- 6 hours ago
Jamie's Cook-Ahead Christmas - Season 1 Episode 1
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00:00A year can feel a little bit daunting, but not this year.
00:03We're going to cook ahead of time so it takes all of the kitchen chaos out of the big day.
00:11From what we can do well in advance to how to prep in the days and night before,
00:17we're talking delicious starters, epic desserts, incredible veggies and a genius way to cook the turkey.
00:27You'll be so far ahead, there won't be much left to do on the day and I'm going to be with you every step of the way.
00:35So grab your apron, roll up your sleeves and join me on this journey
00:40and make sure this Christmas is all about great food, great company and no last minute stress.
00:56In early December, we can get stuff done way in advance using the freezer as our best friend.
01:03A perfect cook ahead veggie centrepiece, gravy that's good for everyone, sensational stuffing, festive veg
01:11and a winning Christmas dessert already ahead of time so we can all relax on the big day.
01:18I'm going to kick things off by sharing with you the most delicious gratin.
01:27It's a great recipe because you can do it weeks in advance and I'm going to give you not one,
01:32but two ways of serving it so you've got all bases covered.
01:35This special cook ahead vegetable dish adds the perfect oozy cheesiness to your festive feast.
01:43A stunning combo of sliced potatoes and seasonal veg smothered in a herb infused cheesy garlic sauce.
01:52Frozen ahead of time, it's ready to be a potato and fennel gratin or transformed into a superstar centrepiece pie.
01:59I think learning how to do a delicious gratin is a really good principle recipe.
02:05It's going to start off with some milk and some cream and I'm just going to get a pan on to like a medium heat
02:14and put 300 ml of milk into the pan and 200 ml of lovely double cream.
02:22As that temperature comes up, we can get some herbs in there, a couple of bay leaves, get some rosemary in there,
02:29also a classic Christmas spice, nutmeg.
02:35Grate about half of it into this cream and milk with a pinch of salt and pepper.
02:44And then I'm going to take a couple of garlic cloves and just finely slice it.
02:49So this is going to infuse the milk in the most beautiful, garlicky, herbal, spiced way.
02:57It's going to be fantastic.
03:00So look, beautiful potatoes, 800 grams.
03:03I'm going to peel these and all those layers of sliced up potatoes and veggies with creamy, cheesy, herby gorgeousness.
03:12That for me is absolute heaven.
03:16So now that's come to the boil, let's turn it off.
03:19And that smells absolutely incredible.
03:21So I'll leave that for the moment.
03:23To go with these sliced potatoes, we're going to get some onion and finely slice them again.
03:29Now I'm going to use fennel.
03:31It's really fresh.
03:32It cooks super sweet.
03:34And these stalks you can just finely slice as well.
03:37They'll be utterly delicious.
03:39The best thing about this recipe is you can do it before Christmas.
03:44And once we've made it and cooked it, we can pop it in the freezer, no compromise, right?
03:50So we have this beautiful milk and cream, which is fantastically scented.
03:55Remove the herbs and the bay.
03:58They have done their job.
04:00I want to add some cheese.
04:01I'm going a little bit Italian with some parmesan, but then some great British farmhouse cheeses.
04:08So I've got some fantastic cheddar here, but you can pick the cheeses that you love.
04:13And I want about 100 grams.
04:17I'm just mixing the cheese and the residual heat from the milk and cream will just slowly melt that into a kind of rustic cheese sauce.
04:26That is the basis of our flavour.
04:29So, take a little dish, about kind of like 10 inches wide.
04:34I'm going to get some greaseproof paper, scrumple it up, and I'll give it a little season now with salt and pepper.
04:42So just fan that around like that.
04:45Any old hell, frankly.
04:48And another bit, shuffle in, pat it down.
04:52Then we can take our amazing cheese-scented sauce and just pour that over.
04:59Oh, yes.
05:02I love it.
05:04And as it cooks, all the veggies will soften up.
05:07And then the sauce will bubble up in and around everything.
05:11We're going to cook it now, cool it, and put it in the freezer.
05:14When I want it, I can take it out the day before, and then I can turn it into a fantastic side dish.
05:20Or you can turn it into the most amazing showstopper of a pie.
05:24This is about getting things done in advance, but giving you options.
05:28So, one great dish, two ways, giving you loads of choices.
05:32Happy days.
05:32Beautiful.
05:34That goes in the oven for one and a half hours at 180 degrees Celsius, which is 350 Fahrenheit.
05:46While that gratin is cooking, I want to show you how to make homemade pastry.
05:50Now, you can buy short-cross pastry, phyllo pastry, and puff pastry, but the texture is much more optimal when you make it yourself.
05:58It's a very simple recipe.
06:00Half fat to flour.
06:02Okay.
06:02So, we've got 500 grams of plain flour.
