Christmas is the time for a home cooked, lovingly prepared family spread. And unless you’re spending the holiday season alone (in which case we want to give you a big bear-hug) or your last exploits in the kitchen nearly killed someone, you really have no excuse to eat out, no matter how tempting the Christmas restaurant offers are.
With that said, we want to make sure you and your loved ones will be feasting on a truly special Christmas dinner this year. So we went about town, diligently collecting the best Christmas recipes, put together by some fantastic chefs from a few of our favourite restaurants.
Starters for starters
Contributing the starter and some mouth-watering sides is Belgian Café’s sous chef, Daragh Lawlor. Having previously worked with international chains and renowned restaurants before joining the InterContinental here in Abu Dhabi, Chef Lawlor brings 26 years of culinary experience to your Christmas table.
Pumpkin and cinnamon soup
Ingredients
• 1kg pumpkin
• 350g onion
• 1tbsp honey
• 50ml olive oil
• Pinch of salt & pepper
• 2ltrs vegetable stock
• 500ml fresh cream
• 1tsp cinnamon
Method
1 Dice the pumpkin into large squares
2 Add onion, also roughly diced
3 Place pumpkin and onion in a large bowl
4 Add olive oil, honey, salt, pepper and cinnamon
5 Mix together until completely coated
6 Place on a roasting tray in the oven at 160°C for 20 minutes
7 Remove from oven and place in a large saucepan
8 Cover with vegetable stock
9 Bring to boil
10 Turn down heat to simmer
11 Add fresh cream
12 Blitz in a food processer
13 Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper
14 If the mixture is too thick, add more vegetable stock until right consistency
15 Serve with warm bread
Crushed carrot & parsnip
Ingredients
• 375g carrots
• 375g parsnips
• 56g butter
• 2tsps sugar
• Pinch salt & pepper
Method
1 Dice the carrot and parsnip into even sized pieces
2 Cover with cold water
3 Add sugar, salt and pepper
4 Bring to boil, then turn down heat and simmer
5 Remove a piece of carrot and crush with fork to check if it’s cooked
6 Drain off water
7 Add butter and stir over low heat to remove excess moisture
8 Crush with a fork
9 Adjust seasoning
The turkey talks
No Christmas meal is complete without a proper turkey, and providing us with a killer recipe is Chef de Cuisine Jeffrey Brothers of the multi award winning Marco Pierre White Restaurant & Grill. Chef Brothers has previously worked through some of Downtown Toronto’s most celebrated restaurants, including Susur restaurant under celebrity Chef Susur Lee, before joining Fairmont and eventually moving to Abu Dhabi.
Orange-brined turkey
Ingredients
• 1 whole turkey, 5 kg
• 1ltr orange juice, freshly squeezed if possible
• 1ltr ice water
• Zest of two oranges
• 5 sprigs of thyme
• 5 star anise
• 5 black peppercorns
• 2 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 100g rock salt
• 30g sugar
• 15ml corn oil
• 3g dried sage
• 2g paprika
• cracked black pepper
Method
1 In a large sauce pot combine all dry ingredients with orange juice and bring to a simmer
2 Once the salt and sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and add the ice water. Let the brine cool completely
3 Place the turkey upside down in a large pot and cover with the chilled brine. Refrigerate the turkey in the brine for five to seven hours. A good rule is one hour in the brine for every kg of turkey
4 Remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry with paper towel. Place on roasting pan
5 Combine the corn oil, dried sage and paprika and rub on the surface of turkey, season with the cracked black pepper (no salt necessary).Cover turkey with aluminum foil
6 Pre-heat oven to 175°C and roast the turkey till ⅔ done. Remove the foil increase the temperature to 200°C, this will allow the turkey to brown. Continue to cook the turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 72°C. When poked with the tip of a fork the juices should run clear. A good guide to follow for cooking time is 35-40 minutes of roasting for every kg of turkey
Thyme and Savory Stuffing
Ingredients
• 100g unsalted butter
• 250g onion, cut into ¼ inch dice
• 100g celery, cut into ¼ inch dice
• 100g carrot, cut into ¼ inch dice
• 3g fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 2g dried savory
