sides, and Hot Chocolate Sponge

MENU TO SERVE 6-8 GENEROUSLY

BRAISED SAUSAGES WITH FENNEL AND CHILLI

GRILLED POLENTA

CREAMED SPINACH

SWEET POTATOES WITH SOUR CHERRIES AND RADICCHIO

BUTTER BEANS, TOMATO AND SAGE

HOT CHOCOLATE SPONGE AND CHOCOLATE CUSTARD

When I was a teenager, we spent most Christmases at our home in Somerset. We would then go to a party on Boxing Day at our friend's, The Calkins. I think lots of people associate Boxing Day with inertia and fullness and lying around with stomach aches but, probably because of the epic Boxing Day parties thrown by the Calkins every year, I think the opposite. It’s a fun, refreshing day, with nothing hanging over you except for your brand new Christmas gifts, which you are attempting to wear all at the same time of course. It’s a day where there is no rigmarole or expectation but technically you’re still in celebration mode so you can still be naughty and have two drinks before midday. The Calkins would put on a buffet spread like you have never seen. There would be hams, roast beef, sides of salmon, pies, heaping salads and bowls of potatoes, a vast cheese board and then a table full of puddings. It’s worth mentioning that the Calkins have a big old family and everyone would bring a dish or two, but still. A really exceptional feat of hospitality. They would invite way more people than they had chairs and never worried about it - you could just hover and graze and dip in and out of games between bites of Mont D’or. The puddings would come into their own in “The Pudding Off”, where a few foolhardy competitors would try and eat the biggest bowl of all the puddings (a minimum of 6 different things)  in under a minute. It was a riveting watch and highly contested. And it truly was a great party.

Today’s Dinner Party menu is more alike to the Calkin’s Boxing Day in spirit than it is content or sheer size. It’s a menu for a big old buffet (that could be good for NYE / NYD or any day really) that easily feeds many hungry mouths with pizazz. It’s fun winter food that is beautiful, vibrant, inviting, unserious and easily grazed upon. It’s nearly all hot dishes, which is more straightforward to do than you think. And it’s perfect for after a long walk or a big old game of frosty football or a few drinks around a bonfire. This menu is also a catalogue for excellent, simple side dishes, which I think we all need at this time of year where dinners are bigger and time is shorter.

We’ve got Braised Sausages with Fennel and Chilli and lots of white wine, which are simultaneously hearty and fragrant. I love a sausage for a buffet because it’s so easy to scale per person (3 each I reckon). Then there’s wedges of Grilled Polenta, prepped the day before if you can and just whacked under a hot grill to serve. Creamed Spinach is a dish I adore and is almost a condiment as much as a side - soft, unctuous and heady with garlic. A salad of Sweet Potato, Radicchio and Sour Cherries is divinely wintry and an utter breeze. And then of course a useful and delicious pulse, Butter Beans with Tomato and Sage that is bright and comforting and again, very very easy. For pudding I wanted to recreate the school dinner classic, Chocolate Sponge and Hot Chocolate Custard. The sponge is moist and supple (and incidentally would make a great chocolate cake) and when warmed and served with rich, silky hot chocolate custard it is literal sex on a plate, which I don’t think I’ve said yet in the whole 18 months of writing this newsletter so you know I’m being deadly serious.

BRAISED SAUSAGES WITH FENNEL AND CHILLI

Sausages are just one of the most versatile ingredients and have the unique ability of being both universally popular and approachable without ever being boring. If you go to a party and see sausages on the table you know for sure you are getting something delicious and familiar. Braising the sausages takes them from being splendid to UTTERLY DIVINE. This recipe is very simple but is a little bit more special than just whacking a tray of sausages on the table. You end up with tender bangers (whose skin will never wrinkle), a rich, winey liquor spiked with chilli and unctuous pieces of softly cooked fennel. If you have leftovers, dice up the sausage and fennel pieces and stir it through pasta - you won’t regret it.