06:05And then half the amount in weight of butter.
06:09So, 250 grams.
06:11Get a nice pinch of salt.
06:13Then rub the flour into the butter.
06:16Almost into like little cornflake pieces.
06:20What I love about these get-ahead recipes is this idea that we can build up an arsenal of deliciousness in our fridge and freezers
06:30to make Christmas Day the easiest one ever.
06:34Now, the exciting thing about making your own pastry is you can flavour it.
06:39And I want to use walnuts.
06:41I've just got 50 grams here.
06:43If you grate them, you create a walnut flour.
06:47And then I'm going to take one lovely egg.
06:52Give it a little whisk up.
06:56I'm not over-mixing it or kneading it because I want it to remain short.
07:01Short means crumbly, like that.
07:03And you might need just a little splash of water.
07:09Just kind of almost hug it together.
07:13And cut this in half.
07:16And press it out into two, sort of, two centimetre discs.
07:20They'll defrost much, much quicker.
07:22Grab some greaseproof paper.
07:28So wrap it up for Christmas.
07:30Literally for Christmas.
07:31So there you go, homemade pastry, ready and raring to go.
07:36And this can simply go in the freezer until you need it.
07:42So this has been cooking for an hour and a half.
07:52Just carefully take the lid off.
07:55It'll be steamy, so watch out.
07:58Oh, goodness gracious.
08:02Let this cool down.
08:03I'll put the tinfoil back on top.
08:05We can put it in the freezer.
08:06One week, two weeks, even months.
08:08Okay?
08:09No compromise.
08:10Then, when you want it, the day before, we take it out of the freezer.
08:14Okay?
08:14And we can turn it out.
08:16Now, if you want it as a gratin, you simply take that frozen gratin back into this dish.
08:21Bit of cheese on top.
08:22And then the next day, into the oven.
08:24180, 40 minutes.
08:26Golden, blipping, perfection.
08:28Fantastic.
08:28Or, we can use it for the most amazingly insane vegetarian pie.
08:35So if we've made this and frozen it a few weeks before Christmas,
08:39I'm going to show you what to do on Christmas Eve
08:42to turn this delicious side dish into a show-stopping centerpiece.
08:48Whenever you want to use it, just get it out the day before and put it in the fridge.
08:52So, I want to get our pastry.
08:54I did it into two pieces, remember?
08:56Once that's defrosted, take the greaseproof paper, like that.
09:01We put the pastry on top.
09:02Some more greaseproof paper.
09:04So the double greaseproof paper method guarantees you have no cracking or breaking.
09:11That is what we like at Christmas.
09:15So this is looking really good.
09:19Cut it into a little circle like that.
09:22Put a little bit of flour on there.
09:23Now, go over with our gratin.
09:29Take this greaseproof off.
09:31I want about an inch around the outside.
09:35This is the base.
09:37Very flipping, exciting.
09:40Then we'll go back to our pastry.
09:41And I'll do exactly the same.
09:45But this time, of course, we've got to go over the top and down the sides.
09:49So we need it to be slightly bigger.
09:51So a little flour here.
09:54Rolling pin.
09:56And then I'm going to get that pastry and roll it up over the rolling pin.
10:01Super simple, right?
10:02Put the pastry to one side.
10:04I'm going to get myself two eggs, two bowls, egg whites into one.
10:11What we can do is use the yolks for the outside to create the most incredible golden egg wash
10:19that will make it look so, so special.
10:22Then here with the whites, I can use to really stick the pastry to the pastry.
10:30So we don't waste anything.
10:33Then we simply take the pastry and we just casually roll it over like that.
10:40Then we press it on the top.
10:42Gently.
10:44And down onto the pastry.
10:46It's really easy.
10:49Then we'll trim it off.
10:50It's roughly an inch away from the pie.
10:56And then let me show you how we can do the edges here.
11:00I'm going to take my thumb and forefinger and use my finger to push it in between.
11:05And then we go to the next one.
11:06So we're sealing it and we're giving it a nice Christmassy flourish.
11:13Use the egg yolks on the top like that.
11:19And give it a nice little coat.
11:21What you can do is take a little knife, get down on your knees.
11:26Just go from the centre and using just the weight of the knife, don't push it down at all.
11:32Just score it down in a little curve.
11:35Because as that cooks, that little score is going to just open up and part slightly.
11:43Just get your knife in now in a little crisscross.
11:46That lets the steam out.
11:48And look at that.
11:49That is a beautiful pie.
11:50That is a centrepiece.
11:51And what I do now is just get it carefully onto a tray.
11:56So in theory, if you're doing the whole get ahead thing, we would put that in the fridge nice and safe.
12:01You could do it Christmas Eve or even the day before that.
12:03But I want to cook it for you now so you know what you're going to get.
12:06Simply put it at the bottom of the oven so you get a nice crispy bum.
