Let’s celebrate the very exciting collaboration with Trish Deseine and NEFF, at the end of a delicious year. Every month we brought you seasonal recipes from Trish at home in France, perfect for entertaining, cooking at home and cooking for you. This menu is destined to please every guest who tries it this Christmas time.
I would not dream of tampering with family traditions for Christmas Day dinner, so these recipes which follow are for smart-ish, seasonal entertaining, when you are in the festive run-up or have arrived at mellow Twixmas. That said, on the big day itself, the excellent NEFF oven CircoTherm and steam functions are fabulous allies, with so many dishes to serve hot – and simultaneously. Most of the recipes are easy to make ahead, colourful, and seasonal, with interesting flavours. I’ve embraced the longstanding French trend of serving appetisers in little glasses – or verrines – and the good old French classics of duck à l’orange and chocolate ice cream log. There are a couple of light, aromatic crowd-pleaser cocktails and, to add a little luxury, some easy homemade chocolates to serve with liqueurs, or give as gifts. I hope your December will be filled with fun and cheer, and I wish you a wonderful Christmas! @trishdeseineencore @neffhomeie
TWO CHILLED CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS
Start the Christmas party with one of these two light, fruity combinations topped up with chilled fizz.
For 1
5 minutes preparation
Barley water, gin and lemon
1 tsp barley water
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 measure gin
Ice
Chilled champagne to top up
Method
Put all ingredients except the champagne
in a shaker with ice.
Shake well, pour into a champagne
coupe and top with icy champagne.
Lemon verbena tea, orange and vodka
100ml verbena tea, brewed and well chilled
1 strip orange zest or verbena leaves
1 tsp lemon juice
1 measure vodka
Ice
Chilled champagne to top up
Method
Put all ingredients except the champagne in a shaker with ice.
Shake well, pour into a champagne coupe and top with icy champagne.
Garnish with lemon peel or verbena leaves if you have them.
VERRINES WITH SALMON AND CORN CEVICHE
The French love to serve a verrine or small glass with a glass of champagne. Jellied vegetables, mousses or even warm or cold soups can be delicious. Pay attention to the garnishes. This salmon ceviche has punchy fresh flavours and pretty colours.
For 6
40 minutes preparation
Ingredients
150g raw salmon fillet
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice
50g sweetcorn, drained
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 large avocado, diced and
tossed with lemon juice
Fresh coriander to garnish
Stem radish microherbs to garnish (optional)
Method
Put all the ingredients apart from the avocado into a bowl and toss together.
Leave to marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge before adding the avocado and spooning into small glasses, garnishing with microherbs if you have them.
Keep glasses chilled until serving.
VERRINES WITH TUNA ROUGAILLE
Rougaille is a Creole tomato sauce. This tuna rougaille verrine is spicy and hearty, a nice counterpoint to a glass of chilled champagne.
For 6
40 minutes preparation
Ingredients
2cm piece juice of ginger
1/2 lime
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
100g drained tuna chunks
For the rougaille
3 ripe tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig of thyme
Carrot purée
Stem radish microherbs to garnish (optional)
Method
Peel and grate the ginger. Squeeze half a lime.
In a small salad bowl, mix the lime juice, ginger, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper, then add the tuna, mix well and leave to chill in the fridge.
For the rougaille
Peel the tomatoes (immerse them in boiling water for a few seconds to make them tastier.)
Deseed and chop the tomatoes with the onion and garlic.
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan, brown the tomatoes, adding the thyme leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly.
Take the mixture off the heat and leave to cool.
Mix the rougaille with the tuna, then spoon into small glasses and top with carrot purée.
MUSHROOM AND CHESTNUT VELOUTÉ WITH TOASTED BRIOCHE AND TRUFFLE BUTTER
If you cannot get your hands on truffle (and preserved truffle shavings would do just fine here) use some miso paste and lots of freshly ground or cracked black pepper instead, to boost the flavour of the butter.
For 6
25 minutes preparation
25 minutes cooking
Ingredients
500g fresh button mushrooms
30g butter
1 clove garlic, peeled, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
500g cooked chestnuts, crumbled roughly
1 chicken stock cube
200ml double cream
Chervil to garnish
Salt and pepper
To serve
6 slices of fresh buttery brioche
100g softened salted butter
1 tbsp chopped black truffle mixed through the butter
Method
Take the stems off the mushrooms and cut them into slices.
