Menu a la Harts Christmas
Eatings
Christmas is a time for enjoying food
with loved ones. But unless you want to
spend the holiday chained to the stove,
then preparation is key. Michelin-starred
chef and restaurateur Russell Brown
shows us how with his pro tips and
make-ahead recipes…
C
hristmas is a challenging
time for the cook. Much
of what we do is based on
the family traditions we
have grown up with, but
over the years tastes and
desires change, so pleasing everybody
at a family gathering can be tough. The
stress levels in the kitchen shouldn’t be
high though, and preparation is the key.
Work out all the dishes you are going to
be cooking, sort the shopping lists out
and order ahead of time anything you
need to. Organise your recipes, write
lists of all the prep to be done and then
divide it into different days according to
how well things will keep. For example,
peeling the potatoes the day before and
keeping them in a bowl of water means
one less job to do on the day. If you
apply this approach to everything, life
should be much easier. Use the
freezer and the microwave to take
some of the pressure off, too. Vegetable
purées freeze well, as do stocks and
sauces and pastry. Many vegetables can
be cooked and chilled, then reheated in
sealed containers in the microwave. It
certainly isn’t cheating.
If you are looking to give your
Christmas meal a bit of a twist, but need
to keep the traditionalists happy, look
at splitting batches. Parsnips are a good
example – you want roast parsnips but
also fancy a cumin spiced purée? Blanch
your prepared parsnips for roasting,
but leave half to cook until completely
soft, drain and then reduce the cooking
water down to a few spoonfuls. Heat
some butter and oil in a small pan and
toast some ground cumin, add the soft
parsnips and toss to coat in the spices
before puréeing with the cooking liquid,
adding seasoning and butter to taste.
If you’re cooking for just two of you
and don’t want to face a week of meals
based around leftover turkey, have a
look at roasting some partridge as an
alternative. Partridge is the perfect
game bird for portion control and
works really well with all the traditional
Christmas dinner accompaniments.
Having put forethought and effort
into the prior planning, you should end
up with a meal to please all tastes and
will hopefully spend more time
enjoying the day, instead of being
completely confined to the kitchen.
Follow the star
Russell Brown has been cooking professionally for over 20 years and held Dorset’s
only Michelin star at his restaurant, Sienna, in Dorchester. He now heads up
Creative about Cuisine, a bespoke food-based consultancy, writing and
photography service. www.creativeaboutcuisine.com
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