• 400g bread, cut into one inch cubes (approximately one whole loaf)
• 275ml turkey or chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
Method
1 In a sauté pan on medium heat melt the butter and add the carrot, celery and onion. Cook for about five minutes or until the vegetables are tender
2 Transfer the vegetables to a mixing bowl and add the bread and spices
3 Stir in the turkey stock and season with salt and pepper
4 If stuffing the turkey, season the cavity and place the stuffing inside. Tie the legs together and roast in the oven until turkey is fully cooked
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
• 750g cranberries
• 200g white granulated sugar
• 125ml orange juice
• 125ml water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• Zest of one orange
Method
1 Combine water, orange juice and sugar and bring to a boil. Stir until the sugar is dissolved
2 Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the cranberries, cinnamon and cloves. Cook the mixture for 10-12 minutes or until the cranberries begin to pop
3 Remove the sauce from the heat, remove cinnamon stick, stir in the zest and let cool
From the heart to your hearth
And now to top it all off with a fantastic Yuletide desert, courtesy of executive Patisserie Chef at Shakespeare and Co. Pascal Dupuis. He has 23 years of professional culinary experience, spanning the likes of Patisserie Thilloux in Paris, the French President’s Elysee kitchen and even making the birthday cake for Pope Jean-Paul II’s 77th! Chef Dupuis has been with Shakespeare and Co for six years, and he’s contributed a very sentimental Yule Log recipe, passed down to him by his own grandmother.
Chocolate Yule Log
Ingredients
For the sponge cake
• 5 eggs, separated
• 150g sugar
• 70g flour
• 70g potato flour
• 3g salt
For the chocolate filling
• 250ml milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 15g flour
• 15g corn flour
• 50g sugar
• 30g bitter cocoa powder
For the chocolate ganache
• 110g dark cooking chocolate
• 110g double cream
• 35g butter, cubed
• Some icing sugar and a few
Christmas decorations
Method
Sponge cake
1 Set oven at 220°C
2 Whisk egg yolks with sugar until mixture becomes slightly pale and fluffy. Then fold in flour, salt and corn flour
3 Whisk egg whites into a stiff, firm foam and carefully fold them into the batter with a spatula
4 Spread some butter onto a greased oven tray, lined with baking paper. Bake for six to eight minutes
5 When done, place sponge cake to cool down on a kitchen top, covered with a kitchen cloth
Chocolate filling
6 Bring the milk to a boil
7 Whisk egg yolks with sugar until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder, flour and corn flour. Mix well
8 Pour ⅓ of the boiling milk into the egg/flour mixture and mix well. Pour this mix into the pot with the rest of the milk and allow to cook for three to four minutes. Set aside on a shallow tray. Dust with some powdered sugar and allow to cool
Roll
9 Flip the sponge cake onto your clean kitchen top. Peel off the baking paper
10 Evenly spread the chocolate filling onto the sponge. Carefully roll the cake into a log shape
11 Place your roll onto a tray, making sure that the even part of the roll is facing up. Place in refrigerator to cool
Ganache and decoration
12 Place the chocolate pieces into a bowl. Bring the cream to boil and fold it into the chocolate with a whisk. Then add (cold) butter little by little, until you have a dark, creamy ganache
13 Trim both ends of your log at an angle, to resemble a log for the fireplace. Transfer onto serving tray
14 Spread the chocolate ganache, evenly, all over the log with a spatula. Pass a fork through the coating to imitate tree bark
15 Put your log in the fridge for 15 minutes. To finish, dust it with some icing sugar and place your Christmas decorations onto the log
And remember, if for any reason all your hard work ends in a gastronomic catastrophe, you still need not eat out. Marco Pierre White’s Take Home the Turkey is available from December 24-26, though prices start at Dhs410 and orders must be placed 72 hours in advance (02 654 3333). Belgian Café charge Dhs105 for each kg of turkey along with sides (800 423 463), and Shakespeare and Co. have festive Yule Logs in store, priced between Dhs140-225. Again, call them 48 hours in advance (02 491 7673).
