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00:15Snowflakes falling, church bells calling, it's Christmas time again.
00:27Fire's lighted, kids excited, it's Christmas time again.
00:38Now Santa's sleigh is on its way with candy canes and toys.
00:50And wonderful things that Santa Claus brings to good little girls and boys.
01:04Candle glow and mistletoe, it's Christmas time again.
01:26I revel in Christmas.
01:29I adore that sense of glowing festivity and the coziness of the kitchen.
01:35I know Christmas is different this year, but I don't see how it could be otherwise.
01:39But for me, it makes it all the more important to make the most of every fairy light,
01:46every candle, every golden moment, and every delicious mouthful.
01:52A merry Christmas and a happy new year.
02:06Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
02:10Let your heart be light.
02:14From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.
02:19I am the queen of kitsch Christmas clutter, but I have learned to embrace it.
02:29This is actually any one part of my festive filing system.
02:33And what do we have?
02:36Well, of course, a Christmas wreath, shedding sprouts.
02:41Love these.
02:43I might leave them out.
02:45My Christmas tea towels.
02:48I got them in America, but they look so beautiful,
02:51I haven't been able to bring myself to unfurl them from their box.
02:54Still, I love them like that.
03:01This used to have a Christmas liqueur in it.
03:04I can't exactly remember which one it was,
03:06but it could come in handy.
03:10Not sure the same could be said for this.
03:16It's one of my late night online purchases.
03:19A seasonal rolling pin.
03:22But you never know.
03:23One day I might be filled with an urgent need
03:27to make reindeer-stamped pastry.
03:30I might.
03:32But what I actually am rummaging about for
03:39is this, my Christmas cookie cutters,
03:43because I'm making linzer-algen.
03:45Linzer, because they come from Linz in Austria.
03:48Algen-eyes, because they are jam-sandwiched cookies
03:53with cut-outs so that the jam glints through.
03:56We call them linzer cookies,
03:57and all I have to tell you is, in its wildest dreams,
04:01a jammy dodger couldn't aspire
04:03to the melting tenderness and celestial lightness
04:07of a linzer cookie.
04:12These Austrian Christmas cookies
04:14have a characteristic rich nuttiness.
04:17So first up, I'm grinding 100 grams
04:21of skin-toasted hazelnuts
04:23with 125 grams of caster sugar.
04:26I'm just blitzing them both together
04:27until they're fine sand.
04:33Now I add 300 grams of plain flour,
04:37just a kiss of cinnamon,
04:39a quarter of a teaspoon,
04:41and a teeny bit of salt,
04:43an eighth of a teaspoon.
04:46Next up, 200 grams of cubed unsalted butter.
04:51Then I need a large egg plus an extra yoke
04:55before whizzing everything together
04:57until gradually a soft dough begins to form.
05:06I divide the dough into four patties.
05:13Then I pop each fat patty into a storage bag,
05:18and these need to go into the fridge
05:20to let the dough rest.
05:27I've rolled out the red carpet for my linzer cookies,
05:30or at least put down a silicone baking mat.
05:34And in fact, I'm layering up
05:38just a square of baking parchment
05:40the same size as the cookie sheet.
05:43A bit of flour.
05:48The first disc.
05:55I may need to roll the dough out
05:57to about, I don't know,
05:58two or three millimetres.
06:00But having said that,
06:02I'm not going to get a ruler to them.
06:07The important thing anyway
06:09is that they're of a uniform size,
06:12so they bake evenly in the oven.
06:17It's a six centimetre diameter cookie cutter.
06:23These are going to be the bottoms
06:25of the linzer cookies.
06:30I'm trying not to leave much of a space
06:33in between them
06:34so I can get as many cookies in this first go,
06:38but I should say that this is a dream to re-roll.
06:43You know, when Michelangelo was asked
06:46how hard it was to make his David,
06:49or so the story goes,
06:51he said it wasn't hard at all.
06:53David was just there,
06:55and he just had to chisel away
06:58at all the superfluous marble.
07:00And this is my method for these cookies.
07:04I'm taking out
07:07the superfluous dough.
07:11Both they are ready for the oven.
07:15And now for the slightly trickier,
07:17the top part.
07:19When I say trickier,
07:20I also mean so much more enjoyable.
