RECIPES & WINE Festive treats

In the KITCHEN

An easy-peasy party piece, packed with pastry and pickle... great for grazing with family and friends this Christmas!

BRIE & PICKLE PASTRY WREATH

Preparation Time: 15 minutes. Cooking Time: 15 minutes. Serves Six. 320g ready roll puff pastry • 6tbsp Perfect Party Pickle (320g jar) • 200g brie cheese, sliced • 2 tbsp pistachio nuts roughly chopped • 1 egg, beaten

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the pastry and cut a large circle out of the pastry. Lay the large pastry circle on the prepared baking sheet. Mark an inner circle with a medium-sized bowl, don’t press all the way through the pastry. Cut four cuts into the centre circle, this will create eight triangles. Spread a liberal amount of good quality pickle around the outer circle then top with the brie and pistachios. Our preferred pickle is Country Delights’ Perfect Party Pickle, if not for the flavour then simply for the alliteration (see www.cottagedelight.co.uk). From the four cuts, bring one triangle of the centre outwards over the filling as well as bringing the outer edge of pastry inwards. Press the two together and continue all the way around with the remaining seven triangles until you have a wreath. Brush with beaten egg then place in the oven and allow to bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven, allow to rest for five minutes then slice and serve. n

In the KITCHEN

What festive flavours marry together better than chocolate and orange? This showstopper will look fabulous and it’s much lighter than traditional Christmas pudding!

MULLED ORANGE & CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Preparation Time: 10 minutes. Chilling Time: Overnight. Serves: 12. (Biscuit Base) 300g Bourbon biscuits • 150g unsalted butter (Cheesecake Filling) 600g cream cheese (full fat) • 300ml double cream • 75g icing sugar 300g Terry’s Chocolate Orange • 1 x 305g jar Cottage Delight Mulled Orange All Butter Curd (8 heaped tbsp) 1 orange zest (Decoration) orange zest • orange slices, thinly sliced 2tbsp crème fraiche •

For the biscuit base, melt the butter in the microwave, on short bursts, until fully melted. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor to a small crumb or by bashing them in a bag with the end of a rolling pin, add the butter, and mix until it is combined well. Tip into a 20cm deep springform tin and press down firmly – chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. For the cheesecake filling, melt the 300g Chocolate Orange in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring gently or microwave in short bursts until fully melted. Mix together the cream cheese and icing sugar until thick and whip up the double cream in a separate bowl – fold the mixtures together, and then fold through the melted chocolate. The secret ingredient here is the Mulled Orange All Butter Curd, which is available from decent farm shops (or from www.cottagedelight.co.uk). Add two heaped tablespoons then zest in the orange. Evenly spread six more tablespoons of the Mulled Orange Curd over the chilled biscuit base, then pour the cream cheese mix on to the curd layer, smooth over, cover, and chill in the fridge for six hours, or preferably overnight. Top with sliced oranges, orange zest and crème fraiche in the centre. n

A whisky advent calendar for the true connoisseur...

On the night before Christmas not a creature will stir after they’ve enjoyed their nightly dram! A pilgrimage across Scotland in whisky form with 24 rare and aged single cask and blended expressions from the five Scotch whisky regions to offer the perfect advent calendar for Whisky enthusiasts. Presented in the form of a cabinet, handmade in wood and finished in the same way as a traditional whisky cabinet. Each 50ml dram is bottled straight from the cask and represents an expression of some of the best whiskies Scotland has to offer from leading distilleries. n

£160 / 24 x 50ml / 42-50% ABV, www.harveynichols.com.

The Wine Cellar

Beer of the Month

Rutland Osprey from Grainstore Brewery from £2.20 + postage, 500ml each / 4.0% ABV

If you hold good beer dear to your heart, there’s only one brew to champion. Grainstore Brewery’s flagship Rutland Osprey is a refreshing light golden brew, whose flavour is complex and mellow with a finely balanced floral aroma and smooth bitterness. Real ale gift boxes from the brewery tap £12/three bottles, or £2.20 plus shipping from British Local Craft. The brewery was founded in September 1995 and has earned Own Brew Pub of the Year on five occasions. n Buy from brewery at www.grainstore brewery.com or from www.british localcraft.co.uk.

THIS MONTH WHAT ELSE COULD WE RECOMMEND BUT ONE OF THE BEST LOCAL ALES, AN ALCOHOL-FREE TREAT FOR THE ABSTEMIOUS AND A TRIO OF WINES TO GO WITH YOUR TURKEY Alcohol-free, locally made and delicious!

LET’S TALK TURKEY: Three excellent wines to accompany your Christmas lunch...

1. Pinot noir is a great match for turkey or goose, and this mature example is from the 2010 vintage of Pommard in burgundy. Full-bodied, tannic, with leather and blackcurrant. £39 / 75cl / 13.1% ABV.

2. At the opposite end of the scale, Australian this Chardonnay is drier than your mother-in-law’s Christmas pudding, with creamy oak, buttery, vanilla flavours, and just a hint of lemon and grapefruit, too. £45 / 75cl / 13.5% ABV.

3. And finally, Reisling is a lovely sweet option more conventionally considered a dessert wine, but pairing nicely with turkey. It’s lighter in terms of its alcohol content, too. £29.99 / 75cl / 8.5% ABV. For designated driver or those who want to enjoy the festive season hangover-free, Belvoir Farms has the answer with a special festive edition of one of their premium drinks. This non-alcoholic Festive Fruit Juice Punch is made with a blend of cranberry, blackcurrant and orange juices with extracts of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg for a fruity winter warmer. Enjoy it cool, with lemonade, or warm it up and let the soothing winter scent radiate!

£2.95 / 75cl / 0% ABV, www.belvoirfarm.co.uk.

n Our featured wines are available from the best local independent wine merchants, supermarkets and online, prices are RRP and may vary from those stated.