Gordon Ramsay Cooks Christmas !
It’s december, and as you’re reading this, you’ve probably already thought about what to make for Christmas. This month I’m going to try to focus on Christmas recipes. First up is this Christmas menu Gordon Ramsay prepared. It’s from a dvd that came with an English newspaper (Times, 26th November 2005), and there are some very nice recipes for you to try out.
Antipasti:
Truffled Cream Cheese
Aubergine Caviar
Soup:
Swede and Cardamon soup
Main Course:
Spiced Christmas Goose
Dessert:
Bailey’s Baked Alaska
Watch all the recipes by clicking “more”…
Truffled Cream Cheese
300g cream cheese
150ml sour cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Handful of chives, finely chopped
Few drops of truffle-infused olive oil
1 Put the cream cheese into a bowl and mash with a fork or spatula to loosen it. Mix in the sour cream, season to taste with salt and pepper and fold through the chopped chives. Add a few drops of truffle oil, according to taste.
2 Spoon into a dipping bowl and serve with lots of breadsticks or crostini.
Aubergine Caviar
2 medium aubergines
2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into halves
2 tbsp rock salt
Few sprigs of thyme and rosemary
Olive oil, to drizzle
150ml sour cream
Freshly ground black pepper
Small bunch of coriander, leaves chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Slice the aubergines in two lengthways, then score the flesh with the tip of your knife in a criss-cross pattern. Rub the garlic halves over the scored sides of the aubergines and stud two halves with rosemary leaves and the other two halves with sprigs of thyme.
2 Drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle with rock salt. Sandwich a rosemary-studded and a thyme-studded half together, with the garlic halves, and wrap tightly in foil to resemble a Christmas cracker. Repeat with the other two halves. Place on a roasting tray and bake for 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
3 Remove the foil from the aubergines, discard the herbs and scrape the flesh and garlic on to a chopping board. (Use two spoons when you’re doing this as the aubergines will still be steaming hot). Chop to a coarse paste.
4 Heat a saucepan with a little olive oil and add the aubergine paste. Cook over high heat for about 30 seconds, stirring frequently, until the juices have evaporated and the pulp is thick. This will also help to intensify the flavour of the aubergines.
5 Stir in the coriander and sour cream and season to taste. Add a squeeze of lemon, spoon into a dipping bowl and serve.
Swede and Cardamon Soup
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
Few sprigs of thyme
30g unsalted butter, cut into
small pieces
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6-8 cardamom pods
2 swedes, peeled and chopped into
small pieces
2 tbsp honey
1.5-2l hot chicken stock
150ml double cream
Grating of nutmeg, to serve
1 Heat a large pan with the olive oil. Stir in the onion and celery and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the thyme and a few knobs of butter and seasoning.
2 Crush the cardamom pods with the back of a knife and add to the onions and celery. Sweat the onions for 5 more minutes until they are soft and translucent, but not browned.
3 Stir in the chopped swede, drizzle over the honey and cover the pan with a lid. This will encourage condensation and prevent the onions from burning. Cook over medium heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the swedes have softened and caramelised. If they do catch, simply add a little water.
4 Pour in enough hot chicken stock to cover the vegetables and let simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in the cream and
adjust the seasoning.
5 In batches, liquidise the soup in a blender until really smooth, adding a few knobs of butter for a velvety finish. (When liquidising the hot soup, fill the blender no more than halfway and release one corner of the lid. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth. This will prevent the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions). Pass the soup through a fine sieve, pushing down with the back of a ladle, and discard the solids.
6 Reheat the soup and adjust the consistency, adding more cream to thicken or more hot stock to thin it down. Season again to taste and serve in warm bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and a grating of nutmeg.
Spiced Christmas Goose
1 goose, approx 5.5-6.5kg in weight
1 orange, finely zested and sliced into halves
2 lemons, finely zested and sliced into halves
2 heaped tbsp five spice powder
1 tbsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp runny honey, to drizzle
1 Place a deep roasting pan with a wire rack in the oven and preheat to the highest setting, about 250C/Gas 9. Remove the giblets from the main cavity of the goose and trim off any excess fat.
2 Coarsely grind the orange and lemon zest, five spice powder, salt and pepper in a pestle and mortar.
3 Lightly score the skin of the goose in a criss-cross pattern using a sharp knife, taking care not to slice through the flesh. Rub the seasoning all over the skin.
4 Season and stuff the neck-end cavity of the goose with the lemon wedges, tucking the flap of skin neatly down around it.
5 Place the goose on to the preheated wire rack and roasting pan, breast-side up, and bake for 15 minutes until the skin is golden-brown. Turn down the heat to 180C/Gas 4 and roast for another 30 minutes.
6 Pour off some of the fat from the roasting tin. (Don’t throw out the fat – it is wonderful to roast potatoes with.) Drizzle the honey over the goose. With a sharp knife, cut around the thighs and prise the legs open. (This will allow the heat to penetrate the dark meat and ensure that they cook at the same time as the breast meat.) Baste the thighs with a little goose fat and drizzle with more honey.
7 Place the goose back in the oven and roast for another half hour until browned and slightly caramelised. The flesh should feel firm with a bit of spring when lightly pressed with your finger. Alternatively, insert an electronic probe or a meat thermometer into the thickest part of a thigh. It should register 70C. (Make sure the thermometer is not touching the bone or the reading will not be accurate.)
8 Remove the goose from the oven and cover loosely with tin foil. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
9 To carve, first cut off the wings and legs and set aside. Carve thin slices off the breast meat. Cut down the centre of the legs to separate the thighs from the drumsticks. Holding them upright on the chopping board, slice off the meat around the thighs and drumsticks. Arrange the meat on a large platter and serve.
Baileys Baked Alaska
About 1l Baileys-flavoured ice-cream
180g caster sugar
100ml water
3 large free-range egg whites
Squeeze of lemon juice
2 x 300g loafs Golden Syrup cake
1 First, prepare the Baileys ice-cream. Line 8 ramekins, 6-7cm in diameter, with large sheets of clingfilm and fill to the top with the ice-cream. Wrap well with the clingfilm overhanging at the sides, and freeze.
2 To make the meringue, place the sugar and water in a small heavy-based saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has melted, then increase the heat and boil the liquid until the syrup has thickened and starts to colour slightly on the sides. (The bubbles should get larger as the syrup thickens.) Take the pan off the heat.
3 Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites with a few drops of lemon juice in a bowl using an electric whisk, until they form soft peaks. Slowly pour the hot syrup down one side of the bowl, then whisk on full speed for 3-5 minutes until the meringue is firm, glossy and has cooled down. Set aside.
4 To construct the dessert, slice each loaf of cake horizontally into three, then cut out 12 discs using a 6-7cm pastry cutter. Place half on a baking tray. Unmould the ice-cream from a ramekin, and lay on a sponge on the baking sheet. Sandwich with another sponge and quickly cover the top and sides with meringue using a palette knife. Roughen the surface of the meringue with a fork. Repeat with the rest of the sponge, ice-cream and meringue, then put into the freezer, uncovered.
5 When ready to serve, place each Alaska on a serving plate and wave a cook’s blowtorch lightly over each meringue to colour. It should only take a few seconds. (If you do not have a blowtorch, colour the meringues under a very hot grill until the edges have browned.) Serve at once, with flaming brandy if you like.