Heat the butter in a pan and lightly cook the garlic and onion until slightly golden.
Add the mushrooms and chestnuts, mix together and let everything sweat for a few minutes.
Cover with water and add the stock cube. Leave to cook over medium heat for around 12-15 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft.
Take the mixture off the heat and blitz in a Nutribullet or other super-powerful blender: you want the smoothest of textures here!
Add the cream and mix again.
Season and serve hot with toasted brioche and truffle butter.
DUCK À L’ORANGE
Never apply chicken-portion-logic to duck. Although they may look around the same size, one duck will feed just four guests with perhaps a few scraps for extras. Two will fi t snugly enough into your oven, however, and the carcasses make great stock.
For 4
10 minutes preparation
1 hour 30 minutes cooking
Ingredients
2 carrots (cut into 2cm chunks)
2 shallots (cut into quarters)
1 bay leaf
1 orange (unwaxed, cut into quarters)
1 duck (1.5-1.75kg, ready for the oven)
For the sauce
100g sugar
75g butter
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Juice and zest of 2 oranges (unwaxed)
1 orange cut into slices
250ml orange juice
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C using NEFF CircoTherm or fan.
Put the carrots, most of the shallots, the bay leaf and 2 of the orange quarters into a roasting tin. Squeeze the orange quarters a little to release some juice.
Put the remaining shallot and 2 orange quarters inside the duck’s cavity, set it on the vegetables and roast for about 90 minutes, basting as often as you can, every 30 minutes would be ideal.
Remove the duck from the oven, pour off the cooking juices into a bowl, then keep the duck warm.
If you feel like it, press the cooking vegetables through a conical sieve to extract all the flavour from them into the juices, then discard the sieve contents.
Put the sugar into a medium heavy-based saucepan and add 2 tbsps water. Heat it slowly turning the pan but not stirring with a spoon (otherwise crystals, then lumps, will form) – until it becomes a syrup.
Let this bubble for about 2 minutes, until it starts to caramelise. When it is a dark golden colour take it off the heat and gently add the duck cooking juices, the orange zest and juice.
Be careful the caramel doesn’t spit and burn you.
Put the pan back on the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes to reduce the sauce, then season with salt and pepper. Whisk the butter in and add the orange slices to heat them through.
Carve the duck into four pieces and serve with the orange sauce.
GREEN BEAN AND BACON BUNDLES
At Christmas, why not be a little more ambitious with your sides? These green bean bundles are deliciously bitey and cook to crispy perfection in my NEFF oven.
For 8
10 minutes preparation
10 minutes cooking time
Ingredients
400g fresh or frozen green beans
8 slices smoked bacon, finely cut
Salt and pepper
A little butter
Method
Preheat your oven to 160°C using the NEFF CircoTherm (with high added steam if you like) or fan.
Cook the beans in salted water so they remain firm (7-8 minutes). Drain and let them cool for 5 minutes.
Make bundles of 8-10 beans and place each at the end of a slice of bacon. Roll the bundle in the bacon: it will hold itself together.
Place bundles in the oven for 10 minutes or until crispy. If you are using a a pan, put a little butter and heat the bundles over medium heat so that the bacon is golden brown.
POTATOES TWO FANCY WAYS
Try small potatoes sautéed in the fat from the duck recipe (above), or duchesse potato piped into pretty roses. If you are feeling brave, do both!
Potatoes in duck fat
For 6
15 minutes preparation
350-500g small, waxy potatoes, skins on
Fat from the cooking duck
Salt and pepper
Method
Have the potatoes pre-boiled and ready, just as you are about to serve.
Spoon off some of the fat from the duck and heat it in a separate pan.
Add the potatoes and sauté them until they are golden and crisp. Serve with the bacon beans (previous pages) and the duchesse potatoes.
Duchesse potatoes
For 6-8
40 minutes cooking
1kg potatoes (Roosters or similar)
120g softened butter, cut into pieces
Salt
Ground nutmeg
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C using NEFF CircoTherm or fan.
Peel, wash and cut the potatoes into cubes and cook them for 35-40 minutes in a steamer.
Pass them through a potato masher into a salad bowl.
