Episode 1 Trish Deseine's Christmas Dishes

I'm Trish Deseine,

and over the years I've cooked a lot of Christmas dinners,

from the full French belle-famille feast for 20,

to five-course sit-down dinners for 60,

to cosy Christmas Days with my children,

and in a lot of strange kitchens as guest cook.

Now, I'm back in Northern Ireland

cooking some fantastic local produce

and, I hope, taking the pressure off you a little.

So here's to a happy and relaxed festive season

and welcome to Trish Deseine's Christmas Dishes.

This programme is crammed full

of Christmassy cocktails, bites, nibbles,

cookery short cuts and all sorts of festive fabulousness

that won't have you breaking into the kids' piggy banks

or cursing the post-party washing-up.

It's all about letting the food speak for itself,

while you get to enjoy your own party.

So for the next half-hour, let's just revel in the run-up.

And to get this party started, three no-fuss dips, ready in minutes.

So, first one is artichoke, Parmesan, garlic

and preserved lemon.

First, it's into the blender with some chopped Parmesan.

Half a jar of artichokes.

Some chopped preserved lemons.

And a clove of garlic.

And that's it.

Then it's into the bowl and topped with toasted almonds.

This one is beetroot, yoghurt, dill and lemon.

Beetroot.

And that's just cooked beetroot,

steamed beetroot, not the vinegar stuff.

Fromage frais or yoghurt.

And then just...

blitz that.

It's a beautiful colour. Leave a few chunks in there

for a bit of texture.

And then mix through a little bit of cucumber.

Little bit of lemon zest.

Some salt and pepper.

And a little bit of dill.

And just give it a tiny little stir so that you can still see

all the colours and textures.

And the last one is embarrassingly easy.

So, some yoghurt or some fromage frais.

Some mayonnaise.

Shop-bought is fine.

And some mango chutney. Or you could use any other fruit chutney

you have in your cupboard.

Now, I'm going to spruce it up a little bit,

make it a little bit more Christmassy

with some pomegranate seeds.

And there you are - three really easy,

delicious dips that everyone will love, I promise.

Christmas is the time when we push the boat out,

but cashmere and diamonds can seem a little predictable.

Even without a pearl inside,

an oyster is one of life's most simple luxuries.

So I've come to the shores of Carlingford Lough,

to meet oyster man Andrew Rooney.

Andrew, how do you produce your oysters?

Our oysters are produced on steel trestles

in rectangle bags.

We're not using the traditional method of the flat bag,

we're using a higher bag and it's a longer bag.

Deeper bag. We put less oysters in our bag,

therefore it gives a lot more room for movement and for growth.

And what's so special about the conditions in Carlingford Lough?

Well, Carlingford Lough is renowned for its clean waters.

In clean waters, there's food inside for the oysters,

so that's how the oysters grow so well here.

In France at Christmas, oysters are hugely popular.

Do you think we're catching up in Northern Ireland?

We're definitely catching up in Northern Ireland

in all types of food.

Our palates are changing in the last five years.

More and more restaurants are presenting more finer foods

and oysters should be at the top of that.

And what way do you like your oysters?

I like oysters raw.

I just find it very hard whenever I'm down on the beach

not to open an oyster and just eat it. That's the way I like it.

And what does the next five years hold for you?

The next five years for us will be expanding the farm,

because it takes up to three years to grow an oyster,

so this is our second and a half year, really.

And so in five years,

we should hopefully be up to

approximately 380 tonnes a year of oysters.

Now we've worked up an appetite,

here are four festive ways with oysters.

Look how beautiful these are.

These are Carlingford Lough oysters.

Now, the seeds come from France and then they're farmed in Carlingford.

They're Pacific oysters, so they're nice and big and meaty.

You can see how deep they are.

This is the way you should ask for them.

You should ask your fishmonger to put them in a box on ice,

and just ask them to lift the corner.

Now, you can cook them with lots of great recipes,

but I'm going to show you a few things you can do

to have two or three different tastes in one nice dish.