07:24Flour again.
07:26It's really the same process all over again.
07:31It feels just the right thing to do.
07:34Just slow down a bit
07:36and just enjoy getting myself
07:39into the Christmas spirit.
07:49There we are.
07:53And now for the fun bit.
07:55I've got my cutters.
07:56Well, this is meant to be a snowflake.
07:58It looks a bit like an exotic flower,
08:01but either will do.
08:03And a bell,
08:05obviously.
08:08Christmas bauble.
08:10That's the idea.
08:17I know it's not
08:19Christmassy exactly,
08:20but I always have to have
08:23some Linzer cookies
08:25with some hearts cut out.
08:36The oven's on at 180
08:37and these will need
08:38about 9 to 10 minutes.
08:51The cookies are cooked,
08:53cooled
08:54and ready to be
08:55fully Christmassy-fied.
08:58So I'm going to
08:59mix up the
09:00jam for the filling.
09:04Red currant
09:05is traditional
09:06and
09:07it has such a wonderful affinity
09:10with hazelnuts.
09:14I'm using jelly
09:16because I love the tang.
09:19But I am
09:20mixing
09:21with an equal amount
09:22of seedless raspberry jam.
09:25It's a combination
09:27I adore.
09:30Right.
09:32I reckon
09:33on using about
09:34half a teaspoon
09:35of jam
09:36per cookie.
09:38And I'm just going
09:39to blob it on
09:40that gorgeous
09:43garnet glossiness.
09:57so cheering.
10:05And now these tops
10:07get their treatment.
10:08I've got some icing
10:10sugar in here
10:13and I'm welcoming
10:14the first
10:16snowfall
10:17of the season.
10:31Now,
10:32gently, gently,
10:34I'm going to top
10:35each jam-covered
10:37biscuit
10:38with one
10:40sugar sprinkled one.
10:46I love it so much
10:48when that wonderful
10:49gleaming red
10:52just bulges
10:54through slightly.
10:56Look at them
10:57so beautiful.
10:58Something of a
10:59seasonal stained glass
11:01window going on.
11:07could I be feeling
11:08any more
11:09fabulously festive?
11:17Christmas has really
11:19begun.
11:47Just
11:49something of a
11:49It's nuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, Yuletide carols being
12:05sung by a choir and folks dressed up like Eskimos.
12:14Obviously, there are going to be only small-scale celebrations this year, but companionable cosiness is all I need.
12:25I'm having an alfresco festive supper this year, but we won't even feel the cold.
12:32We have friendship, a fire and a mood-boosting menu to keep us warm.
12:45I'm making my pomegranate fizz to welcome everyone, and it is just right with my black bread and salmon.
12:55Tuck in, enjoy it.
12:58With travel out of the question, I'm making a cook's tour this year, and it's a delicious adventure.
13:08First stop, Norway, for festive pork ribs with the best crackling ever.
13:18Then a stop off in Sweden for Jonsson's temptation, the potato gratin of your dreams.
13:25And I'm staying Nordic with my Scandi cucumber salad and pickled red cabbage.
13:35And for pudding, a squidgy stack of gingerbread, perfect with creme fraiche and pomegranates.
13:46And later, I have a kitchen trip to the Netherlands to look forward to, as I celebrate with New Year
13:54doughnuts.
14:09While I'm always partial to a bit of preserving and pickling, it feels particularly rewarding at this time of year,
14:17an essential part of my Christmas cocooning process.
14:20Now, it's true that both the pickled red cabbage and scandi cucumber go perfectly with the Norwegian pork ribs.
14:30But more than that, it's just so immeasurably comforting, knowing I have both on standby to zhuzh up leftovers throughout
14:41the season.
14:45I start with the pickled red cabbage, since it needs to be done two days ahead of time.
14:51I finely slice 500 grams of red cabbage.
14:59And then I sprinkle over salt, and for this amount of cabbage, I use 35 grams.
15:05Then I toss it gently to mix, and leave it there for three hours.
15:11And then straight away, I get started on preparations for the pickling liquid.
15:16This entails finely slicing 25 grams of ginger and two fat cloves of garlic.
15:26I pour 200 millilitres of medium dry cider into a small pan.
15:33And on top of that, I pour 400 millilitres of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar.
