Foodie News

Something Fishy

LEAP’s Wild Alaska Sockeye salmon is just perfect for your Christmas dining. Renowned for its vibrant crimson colour and its intense flavour it’s smoked over a unique blend of five woods and hand-cured for a rich and balanced flavour. A brilliant source of vitamin D, protein and omega-3 it will make the ideal starter for any Christmas hosting this year. Available to purchase from selected retailers including Ocado, Planet Organic, Tesco, Waitrose and Whole Foods.

Delicious Birds for Your Festive Feast

Whether you like to keep things traditional at Christmas with turkey, or fancy a change with duck, then Gressingham has all your bases covered.

Producing turkeys and ducks to high welfare standards, Gressingham can ensure that you find the perfect and most succulent bird for your festive table.

All of Gressingham's turkeys come from Red Tractor assured British farms across Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex.

If you fancy having duck for Christmas lunch, then Gressingham is the expert and offers delicious whole ducks or crowns that serve 3 to 4 people. Perfect for a smaller crowd, but still special and something a bit different, Gressingham breeds, hatches, rears and then prepares the ducks by hand.

Gressingham turkeys are available from Costco and butchers/farm shops. Prices vary.

Gressingham ducks are available from Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and Ocado all year round. Prices vary.

Christmas Tipple

It’s time for some exceptional bubbles this festive season with Graham Beck’s Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine (£24, Majestic). Created with 100% Chardonnay, hand selected from the limestone rich vineyards on Graham Beck’s Robertson estate, this Cap Classique sparkler is rich, creamy and effortlessly elegant –truly a stalwart favourite. The new ‘At Home’ collection from Mary Berry features a range of innovative bakeware products all of which have been designed to give the best results, allowing customers to bake like Mary from the comfort of their own home. The range includes Cast Aluminium Casserole Dishes (from £49.96), 6 Piece Double Sided Cookie Cutter (£15.95), Acacia Wood Board (£49.96), Colander (£19.96), Digital Scale (£24.96) and are all available from

www.hartsofstur.com

At Home with Mary Berry

“This rich, creamy casserole made with spaghetti, mushrooms, turkey and peas smothered in Parmesan sauce is quite possibly the best thing that could ever happen to leftover roast turkey.”

Method

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly butter a 9x13-inch casserole dish. In a small saucepan, melt 4 tbsp butter over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth and cream and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about 5 minutes or until the sauce is thick and silky, whisking constantly as you go. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti as per package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside. While the spaghetti is cooking, melt the remaining 1 tbsp butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and have released most of their liquid. Add the wine and continue cooking for 5 minutes longer, or until most of the liquid in the pan has cooked off. Stir in the cream sauce, cooked turkey, peas, cooked spaghetti, and ½ cup Parmesan cheese. Test the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as desired. Transfer the mixture to the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle evenly with the panko crumbs and remaining ¼ cup parmesan. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until top is golden-brown and filling is bubbling and hot. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Ingredients

5 tbsp butter 6 tbsp flour 2 cups chicken stock 1 ½ cups single cream 1 tsp salt 1 tsp fresh ground pepper 250g uncooked spaghetti, snapped in half 250g sliced mushrooms ¼ cup dry white wine 2 cups diced cooked turkey 1 cup frozen peas ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese ¾ cup breadcrumbs

Persian Squash & Pistachio Roast

“Flavours of Persian cooking are the perfect to compliment to veggie-based dishes at Christmas”

Ingredients

400 g squash Olive oil 1 red onion 2 cloves of garlic 50 g dried apricots 50 g sour cherries or cranberries 2 teaspoons cumin seeds 2 teaspoons coriander seeds 1 lemon 1 bunch of fresh coriander , (15g) 200 g tinned or vacuum-packed chestnuts ½ teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 100 g shelled pistachios 100 g almonds 100 g cooked quinoa or brown rice 2 medium free-range eggs 1 pomegranate 200 g feta cheese , optional 1 lemon , optional 1 teaspoon coriander seeds , optional

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Grease a 24cm loosebottomed tart tin with a little olive oil. Peel, deseed and chop the squash into 1cm chunks, then toss onto a baking tray with a drizzle of oil and sea salt and black pepper, and roast for 20 to 25 minutes. Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic, and roughly chop the apricots and cranberries. Bash the cumin and coriander seeds, and zest the lemon. Pick and roughly chop the coriander, then roughly chop the chestnuts. In a frying pan over a medium heat, cook the onion in a little oil for 10 minutes or until soft and sweet. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, until beginning to soften, then add all the spices and a little more oil. Cook for a couple more minutes, until it’s all smelling great. Remove from the heat and set aside. Blitz the pistachios and almonds until they’re ground to a coarse powder with a little texture. Tip into a bowl with the quinoa or rice and dried fruit, then add the lemon zest, coriander and chestnuts. Beat and stir in the eggs and the onion. Take the squash out of the oven and mash half of it with the back of a fork, leaving the other half in chunks, then stir this into the mixture too. Pile the lot into the prepared tin and press down to flatten. Cook in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until set. Take the nut roast out of the oven, then carefully remove it from the tin and place it on a serving platter. Scatter the loaf with the feta (if using), and the pomegranate seeds.

Festive Pavlova Wreath

“A perfect alternative to Christmas Pudding”

Method

Preheat oven to 150C and line a large flat baking tray with non stick baking paper and draw a 30cm circle in the centre of the paper. Use an electric whisk or stand mixer to beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add the sugar, a spoonful at a time and whisk on maximum speed until the egg whites are glossy and hold stiff peaks when the whisk is removed. Spoon the meringue onto the baking paper in large spoonfuls, using the circle you drew as a guide to create a wreath shape. Use the back of the spoon to create some swirls and merge the spoonfuls together. Run the spoon through the middle of the meringue to create a shallow indentation for the cream and fruit to sit in. Turn the oven down to 140C and bake for 1.5 hours. Once cooked, turn the oven off and leave the meringue inside until it has cooled completely. When ready to decorate, carefully peel off the baking paper and transfer the meringue to a serving plate. Softly whip the cream and spoon over the meringue. Top with your chosen fruit and chopped chocolate covered clementines. For an extra flourish, drizzle with Seggiano Super Dense Fig Balsamic Glaze.

Ingredients

6 medium egg whites 330g caster sugar 500ml double cream Selection of fresh fruit - figs, raspberries, clementines and pomegranate seeds Seggiano Chocolate clementines Seggiano Super Dense Fig Balsamic Glaze