First of all, really simple one that you've probably come across before.

Just shallots.

Chop shallots very finely.

Little bit of sugar.

And some cider vinegar.

There's brilliant cider vinegar available in Northern Ireland now.

And just stir that

and let it dissolve.

Then just a tiny little bit in the corner of the oyster like that.

And now this is a very, very simple thing.

It's just a little bit of honey with some black pepper.

Couldn't be simpler.

And the next one isn't even a recipe, really.

It's just an idea.

Works really well with oysters.

It's just buttermilk.

That tangy creaminess goes really well

with the brininess of the oyster.

And now to add some texture.

Some bacon. Bacon's good with everything.

And a little touch of basil.

And there you are - oysters four ways...

which I'm serving with wheaten bread and my seaweed butter.

Softened butter. Some seaweed.

This is nori that I've just crushed up,

but you can get lots of local seaweed all ready to use.

And then a little bit of lemon zest.

Spoon onto clingfilm.

Now just roll that into a sausage shape.

And that goes in the fridge for an hour so that it hardens up.

CATTLE MOO

The beef business in Northern Ireland is worth millions.

The search for good local produce

with great flavour has never been stronger.

That might be good news for the farmer,

but it's little comfort at Christmas

for one of the cutest and most delicious rare breeds, the Dexter.

Farmer Damien Tumelty raises this heritage breed

and hopes for a good return this Christmas.

The farm is situated between Downpatrick and Tyrella.

We're about a mile and a half inland from the east coast.

We market all our own Dexter beef at the minute.

We travel up and down the length of Northern Ireland

at farmers' markets

as far away as Bushmills and Coleraine till Downpatrick.

Damien, what made you want to start farming Dexter cattle?

Dexter's easy to look after.

They're grass-fed, you don't need a heap of meal for them.

The cows are the only things that get a bit of feeding

due to coming up to calving.

The natural marbling does come from the grass-fed.

You will not get it if you are meal-feeding them,

because they will only put on fat instead of muscle.

It has to be grass-fed to get that extra taste.

Your children give all the cattle pet names.

Is that not a bit problematic when they end up on their plates?

Well, the children were born and reared on the farm,

and it's a way of life.

They see it right through from birth to slaughter.

They have it on their plate for their dinners,

and they get used to it.

Some animals that they hope will breed don't breed,

so they have to end up on a slaughter line.

How many cattle do you process at Christmas?

Well, this is our first Christmas with the Dexter beef,

because we've only started marketing it five months.

We're going to slaughter eight to ten in the next few weeks

to make sure that we have enough come Christmas.

What's so special about Dexter beef?

Well, a big slab of beef isn't half the flavour or taste of a Dexter.

Some people want that little bit more quality rather than quantity

and it's the natural marbling in it that gives it the extensive flavour.

Anybody that has got it is well impressed with it,

and nobody has complained about the actual size of it yet.

In the run-up to Christmas, you want to really spoil your friends.

Cooking steak's a good way of doing that.

But you don't want to make them a big feed.

So I'm making marinated beef

with olive, chocolate and red onion sauce.

Now, the steak I have is this magnificent T-bone.

I'm going to sear it and then slice it.

I'm going to marinate it. If you're not using something like this,

if you've just got rump steak, or even hanger steak,

this is a really good way to pack in a bit of flavour.

My marinade is just soy sauce.

Little bit of lemon juice.

Some garlic.

And some Worcester sauce.

Just give that a bit of a mix.

And then it's going in this nice flat pan.

And in goes our meat.

Just cover it on both sides.

After an hour...

MEAT SIZZLES

..it's into a hot pan.

I'm going to let that sear for a good three minutes on each side.

As I like my meat rare.

Now, for the sauce with this, it's super simple.

This is a really nice rich veal jus or stock that you can make.

Ask your butcher for old bones

and make it up with some carrots, an onion,

and a little bit of celery and just reduce it down.

It's something really handy to always have

and it's better to make your own.

In here, I'm just going to make a really sort of rich mixture.