12:09And we cook it for one hour at 180 degrees Celsius, which is 350 Fahrenheit.
12:13Come on.
12:22Look at that.
12:26I love the scores.
12:27I love the cracks where the juices are just spilling out.
12:31Let's get a nice little slice.
12:33That is like opening up a beautiful little edible Christmas present.
12:42Perfectly cooked pastry.
12:43Look at the layers.
12:45Right, let's have a try.
12:46We went in too fast.
12:56Mmm.
12:57Oh, that is delicious.
12:59I mean, double carb.
13:02We're a flouncing of fennel.
13:04And beautiful, oozy, creamy, cheesy, gorgeousness.
13:09The nutmeg here is just phenomenal.
13:12That is so, so delicious.
13:14That in the middle of the table with all the Christmas trimmings, it's going to be amazing.
13:18Two recipes in one.
13:20Give yourself options.
13:23Happy blooming Christmas.
13:23Behind every great roast dinner is an incredible gravy.
13:49And I want to show you a fantastic get-ahead gravy
13:52that is not only going to please the meat-eaters,
13:54but the veggies and the vegans and the gluten-free.
13:57Yes, I've got you covered.
14:00This Christmas gravy is an absolute game-changer.
14:04With a dried mushroom and herb stock,
14:06blackberry jam and festive port,
14:09it's rich, comforting and really is good for everyone.
14:13Perfect to get all wrapped up well ahead of Christmas.
14:16Now, for meat-eaters,
14:18like having gravy made out of stock and bones
14:21and all the kind of meat drippings and stuff like that,
14:23that is easy big flavour achieved.
14:26But if we wind back to veggie and vegan world,
14:28you need a few bits of technique and ingredients
14:31to make it utterly, undeniably delicious.
14:34And I've written this recipe so we can actually look after everyone.
14:38We're starting with two onions.
14:40Just roughly chop those.
14:42Nice big pan on a medium heat.
14:44In here we go with some olive oil.
14:47We're going to go in with our onions
14:48and we'll start to fry these off.
14:52Then I've got some lovely carrots here.
14:54So the carrots have had a nice little wash.
14:56Don't peel them.
14:57There's a lot of flavour in the skin.
14:59And we'll simply just split these in half
15:01and then roughly chop these as well.
15:06So, onions in, carrots in.
15:10Now, instead of just kind of putting liquid on there
15:12and boiling straight away,
15:13what I want to do is invest time
15:15into concentrating and caramelising
15:18all the natural sugars in the onion and the carrots.
15:21Right, that's going to give us colour.
15:22We want gravy to be dark, right,
15:24and it's going to give us massive flavour.
15:27Season a little bit with salt and pepper.
15:29Now, celery is fantastic.
15:33It's fragrant.
15:34And we're just going to roughly chop that up.
15:36And as that fries away,
15:38I want to start thinking about a nice, beautiful stock.
15:43I'm going to use dried mushrooms.
15:44Now, look at these.
15:45Dried mushrooms are amazing.
15:47You can get them from the supermarkets.
15:49And when you dry mushrooms,
15:52it's really hearty flavours
15:54that you're going to get from this.
15:55And just a small amount will make all the difference.
15:58Put in here like a litre, litre and a half of boiling water.
16:02We're going to rehydrate the mushrooms
16:05and they'll start giving off incredible colour.
16:09So what else can we do?
16:11Things like rosemary.
16:12You can put that also into this lovely homemade stock.
16:16We're going to go in with some bay leaves
16:19and some lovely thyme as well.
16:22It's all flavour.
16:24I'll add now your typical veggie stock cube into here.
16:27Now, there's all kinds of different yeast extracts that you can get.
16:30This is a fantastic way to give your veggie vegan gravy more colour,
16:34more depth of flavour and a nice base of seasoning.
16:38So let that infuse.
16:40Now, let's have a little look at the pan.
16:41It's getting dark now.
16:43Don't be afraid of that.
16:44Add fresh herbs to this as well.
16:47So some rosemary goes in.
16:49Bay leaf.
16:50We take a little bit of thyme.
16:52Now, I'm going to use a couple of nice teaspoons of blackcurrant or blackberry jam.
16:59This sweetness balances your beautiful gravy.
17:02So I'm going to stir that in with a nice lug of port.
17:07The jam and the port makes this an amazing Christmas gravy.
17:12And then a little tomato puree.
17:15So a couple of tablespoons.
17:18And then two tablespoons of gluten-free flour.
17:22And, of course, if no one coming to your party is gluten-free,
17:26just use regular plain flour.
17:29And then just a couple of tablespoons of vinegar will transform this.
17:32Like, you have to trust me.
17:34We want your taste buds to be firing on all cylinders,
17:38like bass, mid and treble, right?