15:42Now, I have a few bits and pieces to add to the pan.
15:46First of all, 25 grams of sugar, and that's two tablespoons.
15:52I add two teaspoons each of peppercorns and juniper berries.
15:59Then comes one teaspoon of mustard seeds and half a teaspoon of dried thyme.
16:07Last to go in the pan are the ginger and garlic cloves I've just sliced in readiness.
16:15I give everything a stir over gentle heat, just to help melt the sugar.
16:21And then I bring it to a boil and let it bubble for two minutes.
16:27I take it off the heat and let it get cold.
16:30And as it gets cold, all those flavours will deepen and mellow.
16:37When the cabbage has had its three hours, put the colander in the sink and rinse the cabbage really well
16:45with cold water.
16:46And then once it's rinsed, squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can and then wrap it tenderly in
16:54a tea towel.
16:57Give a final pat-down of your swaddled red cabbage and then you're ready to pack a jar with it.
17:05Now, you do need to strain the pickling liquid.
17:09So I do that first into a jug because it makes it much easier to pour into the preserving jar.
17:16And then press the cabbage down with a fork or something to make sure it's all submerged.
17:22Close the jar and put it in the fridge.
17:25I'm afraid you will have to wait for two days before eating it, though it does last for three weeks.
17:30Well, it never lasts that long in my house, but it can do.
17:34My maternal grandmother, who had a huge influence on me, had an enduring love affair with all things Scandinavian.
17:43And so I was really brought up with the flavours of my Scandi cucumber salad.
17:48And I call it a salad, but actually it is the sprightliest of quick pickles.
17:55First, I slice two cucumbers as finely as possible.
17:59Of course you can use a knife.
18:01I like a mandolin for this.
18:03I'm going to have to be very bossy and say you absolutely must wear what's officially called a cup-resistant
18:12glove,
18:12but I call it my Game of Thrones glove.
18:15I lightly salt the sliced cucumbers, leave them for 30 minutes,
18:20and then squeeze them well until I have fine frilly slices,
18:26which I pack into a preserving jar, layering with dill as I go.
18:33I make this brine much as I did the one for the red cabbage.
18:38But this one's just raw cider vinegar, coriander seeds, peppercorns, a little sugar, and some leftover dill stalks.
18:47When cold, I pour this into my cucumber jar.
18:51And unlike the red cabbage, you can start eating this straight away.
18:57Now the squeezed out cucumber slices leave behind in the bowl the most amazing vivid green salty liquid.
19:05And I advise you not to throw this away because you could be making one of my mean green dirty
19:15martinis.
19:16Now this I made by shaking together over ice one part dry white vermouth,
19:23two parts of my salty cucumber liquid, and four parts of gin.
19:28And obviously you can use vodka.
19:30And all I have to say to you is...
19:32Skol!
19:32When the temperature dips
19:36I met my baby's arm
19:40Kissed in their finger tits
19:43Knows just how to keep me warm
19:47It may be zero degrees
19:52With the snow falling down
19:55But I've got warm and tender love
19:59Just as long as he's around
20:02Red alert!
20:04My new seasonal showstopper is a happy hybrid, and yet something all its own.