I'm cheating a bit because I'm using this red onion jam,

which is already made.

All I'm going to do is just mix it in with this and add some

black olives, and then a little bit of chocolate just for some interest.

First, the red onion jam, then the chopped black olives.

And just to make it more interesting,

I'm going to add a little bit of chocolate.

Chocolate's lovely with game or dark meat.

It's really just a hint of it, so it won't taste too sweet.

Let those flavours combine.

Then remove the cooked beef.

Rest it,

carve it,

and serve with buttery mash and a few salad leaves.

And there you are, sweet and simple marinated beef with olive,

chocolate and red onion sauce.

Novel presentation can help make Christmas sparkle,

but it has to be practical.

Who would have thought that this can help save your sanity?

These Christmas candle holders are perfect for hot soup.

On offer tonight, spicy cauliflower and carrot and celeriac.

I always love serving soup as starters at Christmas time

and even for a cocktail party, they come in really handy,

because they're filling and you can pack loads of flavour in there.

They're also very well-behaved

in that they're easy to heat up and easy to serve after.

And what I do is I make sure that the base is nice and tasty,

so always a bit of onion, some garlic, some celery.

This base works for either soup.

So to the first, add chopped carrot and celeriac,

and to the second, cauliflower.

And a little bit of bay leaf.

And then in goes the stock.

And that's it. Just let them soften

and simmer for about 20 minutes each.

Soup softened, turn the heat off and blend.

Add a knob of butter, some seasoning,

and as it's Christmas, lots of cream.

A gentle stir, and it's time to get the soup party ready.

For the carrot and celeriac,

we're going to give it a bit of a fruity kick.

Dice fresh watermelon and pineapple

and finely chop some cherry tomatoes.

Mix together and garnish the soup.

So for the cauliflower...

..just some chopped raw cauliflower for a bit of crunch.

And to that and going to add a little bit of crumbly cheese.

You can use Lancashire, Cheshire or Baby Buck.

Some chopped preserved lemon.

And then some fresh lemon zest.

And then a little bit of olive oil just to bind that together.

Cauliflower soup with added crunch.

And there you are, two perfect party soups,

or even starters for Christmas Day.

Food is at the heart of so many celebrations.

Delicious edibles are just the best gifts at Christmas.

Local delis are the perfect places to find original presents,

so I'm off to Indie Fude in Comber to find out what local luxuries

they have to offer.

Johnny, how did you start up?

I started Indie Fude as a passionate cook myself.

Quite frustrated because I couldn't get a lot of local produce

to cook with, so that's really...

We went around and we sourced produce from all over the island,

so from Fermanagh to Ballycastle to Newry

and as far as Dingle and Wicklow.

And how many Northern Ireland products do you have now?

We tend to stock around 500 products from Northern Ireland now.

The best sellers tend to be cheeses.

We do some lovely ones from the Hickeys up in Dart Mountain

and also quite locally here, Kearney Blue Cheese.

To accompany those, typically some chutney and crackers.

And you use social media a lot to promote Northern Irish food,

don't you? What sort of things do you do?

Well, we use Twitter, Facebook, even Instagram now,

to reach all our followers here in Northern Ireland

as well as further afield.

Do you think it's worthwhile spending that few extra pounds

on Northern Irish produce?

Of course, yeah. It's great to both support, say,

us as an independent store,

but that then flows right down to the producers themselves.

So that little bit more means you tend to use it as well.

When you're buying local as well,

it ultimately tastes better and it's got a story behind it.

What would you put in

the perfect Northern Irish food Christmas hamper?

I think we'll start off with some lovely local cheese.

So maybe some Dart Mountain Dusk from the Sperrins.

Then a little bit of Kearney Blue Cheese

from here in Castlereagh Hills.

Maybe a bit of charcuterie, smoked salmon.

Then to top it off,

maybe some nice local chutneys and also some oatcakes

-by Ditty's in Castledawson.

-A fine foodie gift.

But if you're stuck for dessert ideas, how about mille-feuille

using white and dark chocolate?

