We each cook for friends in our own individual way. There might be ‘rules’, or at least ‘expectations’, with the Christmas Day meal, but in the run-up to the big day (a period I love) you can cook whatever you like.
The artist and writer Agnes Jekyll, writing in the 1920s, suggested oysters as suitable lunch fare for stressed friends who’d come to London to do Christmas shopping. Dame Agnes was famous for her hospitality and her food. Her idea of a ‘little dinner’ was ‘cotelettes en robes de chambre’, lamb cutlets in puff pastry, accompanied by a sauce based on stock, tomatoes, ham and tongue. She had servants, of course. If I had help in the kitchen, I’d probably wrap everything in puff pastry; instead I do what I think I can pull off, while taking joy in the smells that fill the kitchen and the transformation of ingredients.
I’ll be making the meal here – designed for meat-eaters and vegetarians – for friends. Vegetarians often get a dish that’s ‘added on’, but the tagine below fits perfectly into the whole. If you’re cooking for vegetable-lovers – who may not be vegetarian – you don’t need to cook meat at all. The tagine is fine made in advance, which takes a bit of pressure off.
If this meal fills you with anxiety, roast a chicken – few people don’t appreciate that – or make a vegetable stew you’re familiar with. Sparkle can come in the side dishes. The artichoke salad is ideal, but so too would be a less complicated version made with chicory, seedless black grapes, walnuts and sliced oranges. The soaked couscous can be reheated, then tossed together with the other ingredients before serving, otherwise the herbs will wilt and the pomegranate seeds stain the couscous.
If you want to make things even simpler, invite friends for lunch and make a soup that’s a meal in itself – smoked haddock and leek chowder, or a big chunky Italian soup with pumpkin, white beans, greens and little pasta shapes. Serve the latter with Parmesan and make the Italian bread below, or make whatever bread is easy for you if you’re serving chowder. The salad works well after either of these soups.
I keep a list of Christmassy ingredients in my head that feed into my cooking at this time of year: nuts, grapes, pomegranate seeds, chestnuts, dried fruits, oranges and spices (especially cinnamon and nutmeg) are at the ready.
Why do I offer a menu and then say, ‘But you don’t have to make this’? Because those who love cooking can go the whole hog (though still substitute dishes they think might be better) and those who simply like cooking can decide how far they want to go. It isn’t usually the cooking that gets me in a paddy but cooking while talking to friends. I need to concentrate so I make time plans to ensure everything goes smoothly – well, as smoothly as possible. Talking to friends is the point of entertaining, so do what you can in advance and choose last-minute dishes you think you can manage.
Last year I read Jeanette Winterson’s Christmas Days, a book of short stories punctuated by Christmas recipes and advice. This is the best observation you will ever read about cooking: ‘Cooking has become a lot like cycling. By which I mean people used to pop out on their bikes – now everyone has to wear Lycra and goggles and beat their own speed and distance record. Cooking at home is not an Olympic sport. Cooking is an everyday ordinary miracle.’
An everyday ordinary miracle. Remember that.
Roast halloumi and figs with honey and focaccia
So the cheese is warm and soft, you need to serve this straight away. Have a heated platter ready. If you don’t have time to make the bread, buy focaccia, ciabatta or Arab flatbreads.
Timings
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus proving time
Cook time: 50-55 minutes
Serves
Eight
Ingredients
For the focaccia
- 600g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 7g fast-acting dried yeast
- 10g fine sea salt
- 80ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tbsp more
- 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves only
- sea-salt flakes, for the top
For the halloumi
- 4 x 225g blocks of halloumi, drained and patted dry
- 4 thyme sprigs, leaves only, plus 4 whole thyme sprigs
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, roughly crushed in a mortar and pestle
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
- zest of 2 lemons, finely grated, plus juice of ½
- 2 tbsp clear honey
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
For the figs
- 12 fresh figs
- 1½ tbsp clear honey
- 1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Method
1. Start by making the dough. Combine the flour, yeast and fine sea salt in a large bowl. Mix 300ml lukewarm water and the 80ml oil in a jug, make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the liquid. Stir with a wooden spoon or a fork, mixing everything until you have a soft, quite wet dough. Add more water if you need to.
2. Wet doughs are hard to knead but do the best you can – only adding more flour if you really can’t manage – until it’s smooth and satiny. Do this by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook (if using a mixer it will take eight minutes on a medium speed). Lightly oil a bowl and put the dough into it. Cover lightly with cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise. It should double in size. Judge by size rather than time.
3. Tip the dough out on to a very lightly floured surface and knock it back until it can hold its shape. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil and put the dough on this, stretching it equally in every direction to form a rectangle, almost tothe lip of the baking sheet. Cover with cling film, leave somewhere warm and let it double in size again.