17:41Surround sound flavours.
17:44Now, this goes in.
17:45Let it sizzle up.
17:46It's all good.
17:47So bring that to the boil and let that simmer for about 10 minutes.
17:52It smells incredible.
18:02Pull out the herbs.
18:04Like the rosemary.
18:06They have done their job.
18:07So we can get rid of those.
18:08And ladle this into this liquidiser.
18:13The colour looks phenomenal.
18:16We're going to put this on top like that.
18:18We don't want any mishaps.
18:20And we'll start on the lowest setting.
18:22Super, super low.
18:23Slowly, slowly.
18:24Then we can increase that speed.
18:35So that's it.
18:37I'll push this through the core sieve.
18:40Just look at that blip in a way.
18:42Beautiful.
18:43Right, let's have a little try.
18:45This is your opportunity to check the seasoning.
18:51Big, bold, delicious, elegant.
18:55That is an epic gravy.
18:57That is probably, in my opinion, one of the best veggie vegan gravies I've ever had, right?
19:01And I like that consistency.
19:03The colour's amazing.
19:04We have now got epic gravy done, right?
19:08Weeks before Christmas.
19:09The stress has gone.
19:10We're never going to run out.
19:11But also, on Christmas Day, when you're resting the turkey, right?
19:14We just take that fat off the tray with all the sticky bits in the bottom.
19:17And we put that in there.
19:19Simmer it away.
19:19And you're going to get the best turkey gravy as well.
19:21This is a win-win scenario.
19:23So, you can put it in Tupperware.
19:25You can put it in these little bags.
19:27But it's just a brilliant thing that gives you choices.
19:29And that's going to free up time and hopefully make this the best Christmas ever.
19:34If you can make a really good stuffing at Christmas, people seem to go wild for it.
19:47And I've got an amazing recipe that you can do well ahead of the game,
19:50which means you can devote more time to flavours and textures.
19:53We can make it up, get it in the freezer.
19:55And then before Christmas Day, we can defrost it.
19:58This is going to be good.
20:00My festive get-ahead stuffing is brilliantly veggie.
20:03Packed with scrumptious squash, herbs, spices, fruit and nuts.
20:08Prep and freeze in advance as the perfect little present to yourself this Christmas.
20:13So, there's many, many ways you can do a stuffing.
20:15And obviously, the history of stuffing was all about stretching the meat further.
20:20But we're going to make this vegetarian.
20:22I want to introduce a few new flavours that I think are really Christmassy and really delicious.
20:26So, at the base of this is a button-up squash.
20:30So, get the tip of the knife, put it in nice and safely here, and then just bring it down like that.
20:35Then pick it up, move it around.
20:37The tip is still in.
20:38We're going to go down.
20:40It's nice and easy, okay?
20:42Remove the seeds.
20:43You don't have to remove the peel because it's really delicate, really thin and sweet and nutty.
20:49Go down the length of the squash again, nice and carefully.
20:53Some nice red onions.
20:56And then cut them into quarters.
20:59Add a little bit of sea salt.
21:01We want some pepper.
21:04And also, best friends with squash, by the way, is ground coriander.
21:09So, a teaspoon and a nice little pinch of cinnamon in there as well.
21:14And then a classic spice that's often underloved, nutmeg.
21:24Half a nutmeg goes in and then just a little olive oil.
21:29So, get your hands in there, toss it all up.
21:33So, this goes in the oven for about 40 minutes at 190 degrees Celsius, which is 350 Fahrenheit.
21:38And this will be the base of the best stuffing ever.
21:48So, the squash is nearly done and I've got some lovely sage here.
21:51And I want to show you a little tip that will transform this herb into something very special.
21:56Just a little olive oil and just massage it.
21:58And then if I sprinkle this over the squash, just for five, ten minutes in the oven, they will go crispy crisp.
22:05So, if you have a little look at this, you can see it's already shrunk.
22:11And that shrinking is concentration of flavour.
22:13Let's sprinkle this over the top.
22:15Right, I'm putting that back in the oven now for five, ten minutes.
22:18These will go really crisp.
22:19So, a typical stuffing would often have, nearly always, bread.
22:28Right, breadcrumbs.
22:29500 grams I've got there.
22:31Remove the crust first.
22:34And traditionally, you would always make stuffing with stale bread.
22:39So, what I'm going to do is rehydrate it with milk.
22:43And we're just going to pour some milk in.
22:46Let's say a couple of hundred mils.
22:48And it will just soften it up.
22:51Squeeze it out.
22:52So, this excess milk here, we can just lose that.
22:57So, look, you can see now this is light and spongy.
23:02Let me just touch my hands.
23:03Now, currently, this stuffing is vegetarian.
23:08If I swap the milk for water, which is still very traditional, it will be vegan.
