Table of contents for November 2020 in Delicious UK

It’s time to save Christmas. It’s not cancelled, as some have been saying, and we need radical action this month to rev up good cheer and give us a glow to look forward to. That means setting pleasurable leisure time aside to plan and imagine the food we’re going to cook for the people who can sit around our table. It also means setting time aside for acts of kindness. Here’s a positive thought for you: I’d say the best Christmas lunch I ever had was when there were, unexpectedly, only six people around our table rather than the usual 10 or 12. If you’re the person in the kitchen (and all too often it’s only one person bearing the brunt of the work), it can be exhausting cooking for…

THE FLAVOR EQUATION Molecular biologist turned food writer Nik Sharma explores the components of flavour, from emotions and memories to sight and sound. Tips on harnessing key flavours (brightness, fieriness and so on) preface recipes that draw on Nik’s time in India and the US, with illuminating notes on why each dish hits the flavour jackpot. Chronicle Books £26 THE SEAFOOD SHACK Kirsty Scobie and Fenella Renwick cook fresh local seafood for up to 300 people a day from their trailer in the village of Ullapool, on the northwest coast of Scotland. Winners of the Jane Grigson First Book Award, the authors combine recipes with tips on buying and prepping shellfish and essential accompaniments, plus fascinating glimpses into the lives of local fishermen. Out 3 Nov, Kitchen Press £20 THE…

Rum & pineapple mincemeat MAKES ABOUT 1KG. HANDS-ON TIME 15 MIN, SIMMERING TIME 30 MIN, PLUS COOLING Spoon the warm mincemeat into sterilised jars (see deliciousmagazine.co.uk/ MAKE AHEAD  how-to-sterilise-jars), press a disc of waxed paper on top, then seal, leave to cool and store in the fridge for up to 1 month. FOOD TEAM’S TIP As our recipe contains butter, it won’t keep for quite as long as traditional mincemeat, which is generally made with suet. • Finely grated zest and juice 2 clementines or satsumas • 250g bramley cooking apples, peeled and grated • 75g butter • 6 tbsp spiced rum • 500g mixed dried fruit • 100g dried pineapple pieces • ½ tsp each ground cinnamon, ginger and allspice • 1 heaped tsp ground mixed spice • Grating…

Ham is a fantastic meal to serve cold or warmed up with chips and fried eggs, or stir it into pasta bakes. See next month’s issue for a new ham and pea soup and other ideas for using up leftover ham. Chill the leftover salmon, off the bone, in an airtight container and use it up in salads, sandwiches or fishcakes. Or keep it simple and serve warm or cold with good mayo or hollandaise and new potatoes. Although our sides will serve up to eight, it’s good to have more than enough, plus the mushrooms reheat well as a light lunch or snack the next day. Warm them through thoroughly in the oven, then serve with a sharply dressed salad on the side. This dish reheats beautifully and also…

“ Ah, the joy of a warm, savoury bun on a chilly weekend morning. I shape and bake these as I would classic Chelsea buns. Rich, crunchy and cheesy, they’re perfect tear-and-share food. And a bonus: you can get everything prepped the day before, then bake the buns on the morning you want to eat them.” GILL MELLER Ham, spinach and hazelnut buns MAKES 12. HANDS-ON TIME 35-40 MIN, OVEN TIME 25-30 MIN, PLUS 15 MIN STANDING, COOLING AND UP TO 5 HOURS RISING AND PROVING MAKE AHEAD Make the recipe to the end of step 7 but instead of proving, cover and chill overnight. Take out early in the morning, leave for 1½ hours to come to room temperature and prove, then bake as in the recipe. FOOD TEAM’S…

Working with this gingerbread, icing and house-assembly can be tricky, and you need a bit of patience at key moments. Here’s our advice for a professional finish: ✶ Cut out the gingerbread people and tree shapes on the baking sheets, then you won’t need to move them and risk distorting them. ✶ If the dough is getting too soft to handle, wrap and put in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to firm up again before re-rolling. ✶ Using a pizza wheel will help keep straight edges when cutting/trimming the gingerbread. ✶ Add a dot of food colouring or flavouring to your icings for a colourful or tasty twist, if you want to. ✶ Leftover icing will keep well in the piping bags (but put a damp cloth over the nozzle…