4. Heat the oven to 220C/210C fan/gas mark 7.
5. Make dimples all over the dough with your fingers (possibly one of the best activities in the kitchen – the dough is so pillowy), pressing down quite hard. Push the rosemary down into some of the dimples. Drizzle the remaining oil over the top and scatter on the sea-salt flakes. Put boiling water into a roasting tin – it should come about halfway up the sides – and put this on a low shelf in the oven. Bake the bread for 20-25 minutes, or until golden, then remove from the oven along with the roasting tin of water.
6. Score the halloumi, cutting across each block at 1cm intervals, but not cutting right through, then scatter with the thyme leaves, fennel seeds, chilli and lemon zest, carefully pushing some of the mix down into the cuts. Mix the honey and olive oil together. Pour this over the halloumi and scatter on the thyme sprigs. Bake for 30 minutes, basting with the oil and honey every so often.
7. Remove the little stalk from each fig and halve them. Put them into a small roasting tin or gratin dish in a single layer. They should be close together, otherwise the honey will just run off them and burn. Mix the honey, balsamic and oil together. Season and pour over the figs. Cook in the oven for the last 15 minutes of the halloumi cooking time.
8. It’s important to serve the halloumi while it’s warm (so it’s still soft), so transfer it and the figs to a warmed platter, squeeze the lemon juice over the top and serve with the focaccia.
Pumpkin, chestnut and leek tagine
This can be made in advance and reheated before serving, but be careful not to cook the vegetables until they collapse. A tagine should have structure. The relish that goes with the lamb below is fantastic with this too, so make it even if you aren’t serving the lamb.
Timings
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves
Eight
Ingredients
- a generous pinch of saffron threads (you want a good strong saffron colour)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, cut into slim crescent-moon-shaped slices
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp cayenne
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 850g pumpkin or squash, peeled and cut into 2.5cm wedges (prepared weight)
- 2 fennel bulbs
- 800ml vegetable stock
- 4 preserved lemons, skin only, finely chopped
- 3 leeks, trimmed top and bottom and coarse outer leaves removed, cut into 3cm lengths
- 400g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp honey, or to taste
- 20g butter
- 115g cooked chestnuts, halved or broken into pieces
- 25g blanched almonds
- 15g fresh coriander, leaves only, chopped
To serve
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp harissa
- 500g natural Greek yogurt
Method
1. Put the saffron in a bowl and add 75ml boiling water. Stir and leave for about 30 minutes, until you have a deep saffron colour.
2. Heat half the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat, then fry the onions until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and spices, and cook for another couple of minutes, until you can smell the spices. Add the tomato purée and pumpkin and turn over in the spices, tossing to get the pumpkin coated. Cook over a low heat until the pumpkin gets some colour. Cover and turn off the heat.
3. Quarter the fennel bulbs. Remove the tough outer leaves, trim the tips – retaining any little fronds you see – then cut each quarter in two lengthways.
4. Heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan and sauté the fennel over a high heat so that you get a good colour on it. You are not trying to cook it through. Add the fennel to the pumpkin. Heat the vegetable stock, mix in the saffron water then add it to the pan, stirring the vegetables around gently. Season well.
5. Add the preserved lemon skin and bring to a simmer, then cover. Turn the heat right down and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. The vegetables shouldn’t be completely soft. Add the leeks and chickpeas, and cook gently for another 10 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender. Stir in the honey – taste and adjust the flavour to how you want it – and cover the pan.
6. Melt half the butter in a small frying pan and add the chestnuts. Toss them around until they become warm and glossy, then stir them into the tagine. Heat the rest of the butter and fry the almonds until they’re golden.
7. Heat the vegetables if they need it and stir in most of the coriander. Transfer to a broad heated bowl, piling the vegetables into a mound if you can. Toss the rest of the coriander, all the almonds and any reserved fennel fronds over the top.
8. Warm the oil to serve with the harissa, put the yogurt in a bowl and pour the harissa oil over the top.
9. Serve the tagine with the couscous below and the harissa yogurt alongside it.
Lamb with spiced dried fruit and green olive relish
If you’ve never cooked a butterflied leg of lamb before, you’ll be shocked by the time. Don’t cook it for longer. It’s a leg of lamb so you could be tempted, but this is a big flat piece of meat – the cooking is different. This relish will taste very intense, almost vinegary, but it works with both the lamb and the tagine and a bowlful of yogurt.