20:11How much joy and pleasure, baby
20:14Can no one die
20:16I can't say that this is exactly traditional fare,
20:22But at this time of year I always have to have something on hand to eat
20:26That's hot, sour, salty and bright
20:29It's where my ruby noodles come in
20:33I mean I say they're noodles, and they are really
20:36But I use spaghetti
20:39And although I'm starting them off in a traditional manner
20:43They are cooked for the most part in beetroot juice
20:47I didn't squeeze the beetroots myself
20:52And the intense and earthy sweetness of beetroot
20:56Really calls for rambunctious seasoning and spicing
21:00So, salt
21:02As I promised
21:07Lots of it
21:12And a fair amount of chilli flakes too
21:18And a lot of garlic
21:22As Julia Child said
21:24Cooking, like love, has to be entered in
21:28With abandon or not at all
21:34But the real partner to the beetroot here is ginger
21:39And I want a heady amount of it
21:44I'm such a lover of ginger
21:46My only rule is
21:48Add twice as much as you think you might need
21:56And of course, that essential sourness
22:03Whenever I want zing
22:06Limes are happy to provide
22:22Such full on flavour here
22:25And yet, the whole is so sprightly and light
22:29It's the perfect antidote for me
22:32When I've been eating my body weight
22:34Unrepentantly, I should add
22:36Unrepentantly, I should add
22:36In cheese
22:38Just need to get this to a gentle bubble now
22:45Right, and so into this pan
22:48A bubbling crimson liquid
22:52Goes my yellow spaghetti
22:54And this is the last time it'll be yellow
23:16I'm just going to let this bubble away merrily
23:19And once the spaghetti's cooked
23:21It'll have absorbed that gorgeous red and spicy liquid
23:28It's quite mesmerising
23:31And it looks rather like those laces of Australian red licorice
23:35Right, you can of course eat these noodles hot
23:41But it's when they're cold that they're utterly sensational
23:48So I'm going to let them cool in this wide bowl
23:52And while the noodles cool
24:02I'm going to steep them in a little pre-dressing
24:06Comprising some brown rice vinegar
24:08Of a deep sourness
24:10The saltiness of soy
24:16And the salty sourness
24:19Fusing the two
24:22Of fish sauce
24:25And oh that wonderful nutty gleam
24:28Of toasted sesame oil
24:42Just knowing I have a tub of these in the fridge
24:45Fills me with an exuberant sense of wellbeing
24:50Once the ruby noodles are cold
24:52I add the dressing
24:54Which actually is made with the same ingredients as the pre-dressing
24:58Then I scatter over finely sliced chives
25:02Followed by freshly chopped coriander
25:04Oh how I adore these Christmassy colours
25:15For pudding, I've got a slightly new twist to a festive favourite
25:20And I can't wait to fill the kitchen with its evocative aroma
25:28I couldn't contemplate Christmas without gingerbread
25:32And I hope I never have to
25:34I mean I can't count how many gingerbreads I've made in my life
25:38But I've got a new one up my sleeve
25:40And as awful as it sounds to say it
25:42I am inordinately proud of it
25:45I can't stop cooking it
25:46I certainly can't stop eating it
25:48And it's everything I want a gingerbread to be
25:53Squidgy, sticky and spicy
25:55And you know
25:57It is really that aromatic onslaught of spice
26:01That makes gingerbread such a seasonal imperative
26:04I want my kitchen to smell of ginger
26:08Of cinnamon
26:11Of allspice
26:12And of cloves
26:14Oh and let me show you this
26:17I use ready ground black pepper, school pepper
26:20As a spice
26:22And it's partly this
26:23That makes this gingerbread so divinely heady
26:27And so savagely intense
26:33Right
26:36All systems go
26:37I talked about the spicing
26:40But actually
26:41What helps in the squidgy and sticky department
26:46Are prunes
26:47I'm going to count them out
26:49Since I need 75 grams
26:51It's about 8 or 9 of these
26:547
26:558
26:58I'm going to chop them up
27:00Fairly finely
27:02As well as giving the gingerbread body
27:05They imbue everything
27:07With the most wonderful
27:09Plummy
27:11Raisiny
27:12Muscat-y taste
27:15Right
27:16I'm going to convey them
27:18Of course
27:19In a Scarlet Star
27:27And then stickily
27:30Transplant them
27:31To my saucepan
27:34One of the many things
27:36That makes gingerbread so relaxing to make
27:38Is that everything goes into a saucepan
27:41And you just warm it
27:42And stir it
27:46So next I need some vegetable oil
27:48Just 150 millilitres
27:54In you go
27:59Now of course I mentioned savagely intense
28:03That can mean only one thing
28:08200 grams of black treacle
28:15Ah I love the dark
28:18But I love the light too
28:20I'm adding 200 grams as well
28:22Of golden syrup
28:26And I do still want some sugar
28:28125 grams