Baileys and Tia Maria chocolate tiramisu trifle SERVES 6-8. HANDS-ON TIME 20 MIN, PLUS CHILLING MAKE AHEAD Make the trifle up to the end of step 4 up to a day ahead, then cover and chill. Top with the cream, brownies and grated white chocolate just before serving. Cover and chill any leftovers. FOOD TEAM’S TIPS Lightly whisk leftover egg whites with a little salt or then store in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Defrost to use in other recipes. Please note: the trifle contains raw egg. • 100g white chocolate, plus extra grated to decorate • 2 tbsp whole milk • 500g tub mascarpone • 60g caster sugar • 2 medium free-range egg yolks (see tips) • 50ml Baileys or other Irish cream liqueur • 125ml…

1. PARE BACK  Make the centrepiece the main focus of the meal, whether it’s turkey, beef, seafood or vegetables, and don’t go overboard on the sides. Anyway, if you get the roasties right and make loads, the meal will be a success. 2. TAKE IT EASY “Give yourself permission not to do too much,” says psychologist Dr Gregory Warwick (questpsychology services.co.uk ). It’s OK to say no to extra guests, invitations or excessive spending, he says. Loosen the reins a little, let others help out – and take shortcuts (whisper it: shop-bought custard is wonderful). 3. COLLABORATE Team up with friends and buy wine, coffee and essentials in bulk to reduce costs. CrowdFarming (crowdfarming.com) is great for oranges, pomegranates and olive oil. 4. DE-CLUTTER Clear out the fridge (you’ll need…

Box of jewels Crafted in Manchester from fair-trade chocolate and Normandy butter, Éponine Fine Chocolate’s Christmas collection includes cranberry caramel and cinnamon & speculoos flavours. Christmas Chocolate selection box, £28 for 16, eponine.co.uk Sealed in stone These timeless stoneware crocks offer a bonus for the fermenting enthusiast: fill the lip with water for a seal that keeps air out but allows fermenting gases to escape (no ‘burping’ necessary). A pair of weights keeps kimchi or sauerkraut submerged in the liquid inside. £49.99, souschef.co.uk Scent of Christmas This graceful glass jug and its crown-like stand with a tealight holder will keep mulled wine, cider or brandy at its cockle-warming best. It holds over a litre, the handle is heat resistant and matching glasses are available (£19.99 for two). £44, lakeland.co.uk Instant…

“The times are unpredictable but parties are almost certainly off the agenda. Even if it’s a case of bubbly-with-your-bubble this year (or you have to do drinks and nibbles on Zoom), surely we all deserve a celebration? I’ve whittled down the latest wine lists for budget buys and premium picks. There’s nothing difficult to like here and, although these are easygoing styles, each is a joy to drink.” WHITES Celebrations call for crisp, fruity whites – not heavy or over-oaky ones. Here are my winners Extra Special Pinot Grigio 2019, Trentino, Italy 12% (£6.50, Asda) PG can be bland, yet this one, from Italy’s cool, mountainous northeast, is anything but. Lively and bright with a fresh pear aroma and tangy green apple flavour, it’s a dry, mouthwatering white at a…

WONDERFUL SAVOURY RECIPES ExclusiveRickSteinand family share their Christmas Eve menu Lip-smacking honey and five-spice roast ham Roasting a turkey? Prepare it simply or go to town – and make great things with those leftovers WONDERFUL VEGGIE STUFF GizziErskines meat-free winners The new nut roast (did we mention the killer cheese sauce?) WONDERFUL SWEET TREATS Letsbake! Projects for you and the children Make-ahead showstopper puddings White Toblerone winter wonderland cake? Yes please! …& wonderful stories to read by the fire PLUS! How to glam up a supermarket cheeseboard • Super-versatile midweek dinners • An ode to cosiness (warning – contains seriously good hot chocolate!)…

All the recipes on these pages are based around mincemeat. Our version (see recipe on previous spread) is laced with rum, the back-on-trend spirit for Christmas 2020 – see p121. The mincemeat gets better with maturing, so now’s an ideal time to make a batch – or two. A simple pot, labelled and tied with raffia or ribbon, makes a meaningful gift. Or use it to make one of the other sweet treats on these pages, wrap in baking paper or tissue, tie with a bow and label with an eat-by date.…