23:12And if you wanted to, you could take a little batch of this beautiful stuffing and mix it with some sausage meat and have a meat version as well.
23:21They're all incredible.
23:22So, look.
23:24Oh, the colours and the smells.
23:27And you can see how crisp this has gone.
23:33Unbelievable.
23:35Amazing flavour.
23:36So, now what we can do is bejewel this beautiful stuffing.
23:42I've got some cranberries.
23:44A nice little handful.
23:46Sweet and sour.
23:47Secondly, like a little handful of pistachios.
23:51And just cut through some of these.
23:55I'm going to use some of these vat-packed chestnuts.
24:00That is the flavour of Christmas.
24:02Come on.
24:03So, we can leave some whole.
24:05Some halved, like that.
24:06And then some, we can literally break up like a little powder.
24:11And sprinkle that on top.
24:13Now, in with the bread.
24:16I use the back of the spoon to kind of squash it.
24:18So, this is done now, right?
24:22You can put it in the fridge for like two or three days.
24:24Easy peasy.
24:25Or get it in the freezer like weeks before if you want to be super in advance.
24:28It's a great job done and dusted.
24:31So, what I would do if it was frozen is just take it out on Christmas Eve.
24:34Let it defrost.
24:35And then, once that's defrosted, I like to do two things with the stuffing.
24:39The first thing is I take a third and I'll stuff that into the turkey.
24:42And that way, it'll absorb all the cooking juices.
24:45It'll be soft and gorgeous.
24:46But then I take the other two thirds and I love to put it into a bowl or a tin.
24:52And then that way, we can roast it in here and get crispy edges.
24:55A completely different experience.
24:57And I promise you, people will be screaming about your stuffing.
25:00So, this is non-stick.
25:03So, I just like to double make sure it's non-stick by rubbing it with some olive oil.
25:07Then I'm going to take two thirds of this lovely mix and pop it in here.
25:12Think of it almost like the most delicious, Christmassy, edible sandcastle.
25:18This goes into the oven at 180 degrees Celsius, which is 350 Fahrenheit,
25:23for about an hour until golden, crisp and delicious.
25:36Look at that.
25:37Come on.
25:39So, simply get your mould and then hope for a turnout that works.
25:46Yes, I'm feeling good about it.
25:50Look at the sage as well.
25:51That is exactly what I wanted.
25:58Get in there.
26:00Look at that.
26:01Crispy on the outside.
26:03Soft in the middle.
26:05And obviously, I've just cooked this to show you.
26:08But I have to taste as well to give you my professional opinion.
26:12It's really soft and light on the inside.
26:19On the outside, it's crunchy.
26:24And those little kind of bejeweling of lovely cranberries and the lovely pistachios and the chestnuts,
26:29it's absolutely blooming delicious.
26:30That's another really important job done and dusted,
26:33so it's going to make your Christmas a little bit easier this year.
26:37Love it.
26:37Flavoured butters, I think, are an amazing principle that will serve you and your family really, really well.
27:03And especially at Christmas, this is like a little bank, a little library of flavours in the form of butter
27:09that can go into so many dishes, leftovers, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and beyond.
27:16My flavoured butters are the easiest way to get ahead with big flavour this Christmas.
27:22I'm making one with fresh parsley, watercress and hot horse reddish to go with a gorgeous platter of greens.
27:28And a mouth-tingling Prosecco, orange and cumin butter that's perfect with carrots.
27:34Super simple and done in advance to add big flavour to veggies on Christmas Day.
27:39So, in here, pestle and mortar, get some lovely parsley, stalks and all.
27:46I've also got some watercress, it's nice and mustardy and beautiful.
27:50So, just pound it up.
27:52A little seasoning of salt helps create a little bit of abrasion.
27:57Just give it a bash for 20 seconds, hardcore.
27:59And look at it, it's green, rustic.
28:04Now, this is a fresh horseradish.
28:07You just give it a little peel and then you can grate it.
28:10And of course, it's hot and spicy.
28:12You can buy the jarred stuff, creamed or not, it doesn't matter.
28:16So, we've got parsley, watercress and horseradish.
28:20Nice.
28:21And then something that works really, really well with this is lemon.
28:25We'll use the zest, because it's our best friend, and the juice.
28:29So, make up your own combos.
28:31Look, there's no real right or wrong.
28:33And a little bit of lemon juice goes in here.
28:37Salt and pepper to season it.
28:39And then we'll go in with a pack of butter.
28:44Now, if you think about having three or four of these in your freezer at Christmas time,
28:48then you can dedicate one combo to Brussels sprouts.
28:51And then one combo to some lovely carrots.
28:54And for me, when you look at the Christmas table,
28:57when each thing has got its own single-mindedness and unique flavour profile,
29:02that is when you've got a feast of all feasts.
29:05Now, I want to show you how to store this flavoured butter.