But first, salted caramel mousse.

So I'm making a caramel with some sugar.

We've got some cream heating here as well.

I'm just going to heat the sugar gently until it melts,

and then caramelises.

So it's starting to brown.

Don't stir it at this stage, just swirl the pan slightly.

And when the sugar's all dissolved, turn the heat off.

In goes the hot cream.

And just let that calm down a little bit,

and then pop in the salted butter.

Smells beautifully creamy and buttery.

And we're going to let it cool down a little bit,

and then put in the chocolate.

This is the caramel with the cream and the butter inside.

So I'm going to put in milk chocolate.

And let that melt.

Stir in three egg yolks and whisk the whites.

So we're going to mix in the egg whites.

Like any chocolate mousse, do that a little at a time.

So just start by loosening up the mixture.

Transfer to a jug for easy pouring, and fill those candleholders.

And that's it. In the fridge for a good hour,

hour and a half, so that it sets.

And just serve with a tiny little sprinkling of sea salt.

A chocolaty, on-trend creation.

Now, these mille-feuille sound complicated, look impressive,

but are dead easy.

We're going to start with the dark chocolate one.

And I'm putting the chocolate, just large disks of it,

on a chilled acetate-covered tray.

For the white mille-feuille, make oblongs.

Add warm cream to the white chocolate.

For the dark chocolate filling, combine whipped cream, mascarpone,

chestnut puree and coffee essence.

So here's the white chocolate mix which has been chilling.

Just whip it up!

Plate up quickly to avoid melting.

Layer the dark chocolate discs with chestnut cream.

Layer the white with white chocolate cream, and keep going.

And then on top of the white, I'm just going to put some raspberries.

Then add a final oblong before dusting with icing sugar.

Top the dark chocolate mille-feuille and garnish with candied chestnuts.

Around the white, drizzle raspberry coulis.

Around the dark, melted milk chocolate.

And there you are - two lovely festive chocolate desserts.

Gin is a real drinks cabinet staple

and now the taste for craft, small-batch

and local is really taking off.

We now have our own gin distillers in Northern Ireland,

and I'm off to visit one of them to decipher their message in a bottle.

I'm meeting David Boyd-Armstrong of Shortcross Gin.

So we're here in beautiful Rademon Estate, County Down.

What made you want to make gin here?

Well, Trish, we're quite lucky in that Fiona and I live here

at Rademon Estate and, really,

for us the inspiration was to showcase the forest

and the gardens that we have here in our gin,

and really show the terroir aspect

and bring to the rest of the world

those smells and aromas and tastes

that we're fortunate enough to have here.

What are those botanicals, then, that go into the gin?

Well, really, we want to showcase the best that are available to us.

We would take elderflowers and elderberries

from the forest here at Rademon, wild clover from the lawns,

along with local apples

from our own walled garden and other varieties.

What they allow us to do is create a very traditional gin,

but with a really modern, unique twist

which really showcases the floral elements, the wild berries,

along with an exceptionally long, smooth finish.

How does Christmas affect sales of your gin?

Well, Christmases are a really key period for us.

We really see a step change in demand for Shortcross Gin,

and it's really our busiest period,

not just locally in Northern Ireland and Ireland,

it's really across the board in all our export markets.

Gin is really popular at the moment. Why do you think that is?

Well, the whole gin renaissance

is really around the flavours and aromas that gin gives,

from for bartenders and bars and restaurants,

to consumers at home.

Something much more to do and enjoy,

people can really play with garnishes, tonic waters,

different cocktail styles and really showcase gin

in the best possible way.

This is a great little recipe

to have in your repertoire at Christmas time.

It's perfect for a light starter or for a cocktail party.

It's gin-cured salmon.

So all you need is this fillet of salmon.

Make sure it's pin-boned.

Then we're just going to mix all the ingredients

and cure it for about four or five hours.

So, sea salt.

Dark brown sugar.

Juniper berries, crushed.

Some mixed pepper.

