Salty and sweet pairings to start
As a delicious starter, Frank Hederman at Belvelly Smokehouse recommends serving hot smoked salmon with al dente red cabbage spiced and sweetened with caramelised onion and dried fruits, and cut with fresh ginger, orange zest and background notes of sherry vinegar. frankhederman.com
What sauce to serve with the turkey?
Master of ceremonies at Kilkenny Savour food festival Siobhan Donohue serves the family bread sauce recipe with a splash of Highbank Orchard’s organic apple treacle. O’Keefe likes a silky butter sauce spiked with white mausu smoky chilli oil. highbankorchards.com; savourkilkenny.com
Say cheese
A visit to Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins, in Dublin’s Docklands, is the perfect start to the season. This motorcycle-riding, Donaghmeade born and bred chef believes that a wonderful all-Irish cheese board is the perfect food for sharing with family and friends as a yuletide feast.
His counsel is to “start by choosing a soft goat cheese like St Tola from Co Clare, a delicious hard, like a Coolattin cheddar from west Wicklow, a washed-rind like Gubbeen from west Cork and, of course, a blue cheese, like Cashel Blue from Tipperary. Add a good relish, some grapes, toasted nuts, organic honey and crusty bread.” forbesstreet.ie
A fragrant finish
For a fragrant finish to my Christmas meal, writes Clare Anne, I will be scattering Hadji Bey’s Original Rose Turkish Delight and pomegranates across the tablescape to create an edible centrepiece to be served with Cork’s wonderful Cafe Izz Palestinian coffee. Gifts will be unwrapped too at this stage. On my list this year is a Hugo Byrne knife to slice up Tom Durkan’s award-winning spiced beef. hugobyrneknives.com; corkcity.ie
Party pieces
Canapés, anyone? Served either warm or cold, Ireland AM regular Edward Hayden’s beef and cranberry filo tartlets, and tangy lamb skewers, are easy-to-eat, bite-sized morsels that feature meat from O’Brien Butchers and John Stone. obrienbutchers.ie; johnstonebeef.com
At a soirée at the home Katia Valadeau of ProperFood.ie a simple platter is served, consisting of smoked trout with crème fraîche, capers, shaved onions, lemon zest, dill and black pepper, topped with Irish caviar, specifically, Goatsbridge trout caviar. goatsbridgetrout.ie
Bettina Lopes, a wine expert and co-owner of Little Italy, in Smithfield, Dublin 7, advocates an Italian aperitivo approach to party bites. She piles ricotta and truffle or delicious pistachio pesto on to slices of mortadella on ciabatta, served with an Amarena Spritz, the Italian cherry syrup with prosecco and a splash of Campari, or simply Amarena cherries dropped into Sanbitter Dry, to create a non-alcoholic festive spritz. She also brings a panettone as a host gift. littleitalyltd.com
Raise a glass to time off
A walk, followed by time in your local, is a great way to gather with friends at Christmas. For Clare Anne, this usually means a tramp around the Phoenix Park to see the deer, followed by a glass of punch at L Mulligan Grocer, where Seáneen Sullivan, a food and folklore scholar, is the mixologist.
Her party punch is made of one part lemon juice, two parts simple sugar syrup, three parts Longueville House apple brandy to four parts soda water – to be added when ordered, just before serving over ice, she explains. She chills the mixture, minus the soda water, in bottles and has it in her fridge to serve to guests or to bring to a party as a last-minute yet thoughtful gift. Her non-alcoholic version features Irish apple juice, cordials from Naturally Cordial in Wexford and a tonic from Poacher’s range. lmulligangrocer.com
The world is your oyster
At home I shuck my own shells and add a teaspoon of ice-cold, Cuinneog, Irish farmhouse natural buttermilk, to my au nature bivalves. For a festive treat I book a table at Allta Bar and Bottle Shop, in Dublin’s Three Locks Square, where Cromane oysters are on the menu. I enjoy them with a drop of Allta’s house-made fermented chilli sauce. allta.ie
Leftovers to love
Publican turned organic farmer Mick Foggarty’s Christmas highlight is his St Stephen’s Day sandwich. This features the usual leftovers but Mick’s secret is to add crushed bacon fries to the mix; he recommends picking up a pack in the pub on Christmas Eve before you leave.
This whiskey expert and farmer of Beechpark Eco Farm, who is a fan of Crowe Farm’s outdoor-raised Bronze turkeys, sets out strict rules about how to construct this morning-after cure.
“Heat your turkey in the leftover gravy and fry up the leftover veg,” says Mick. “Get two slices of bread and spread one side of each with cranberry sauce. Add the hot meat and gravy to the cranberry sauce side of one slice of bread and then top with the vegetables, crush the bacon fries and put them on top of the vegetables and then top with the other slice of bread, sauce side down. Cut in half, eat and say goodbye to that Christmas hangover.” beechparkfarm.com; crowefarm.ie
Stocking fillers for foodies
- Achill Island’s smoked sea salt is delicious to give and to receive.