29:09Let me just wash my hands.
29:11Cut two sheets of greaseproof into quarters, like this.
29:17Get this butter divided into four.
29:21Put this on top, like that.
29:24And press it down.
29:26Because it's nice and thin, when it's frozen, it's going to be a nice little envelope.
29:30And I can just put it over a plate of something, and it just goes, ah, and melts straight away.
29:34And each one of these little envelopes is like a little love letter to a piece of fish or a little bit of greens.
29:42And that's the way I look at it.
29:43So, in the freezer we go.
29:45Let me show you, because I've got one I made earlier.
29:48If I just peel this off, what we have is a lovely little disc.
29:52And they melt really, really quickly.
29:55Right.
29:56Classic combo.
29:57We're going to go orange and cumin.
30:00And that, with veggies, particularly carrots, is absolutely amazing.
30:05So, in a pestle and mortar again, I'll go in with some salt, some pepper, some thyme.
30:10You could use any woody herb, but I think thyme and carrots is really, really nice.
30:14So, I'm just going to pick off the leaves like that.
30:18We'll get into a pan here, just like a couple of teaspoons of cumin seeds, and just toast it up.
30:24By toasting it, you'll just reawaken those natural oils and the flavours, and it'll just make a massive difference.
30:34Couple of little bashes.
30:37And we're done.
30:38Back to our little zester.
30:41Orange, cumin, thyme, and garlic.
30:43An amazing combination.
30:45So, again, using that pestle and mortar, or it could be a food processor, or a lot of chopping and scrunching.
30:53So, I'm going to go in now with two cloves of garlic.
30:58And we've got the toasted cumin there.
31:02Just kind of crack them.
31:04Oh, the smells.
31:06And then in with the butter.
31:07Let me show you a different format to store this flavoured butter.
31:19I just get a bit of greaseproof, like that.
31:21And get the butter in there like that.
31:24And then roll it up.
31:26Twist up the ends like a Christmas cracker.
31:28Get it nice and tight.
31:29And then if you put that in the freezer for, like, five minutes, it will firm up a bit.
31:33Then you can slice it into little pre-portioned discs.
31:35And then later on, weeks, months later, take a little disc and put that on something delicious to make it extra, extra special.
31:42Right.
31:43Let's get this in the freezer.
31:45So, if you've got ahead and frozen your butters a few weeks before Christmas,
31:49I'm going to show you exactly what to do on Christmas Day to give your veggies a big hit of festive flavour.
31:56I'm going to give you two recipes to celebrate these gorgeous butters this Christmas.
32:01The first recipe I just love, because it's a little bit bonkers, it's a little bit eccentric, it's very Christmas.
32:09So, it's carrots in the bag.
32:11Simply get a wide piece of tinfoil.
32:14On the bottom, I'll have two pieces.
32:17Like that.
32:18And then grab a little plate, press the tinfoil down into the shape of the plate.
32:24Then I've got some lovely carrots here.
32:27Look at these.
32:28These have been washed.
32:29Cut them into little angled pieces, like this.
32:34Cooking in the bag is primarily about steaming, right?
32:38The moisture goes to the top of the bag and then evaporates down again and goes to the bottom and boils up again.
32:42You're just kind of basting whatever you're cooking in that bag with that flavour.
32:47So, it's clever.
32:48Let's get our beautiful butter out of the freezer.
32:52And a little bottle of something nice, because it's Christmas time!
32:55So, in this recipe, you've got that incredible marriage and combination of butter and then liquid, which is in the form of some nice bubbles, right?
33:06Because it's Christmas time.
33:07But it could be white wine, it could even be red wine, it could be cider, it could be orange juice, it could be water.
33:15Merry Christmas!
33:16So, look, just put a little splodge of the good stuff in there, and I'll have a little splodge of stuff in there as well.
33:27If you want to put some herb in, time tips, I'll take a bit of that.
33:31So, two pieces of tinfoil in the bottom, just to keep it nice and solid, one piece on the top.
33:37If you egg wash the side of this little envelope when you seal it, no steam will get out.
33:44And all of that flavour and that liquid will stay in that little foil envelope.
33:49And then it will puff up like something crazy out of a cartoon.
33:53So, just put that over the carrots like that, fold it up and pinch.
33:58And you can see, this is quite a robust thing now.
34:01This can go in the fridge, you can do it the day before Christmas, two days before Christmas, and then on the big day, you can do this on the hob, which is really convenient.
34:09And as this starts puffing up a little bit, and you'll hear the tinfoil just going kink, kink, kink, kink, kink, then turn it down to medium.
34:15Give it about 20 minutes, and you'll have the most delicious carrots ever.
34:19Right, let me show you how to take simple, humble greens and make them spectacular.
34:26At Christmas time, oven space and hob space is at a premium, so when you can't go out, you go up.