28:30Dark muscovado
28:36So treatly in itself
28:39I like to make the ginger
28:42Really emphatic in gingerbread
28:44Which it isn't always
28:45So as well as the ground ginger
28:48I'm going to grate in quite a lot
28:51Of fresh ginger
28:52About 30 grams
28:5325 grams
29:00Now for my seasonal spices
29:02Two teaspoons of ground ginger
29:05And the same of cinnamon
29:07The smell of Christmas
29:10Just one teaspoon of ground allspice
29:14And an eighth of a teaspoon
29:16No more
29:17Of ground cloves
29:18Such beautiful colours
29:22Now a quarter of a teaspoon of salt
29:25Followed by the same amount
29:27Of ready ground pepper
29:28With its husky heat
29:34I melt everything together
29:37Over very gentle heat
29:39Stirring smoothly all the time
29:41What I didn't tell you
29:43Is that this gingerbread is vegan
29:47In fact it is officially
29:49My luscious vegan gingerbread
29:51And well none of my friends
29:53Who's coming over is vegan
29:54So I don't need it to be vegan
29:56I certainly need it to be this gingerbread
30:00So off the heat with it now
30:03So into this warm pan
30:06Goes 250 ml of oat milk
30:10And along with the prunes
30:12This will help everything
30:14Stick so softly and sweetly together
30:19So flour
30:20Quite a lot
30:21300g
30:22That's plain flour
30:25Stir it in
30:27Let it dissolve into the batter
30:30In its own time
30:37Actually I can feel myself unwinding
30:43So before this beautiful brown batter
30:46Goes in the oven
30:47I've got a magic potion to make
30:54Into my Christmas cup
30:57Goes one teaspoon of bicarb
31:01And two tablespoons of warm water
31:11And now two teaspoons of cider vinegar
31:19Love that
31:20It's the simple things
31:29This will make the gingerbread rise
31:38I've got a 23cm square tin
31:41That I've lined with baking parchment
31:44You do need some overhang
31:47So that when this is baked
31:49You can just lift the gingerbread out
31:54So
31:58Beautiful
32:08I've got the oven on at 170
32:10But if you're using a fan
32:12You'll need it to be 150
32:13And then after 50, 55 minutes
32:16It'll be cooked
32:19When you're happy with it
32:20Leave it to cool in its tin
32:22But it's best left for a day
32:25If you touch the surface gently
32:27You'll feel a bit of a bounce
32:29No point using a cake tester
32:32Because the whole point
32:33Is that it's so damp and squidgy
32:42I also have to get my no-knead black bread underway
32:46A day ahead
32:47And while the inspiration certainly comes from Eastern Europe
32:51Many of the ingredients I add to it are hardly eked
32:55The taste is gloriously convincing though
32:59I start off with 300 grams of strong white bread flour
33:03Followed by the same again of dark rye flour
33:07Then I need one and a quarter teaspoons of salt
33:11Just a quarter teaspoon of fast action dried yeast
33:16Four tablespoons of cocoa to bring its bitter edge
33:20Then four teaspoons each of fennel seeds, caraway seeds
33:27And yes, nigella seeds
33:31Don't panic
33:33But I add a teaspoon of something called activated charcoal
33:37It just makes the darkness of the bread even more intense
33:40And it's entirely optional
33:42It's just as gorgeous without it
33:46Now for the wet ingredients
33:48Which consist of most of a bottle of dark stout
33:51And two tablespoons each
33:54Of dark muscovado sugar
33:58Extra virgin olive oil
34:00And gleaming black treacle
34:03I whisk in the white of an egg
34:05Essential for getting the texture of this loaf right
34:09Saving the yolk for egg wash later
34:11For now I just stir the wet and dry ingredients together
34:15Till I can no longer see the flour
34:17And I have a dense sticky mixture
34:23All it needs for me is to cover it
34:27And leave it to prove for about 16 hours
34:30Or until it's really risen in volume
34:33With a wonderfully spongy surface
34:36I now scrape this into a lined and greased two pound loaf tin
34:44And I smooth the top
34:48And cover it with a tea towel
34:52And leave it to rise for a further two hours
34:59Then I lightly brush the top with my reserved yolk
35:03Which I've whisked with a little water
35:05And sprinkle over, yes again, nigella seeds
35:11And bake for 50 minutes in a 200 celsius oven
35:16Or 180 with the fan on
35:19And while I know this is for dinner
35:21The minute it's cold
35:23I have to have a slice of this dense dark bread
35:27With silky smoked salmon
35:34I really can't stay
35:37Baby it's cold outside
35:40I've gotta go away
35:43Or I can call you a ride
35:45This evening has been
35:48I'm so glad that you dropped in
35:50So very nice
35:51Time spread with you
35:54It's paradise
35:56My mama will start to worry
35:59I'll call the car and tell them to hurry
36:02My daddy will be pacing the floor
36:04Wait, what are you still living on?