“Beef welly is a dinner party classic – perhaps because it’s a make-ahead marvel, or maybe because, once you’ve tasted the melt-in-the-mouth meat and crisp, buttery pastry, you’re hooked. This is also a recipe that’s easy to adapt and make your own. When I tested it, my friends who are fellow mums immediately asked what they could do about the mushrooms – which can be a bit of a no-no for some small people. The added spinach in my recipe is a neat trick: it disguises the mushrooms from beady eyes. Making the recipe for fewer people? Turn it into individual beef wellingtons. Fancy something really different? I’ve included a salmon version to serve 4 or, if you turn to p34, you’ll find Sophie Austen-Smith’s vegan masterpiece with a lattice…

“When writing recipes, I have had to learn another language. Indeed, my initial interest in writing about food was a linguistic one: how could I use language to convey a realm that lay so far beyond it? Simile and metaphor can often evoke the flavours of a dish, the textures the cook must aim for, so much more directly than the most rigorously precise description. A recipe has to take root in the reader’s imagination. This kind of approach is no friend of minimalism or brevity: every instruction begs a yet-unanswered question, and I – perhaps foolishly – want to pre-empt every possible query. A short recipe that fits neatly onto one page of a book may indeed satisfactorily reflect that it is a simple one, but often it just…

“THE DUNDEE CAKE , as legend tells it, came about because Mary Queen of Scots didn’t like glacé cherries in her fruit cakes, so bakers made it with almonds instead and decorated the top with whole nuts. It’s a lighter, less rich alternative to the hefty traditional Christmas cake but to make it more indulgent (it is Christmas, after all), I’ve added glacé cherries too. Meanwhile my  mini versions (which make great gifts) leave out the cherries but are crowned with a hazelnut marzipan and marmalade topping – can you feel a new Christmas tradition coming on?” Christmas Dundee cake SERVES 12. HANDS-ON TIME 20 MIN, OVEN TIME 2 HOURS, PLUS OVERNIGHT SOAKING, COOLING AND 5 DAYS FEEDING MAKE AHEAD The cake tastes best with 3 weeks of maturing but…

Measurements for the large house: • 2 x 17cm x 18cm rectangles for the roof • 2 x 14.5cm x 17cm rectangles for the side walls • 2 x 16cm x 17cm rectangles with 17cm gables for the front and back walls Measurements for the small house: • 2 x 14.5cm x 15cm rectangles for the roof • 2 x 12.5cm x 13cm rectangles for the side walls • 2 x 12cm x 12.5cm rectangles with 12.5cm gables for the front and back walls • 3 x 3.5cm x 7cm rectangles for the chimney (cut 2 of them from baked and cooled offcuts in step 9)…

Harvest salad with kale, apple, beetroot & griddled halloumi SERVES 2-3. HANDS-ON TIME 20 MIN “I go to New York a lot for work and spend my spare time checking out restaurants, cafés and food shops to get inspiration for recipes. This one is based on a chicken salad from one of my regular lunch spots, Sweetgreen, whose ingredients are sourced from ethical farmers. It’s packed with uplifting flavours.” • 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks • 1½ tbsp olive oil • 50g kale, chopped • 100g halloumi, sliced • 1 apple, quartered, cored and grated • 1 beetroot, cooked, peeled and grated • 160g cooked wild rice • 50g whole blanched almonds, toasted and chopped FOR THE SALAD DRESSING • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar • 6…

SMOKED SALMON TRIMMINGS Less expensive than slices, but just as good. Mix with crème fraîche and serve with toast. INSTANT SPARKLING COCKTAIL Buy inexpensive fizz and add a splash of liqueur from one of those bottles lurking at the back of your drinks cupboard. POUSSINS If you’re not feeding a crowd, instead of cooking a large turkey, serve one poussin per person for a cost-effective yet celebratory feast. LOBSTER TAILS You can buy them frozen and they’re excellent value. Serve with pasta or stuffed into rolls for an affordable luxury treat. FRAGRANCE Follow Nigella’s lead and make your home smell like Christmas without lighting fancy scented candles. Just pop cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange peel and rosemary sprigs into a pan of simmering water and inhale the festive spirit.…