To serve 6 - 8, generously 

• 15 - 18 sausages (depends how big they are and how big your eaters are) - I like big butcher bangers, Cumberlands or Italian fennel sausages for this

• 4 tbsps olive oil

• 2 bulbs of fennel, tops trimmed and cut into 8ths

• 6 garlic cloves, sliced

• 2 red chillies, finely chopped (deseeded if you don’t want it hot)

• 2 green chillies, finely chopped (deseeded if you don’t want it hot)

• 300ml dry white wine

• A large handful of parsley, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 160 fan.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or casserole with a lid on medium heat. In batches, brown off the sausages until they are golden and sizzling. Depending on how many sausages you are doing this may take a bit of time, you can do it in two pans if you prefer. Set aside the browned sausages and add the fennel wedges to the pan. Brown them gently too, for around 3 minutes a side. Add a drop more oil if it needs it. Remove the browned fennel and then add the garlic and chopped chilli. Fry for a minute or so, then pour in the white wine. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan into the wine. Bring to the boil for 1 minute then remove from the heat.

Now depending on the size of your pan, you may want to do this in an large roasting tray or two casseroles with lids. Nestle the sausages and fennel back into the wine ideally in one even layer and cover (tightly with foil if it’s a tray, or with a lid if in a pan). Transfer to the oven and cook for 20 minutes covered, then remove the lid / foil and let it cook for another 15 uncovered. Remove from the oven - this will stay hot covered for an hour or so and can be given a little heat when you are grilling the polenta if you wish. To serve, pile the sausages and fennel pieces onto a platter, stir the parsley through the sauce in the pan and then drizzle it all over the top. 

MAKE AHEAD - 

• The whole braise can be made up to 24 hours before, although my preference would be to make it up to 6 hours before and let it sit, then reheat when you need it. 

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• If fennel is not your thing then switch it for onions or even wedges of savoy or white cabbage.

• If you are worried about the chilli quantity / have kids eating then reduce it by all means. The chillies we get here in the UK vary wildly on spice levels, I always advise you to touch the inner membrane with your finger and then press the finger to your tongue - if it’s tingly hot then you know you have a spicy one. I also find that if a chilli smells strongly when you cut into it, it is more likely to be spicy. 

• Oregano, basil or mint would work instead of parsley.

GRILLED POLENTA

This is a great option for a low effort side dish that is very good with everything on this buffet. The polenta takes minutes to make and sets very quickly too. Then all that is needed is to chunk it up and whack it under the grill. It’s fab with the sausages and their juice, as well as being a great vehicle for the creamed spinach. I think a good approach to buffet food is to always have a couple of dishes that are very obviously portioned, so that people can just grab 1 or 2 pieces and move on, instead of debating if a spoon is enough. Can you tell I get buffet anxiety? I always need to be first in the queue or I am raging. ANYWAY.  

• 200g quick cook polenta 

• 850ml water

• 60g parmesan, finely grated

• 20g salted butter

• Plenty of salt and a decent twist of black pepper

• A good grating of fresh nutmeg

Bring the water to a rolling boil and season it so that it is as salty as you would make a soup. Now turn the heat down to medium, then pour the polenta into the boiling water, whisking as you go. It will start to thicken and bubble furiously so do wear long sleeves, it is a bit volcanic. Continue whisking for another minute or two to get a thick, golden sludge. Taste it to check it isn’t at all granular to the tongue, and then remove from the heat. Whisk in the parmesan, butter, nutmeg, some black pepper and check the seasoning. You may need some more salt as polenta soaks it up. Pour into a flat tray (around 2 - 3 cm deep) and spread the polenta to make an even layer, it doesn’t need to be perfectly flat on top. 

Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge until solid - at least 2 hours. 

To serve, preheat your grill to medium. Remove the polenta from the fridge, peel off the clingfilm and flip the tray over onto a chopping board. The polenta should come out as a sheet. Cut it into random wedges, they don’t need to be perfect or the same, just a similar size is good. Very lightly oil the same tray and pop the polenta wedges back onto it. Place the tray under the grill and let them sizzle gently for around 3 minutes, or until some pieces are starting to colour and get dark spots. Remove the tray, flip the wedges over carefully and grill on the other side. Serve immediately. 