36:07I am a resolutely indoorsy person
36:10I don't deny it
36:12I mean my idea of absolute heaven
36:15Is hunkering down and feeling cosy at home
36:18But at this time of year
36:21There is something about having a walk in the frosty air
36:25That is just magical and invigorating
36:29And I know that I'll still have that cheek tingling glow
36:32When I'm back in the kitchen pottering happily
36:51I made a kitchen trip to Austria with my Linzer cookies
36:54And now I am setting off to Scandinavia with my Norwegian pork ribs
36:59And this way of cooking it not only makes for the most succulent pork you could ever eat
37:05It also creates crackling that is just in another dimension
37:11So it's prepared as they do in Norway
37:14The rind is scored in slightly chunky squares
37:18Whereas I associate crackling here with those smaller diamond shapes
37:24But it's on the underside that it gets really interesting
37:28I asked the butcher to pretend to be Norwegian
37:32And cut through the bones in two places
37:37And these are channels for my spicing and seasoning
37:41They also make it very much easier to carve
37:44And that's never a strong point of mine
37:47I'm going to start off with garlic quite a lot
37:51Salt, ditto
37:52Meat always needs more salting than you'd think
37:57And there's a lot of meat there
38:03Juniper berries
38:07These really have the flavour of gin
38:10But there's something as well quite piney about their flavour
38:15Which feels entirely seasonal
38:17And dill
38:19The herb of Scandinavia
38:22And I think a bit underrated here
38:25It's got a lemoniness and a freshness
38:27But also a gentle anise flavour
38:30That really wins around people
38:32Who hate licorice or anything in the aniseed arena
38:38I'm using the stalks for the paste
38:44I'm going to go gently at first
38:47So the juniper berries don't just jump out of the mortar
38:53You can of course use a stick blender to make this
38:56But I love using a pestle and mortar
39:00Not only does it make the kitchen smell like a Nordic spa
39:03But it's an excellent way of absorbing and getting rid of any seasonal stress
39:12And now I'm going to start pummeling
39:14Even if it does make everything in the kitchen shake and tremble
39:34When I shut my eyes
39:36I really am in the snow-frosted tree-covered mountains
39:43And now I shall anoint the pork with this fabulous aromatic paste
39:51So half in one channel
39:56The other half, as you might imagine, in the other one
40:04I'm just going to press it in gently
40:08It has such concentrated flavour
40:16These are the leaves left over from the stalks in the paste
40:19I'm going to tuck these in
40:26I love their feathery beauty
40:33Just a little bit more salt
40:39And the sides
40:43I mean, this looks so fabulously festive and I haven't even cooked it yet
40:53Got a couple of onions sliced here
40:56So let's get this over on the onions
41:03Rind side up, obviously
41:07Pour in a little bit of water from a recently boiled kettle
41:11Just to cover the base of the pan
41:14And now I'm going to do something that runs counter to absolutely everything that I previously thought about getting the
41:21crispest crackling imaginable
41:25I'm going to cover it
41:26You'd think that if you covered the pork with the water in the tin, it would make the skin soft
41:32But actually it is that that seems to make it so shatteringly crunchy later
41:40It doesn't stay covered the whole time, but for the first 45 minutes of its cooking
41:46It's in a hot oven at 220 with that foil lid firmly on
42:00To go with the Norwegian pork ribs, I'm not straying that far
42:04I'm definitely staying Scandi
42:06And I'm serving something that no Swedish Christmas would be complete without
42:11It's called Jonsson's temptation or in Swedish Jonsson's frestelse
42:16Although most of them tend just to refer to it as Jonsson's
42:20We however at home just call it chip gratter
42:26I've already got a bit ahead of myself
42:28And peeled just under a kilo and a quarter of potatoes
42:32And cut them into skinny fries
42:34Then divided them roughly into three piles