34:32So, what we're going to do is have boiling and steaming.
34:35So, Brussels sprouts go in, and then when it comes to your layers, what I love about this is you just get another little steamer insert, and you can add another veg, right?
34:44Like a cabbage-y leaf, just kind of have fun with it, whatever your family loves.
34:48And then if you wanted to add some peas, you absolutely can.
34:53And then with five minutes to go before you want to eat your Christmas dinner, kettle boiled, Brussels come up to the boil, then we'll go on with our steamer.
35:02All very chill, all very nice.
35:05They'll literally only need like four, five minutes max.
35:08And then, it's butter time.
35:11So, we can take our fantastic frozen get-ahead butter, and I'll lay that on the top here, lid back on top, and that butter's just going to over the peas, broccoli, chard, through the holes, onto the lovely cabbages.
35:34And the last bits, going through the holes, will go onto the Brussels down the bottom.
35:39Happy days.
35:44Let's get a nice little platter.
35:47We can lay out the different veggies, the lovely peas.
35:53Caballonera and kale.
35:54And then with the last empty steamer, we can use that as a colander.
35:59And if you need any liquid for your gravy, you can use that.
36:05And look at that.
36:07A lovely little platter of quickly cooked greens.
36:10Let's have a little try.
36:13Delicious.
36:14Horseradish, watercress.
36:16It's an amazing combination.
36:19Let's do the carrots, come on.
36:20Look at that.
36:21It is brilliant.
36:23Get a platter.
36:24It's hot, so use a pair of tongs just to pick it up.
36:28Imagine that going to the Christmas table.
36:30The turkey platter, the gravy seaming away.
36:32You've got the veg.
36:34But then at the table, all confident.
36:37And that is the coolest thing ever.
36:39I think this is the quickest, easiest way to big flavour on Christmas Day.
36:52I've got a delicious festive dessert that is the perfect get-ahead recipe.
37:07This is my Christmas Arctic Roll.
37:10A fantastic principal recipe for any time of the year, but I want to show you how you can
37:14make it incredibly Christmassy.
37:17My get-ahead chocolate Arctic Roll is the perfect combination of festive flavours.
37:23And the best bit, it can all be done well in advance.
37:27With a clementine-flavoured no-churn ice cream and cranberries wrapped in a decadent chocolate
37:32sponge, this is the ultimate treat to add a bit of sparkle to your Christmas table.
37:37It is so, so simple.
37:41First up, let's choose the flavour.
37:43Clementines, the flavour of Christmas.
37:46Remove just the beautiful orange zest.
37:49This is full of flavour.
37:51So, get a pan on the heat.
37:53By squeezing this juice into the pan, right, we'll reduce it down and it will give this
37:59beautiful ice cream the most amazing flavour.
38:02I'm going to use five nice, juicy clementines.
38:04Now, in the bowl here, we're going to go in with 600 millilitres of double cream.
38:11And start to whisk it up.
38:13Get the air into it.
38:15You want it to be soft peaks, which is thickened and definitely not thick.
38:19Don't over-whisk it.
38:22So, that is how I want it.
38:24Nice and soft, nice and delicate.
38:26So, into here, I'm going to get a tin of condensed milk.
38:31This is normally about, sort of, 400 grams.
38:32So, think of this almost like your basic vanilla ice cream.
38:37We've got the syrup here.
38:39You can see the juice has gone down by a quarter.
38:43If you want to cool it down quickly, literally, just get the pan and I just hold it into a
38:47little bowl of cold water.
38:49This is Christmas intensified.
38:54Then we back it up with the zest and then we just fold it through.
39:01And put it into a little tray like this.
39:04Flatten it out a little bit.
39:06That tiny little bit of zest left over.
39:08Beautiful.
39:11And you can do this a week, two weeks, three weeks in advance.
39:14But I want to show you how you can turn this into an epic, classic Christmas dessert.
39:20Whack that in the freezer for three or four hours and then it will be ready and raring to go.
39:24Right, let me show you how to make the simplest chocolate sponge.
39:30Get yourself three lovely large organic eggs into our mixer.
39:37And in with 100 grams of golden caster sugar.
39:42I think that is looking pretty good.
39:53So the way to tell if it's ready is you can see that it's like almost tripled in volume.
40:00Then I'm going to take 75 grams of plain flour, put it through a sieve and I'm going to flavor
40:07it with cocoa powder.
40:0925 grams, pretty much a heaped tablespoon.
40:14And then we're just going to fold it through.
40:20So what I've got here is a typical baking tray.
40:24This is 38 centimetres by 25.
40:26I've rubbed it with butter, a bit of greaseproof paper.
40:29And then in we go with our lovely chocolate sponge.
40:34Get it to those corners.
40:35So this goes in the oven for just 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, which is 350 Fahrenheit.
