Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen (part 1)
I love Christmas + I love cooking = I love this series! You are probably already thinking about what to make for Christmas. May I suggest you use this 3-part miniseries as an inspiration. Nothing more to say, just sit back and enjoy. Recipes are available under “more”.
From Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen part 1
Running time: 29 minutes, Filesize: 84,9 megabytes
Aromatic Spiced Ham
Ingredients
For the ham
2.25-2.75kg/4lb 15oz-6lb 1oz boneless mild-cure gammon
250ml/8¾fl oz red wine
3 litres/5 pints 5½fl oz water (approximately)
1 large onion, halved
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 head fennel, halved
2 star anise
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp fennel seed
1 tbsp mixed peppercorns
For the glaze
approximately 16 whole cloves
4 tbsp redcurrant jelly
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp red wine vinegar
Method
1. Place the gammon in a large saucepan.
2. Add all the ingredients for the ham to the pan, adding some more water if the ham isn’t covered.
3. Bring to the boil, before reducing the heat to a simmer and partially covering the pan. Cook for about two and a half to three hours - approximately one hour a kilo simmering time, plus an extra 15 minutes.
4. When you are ready to glaze the ham, preheat the oven to 230C/440F/Gas 8.
5. Remove the ham from the liquid and sit the ham on a board. Strip off the rind, and a little of the fat layer if it’s very thick, and cut a diamond pattern into the remaining fat with a sharp knife in lines of about 2cm/¾in apart.
6. Stud each diamond with a clove. Put the jelly, cinnamon, paprika and red wine vinegar into a saucepan and whisk together over a high heat bringing it to the boil. Let the pan bubble away so that the glaze reduces to a syrup-like consistency.
7. Place a layer of foil over a roasting tray big enough to hold the ham. Place the ham on top of the foil.
8. Pour the glaze over the clove-studded ham and then transfer it to the oven. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the glazed fat is burnished.
9. Allow the meat to rest in a warm place for at least 15 minutes before carving it.
Chocolate Fruit Cake
Ingredients
350g/12¼oz dried soft prunes, chopped
250g/8¾oz raisins
125g/4½oz currants
175g/6¼oz unsalted butter, softened
175g/6¼oz dark muscovado sugar
175ml/6¼fl oz honey
125ml/4½fl oz coffee liqueur
2 oranges, juice and zest only
1 tsp mixed spice
2 tbsp good quality cocoa
3 free-range eggs, beaten
150g/5¼oz plain flour
75g/2½oz ground almonds
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
For decoration
25g/1oz dark chocolate-covered coffee beans
edible glitter
gold mini balls
about 10 edible gold stars
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
2. Line the sides and bottom of a 20cm/8in, 9cm/3½in deep, round loose-bottomed cake tin with a layer of reusable silicon baking parchment. When lining the tin with the parchment, cut the material into strips that are twice as high as the tin itself (it is easier to use two shorter strips of parchment, than one long strip); the height of the strips protects the cake from catching on the outside of the cake tin.
3. Place the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, coffee liqueur, orange juice and zest, mixed spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan. Heat the mixture until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring the mixture as the butter melts. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled a little. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate soda, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients have combined.
5. Carefully pour the fruitcake mixture into the lined cake tin. Transfer the cake tin to the oven and bake for 1¾-2 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm but will has a shiny and sticky look. At this point, if you insert a sharp knife into the middle of the cake, the cake should still be a little uncooked in the middle.
6. Place the cake on a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin.
7. To decorate, place the chocolate-covered coffee beans in the centre of the cake and arrange the gold stars around the perimeter of the top of the cake. Then sprinkle some gold mini-balls over the whole of the cake. Sprinkle the edible glitter over the top of the cake.
Christmas Chutney
Ingredients
700g/1lb 8½oz Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
250g/9oz dried cranberries
1 onion, finely chopped
350ml/12fl oz apple cider vinegar
200g/7oz sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
Method
1. Slice the apples into halves. Slice the halves lengthways into smaller pieces, roughly 0.5cm/¼in width.
2. Place the apple pieces and finely chopped onion into a saucepan with all the other ingredients. Heat the mixture until it is simmering quickly. Cook the mixture for 45 minutes, or until the chutney has thickened slightly and the fruit has become soft.
3. Spoon the mixture into sterilized jars and screw the lids onto the jars tightly. Allow to cool before storing in a cool, dark place.