42:37So I put the first pile of potatoes into the bottom of a buttered gratin dish
42:43Of about a litre and a half capacity
42:46I sprinkle salt over the potatoes
42:48And then give a really generous grinding of pepper
42:53Next comes onions
42:54And I've cooked two large onions in butter
42:58Very gently until they're really soft
43:02And then dollop one half over the potatoes
43:06And I try and spread them out a bit
43:08But I don't worry about being too precise about this
43:13Next come what the Swedes call anjovis
43:16But they're not anchovies
43:18They're sweet spice pickled sprats
43:21And I just add them all over the onions and potatoes
43:30So now it's the same dance again
43:32The second pile of potatoes goes into the dish
43:37Then I sprinkle with salt again
43:39And give another good grinding of pepper
43:44Over this layer of seasoned potatoes
43:47Go the remaining onions
43:51Now I add the contents of a second can
43:54Of the sweet spice sprats
44:00I now add the final pile of potatoes
44:05I mix together 300ml of double cream and 300ml of full fat milk
44:10And pour this as gently as I can over the gratin dish
44:15The mother of a Swedish friend of mine refers to this as the light version
44:20Because I don't use all double cream
44:24The potatoes won't be completely submerged in the milk and cream
44:28But I press down on them a bit with a fork
44:30Just to give them a light coating
44:35Next breadcrumbs
44:36And I always keep a stash of them in the freezer
44:38And I'm happy to sprinkle them over still frozen
44:43Finally I blob over some soft unsalted butter
44:47I put the filled gratin dish into a hot oven
44:50200 degrees Celsius
44:52Or 180 if you're using a fan
44:55For about 50 minutes to an hour
44:57When it's cooked
44:58The potatoes underneath will be soft
45:01And the ones on top burnished and golden brown
45:18Everything's set
45:19I've got a bench for each household
45:21And there are lights to be lit
45:27I want the garden to be an enchanted space
45:30All soft light and cosy twinkliness
45:34I mean we all need a respite from a year of too much reality
45:39And of course the food's there to offer comfort and cheer as well
45:43And talking of which I have a bit of last minute fiddle paddling to do
45:48But nothing to ruffle me
45:50For the black bread
45:52I need to slice it and cover each piece with a ribbon of smoked salmon
45:58And then I'll give a squeeze of lemon
46:00And instead of grinding pepper over
46:03I'm going to grate over a bit of fresh horseradish
46:07And then sprinkle over some chopped fresh dill
46:12The Norwegian pork rib needs a final short blast in the oven with the heat turned up
46:18Just to make sure that crackling is incredibly crunchy
46:25And then I can carve it into juicy slabs all ready for serving
46:32And I love the way the crackling looks like glistening roof tiles on top of each slab of pork
46:40The onsens is ready and I want to take it out of the oven just to sit for a few
46:45minutes
46:45Because it tastes so much better when it's not piping hot
46:50And now for pudding
46:52I've got to lift the gingerbread out of its tin
46:56And cut it into squares to be piled up on a plate ready to be extra specially Christmasy-fied
47:11But right now I've got a drink to make
47:13I need to squeeze pomegranates and limes for my pomegranate fizz
47:18And the fizz is supplied by sparkling muscat
47:22You can use something like Asti spermante
47:25And for each bottle I need 100 milliliters of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice
47:31And 100 milliliters of freshly squeezed lime juice
47:49That's amazing
47:51The snow's coming down
47:54The bread is the stock
47:58Now it's just a question of plating up on my old Christmas china
48:05The church bells are down
48:09Are ringing the song
48:13For the happy sound
48:17Baby, please, my lord
48:19They're singing decor
48:23Very good
48:23But it's not like Christmas at all
48:27Cause I remember when you were here
48:31You can eat this little thing, old and old
48:32You can eat this little thing, old and old
48:36Pretty lights on the tree
48:38Where is this little scum?