And then lots of zest,

because the final ingredient is gin, so just to pick up the notes

in the gin, we're going to put in a little bit of lemon and orange zest.

OK. And the final ingredient is gin.

Just give it a quick mix, stir through.

Just rub the salt and sugar

into the flesh of the salmon a little bit as you go...

..to start the curing process.

Now, wrap it up tightly.

Make sure it's covered.

Smooth it down, and then that goes in the fridge

for four to five hours.

Gin-cured salmon - deceptively simple.

And now for another Christmas crowd pleaser, also using salmon.

Here's a really simple little mouthful for Christmas cocktails.

Just some salmon fillet.

Slice it

into bite-sized pieces.

And then just wrap them loosely in wafer-thin Parma ham and chorizo.

And there we are. Just pop those in the oven for five minutes at 180.

So they're nice and hot and crispy,

and I'm just going to put them on to these little cocktail sticks

with a very lightly blanched mangetout on the end

for a bit of crunch.

And again, very well-behaved little mouthfuls.

And there you are, little salmon, Parma ham and chorizo bites.

Make a nice change from a cocktail sausage.

Every canape craves a cocktail

and that's where the Merchant Hotel's Ryan Adair comes in.

So, Ryan, what have you come up with?

So, my first cocktail that I'm going to be creating for yourself today

is going to be...

So it's just effectively just cinnamon sticks

with a load of sugar and water.

Dry-shake it, so that effectively just emulsifies the egg white.

After that, it's going to be a wet shake.

And you want to give it a good shake,

just to make sure that it all gets a lot of aeration.

Powdered-down nutmeg as well as powdered-down cinnamon,

powdered-down clove.

So it's just a little bit of sprinkle of that.

-Very easy to make at home.

-That's beautiful.

And for my second cocktail?

So, this cocktail is...

It is a twist on a Terry's Chocolate Orange.

You're lucky, you got a chocolate orange.

-I got a real one.

-Oh, did you?

I think I would have thrown the head if I got a real one.

It's lovely to see you using that.

Exactly, yeah. It's making a big comeback...

-It is.

-..in the cocktail world, with a lot of drinks

and it's a great product.

And to garnish, an orange twist.

The Tudor Dale, a chocolate orange in a glass.

And for your last creation?

Deconstructed Christmas pudding.

20mls of fresh-squeezed Bramley apple.

I've also made as well a dried fruit syrup.

Just some dates as well as some cranberries and some dried sultanas.

PX sherry. So I'm going to go with just...

It's going to give it a lot of the dried fruit that you usually get.

Little tiny bit of sort of the nuttiness coming through.

So on top of that, then,

I'm going to go back to our trusty pimento dram.

..just to get an added bit of the spice coming through.

And after that we're going to add some cognac as well.

Now, for the next ingredient...

-More?

-..we're going for some Irish whiskey.

-Ah.

-Dunville's Irish whiskey.

The reason why I'm using this

is because it's a PX sherry casks finish.

I'm going to give the cocktail a little bit of a roll.

So by doing this here, it just allows all the ingredients to...

..combine together.

Just add this straight into our toddy glass.

And now for the next ingredient, I have some warmed red ale.

Almost as many ingredients as in a Christmas pudding itself.

Pretty much.

Leave a little bit of room, because we're going to top the rest up

with cream.

A warm Christmas pudding in a glass.

Everything's ready, and I'm feeling rather smug.

Now for some "me" time.

DOORBELL RINGS

Oh, they're here already!

INDISTINCT CHATTER

I loved the canapes at the start - they were delicious.

I really enjoyed the dips.

Learnt a lot of stuff tonight.

I actually loved the oysters.

I loved them.

Salmon skewers - unfortunately, I didn't get any!

I didn't get any salmon skewers.

I didn't get any oysters.

And I loved the salted caramel.

The only thing I got was salted caramel!

You've revelled in the run-up,

you may still even be sober,

but when you wake up, there's still the hell of Christmas Day.

Next time, I'll be guiding you through the preparation

to make your Christmas extra special.