MAKE AHEAD - 

• The polenta can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept in the fridge. Simply portion and grill to serve.

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• Swap the cheese and butter for vegan substitutes to make this plant based. 

• Use pecorino instead of parmesan if you like, just watch the salt as it is a lot more salty!

CREAMED SPINACH

We’ve come to know creamed spinach as quite a retro steakhouse side dish that is ultimately a pile of comforting green slop. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s truly excellent with sausages (and really any meat or fish to be honest), and keeps extremely well, so it can be made a couple of days ahead. Not all methods involve pre-cooking the spinach, but for me this is the best way of guaranteeing a verdant green, so I thoroughly recommend doing it. I like using leftovers through pasta (who, me?!?) but also in a cheese toastie - utterly divine.

• 1kg baby spinach

• 450ml double cream

• 5 cloves of garlic, bashed and peeled but whole

• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

• 1 tsp dijon mustard

• Plenty of salt and pepper

Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil. Prepare a large bowl of iced water. Pop the cream into a saucepan with the garlic and nutmeg on a low heat. Let the cream infuse gently with the garlic and reduce for around 20 - 30 minutes. If it starts to simmer, turn the heat down, you don’t want it to properly boil but you do want it to cook and thicken. The garlic will become soft and flavour the cream very gently. 

While the cream is cooking you can blanch the spinach. Dump half the spinach into the boiling water, stir well and cook for around 1 minute 30 - 2 minutes. Use a kitchen spider or slotted spoon to remove the spinach from the hot pan and dump it straight into the icey water. Let it sit for a minute then remove it from the cold bowl (don’t drain away the water though, you need it for the next batch). Drain the cooked spinach really well in a colander. I like to press it down with my hands squeezing out lots of liquid, and then put something heavy on top like another bowl while I blanch the second batch. Repeat the process, drain the spinach and leave to sit under a weight for 10 minutes to squeeze out that water. Take the cooled and squeezed spinach and pop it on a chopping board. You will notice that in typical spinach style its volume will have drastically reduced but never fear. Chop the spinach well - you don’t want big pieces but it doesn’t have to be complete mush either. Remove the garlic from the reduced cream and mix in the chopped spinach. Then take around ¼ of the mix and two of the softened garlic cloves and pop it in your blender. Blitz until you have a smooth, bright green cream. Stir this back into the rest and season to taste. Pop in the fridge until needed or warm and serve immediately. 

MAKE AHEAD - 

• The creamed spinach will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Simply reheat gently in a pan on a low heat to serve.

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• I haven’t tried this with plant based cream but my suggestion would be to use slightly less (around 375ml) and avoid infusing. Instead boil 2 cloves of garlic with the spinach and blitz those into the mix.

SWEET POTATOES WITH SOUR CHERRIES AND RADICCHIO

I do think that colour has to inform a buffet table somewhat, not just because you “eat with your eyes” as they say, but also because the different colours of food often denote different flavours and textures. Our table needed something red but today that red is a salad with warming notes as opposed to something hot in temperature. The soft, caramelised sweet potato is beautiful with the bitter, crunchy radicchio, and they are tied together by the fizzing sour cherries and sweet and sour dressing. This is my new favourite winter salad and is a beautiful accompaniment to many things, or can be a main in itself. I’ve used Sour Cherry Molasses in the dressing which is a new and very delicious discovery for me, but if you can't get old of it then pomegranate molasses is a perfect swap.

For the sweet potato

• 1.2kg sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm discs

• 4 tbsps olive oil

• Plenty of salt and pepper

For the salad

• 1 radicchio, leaves separated and roughly chopped

• 100g dried sour cherries 

• 100g walnuts, lightly toasted (in the oven at 160 fan for 15 minutes is my favourite for walnuts)

• A large handful of chives, finely chopped

• A small handful of dill, roughly chopped

For the dressing

• 40ml extra virgin olive oil

• 30ml sour cherry molasses or pomegranate molasses

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 220 fan. 

