Food & Drink

Have a tasty and merry Cress-mas!

SIMPLE watercress canapes could wow your Guests this Christmas!

After two years of slightly muted celebrations thanks to Covid, we’re all hoping that Christmas 2022 will be one we can share unreservedly with friends and loved ones.

As such, it’s predicted that entertaining will be big this year.

But how to make canapes and nibbles that people will be talking about weeks after the tinsel and lights have been packed away for another year?

Well, The Watercress Company has done the hard work for you and come up with recipes for a range of savoury morsels that not only taste fantastic, are as pretty as a picture, but are a great way to use up the leftovers from the cheeseboard too!

What’s more, with watercress as a key ingredient in each dish you’re doing your guests a whole lot of good; watercress contains over 50 vital vitamins and minerals. Gram for gram it contains more vitamin C than an orange – essential for supporting the immune system in winter – more calcium than milk, more folate than a banana and more vitamin E than broccoli.

High in iron and a rich source of protein and fibre too, watercress is a gift to us all!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Cheesy Watercress Tortilla Cups Makes between 4 – 8 per tortilla, depending on cutter size Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 7 mins

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Cheesy watercress tortilla cups Ingredients: 3 Tortillas 80g Watercress, chopped with big stalks removed 70g Cheddar cheese, grated (or use any combination of cheese) 50g Parmesan, grated Olive oil Paprika Salt Pepper Chives, chopped finely Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a muffin tray 2. Using a pastry cutter, the same size as the holes in the tray, cut circles from your tortillas. Place the circles in the bottom of the muffins tray, one per hole, press them in until they fit and brush the tops with a little oil. 3. Fill the cups with a 50:50 ratio of cheese and watercress. Sprinkle a little parmesan over the top, plus a pinch of paprika, salt and pepper 4. Bake in the oven for around 7 minutes, until the tortillas look golden, and the cheese has melted 5. Top with a some of the cut chives and serve!

Feta Watercress Pastry Wreath

Makes 1 wreath to share

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients: 2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry 1/2 block feta cheese, crumbled until small 1 egg, beaten

Parmesan For the watercress pesto: 80g watercress 2tbsp pine nuts 1 clove garlic

Olive oil 50g Parmesan

Salt & Pepper

Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180°, line a baking tray with grease proof paper 2. Make your pesto by combining all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth – begin with about 50ml of olive oil and add more if needed to loosen the pesto. 3. Using a dinner plate, trim both sheets of pastry to a circle (you can save the excess to make some holly and berry decorations for the top!) Then, using a mug or pastry cutter, cut a small circle from the middle of each sheet – creating two matching donut shapes. 4. Spread a layer of watercress pesto on one of the pastry shapes – about a thumb’s width in from the edge. Then sprinkle the feta over the top. 5. Lay the other pastry sheet over top and line them up until they match. Press the edges together to seal and brush all with the beaten egg. 6. Leaving a thin border in the middle of the wreath, cut 16 strips from the centre out to the edge. Twist each strip over twice, repeat on all the other strips, twisting in the same direction each time. 7. Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes, until golden brown.

This is ideal for tear & share.

purbeckgazette.co.uk Yule love this log for Christmas

By Lorraine Gibson

NEED to whip up a quick festive dessert?

My go-to option is my old-school yule log. There’s no baking required, so it’s perfect for when you’re busy – and at this time of year, who isn’t? It’s decadent, indulgent and booze-infused, just like the perfect Christmas.

You’ll need two bowls, a whish and a long, flat plate or board. Take a bowl and mix together the wine, sugar and half the brandy. Gradually whisk in the cream until it looks like fluffy, snowy peaks. Pour the remaining brandy into a separate bowl and add the orange juice. Mix. This is your biscuit dip.

Next, the log. Use a small amount of the whipped cream for this. The rest is to smother it like snow.

Take your plate/board and run a smear of cream along the centre, this is the ‘glue’ that helps your log stay put. Dunk a biscuit, very briefly or it will disintegrate, into the brandy and orange mixture, add a smear of cream to one side and place (creamside up) at the start of the ‘glue’ strip. Take another biscuit and repeat the process, sandwiching it with the first, then take another and dip, cream and repeat to build an upright tower. Lower your ‘tower’ on its side on to the ‘glued’ plate, then continue to add more soaked and creamed biscuits all along until you have the right length log – or are out of biscuits!

Log built, take the remaining cream and smother the entire thing, roughing it up a bit to give a bark-like appearance. Pop in an airtight tub and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours/overnight. By then the brandy-soaked gingernuts will have turned to a moist sponge and the cream will have set.

Add a garnish of chocolate

Food & Drink

curls, raspberries, a simple sprig of holly, or whatever floats your boat. To serve, cut on a slant for a lovely stripy pattern.

Ingredients (10 servings):

50ml medium white wine 50g caster sugar 50ml brandy (or alcohol-free alternative such as apple juice) 200ml extra thick double cream

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