Simon Hopkinson’s prawn co*cktail
Serves 4
Little Gem lettuce hearts 2, finely shredded
mayonnaise 4-5 tbsp (see below)
tomato ketchup 1-2 tbsp, or to taste
Tabasco sauce 3-4 shakes
cognac a dribble or two
spring onions 2, trimmed and thinly sliced
cucumber ¼ small, peeled, deseeded and finely diced
prawns 400g cooked, whole shell-on, then heads removed and peeled
lemon wedges 4 small
paprika a touch
For the mayonnaise
egg yolks 2
smooth Dijon mustard 2 tsp
sunflower or other neutral oil 300ml
lemon juice of ½ large
extra virgin olive oil 150ml (fragrant, but not strongly flavoured)
salt and freshly ground white pepper
You will need 4 big glasses. Begin with the mayonnaise. Put the egg yolks into a roomy bowl and mix in the mustard and a little seasoning. Beginning slowly, whisk together, while very slowly trickling in the sunflower oil.
Once the mixture is becoming very thick, add a little lemon juice. Continue beating, adding the oil a little faster and increasing the beating speed. Once the oil has been used up, add some more lemon juice and then begin incorporating the olive oil until you are happy with the taste. Now add a final squeeze of lemon juice if you think it necessary. Finally, taste for seasoning, spoon into a lidded plastic pot and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Put the shredded lettuce in a small bowl, cover with cold water and a few cubes of ice; this will crisp the lettuce. Leave for a few minutes while you make the co*cktail sauce. In another bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, ketchup, Tabasco and cognac; the sauce should be regulation pink. Fold in the spring onions and cucumber. Put to one side.
Drain the lettuce and either spin-dry, or place on a tea towel, gently roll it up and then tip out into a bowl. Divide the lettuce into the bottom off your big glasses, top with the prawns, dividing them equally between each glass, then spoon over the co*cktail sauce, allowing it to completely cover the prawns.
Carefully slide a sharp knife between the skin and flesh of the lemon wedges, but cutting only halfway through. Attach these to the rim of each glass and sprinkle the co*cktail with a touch of paprika.
Brown bread and butter is, I feel, essential here.
From Simon Hopkinson Cooks by Simon Hopkinson (Ebury Press, £25)
Nigella Lawson’s aromatic Christmas ham
There’s no absolute need to have a cold Christmas ham on a welcome table, but there are few sights more seasonally cheering.
I like to have some of the sweet, salty pink meat carved, and some still clove-studded and gorgeously whole, as a joint, on a wooden board. Obviously, it is fabulous hot, too.
Serves approx 10
smoked gammon with knuckle bone 6.5kg
red wine 250ml
water to cover
onion 1 large, halved
garlic 2 cloves, unpeeled
fennel 1 head, halved
star anise 2
coriander seeds 1 tbsp
fennel seeds 1 tbsp
mixed peppercorns 1 tbsp
For the glaze
whole cloves 20
cranberry or redcurrant jelly 4 tbsp
ground cinnamon ½ tsp
smoked paprika 1 tsp
red wine vinegar ½ tsp
Put all the ingredients, except those for the glaze, into a large pan, on the stove but off the heat, adding water until the ham is covered.
Turn on the heat and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and partially cover the pan. Cook for about 3½ hours. (This may not seem long for a big joint, but as it will carry on cooking as it cools, and as this is going to be eaten cold, I don’t want it overcooked. Nor do you.)
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Lift the ham gently out of the hot liquid, sit it on a board and let it cool slightly, not too much but just so that you can touch it without burning yourself.
With a sharp knife, strip off the rind, and a little of the fat layer if it’s very thick, but leave a thin layer of fat. I love this work: it is peculiarly gratifying seeing the hot blubbery fat slither off. Use the same knife to score a diamond pattern in the remaining fat on the ham, in lines about 2cm apart. Stud the points of each diamond with a clove.
Put the cranberry or redcurrant jelly, cinnamon, paprika and red wine vinegar into a little saucepan and whisk together over a high heat, bringing it to the boil. Let the pan bubble away, for about 5 minutes, so that the glaze reduces to a syrupy consistency that will coat the fat on the ham.