Spread the sweet potato discs over two trays and then mix well with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for around 35 minutes, turning after 15. The sweet potato will lightly caramelise as it roasts but won’t be crispy, just soft and delicious. Remove from the oven and set aside. Either leave to cool to room temp or serve warm, up to you depending on your timings!

Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients together - it won’t be a perfect emulsion so just mix it well and don’t worry about it. 

Spread the radicchio leaves over a couple of plates, top with the sweet potato pieces - don’t panic if they fall apart. Scatter over the dried sour cherries and walnuts. Drizzle the dressing all over the salads, then scatter over the herbs and serve

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MAKE AHEAD - 

• The sweet potato will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days but if it’s been chilled then I recommend reheating it gently (160, 15 minutes) before serving. 

• The dressing and toasted nuts will keep covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

SUBSTITUTIONS - 

• Dried cranberries work well instead of sour cherries.

• Red and white chicory can be used in the place of radicchio.

• Roasted squash can swap in for the sweet potato. 

BUTTER BEANS, TOMATO AND SAGE

Jarred pulses are a host's best friend. Pretty much whenever I am hosting a big buffet style affair I plan a dish that uses them as I know it will take a load off my plate. They are beautifully soaked and cooked for you, so only require a mere zshushing (a technical term). These butter beans with sweet, jammy tomatoes and lots of sage take under half an hour yet feel luxurious and elegant. Plus they are wonderful with the sausages, give the veggies and vegans a well deserved protein source and are excellent to make ahead. Leftovers of this are amazing for breakfast with crispy fried eggs and bacon.

• x2 700g jarred butter beans, drained, juice of 1 reserved

• 60ml olive oil

• 420g plum tomatoes, roughly chopped

• 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• 20 sage leaves, half of which chopped

• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Stick a chopstick in and if it sizzles, then it’s ready. Carefully lay in a few whole sage leaves at a time, frying them on both sides for about 40 seconds total. They will become a deeper, richer green and just start to crisp. Use tongs to transfer them to kitchen paper. When you have fried all the sage, add the garlic to the hot, fragrant oil and fry for a minute before stirring in the tomatoes. Let them soften and reduce for about 8 minutes or so before stirring in the chopped sage and the drained beans, plus the liquid from one jar. Bring up to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, until slightly reduced and glossy. Season well with salt and pepper and then plate up. Top with a drizzle of oil and the crispy sage. 

MAKE AHEAD - 

• These can be made up to 3 days ahead but the crispy sage will not keep that long. If you want to get ahead, make the beans and then separately fry sage on the day that you are serving.

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• Use chickpeas or cannelini beans here if you wish.

HOT CHOCOLATE SPONGE AND CHOCOLATE CUSTARD

Those of my readers who went to school in the UK may recognise this classic. A tender and moist chocolate sponge, served hot, with plenty of rich chocolate custard. Hot sponge is a great dessert for a crowd - you can bake it ahead, keep it in the tin and then gently reheat it without it drying out. The cake batter doesn’t require anything electric, just you, a few bowls and a whisk and would incidentally make a brilliant chocolate sheet cake too. All it needs is a divine sauce and this chocolate custard is a wondrous thing. Made exactly like a crème patissière but with slightly different ratios so that it stays liquid and silky. I would say I have taken the school version and made it a little bit more grown up and a lot more sexy. 