Timings
Prep time: 25 minutes, plus marinating and soaking time
Cook time: 40 minutes, plus resting time
Serves
Eight
Ingredients
For the lamb
- 2.25kg leg of lamb, boned and butterflied
- 2 garlic cloves, grated to a purée
- 1 hot red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves only, finely chopped
- 4 thyme sprigs, leaves only
- ½ tsp fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
- juice of 1 small lemon, plus grated zest of ½
- 5 tbsp olive oil
For the relish
- 90g dried figs
- 90g sultanas
- 170ml brandy
- 90g unpitted green olives
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 7 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 small garlic clove, grated to a purée
- heaped ¼ tsp ground fennel seeds
- 1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped
- 8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
- 1½ tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- squeeze of lemon juice
- 15g coriander, leaves only
- 7g flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
Method
1. Dry the meat with kitchen paper and put it in a non-metallic dish that fits it. Make small incisions over the underside so the marinade can be worked into the flesh. Mix together all the other ingredients for the lamb, plus some salt and pepper.
2. Cover the lamb in this mixture, rubbing it into the small incisions. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to marinate for 24 hours.
3. For the relish, chop the dried figs (and remove the stems), then put them in a saucepan with the sultanas and brandy. Bring the brandy to just under the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for a couple of minutes. Leave the fruit in the saucepan and let it soak until the fruit has plumped up (it can take a couple of hours). Remove the flesh from the olives and chop it.
4. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and sauté the shallots gently until soft, then add the garlic and cook gently for two minutes. Add this to the dried fruit – all the alcohol should be absorbed by now – along with all the other relish ingredients except the coriander and parsley. Taste this. The soft herbs will be added later – about 15 minutes before serving – but you need to check the seasoning and balance of the relish now, though you can adjust it again.
5. Take the lamb out of the fridge an hour before you want to cook it. Heat the oven to 220C/210C fan/gas mark 7. Lift the lamb out of the marinade and shake off the excess. Spread the meat out in a roasting tin, fatty-side up, and roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 190C/180C fan/gas mark 5 and cook for another 15 minutes.
6. The lamb will be pink. Cover the lamb and the roasting tin with foil, insulate with tea towels and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
7. Chop the coriander and parsley and stir them into the relish. Add some more olive oil if the relish is too thick, then check the seasoning. Carve the lamb and put it on a warm platter. Spoon the cooking juices over the top. Serve with the big salad and couscous overleaf.
Jerusalem artichoke, walnut and roast grape salad
Jerusalem artichokes can be annoying. I love their sweetness and used to roast them, but you can get batches that are long and slim instead of fat and squat, and they’re hopeless for roasting – they just shrivel before they’re tender. If you deal with them this way – blanching them first – they’re less problematic.
This is quite a French salad and might seem at odds with the tagine but it works as part of this group of dishes. Bitter leaves – radicchio and chicory – aren’t popular with everyone but they are perfect with sweet ingredients.
Timings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25-35 minutes
Serves
Eight as a side dish
Ingredients
For the dressing
- ½ tbsp cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp walnut oil
- soft light-brown sugar, to taste
For the salad
- 550g Jerusalem artichokes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 250g seedless black grapes
- a splash of balsamic vinegar
- 1 chicon of white chicory
- 125g radicchio
- 20g walnut pieces, toasted
Method
1. Make the dressing. Put the vinegar, mustard and some seasoning in a cup and whisk in the oils using a fork. Taste, add some sugar, and check again for seasoning and balance. The dressing might seem a little sweet but it’s going to dress bitter leaves. Set aside.
2. Heat the oven to 210C/200C fan/gas mark 6½. Scrub the Jerusalem artichokes in warm water and remove any little tufts. You might want to peel them a bit if they are particularly knobbly. I like the skin but it really doesn’t matter if you remove some.
3. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the artichokes, cover with a lid and cook until only just tender. Drain and dry them in a clean tea towel. You can cook them up to this point in advance.
4. Halve the cooked artichokes lengthwise if they’re nice and fat. If they’re long and skinny, just leave them as they are. Put a tablespoon and a half of olive oil in a small roasting tin where the artichokes can lie in a single layer. Shake everything around and season. Roast for 15 minutes – tossing them halfway through – or until the artichokes are golden all over and soft.
5. Cook the grapes at the same time. Put them in a small roasting tin, and toss with half a tablespoon of olive oil, the balsamic vinegar and seasoning. Roast for 10-12 minutes. You want them to be soft but not completely shrunken. You can stop at this stage and keep all the ingredients together to assemble the salad later.
6. Separate the chicory leaves and put them in a salad bowl. Tear the radicchio leaves in half and add them to the bowl. Pour the juice from the grapes over the top, then add the grapes, artichokes and walnuts. Toss with the dressing and serve straight away.