Add the butter, salt and a little nutmeg.
Mix everything together until the butter is completely melted.
Add 1 whole egg and mix it through. Incorporate the second whole egg, then the 2 yolks.
Pour this purée into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle and pipe small roses on a baking tray
covered with parchment paper.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the ridges are golden. Sprinkle with salt and serve.
CHOCOLATE MENDIANTS AND CANDIED ORANGE PEEL
Easy and impressive! Make these the morning of your dinner party or better still, a few days ahead.
For 6-8
30 minutes preparation
1 hour chilling time
Utensil
1 guitar sheet (chocolatier’s polypropylene at specialists) or parchment paper
For the chocolate mendiants
125g good dark and/or milk chocolate
Selection of sultanas, green pistachios, blanched almonds, orange peel and hazelnuts
Method
Place a sheet of guitar paper (or parchment) on a smooth and cold surface, such as marble or stainless steel. As long as your kitchen is reasonably cool, any surface will be fine.
Melt the chocolate in a bain marie, or a saucepan over boiling water will do fi ne. Once it is melted and smooth, take it off the heat.
Place 1 tsp of melted chocolate on the sheet and spread it into a disc with the back of the spoon.
Make several in a row, in case the chocolate in the bowl cools quickly.
On each disc, place 4 nuts or fruits from the selection suggested. Leave to cool completely (when they come off the paper easily, they are ready! Slide into trays and leave in the fridge until it’s time to serve.
For the chocolate candied orange peel
200g of good dark chocolate
150g candied orange peel strips
Method
Melt 200g good dark chocolate in a bain marie or microwave.
Take the bowl of melted chocolate and immerse each piece of orange peel strip into the chocolate, then fish them out with a fork and let the excess chocolate drip off.
Place each coated piece of peel on guitar or parchment paper and leave them to cool, then further harden, in the fridge.
CHOCOLATE RIPPLE NO-CHURN ICE CREAM LOG
No-churn ice cream, with sweetened condensed milk providing the sugary smoothness, is all the rage at the moment, and is fine if you like your ices sweet and soft. I think it’s a perfect proposition for stress-free Christmas logs, as there is no finicky rolling or assembly and you can lighten things up with fresh fruit on the side. This makes over two litres of ice cream, which may be a little too much for the average size log mould. just pop the rest into a freezerproof container for later.
For 4
25 minutes preparation time
Overnight freezing
Utensils
Silicone log mould
Chocolat leaf moulds (I found them on Amazon)
Ingredients
500g good dark chocolate
2 x 400g tins sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
850ml double cream
For the chocolate leaves
45 minutes preparation
2 hours cooling
250g milk, white or blonde chocolate, to vary the colour of your leaves
Method
Set up your silicone log mould.
Melt 500g dark chocolate over a bain marie, or in the microwave, starting and stopping it regularly.
Mix the condensed milk, vanilla and half the melted chocolate (250g) together until smoothly incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks, then fold the cream through the condensed milk mixture.
Half fill the mould, pressing the cream into the crevices of the bark with a spatula to avoid air bubbles.
Stir half the remaining melted chocolate (125g) through the cream, making a ripple effect.
Top the log with the chocolate/condensed milk mixture and fi nish up by rippling the rest of the melted chocolate (125g) through it.
Smooth out the base and cover with cling film or with the base that may come with your kit.
Freeze the log in the freezer overnight or for at least 8 hours.
For the chocolate leaves
Make the chocolate leaves by melting the 250g milk, white or blonde chocolate, filling the silicone or plastic moulds and scraping off the excess with a spatula. Chill the moulds in the fridge until you are just about to serve the ice cream log.
Unmould the log and leaves at the same time – chocolatiers will tell you to temper the chocolate before moulding it, and not to leave it in the fridge, but it’s fine this way, as it’s convenient and keeps the chocolate leaves cool.
Decorate the log with the leaves and serve immediately.
Trish’s NEFF oven. www.neff-home.com/ie
Trish’s table settings feature Stable of Ireland napkins and tablecloth, serving ware from Nicholas Mosse and Newbridge Silverware Bead Cutlery. The shoot also features a painterly herringbone throw and a Donegal tweed cushion from Magee 1866 and Foxford Home.
Photography by @franckschmitt_photographe.