And our top 10 festive winners are... JUICY TURKEY Free-range Norfolk black turkey, Morton’s Traditional Taste, Skeyton, Norfolk What the judges said “A first class piece of poultry” with a “generous amount of fat under the skin on the breasts, indicating a happy, healthy life”. From £57.75 plus delivery, mortonsfarm.co.uk HUMUNGOUS HAM Whole heritage cure Irish ham, James Whelan Butchers, Co Tipperary, Ireland What the judges said With its “irresistibly seductive smoky aroma”, this “sweet, succulent, juicy meat is a joy to eat”. €49.99 (about £46) for 6.35kg plus delivery, jameswhelanbutchers.com CHEESEBOARD STAR Sparkenhoe shropshire blue, Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Company, Nuneaton What the judges said Made with raw milk, it has a “fantastic balance of creaminess, saltiness, sweetness and tang, with a caramel and earthy note”. £21 a kilo (delivery…

Morrisons Fino Sherry, Jerez, Spain 15% (£4.85/75cl) A steal at under a fiver – bone-dry and clean, with lemon and green olive notes and a salty dab on the end. Great with toasted almonds or a plate of Spanish jamón. ‘On the QT’ The Sherry Edition Oloroso 2011, Jerez, Spain 19% (£19.99/50cl, Waitrose) A new dry oloroso made by González Byass, exclusive to Waitrose. It’s glorious – amber-hued and full of orange peel and roasted nut flavours. Enjoy with cheddar and quince jelly. Marks & Spencer Ruby Port, Douro, Portugal 20% (£8) Another own-label bargain, made by Taylor’s – a lively red port bursting with cherry fruitcake, plums and almonds. Crack into the chocolate. Smith Woodhouse Madalena Vintage Port 2005, Douro, Portugal 20% (£30, The Wine Society*) A rarer, mature…

Our star email wins a seasonal M&S bouquet worth £20 from its online flower subscription service. With the M&S flower subscription service you can sign up to have seasonal bouquets delivered weekly, fortnightly or monthly. For more information visit flowersubscriptions.marksandspencer.com See what other delicious. fans are talking about at facebook.com/ deliciousmagazineuk Follow us at twitter. com/deliciousmag Follow us at instagram. com/deliciousmag Follow us on pinterest. co.uk/deliciousmaguk…

How we’ve missed festivals in 2020! One of the oldest and most respected is Ludlow Food Festival in Shropshire, held since 1995. Due to cancellation this year, emergency funds need to be raised by December to protect its future as a brilliant and much needed cheerleader for the region’s independent producers. If you want to show support for the not-for-profit festival, you can donate and receive a variety of perks, from pin badges and discounted tickets to goody bags. Visit foodfestival.co.uk/ friends…

This is a year that has at times felt like the Christmas holidays on repeat – that is, frantic activities and anxiety followed by random Tuesdays, Wednesdays, whatever-days, watching old movies in pyjamas while eating cheese. This is the year when spending hours obsessing about food – where we might buy it and what we’d do with it when we got it home – filled the gaps where our social lives used to be. It’s the year when we ate our feelings, then took ourselves out on bracing, get-a-grip walks. And due to the walks, and the quiet, and the slower pace of life enforced upon us, many of us became more attuned to our surroundings. Sunsets and sunrises felt more intense and dramatic somehow, perhaps because we had time…

The glorious mains Maple and paprika glazed ham with festive nuts SERVES 12 WITH LOTS OF LEFTOVERS. HANDS-ON TIME 30 MIN, OVEN TIME 12 HOURS 40-45 MINUTES, PLUS OVERNIGHT SOAKING MAKE AHEAD Begin this at least 2 days before you want to serve. Make to the end of step 2 up to 2 days ahead, then complete the recipe to serve. Leftover ham and nuts will keep separately, covered and chilled, for up to 4 days. FOOD TEAM’S TIP Low and slow overnight cooking keeps the ham super succulent and juicy. • 1 large onion, quartered • 2 carrots, roughly chopped • 3 fresh bay leaves, plus a sprig to garnish (optional) • Handful parsley stalks (save the leaves to use in another recipe) • 10 black peppercorns • 5kg…