Now sit the ham in a roasting tin lined with foil, as the sugar in the glaze will burn in the oven as it drips off. Pour the glaze over the diamond-studded ham, then put it in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the glazed fat has caught and burnished. Take the ham out of the oven and sit it on a wooden board to cool (2–3 hours) before you carve it.
MAKE AHEAD TIP
Cook the ham, loosely cover in a “tent” of foil and keep chilled for up to 1 week.
From Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson (Chatto & Windus, £20)
Nigella Lawson’s perfect roast potatoes
Needs must and all that, so I have always been an open anti-perfectionist, but in truth it is impossible to cook roast potatoes without needing them to be perfect, which to me means sweet and soft inside and a golden-brown carapace of crunch without. And, strangely, no matter how many tricksy things you may succeed at in cooking, nothing gives quite the contented glow of achievement that cooking a good tray of roast potatoes does. Unfortunately there is concomitant decline when you feel you’ve failed. The brutal truth is that you either get it right or you don’t, and anything less than perfect is a disappointment. There are three crucial things that I think make the difference: the first is the heat of the fat – if it’s not searingly hot, you don’t stand a chance, and since goose fat has a very high smoking point and tastes good, it is my annual choice here; the second is the size of your potatoes – you want them relatively small, so that the ratio of crunchy outside to fluffy interior is optimised; and, finally, I think dredging the potatoes – and this is a family practice, inherited through the maternal line – in semolina rather than flour after parboiling, then really rattling the pan around to make the potatoes a bit mashed on the surface so they catch more in the hot fat, is a major aid.
Serves 10–16 as part of the Christmas feast, or 8–10 if not
goose fat 2 x 320g jars
potatoes, such as King Edward’s 2.5kg
semolina 2 tbsp
Preheat the oven to 250C/gas mark 9. If you don’t have a double oven, you will have to do this as soon as the turkey is out of your single oven, which, for me, is very much later than the parboiling stage.
Put the fat into a large roasting tin and then into the oven to heat up, and get frighteningly hot – 20–30 minutes should do it.
Peel the potatoes, and cut each one into 3 by cutting off each end at a slant so that you are left with a wedge or triangle in the middle.
Put the potatoes into salted, cold water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil, letting them cook for 4 minutes.
Drain the potatoes in a colander, then tip them back into the empty, dry saucepan, and sprinkle the semolina over.
Shake the potatoes around to coat them well and, with the lid clamped on, give the pan a good rotate and the potatoes a proper bashing so that their edges fuzz and blur a little: this facilitates the crunch effect later. I leave them to rest at this stage. If you don’t, you’ll need to have preheated the oven earlier!
When the fat is as hot as it can be, tip the potatoes carefully into it and roast in the oven for an hour or until they are darkly golden and crispy, turning them over halfway through cooking.
If the oven’s hot enough, they may well not need more than about 25 minutes a side; but it’s better to let them sit in the oven (you can pour off most of the fat) till the very last minute.
Transfer the potatoes to a large (warmed) serving dish and bring to the table with pride in your heart.
MAKE AHEAD TIP
Peel the potatoes the day before. Keep submerged, whole, in cold water in a cold place. Drain, cut and cover with fresh, salted water to parboil and then roast as directed.
From Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson (Chatto & Windus, £20)
Edson Diaz-Fuentes’s Mexican bacalao a la vizcaina
Salt cod slow-cooked with tomatoes, olives, parsley and baby potatoes is one of the most traditional dishes to eat on Christmas Eve in Mexico City, where I grew up.
Vizcaina-style salted cod originally came from Spain, with the Mexicans later adding more ingredients. Every family has their own recipe and everyone thinks their grandmother makes the best. As a child, the preparations felt endless: from the trip to the market where crowds of ladies would be choosing the best pieces of salt cod from huge mountains of fish, to the many hours soaking, and finally the long, slow cooking of the dish. It is usually served with arroz a la Mexicana (Mexican-style fried rice with tomatoes).
