Christmas Eve

Meal Plan Occasions 3: Even More Special Occasions

Occasion 4 · Christmas Eve

Today at a glance. A relaxed Christmas Eve supper for 4 people, so that nobody has to cook a big meal the night before the big day. Most of the work is arranging the board, and the oven does the rest. The mince pies can be baked ahead, so on the night there is no pastry work. Quantities are for the whole table, in metric with UK names.

Main meal

Main meal · Serves 4 · Sharing supper

Christmas Eve Sharing Supper: Baked Camembert, Pigs in Blankets and Cured Meats

Prep: 20 minutesCooking: about 30 minutesAbout 30 minutes of hands-on workServes 4

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 2 whole camembert cheeses in wooden boxes (250 g each)
  • 4 cloves garlic, cut into slivers
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried rosemary)
  • 2 tbsp runny honey, to drizzle
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 16 chipolata sausages
  • 8 rashers streaky bacon, each cut in half
  • 2 tbsp cranberry sauce, to glaze
  • 2 baguettes (or 1 large sourdough loaf)
  • 150 g cured meats (salami, prosciutto or chorizo slices)
  • 1 small jar cornichons or pickled onions
  • 1 small jar chutney or cranberry sauce
  • 400 g seedless grapes
  • 4 celery sticks, cut into short lengths
  • 4 carrots, cut into sticks
  • 200 g cherry tomatoes
Make it ahead
Wrap the chipolatas in bacon in the morning and keep them covered in the fridge. Prepare the camembert and the platter up to 1 hour in advance. The whole supper goes into the oven for one 25-minute stretch.

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Take the cheeses out of their plastic wrapping and put them back in their wooden boxes (without the lids), and sit the boxes on a baking tray.
  2. Camembert: make 8 small cuts in the top of each cheese with a sharp knife, and push a sliver of garlic and a small sprig of rosemary into each cut. Drizzle with the honey and olive oil.
  3. Pigs in blankets: stretch each half-rasher of bacon with the back of a knife, wrap it around a chipolata, and lay them seam-side down in a roasting tin. Brush with a little cranberry sauce.
  4. Put the sausages in the oven first and bake for 10 minutes. Add the camembert tray and bake both for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the sausages are golden and cooked through, and the camembert is soft and molten when you press the top.
  5. The platter: while they bake, arrange the cured meats, grapes, celery, carrot sticks, tomatoes, pickles and chutney on a big board. Warm the baguettes in the oven for the last 5 minutes.
  6. Carry the molten camembert to the table in the box. Tear the warm bread, dip it into the cheese, and add the sausages, meat and pickles to the plate.
Sausages must be cooked through
The sausages must be cooked right through, with no pink, and the bacon crisp. Keep the cured meats and cheese in the fridge until the last minute, and do not leave the board out for more than 2 hours. Chill any leftovers within 2 hours and eat them within 2 days.

Swaps

Brie in place of camembert. Vegetarian sausages with pastry or halloumi for a vegetarian supper. Mini sausage rolls from the freezer. Sliced apple and pear on the board.

Shopping list for this recipe

Dessert

Dessert · Makes 12

Homemade Mince Pies with Orange Butter

Prep: 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes' chillingOven: 18 to 20 minutesAbout 40 minutes of hands-on workMakes 12 (3 each for 4 people)

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 250 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 125 g cold butter, cubed
  • 25 g caster sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp cold water
  • 1 jar (about 410 g) mincemeat
  • 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar, to dust
  • 75 g soft butter, for the orange butter
  • 100 g icing sugar, for the orange butter
  • 1 orange (zest and 1 tbsp of juice)
Make it ahead
The pastry can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept wrapped in the fridge. The pies can be baked 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight tin, then warmed at 160°C for 5 minutes. Unbaked pies freeze well for 3 months, and can be baked from frozen with 5 extra minutes.

Method

  1. The pastry: put the flour and cold butter in a large bowl. Rub them together with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the caster sugar. Add the egg yolk and water and mix with a knife, then your hands, until it comes together into a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Lightly grease a 12-hole shallow bun tin.
  3. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until about 3 mm thick. Cut 12 circles with a 7.5 cm cutter, and press them into the holes of the tin. Re-roll the offcuts, and cut 12 smaller circles (about 6 cm) or stars for the lids.
  4. Put a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat in each pastry case (do not overfill, or it will bubble out). Dampen the edge of each case with a little water, put on a lid, and press the edges together gently. Brush with the beaten egg and cut a small slit in the top of each lid.
  5. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar.
  6. The orange butter: beat the soft butter with the 100 g of icing sugar, the orange zest and the juice until pale and fluffy. Serve a spoonful with each warm pie.
Hot mincemeat
Mincemeat gets very hot in the oven and stays hot for several minutes after baking. Let the pies cool for 10 minutes before eating them.

Swaps

Ready-rolled shortcrust pastry in place of the homemade (you will need about 500 g). A splash of brandy in the orange butter, if you like. Cream or custard in place of the orange butter.

Shopping list for this recipe
Coming up next
Chapters 5 to 7 cover an anniversary dinner for two, a movie night and a dinner party, and chapter 8 is the Occasions planner.