“This qualifies as being one of the most commented-on recipes over the 50 years I’ve been writing them, and of all the red cabbage recipes I’ve sampled nothing comes near to being as good, so I have been making it this way over all that time. It is very well behaved, as you can make it in advance and gently reheat it, or you can half cook it one day and finish it the next. I couldn’t be without it at Christmas as I simply have to serve it with roast gammon with molasses-blackened crackling. It’s a tradition. It’s amazing too with roast goose, duck or any kind of venison, roast or slowly braised – same with boeuf bourguignon and anything with strong, gutsy flavours. Because it reheats well, I…

Christmas pudding with salted caramel ganache centre MAKES 2 X 1 LITRE PUDDINGS (EACH SERVES 6-8). HANDS-ON TIME 35 MIN, SIMMERING TIME 5 HOURS, PLUS FREEZING AND OVERNIGHT MATURING MAKE AHEAD If making more than a day ahead, complete to the end of step 4, then replace the baking paper and foil with fresh and seal. Keep wrapped and chilled for up to a week or freeze for up to a month. Defrost in the fridge overnight before steaming as in step 5 to serve. FOOD TEAM’S TIP Go to deliciousmagazine.co.uk/how-to-wrap-a-pudding-for-steaming-video for extra help. • 100g plain flour • 1 tsp each ground cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice • 50g soft light brown sugar • 50g soft dark brown sugar • 200g vegetarian suet • 100g fresh white sourdough breadcrumbs…

MASTER RECIPES The gingerbread dough, royal icing and icing glue MAKES 1 QUANTITY OF EACH. HANDS-ON TIME 20 MIN, PLUS CHILLING MAKE AHEAD The dough will keep, covered and chilled, for up to 24 hours. FOOD TEAM’S TIP Lightly whisk, then freeze the unused egg yolks with a pinch of sugar or salt for up to 3 months. Defrost to use in other recipes. • 375g plain flour, plus extra to dust • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda • 1½ tbsp ground ginger • 150g dark brown sugar • 125g unsalted butter, softened • 1 medium free-range egg, beaten • 5 tbsp golden syrup FOR THE ROYAL ICING • 1 medium free-range egg white (see food team’s tip) • 200g icing sugar, sifted FOR THE ICING GLUE • 1 medium…

No one knows who invented gingerbread, but from German lebkuchen to Swedish pepparkakor, spiced bakes have a long history in Europe and elsewhere. The UK’s many regional versions, some now lost, include Grasmere gingerbread from Cumbria and Cornish fairings. Early gingerbread was made from breadcrumbs, honey and spices, often shaped in wooden moulds. Gingerbread people were made at the court of Elizabeth I to resemble VIP visitors, and women bought a gingerbread ‘husband’ at fairs in hope of securing a real one. Modern gingerbread came about as wheat flour and treacle syrup (a by-product of sugar refining) became more common in the 18th century. The gingerbread house is thought to be a German invention, popularised when the Brothers Grimm published Hansel and Gretel in 1812, which of course features the…

HOT ON THE SHELVES SPICED UP SNACKING I stash Nairn’s Oatcakes in my son Jack’s school bag (large tick in the no-added-sugar box) and he’s a fan of the new Cheese & Smoky Chipotle flavour. He eats his straight from the pack or sometimes with a little cream cheese; as for me, when I’m working from home I smother them with smashed avocado and a squeeze of lime. Delish. £1.40 for 200g, Morrisons FOOD WITH BENEFITS I’m a fan of Lizi’s granola and they’ve just added four new mueslis to the range: Boost, Cleanse, Focus and Glow. All contain added vitamins, plus other goodies such as maca, turmeric, barley and hemp. I stir the Glow variety – with figs, apples and almonds – into kefir for a gut-friendly brekkie. £3.50…

HOW TO BE A RUM TASTER Sip a quality aged rum neat, rolling it around the tumbler, or serve it on the rocks, maybe with a twist of orange peel. While you sip, consider the complexity, smooth texture and long finish – the hallmarks of a fine rum. Some plain, bitter chocolate is the perfect accompaniment. Any leftover rum (hardly likely, but still) can be splashed into rum truffles, rum babas, ginger cakes, mincemeat or even a rich orange marmalade. 3 EASY RUM COCKTAILS All recipes serve one but are easy enough to scale up RUM OLD FASHIONED A new spin on the whiskey-based cocktail classic. In a cocktail shaker or glass jug, stir together 60ml dark rum, 5ml simple sugar syrup (50/50 sugar and water shaken until the sugar…