48:40I'm watching it shine
48:42You should be here with me
48:47Baby, please, go the hall
48:51It wouldn't be a party without pudding
48:54And my glowing tower of gingerbread
48:57Is a fitting finale to the festivities
49:03Here we are
49:06Happy Christmas
49:07But it's not like Christmas at all
49:12Cause I remember when you were here
49:16It'd also be here
49:19Christmas
49:21If there was a way
49:25I'd hope that if we were
49:28Christmas
49:29But if Christmas Day
49:32Please, please, please, please, please
49:39Baby, please, please, please
49:42There's one more stop I need to make on my travels
49:52I know that there can't be the usual New Year's Eve parties this year but there are other ways to
49:58celebrate and I'm going Dutch by which I mean I'm seeing in the New Year's they do in the
50:04Netherlands with doughnuts and right now I can't think of a better way to usher in what we all
50:13certainly hope will be a sweeter New Year I'm making not one but two types of Dutch doughnuts
50:24first up olibolen and I'm just warming 250 mils of full-fat milk with 30 grams of soft unsalted
50:34butter teaspoon of vanilla extract followed by the finely grated zest of a lemon and
50:42and a good speckling of nutmeg
50:56just gonna set down my lemony buttery nutmegy milk for a moment and get on with the dry ingredients
51:02for the olibolen there aren't very many and it's very simple 250 grams of plain flour first of all
51:16and just two tablespoons or 25 grams of caster sugar
51:22a pinch of salt
51:32and two and a half teaspoons of fast-saction yeast
51:39let's give that a little mix
51:43don't want to put you off but olibolen actually means literally oil balls but I can promise you
51:52these are anything but greasy they're so crisp on the outside and tender and light and bouncy on the
52:00inside mmm can't wait before I add the jug of wet ingredients to my bowl of dry ingredients I'm gonna
52:12add an egg
52:20I don't need to get air in here I just want to make the egg combine with the fragrant milk
52:29all right
52:32it's really only a matter of seconds until this turns into a dough
52:44and that's it the dough is done well I've done my part now the yeast has to get working
52:51so I've got a dampened tea towel to cover it with and I'll leave it to rise and by the
52:57time it's ready
52:58it will have puffed up voluminously and the surface will be covered with a mass of large bubbles
53:05and now for the olibolen's partner in crime
53:10apple flapping which are in fact a kind of very special yeasted fritter
53:16I need 75 grams of plain flour 25 grams of corn flour and a quarter of a teaspoon of fast
53:24action yeast
53:27into a jug containing a hundred mils of milk warmed with one tablespoon of butter I whisk in an egg
53:37and then I whisk the contents into the dry ingredients and when smooth I cover with a damp tea towel
53:44and leave both bowls of batter to prove for about an hour and a quarter
53:53my olibolen dough is so beautifully bubbly so it's obviously excited about getting turned into doughnuts
54:01and who can blame it
54:05I love the cruel deflating of the dough
54:12and what you need to do is dip whatever implements you're using into a little cold oil
54:19this means the dough won't stick to the spoons
54:26and I'm just going to ease this into the oil
54:30it's at 180
54:34sometimes they sink right down into the depths
54:40you think they're never going to come up and then they do
54:42they bounce back
55:00love a bit of deep frying
55:08that is lovely
55:12they're wonderfully light
55:14by the time they're a deep golden brown they're ready
55:20deep fried food speaks so eloquently in the noise it makes
55:25so the rustle then and now a clatter as they hit the plate
55:38well I've got enough olibolen for now and I am desperate to get started on my apple flapping
55:44for each apple you need a tablespoon of caster sugar
55:50half a teaspoon of cinnamon
55:54and half a teaspoon of corn flour
55:56just going to give this a little mix
56:03I've got an apple waiting for me
56:08it's a cox's orange pippin
56:10which needs to be peeled
56:13cored
56:14and sliced into rings
56:16about half a centimetre thick
56:20I turn these in the cinnamon sugar
56:23and then I dunk them in the soft batter
56:31just want them to be completely covered
56:40the oil is still at 180
56:51the corn flour
56:53in the apple flap and batter
56:55makes the crunch so crisp
57:00and the batter so light
57:05they're like tempura doughnuts
57:14so now again
57:16the ceremonial lifting of the basket
57:28for maximum fluffiness and crispness with it
57:32you really have to eat these
57:33just as soon as you can without burning your mouth
57:36but first
57:37they need to be dusted with icing sugar
57:40maybe it's much too early in the game
57:47but I thought I'd ask you just the same
58:05I'm doing season's greetings by donut this year
58:10this is to say Merry Christmas
58:13and this
58:14Happy New Year
58:16New Year's Eve
58:23but in case I stand one little chance
58:30here comes the jackpot question in advance
58:36what are you doing New Year's
58:42New Year's Eve