Serves 8-10
salt cod 1kg (available from quality Spanish food suppliers, such as Brindisa)
olive oil 500ml, for cooking
red onions 1kg, finely chopped
fresh plum tomatoes 2kg
garlic 2 heads, cloves peeled
dried bay leaves 4–6
dried marjoram a pinch
white pepper a pinch
green olives 200g, stoned
capers 100g
baby new potatoes 1kg, halved
dried Mexican chilli flakes such as guajillo or de árbol
parsley 1 bunch, chopped
pickled guero chillies (or pickled green peppers)
For the arroz a la Mexicana
plum tomatoes 5
garlic 6 cloves, peeled
chicken or vegetable stock 700ml
white onion 1 small, peeled
vegetable oil 60ml
white long grain rice 600g
bay leaves 2
carrots 3, diced
petit pois 150g, frozen
coriander ½ bunch, chopped
salt to taste
You first need to desalt the cod 24 hours in advance. Rinse thoroughly then submerge entirely in water. Soak in the fridge overnight, changing the water twice.
When ready, rinse the cod very thoroughly again and cut into chunks. Add cold water to a pan and cook the cod until tender. Once cooked, drain – keep some of the cooking water in case your sauce needs more liquid – and shred finely ensuring you remove all the bones.
Add the olive oil to a pan and cook the red onions on a low heat, moving continuously, until they are very soft and transparent.
Cook the plum tomatoes on a griddle until their skin is charred.
Put the tomatoes and garlic in a liquidiser and blend together. Sieve to remove all seeds and skins. Add to the pan with the onions and fry for around 10 minutes. Add the bay leaves, marjoram and a pinch of white pepper.
Then add the cod, olives, capers and baby new potatoes and simmer for 3–4 hours. Season with salt and pepper to taste – remember the cod is salty. I normally add a pinch of Mexican chilli flakes for an extra layer of flavour.
While the cod is cooking, make the rice. Put the tomatoes, 5 of the garlic cloves, stock and onion in a blender and puree until a smooth paste. Pass through a colander.
Add the oil to a saucepan over a medium heat and cook 1 finely chopped garlic clove for a minute, then add the rice and fry it, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until golden brown. Pour in the tomato paste, then add the bay leaves, carrots and peas and stir thoroughly.
Season with salt, reduce the heat and cover, cooking until all the liquid has been absorbed, between 20-25 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for an additional 10 minutes. Finish with the chopped coriander.
Add the chopped parsley and guero chillies or pickled peppers to the cod before serving.
Edson Diaz-Fuentes is co-owner of Santo Remedio, 152 Tooley Street, London SE1 2TU
Sally Clarke’s Campari, clementine and vanilla sorbet with clementine zest madeleines
Clementines are not as easy as oranges to zest, as they are softer and smaller – it is tricky to get any “purchase” on the fruit while grating the rind. The important part is not to collect any pith as you grate, so slowly and gently does it.
Serves 6
For the sorbet
water 100ml
caster sugar 200g
vanilla pod ½, split lengthwise
clementine juice 600ml freshly squeezed (15-20 clementines)
Campari 150ml
For the madeleines
eggs 2
caster sugar 110g
clementines zest of 3
plain flour 110g, sieved, plus extra for preparing the tin
butter 90g, melted, plus extra for preparing the tin
For the sorbet, bring the water, sugar and vanilla pod to the boil and simmer for 5–10 minutes or until some of the vanilla seeds have been released.
When cool, scrape a few more seeds into the syrup, rinse the pod and keep for another use.
Add the clementine juice to the syrup and then the Campari. Stir well and pour into an ice-cream machine and churn following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Just before it is firm, scoop into a freezer container and freeze for up to 1 week, although this sorbet is best served within a few hours.
Lightly whisk the eggs and sugar with the clementine zest until very frothy. Using the whisk, fold in the sieved flour and then the cooled butter. Cover and leave to rest for up to 30 minutes in a cool place.
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Brush the madeleine moulds generously with soft butter, sprinkle with flour and knock out the excess. This will ensure that the little cakes, once cooked, fall out of the moulds with ease.
With a dessert spoon or large teaspoon, scoop the filling into the moulds, almost to the rims. Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden. Leave to cool for a few minutes then tap them out of the tin and serve as soon as possible.
From 30 Ingredients by Sally Clarke (Frances Lincoln, £25)
