HESTON BLUMENTHAL
With your main course, add a drop or two of sherry vinegar to the gravy to cut through the richness. And for a lighter alternative to mince pies, have a go at making an ice cream version.
Mince Pie Ice Cream
625ml milk
90g unrefined castor sugar
Six egg yolks
450g mince pies
50g skimmed milk powder
Run a heavy-bottomed casserole dish under the cold tap for a second, tip out all the water and pour in milk with 1tsp of the sugar.
Bring to the boil with milk powder and remove.
Beat the yolks and remaining sugar for 10 minutes.
Simmer milk and pour on to the egg-sugar mix.
Stirring, pour back into the casserole.
Place on a low heat and stir until it thickens.
Pour into a cold mixing bowl, stirring until it begins to cool.
When cool, blend with the mince pies in a liquidiser.
Strain into a sealed container and refrigerate.
Churn in ice cream machine. Cover and freeze.
Makes about 2 litres.
AINSLEY HARRIOTT
Try to prepare the vegetables the day before. Blanch sprouts, put walnuts in with them and keep them in the fridge. Why not break with tradition and have beetroot as one vegetable?
Christmas Beetroot
6 large raw beetroot
3tbs balsamic vinegar
1tsp cumin seeds
2tbs olive oil
150ml half-fat crème fraîch
2tbs grated horse radish
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Peel the beetroot and cut them into wedges.
Tip into a roasting tray and drizzle with the vinegar. Sprinkle over the cumin seeds.
Turn occasionally and roast until tender, but with a bite – about 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve with a dollop of horseradish and crème fraîche mixed.
RICHARD CORRIGAN
Brussels sprouts don’t have to be boring: try adding some Christmassy extras such as chestnuts and bacon to spruce them up.
Brussels sprouts
75g unsmoked streaky bacon, cut into lardons
600g small Brussels sprouts, trimmed
Sunflower oil
400g vacuum-packed cooked chestnuts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the grill. Spread out the bacon lardons on a baking tray or sheet of foil and grill them until cooked, stirring occasionally.
Blanch the sprouts in boiling, salted water for two minutes or just until tender. Drain and refresh.
Heat a film of oil in a frying pan, and add the chestnuts. Add the sprouts and the bacon. Heat through, stirring. Serve.
CLARISSA DICKSON-WRIGHT
Instead of cranberry sauce, add sweetness to your turkey with cherry purée. Christmas dinner should be one of the easiest meals in the world to cook: don’t panic – or get drunk.
Turkey fillet with cherries
1 turkey breast (1.3 to 1.8kg)
75g breadcrumbs
1 egg
25g butter
150ml Madeira
900g cherries (keep stones)
3 x 400g tins cherries
2 cloves
1/2 cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
1/2tsp nutmeg
1tbs sugar
Preheat oven to 180C.
Simmer cherries and spices until tender.
Boil 15 to 20 cherry stones in 150ml water for 10 mins, strain, add sugar. Add to purée.
Trim and flatten turkey.
Mix half purée with breadcrumbs, bind with egg. Spread over turkey, roll up, tie.
Grease foil with half the butter.
Drizzle Madeira; add remaining butter.
Loosely close foil.
Cook in casserole for 30 to 40 mins, opening foil after 15 to 25 mins.
Serve on bed of puree.
Serves 6.
JOHN TORODE
Put a glass of water in the cavity of the turkey before you cook it: the breast will stay moist and the thighs will steam and cook more quickly.
Sage and apple stuffing
20g butter
2 medium onions, peeled,diced
300g chestnuts chopped finely
10 leaves of sage, torn
100g fresh breadcrumbs
3 Granny Smith apples, grated
200g sausage meat
Sage for garnish
Salt and ground pepper
Melt butter and fry onions over a medium heat until transparent.
Add chestnuts and sage, and season well. Cook for two minutes, and then remove from heat.
Soak the breadcrumbs in 100ml water until it has all been absorbed.
Add remaining ingredients and beat for three mins.
Grease a 30cm x 10cm ovenproof dish, spoon the stuffing in and garnish with sage leaves.
Cook at 200C for 40 mins, until crispy on top.
ALDO ZILLI
Roasted pumpkin, instead of onion, is great with sage as a stuffing for white meat.
Roast potatoes
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
200ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic, skin on
2 sprigs rosemary
4 x 15ml spoons semolina
Salt and ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 200C.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the potatoes. Parboil for five minutes; drain.
Put semolina, salt and pepper in a dish, mix well and toss the potatoes in until fully coated.
Place the oil in a large roasting pan; warm in oven briefly.
Add potatoes, garlic, rosemary. Cook until golden brown.
Remove garlic and rosemary before serving.
ANTONIO CARLUCCIO
Instead of the traditional Christmas pudding, why not try a Tuscan speciality for dessert this year? Panforte is popular in Italy over the festive period, and has been since the Middle Ages.
Panforte
250g toasted almonds
150g walnuts
55g candied peel
250g candied pumpkin
2tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
200g plain flour
200g icing sugar
200g honey
Rice paper
2tbs vanilla sugar
Preheat oven to 160C.
Mix nuts, pumpkin, peel, spice and flour well.
Put icing sugar, honey and 1tbs of water in a heavy-based pan. Heat until dissolved; allow to bubble, stirring, until it is caramel.
Pour on to flour mixture; stir until smooth.
Line 20cm cake tin with rice paper.
Spread mixture, level top with spatula.
Bake for 30 mins.
Leave to cool and then dust with vanilla sugar. – The Independent on Sunday