Makes a large quantity, enough for 12 (freeze some in portions for rainy days)

For the sponge

• 250g soft salted butter

• 125g dark chocolate, chopped

• 50g cocoa powder, sifted

• 180g self raising flour

• 100g dark brown sugar

• 200g light brown sugar

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• A pinch of salt

• 300g sour cream

• 4 eggs

• 80ml just boiled water

For the custard

• 500ml whole milk

• 100ml double cream

• 4 egg yolks

• 100g caster sugar

• 1 tbsp cornflour, sifted

• 3 tbsps cocoa powder

• Pinch of salt

• 40g dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 160 fan. Grease and line a 33cm/22cm brownie tin. 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugars, bicarb and salt. I use a whisk and stir gently, to make sure they are really well mixed. In another bowl mix the sour cream and eggs together. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl together and either melt in short bursts in the microwave or over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir together well. Now pour the melted chocolate and butter into the flour mix, along with the sour cream and eggs and the hot water. Use a whisk to gently mix everything together to make a smooth, rich, chocolatey cake batter. Pour the batter into the tin and bake at 160 fan for 40 - 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. It will be springy and slightly sticky to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin. 

To make the custard, put the milk and cream in a saucepan. Warm them together, gently on a low heat. In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and cocoa powder. It will feel quite solid and grainy to start but keep mixing and it will eventually loosen up. You just want the eggs and dry goods to be well combined. When the milk mix is just steaming, remove it from the heat and pour it over the egg yolk mix, whisking to combine. Pour this mix back into the pan and return to a medium heat. Whisk gently as the mix cooks, it will take a while to change in any way but after around 8 minutes the foam on top will disappear and it will start to thicken and become shiny. Once it starts to gently simmer, cook it for 2 - 3 minutes, then taste the custard to check it doesn’t have any powdery taste to it. Keep cooking for a couple more minutes if it does, if not, remove from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate and salt. Cover the surface of the custard with clingfilm if you are not using it straight away. 

To reheat the sponge, preheat the oven to 160 fan. Cover the sponge in its tin tightly with foil and pop in the oven for 15 minutes. Warm the custard gently on the stove. To serve, cut the cake into 12 squares, dish them up and pour liberal amounts of hot chocolate custard on top. 

MAKE AHEAD - 

• The sponge keeps really well covered tightly for up to 2 days at room temperature.

• The custard will keep for 2 days in the fridge, reheat before serving. 

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• If it is easier, use one type of sugar in the sponge. I like the mix of dark and light brown, but it’s not essential. Just make up the quantity to 300g of whatever you have.

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

For a buffet it is always a good idea to try and do multiple plates of the same dish if you can, not least to enable more people to serve themselves at the same time but also to give the vibe of generosity. I always harp on about height but it is so much more eye catching so try and find ways to pile your food high, or use plates with feet or stack stuff on boards. Candles are a great way to increase drama so definitely bung a load of those on there too.

For flowers - I think pale, icy colours are great with all the warm tones that we see at this time of year. I love leafy hydrangeas - one stem per small bud vase, dotted around the table.

BRAISED SAUSAGES WITH FENNEL AND CHILLI

A pile of bronzed sausages will look glorious and dramatic and we love both of those things for our buffet table. I think a flat plate or platter is best too, so we don’t hide the food, but you will need something with a bit of a lip to catch the sauce. Tongs are the best thing to serve these with, but have a spoon on standby too for juice.

GRILLED POLENTA

This bright yellow babe needs nothing other than a nice oval platter that is pale ie. white, pastel blues or greens.

CREAMED SPINACH

This does need to be in a bowl but not necessarily a deep one, I love this in something with red undertones to make the green really pop. If you have a gorgeous vintage serving spoon then now's the time to whip it out.

SWEET POTATOES WITH SOUR CHERRIES AND RADICCHIO

If you are short on plates but have enough to plate one thing twice then this is the one to save it for. This salad is one that is built flat and works best in one layer, so it’s better to stretch it out over two plates. I like to use blues, pinks and purples to bring out the rich, warm colours in the salad.

BUTTER BEANS, TOMATO AND SAGE

Save your best bowls for these gorgeous beans. They are wonderful in pale colours but also stun on metal too.

HOT CHOCOLATE SPONGE AND CHOCOLATE CUSTARD

For me there are two ways to go here - either stack pieces of sponge on plate and drizzle the custard over for more of a spectacle, or more practically what they use to do in school. Keep a tray of the portioned sponge warm, and allow people to serve themselves, pouring over their own custard. Reds are best with the dark browns here.