40:45Nice and gently.
40:45The sponge has had just under 10 minutes.
40:57I've got a damp clean cloth here, which I'll lay out.
41:00And then I'll get some greaseproof paper.
41:02And then I want a little bit of golden cast sugar just to sprinkle on top.
41:09This just gives the sponge a little finish.
41:11Super old school.
41:13Love it.
41:13Okay.
41:14Let's get our sponge.
41:16And I'm just going to turn it out super confident.
41:19One, two, three.
41:20And then while it's warm, just start getting that bit of greaseproof paper.
41:29It's very satisfying.
41:32What I'm going to do is fold over the greaseproof paper and start to loosely fold it up.
41:37By rolling this up while the sponge is still warm, it's flexible.
41:44If I let that flat sponge cool down and then I went to roll it up, it would most likely crack multiple times, which isn't as cool.
41:51So let that cool down.
41:53Let the ice cream freeze.
41:54And when that's ready to go, then I'll show you how to put this all together.
41:57The ice cream has just frozen beautifully.
42:12And then whenever I want to use it, I just place it in the fridge for like 15, 20 minutes.
42:18And it's scoopable pretty quick.
42:20Here is the sponge part, which has cooled down.
42:23And I'll just unfold this.
42:24I'm going to take this beautiful cranberry sauce and I'll give it a nice thick layer.
42:35Then I've got some chocolate orange here.
42:38Take a little wadge and then break it up over the top like that.
42:43But do whatever chocolate you like.
42:45Right, push this to one side.
42:47Then we've got our beautiful no-churn ice cream.
42:50So this is a fun bit.
42:51I'm going to take a bit of the greaseproof paper and I'm going to take this ice cream.
42:59Then I'm going to grab the greaseproof.
43:05Don't worry about it getting messy.
43:07Roll it up and use your hands just to push it into a kind of cigar shape.
43:12Squeeze the sides and we can just roll that like that.
43:15Don't worry about the mess.
43:17Get your sponge.
43:17And then basically we can unravel it.
43:21Just put it on like that.
43:24Then we roll it up as tight as possible.
43:28Then get yourself some foil.
43:31Roll it up and really put pressure on it as you do it.
43:35Then you can go to the outside like a Christmas cracker and squeeze it and roll it up.
43:41And then you get that fantastic shape.
43:43Right.
43:44So that now goes in the freezer.
43:45You can do this a week before, two weeks before.
43:47It is the most brilliant get-ahead dessert.
43:50Whack it in there and then you're ready and rocking.
43:53So if we've made this and frozen it a few weeks before Christmas,
43:58I'm going to show you exactly what to do on Christmas day
44:01to serve up this deliciously decadent get-ahead dessert.
44:06So once it's frozen up, it's really robust.
44:09And when you're ready and raring to go,
44:11I'm going to wrap it like a Christmas present.
44:13Actually, this is a nice Christmas present.
44:17Now, I quite like the idea of giving it a dusting of cocoa powder.
44:23Right, just to give it that nice finish.
44:26After like a couple of minutes out of the freezer,
44:28and you can slice through.
44:33Hallelujah, hallelujah.
44:36It's just beautiful.
44:37Go for another one.
44:40Look at it.
44:42Guys.
44:44Retro.
44:46Arctic roll.
44:49Oh, ho, ho.
44:51Merry Christmas.
44:52Honestly.
44:54Santa's going to be so proud of you.
44:57To start kind of like taking holly and all that kind of melarchs.
45:01Come on, let's make it look nice.
45:02I want something for the top.
45:04Take a little bar of chocolate.
45:07Right, and we're just going to slowly but surely drag this towards you.
45:14And that's what you get.
45:16Put it on the top.
45:17Let me show you on the white chocolate.
45:21Let's get Rudolph in on the act.
45:25You can take little sparklers.
45:29Come on.
45:30Merry Christmas.
45:31And if I just try a little bit here.
45:42Oh, come on.
45:44The sourness of the cranberry with that beautiful clementine ice cream is a thing of joy.
45:51And wrapped in that chocolate sponge is just so good.
45:55That is what it's all about.
45:57This really could be the best Christmas ever.
46:01Next time, I'll show you how we can get ahead in the days before Christmas.
46:05With a stunning starter, the most incredible way to cook turkey, and a batter for an epic Yorkshire pudding.
46:14All done and dusted ahead of time.
46:17Merry Christmas, everyone.
46:18That's being served up next Monday night at eight, or right now.
46:27If you just can't wait and have a few quid in your pocket, stream the whole series on Channel 4+.
46:31Go on, call it an early Christmas present to yourself.
46:34Next tonight, minute by minute, a brand new troubling case comes under investigation.
46:38In 24 hours, in police custody.
46:40In 24 hours, in police custody.
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