Pistachio, orange and pomegranate couscous
You can prepare the couscous hours before you want to serve it, then reheat it (I do this in the microwave) and add the herbs, pistachios and pomegranate seeds at the last minute.
Timings
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes
Serves
Eight
Ingredients
- 400g couscous
- juice of 1 orange and finely grated zest of ½
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 1 garlic clove, grated to a purée
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 3 tbsp chopped parsley
- 3 tbsp chopped coriander
- 35g pistachios, chopped
- 125g pomegranate seeds
Method
1. Put the couscous in a bowl and cover with 350ml boiling water. Add some seasoning, the orange juice and zest, and the olive oil. Cover with cling film and leave to plump up for 15 minutes. The couscous should absorb the liquid in that time. If it seems in any way dry, add a little more boiling water and cover again.
2. Heat a tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil in a frying pan. Sauté the onion in this until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for another two minutes, then stir in the cinnamon and ginger and cook until you can smell it. Fork the couscous to aerate it, mixing in the onions and some seasoning at the same time. You can leave the couscous at this stage and reheat it in a microwave or a steamer before you want to serve it.
3. Later, once you’ve reheated the couscous, add the rest of the extra-virgin olive oil, the herbs and pistachios, and season again to taste. Because they stain, add the pomegranate seeds just before serving.
Turkish delight pavlovas with raspberry sorbet
Raspberries are permissible at Christmas even though they’re not in season. I’ve always used them because the seasonal fruits don’t seem quite special enough (with the exception of pomegranate seeds).
These little pavlovas bring a bit of enchantment. You have to assemble them right before serving – meringues turn tomush once they meet fruit and cream – so have all the components ready to go.
It probably seems odd to put vinegar into a sorbet made with tart fruit – I had it in Germany this summer – but it lifts the whole dessert, working brilliantly with the sweetness of the meringue and the Turkish delight.
Timings
Prep time: 45 minutes, plus overnight freezing
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus overnight cooling
Serves
Eight
Ingredients
For the sorbet
- 300g granulated sugar
- juice of ½ lemon
- 500g raspberries
- 2 tsp cider vinegar (optional)
- For the meringues
- 5 large egg whites
- 250g caster sugar
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
For the topping
- 400ml double or whipping cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar, or to taste
- rose water, to taste (different brands vary in strength, so add it slowly, starting with 2 tsp)
- 400g raspberries
- 35g Turkish delight, cut into small cubes
- a handful of rose petals, either fresh (and edible) or candied
Method
1. Begin with the sorbet. Put the sugar in a saucepan with 300ml water and bring to the boil, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. Leave to cool completely.
2. Put the lemon juice and some of the sugar syrup in a food processor with the raspberries. Purée, then push through a non-metallic sieve to get rid of the seeds, pressing with the back of a wooden spoon. Mix the purée and the rest of the sugar syrup together. Taste. You can add the vinegar now if you want to. It makes the sorbet more tart, which goes well with the meringue but might not be to everyone’s taste.
3. Put the purée and syrup mixture into the fridge and chill. Churn it in an ice-cream machine or, if you don’t have one, put it in a broad, shallow container and put this in the freezer. You need to break down the crystals about four times during the freezing process, using a food processor or electric beaters. Then return it to the freezer. Leave overnight. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before you want to serve it.
4. Heat the oven to 130C/120C fan/gas mark ½. Draw eight rounds – 7-8cm in diameter – on baking parchment, four onone sheet and four on another.
5. Put the egg whites into a scrupulously clean bowl and beat them with a pinch of salt. Once the whites are forming soft peaks, add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time, continuing to beat. You should end up with a stiff, glossy mixture. Add the cornflour and vinegar, and whisk briefly until combined.
6. Use the meringue to stick the sheets of baking parchment, pencil-side down, on two large baking sheets (use a few small daubs).
7. Divide the meringue mixture between the eight circles. Bake in the centre of the oven for one hour and 20 minutes, swapping the baking sheets round halfway through.
8. Turn the oven off and leave the little meringues in there overnight. The next day, carefully peel off the paper. Put them somewhere safe until you want to serve them. You can’t put the pavlovas together before then.
9. Whip the cream, sweeten it with icing sugar and add the rose water. Put some cream on each meringue and put some raspberries and Turkish delight on top, sticking to one half of the meringue. Add a small spoonful of sorbet on the other side. Scatter with whatever form of rose petals you’re using. If you’re using fresh ones, tear them into pieces unless they’re small. Serve immediately.
Read last week's column: Three scrumptious winter pie recipes from Diana Henry