- Max Rocha’s Café Cecilia cookbook is on the Jane Gleeson’s Christmas list. The London-based restaurant communications consultant is the founder of Guzzle, an art and food publication that’s a feast for the eyes and taste buds.
- A Hugo Byrne knife to slice up Tom Durkan’s award-winning spiced beef.
Use the great outdoors
Run out of fridge space? Don’t just think outside the box – think outside the house, says chef and author Graham Herterich: “When I need extra space in the fridge for the Christmas Day prep, I do a clear-out of half jars of condiments or vegetables or anything that’s not very perishable from the fridge and they move to either the boot of the car or a secure box outside for few days.
“They’ll be grand outside in the cold, and it means we’ve loads of room then for all the extra Christmas meats and stuff like that.”
Making a list
Santa is not the only one who needs a list, says cook and food writer William Murray: “A key tool of experienced cooks and chefs is an ‘order of work’, a detailed yet straightforward list and plan of attack for the big day with times and jobs. Things like getting your prep done, when to preheat the oven, what to put in the oven in what order etc.
“Some of these things might seem obvious but, trust me, having a detailed plan to refer to on the day is essential, especially if you tend to be messy like me. And don’t forget the delegation of jobs to others.”
An unusual pairing
Ikea is not a place most of us would think about picking up Christmas food but it’s a must for Mickael Viljanen, chef-patron of two-Michelin-starred Chapter One. He pairs Ikea gingerbread biscuits with Cashel Blue for a Christmas Eve treat: “They’re delicious together with a lovely glass of wine, like a dry Riesling.”
He’s also into adding some sweetness to his stuffing: “Instead of using normal breadcrumbs, I blitz up a loaf of brioche into breadcrumbs. It soaks up the fat and flavours much better, and makes a much tastier stuffing. I like to add some dried cranberries to mine, as well as the usual herbs.”
Super snacks
Chef Barry Sun of Volpe Nero in Dublin is also thinking ahead about snacks when he’s planning: “I always purchase the makings of some simple snacks to serve with Christmas drinks. I like to slice and toast good quality sourdough, add a drizzle of olive oil, a spoon of stracciatella, finish with anchovy fillets and season. Simple but always impressive”.
Butcher your bird
A whole turkey can often be too much if you’re cooking for a smaller number, says Carol Barrett, owner of Dunmore House Hotel in Co Cork. To avoid any waste, she recommends asking your butcher to take off the legs and mince the leg meat, to be used another time.
“It’s great for a bolognese pasta or burgers in the new year,” says Barrett. “This also makes your turkey crown easier to roast and manage.”
Brine time
To brine or not to brine is often a question when it comes to Christmas turkey. Chef Dan Hannigan is firmly in the brining camp.
“I always brine my turkey,” he says. “It imparts extra flavour – and not just for the turkey. A sneaky little extra tip would be to reserve some of your brine and add cabbages cut into four pieces, with the root left on, for a couple of hours, and then pan fry them when cooking the dinner for the most sensational cabbage of your life.”
Elevate your cranberries
Or how about jazzing up shop-bought cranberry sauce? Sateesh Sayana, chef-patron of Ruchii restaurant in Blackrock, Co Dublin, spices his jarred sauce with sliced apple and pears.
“Toss them in a pan with butter, bay leaves, cinnamon and sugar. Once the fruits have caramelised, add to the cranberry sauce. This little addition will elevate the tart cranberry flavour and show your guests you went to a little extra effort when serving your turkey and ham.”
Sexy spuds
If you’re catering for vegetarians and vegans, don’t forget to ditch the duck fat when roasting your spuds. Instead, Holly White offers advice for getting perfect crispy potatoes that will satisfy everyone at the table.
“To boost the flavour of my roast potatoes once they are parboiled I coat them in lots of crushed garlic, thyme and olive oil before roasting them in a hot oven until crisp. I make sure to shuffle them halfway through, breaking up the edges, allowing them to absorb all the flavours, and then serve them piping hot and seasoned well.”
Bite-sized mince pies
There’s nothing quite like a freshly baked mince pie at Christmas but making the real deal can be laborious. Instead, JR Ryall, head pastry chef at Ballymaloe House, has a quick-fix idea he calls “a festive game-changer”: bite-size mince pie turnovers.
“They’re so much quicker to assemble than traditional mince pies, and the best part is that they can be baked straight from the freezer,” says Ryall. “Every year, in late November, I set aside some time to make a batch. I simply fold a small circle of pastry over a spoonful of mince-pie filling, creating little half-moon pies, seal the edges, and freeze them on trays. Once they’re frozen, I store them in an airtight container, ready to be baked whenever Christmas visitors arrive. No special baking tray required.”
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