Christmas Tree Decorations
Ingredients
For the biscuits
100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened
100g/3½oz soft dark sugar
300g/10½oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
1-2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
4 tbsp clear honey
set of Christmas cutters
For the icing and trimmings
300g/10½oz instant royal icing sugar (made to packet instructions)
3 tbsp water
gold or silver sugar balls or sprinkles
florist’s ribbon or wire for hanging
Method
1. Preheat oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
2. Place the butter and sugar in a clean bowl and mix together vigorously with a wooden spoon until the colour and texture of the mixture becomes pale.
3. Place the mixture into the bowl of a food processor and add the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and freshly ground black pepper. Blend the mixture. While the food processor is blending, gradually pour the eggs and honey down the funnel of the food processor’s lid into the bowl until a dough has formed (you may not require all of the liquid if the dough has come together before it is used up). If the dough is too dry add a little water to the mixture. If the dough is too wet add a little flour to the mixture.
4. Halve the dough. Wrap one half of the dough in cling film, place it into a freezer bag, and place it into the fridge.
5. Place the other half of the dough onto a floured work surface. Roll the dough, with a rolling pin, into a disc to about 0.5cm/¼in thick.
6. Using a set of Christmas biscuit cutters, cut Christmas decoration shapes out of the dough. Re-roll the remaining dough and cut out more shapes until the dough is used up. Remove the second half of the dough from the fridge and repeat this process.
7. With the pointed end of a small icing nozzle, puncture a hole just below the top of each decoration (through which ribbon or wire can later be threaded to hang them).
8. Arrange the decorations on a baking sheet lined with a layer of reusable silicon baking parchment and cook for 20 minutes or until they are cooked through and golden-brown in colour. Transfer the decorations to a wire rack to cool.
9. Prepare the icing according to the packet instructions (the icing texture should be liquid enough to be easy to apply but thick enough not to run off the decorations).
10. Ice the decorations using a teaspoon (use the tip of the spoon for dripping the icing onto the decoration and the back of the teaspoon for smoothing).
11. Sprinkle the gold or silver balls over the decorations and press them gently onto the icing. Cut the ribbon into short lengths and thread the ribbon through the holes in the decorations. Tie the decorations to what ever needs decorating with the ribbon.
Gravlax
Ingredients
1kg/2¼lb salmon fillet, skin still attached
4 tbsp salt
4 tbsp caster sugar
3 tsp English mustard, prepared
2 tbsp gin
large handful fresh dill, roughly chopped
Method
1. Place the salmon fillet, skin-side down, into a wide, shallow dish that fits the salmon snugly.
2. Place the salt, sugar, English mustard and gin into a clean bowl and mix well until the ingredients have combined to form a yellow mixture with a smooth texture.
3. Spread the mixture over the salmon’s pink flesh so that it has been totally covered.
4. Sprinkle the dill onto the paste-covered salmon and pat down. Press the dill onto the flesh so that no pink flesh from the salmon is visible.
5. Turn the fish over in the dish so that the skin is facing upwards. Cover the dish with one layer of cling film. Press the cling film down onto the edges of the fish before wrapping it around the sides of the dish. Once this has been completed repeat the process with another layer of cling film.
6. Apply weight to the top of the fish to press it down into the dish (jars, tins or any other weights can be used). Transfer the fish to the fridge and leave for 2-3 days.
7. After 2-3 days, unwrap the cling film from dish and remove the salmon fillet. Brush off the dill from the salmon.
8. Place the salmon fillet on a carving board flesh-side up. With a long, sharp knife, carefully carve very thin diagonal slivers of the pink flesh off the salmon. Work from the right-hand end of the fillet (unless you are left-handed). Re-wrap the fillet in cling film and keep the gravlax in the fridge if it is not all sliced in one go.
9. To serve, place on a clean plate.
Mulled Cider
Ingredients
1 litre/1 pint 15fl oz cider
60ml/2fl oz dark rum
250ml/9fl oz apple and ginger tea, from herbal teabag
40g/1½oz soft dark brown sugar
2 clementines
4 cloves
2 cardamom pods
2 sticks cinnamon
2 fresh bay leaves
Method
1. Pour the cider, rum and herbal tea into a wide saucepan. Add the sugar and place the saucepan over a low heat.
2. Slice the clementines in half and stick a clove into each half. Add the clementines to the pan.
3. Break the cinnamon sticks in half. Add the cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamom pods to the saucepan.
4. Heat the saucepan until the mixture is almost boiling. Turn down the heat once the pan is near to boiling.
5. To serve, ladle the mulled cider into heatproof glasses with handles.
December 4th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Ah, great! Thanks!
December 19th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Thanks,
Just what I needed and was looking for after I saw the show.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I love Nigella - especially her Christmas special! I had saved this on my tivo but was so sad when the box was replaced recently - I’m so relieved to find this and have book marked it in preparation for next Christmas already :)
Thank you!