'Tis the Season Home Comforts at Christmas

The heart of my home is the kitchen,

and at this time of the year,

it's the prefect place to gather and celebrate the festive season.

-Merry Christmas.

-Cheers, everybody!

For me, Christmas is all about rustling up some fantastic food...

..and eating it in the company of my favourite people.

These are the dishes that I cook

when I want to spread a little bit of cheer.

These are my Christmas Home Comforts.

MUSIC: Stop The Cavalry by Jona Lewie

I love spending winter days working in my veg patch

because there's no doubt

you can make the tastiest and most Christmassy dishes

with ingredients that are bang in season.

So I'm going to show you how to use the best of what's on offer

over the festive period.

Today I'm tucking into a Christmas delicacy

that'll leave your taste buds tingling...

This is really the jewel in the crown at this time of the year.

..rusting up a hearty winter warmer...

That is one cracking bowl of soup.

..and converting my gardening friend Charlie Dimmock

to my style of cooking.

It needs something. What does it need?

-You're going to say butter, aren't you?

-Exactly right, Charlie.

SHE LAUGHS You're exactly right there.

To start, let's do something traditional -

that great Christmas custom of sticking a bird in the oven.

But this roast dinner comes with a twist or two.

Now, there's plenty of seasonal produce to choose from

around this time of the year,

but one I particularly love are cranberries.

Now, you can get them, obviously, fresh or dry.

Now, I'm going to use them in two different ways,

one of which, as a nice little sauce

and the other as a garnish with the cabbage.

But it's all based around duck and potatoes.

I've got a wonderful bit of duck here

and I'm going to cook it very, very simply,

with a classic dish called boulangere potatoes.

This is a hearty, seasonal dish for up to six people.

You'll need to thinly slice about a kilo and a half of spuds

along with two good-sized onions.

I like to do this job on a mandolin,

but you have to take care using one.

Now, the word boulangere comes from "baker's oven" in French

because, traditionally, the baker would cook the bread

in the morning in the wood-fired oven

and then everybody in the village

would basically just cook potatoes with onions

and a little bit of water or stock that they had left over

and finish it off in the baker's oven.

To recreate this rustic classic,

I layer the potato and onion slices in a large dish

with lots of seasoning and half a litre of chicken stock.

Then I pop it on the bottom shelf of an oven

that's been preheated to 180 degrees Celsius.

I've got a wonderful duck here.

Now what I'm going to do, to prepare this is really simple -

all you do is grab yourself a fork,

take your anger out on the duck...

by whacking it...

..all over the top.

What you're doing is creating little pockets

so the fat can drip out.

You probably want to do this dish the day after Christmas Day.

And then I'm going to stuff the duck, not with a traditional stuffing -

all it's going to have is a little satsuma

and a cinnamon stick just placed inside.

And then just sprinkle the top with some Chinese five-spice.

Just rub it over the top.

You don't need too much of the spice -

about half a teaspoon should do the trick,

but you will need plenty of seasoning.

And then this is the interesting bit.

We take the entire lot... And don't cook it on a tray,

sit it directly above the potatoes.

You want all that fat to drip on the potatoes

to flavour them from the duck.

Now, I've put a tray underneath to catch the excess fat.

And then, every now and then, you can take the tray

and just pour it onto the potatoes as well.

But you leave that in the oven

for about an hour and a half to two hours to cook.

And with our roast duck and boulangere potatoes,

I'm going to serve it with a classic sauce

and one you would normally find with turkey, and that's cranberry sauce,

but instead of just on their own,

I'm going to put some of these amazing Bramley apples in it.

So the reason why I like these is they're bang in season

at this time of the year, like the cranberries of course,

but they've got a lovely sharpness that go particularly well with duck.

When I've pealed and sliced two apples,

I add them to the pan with butter...

..along with 200g of cranberries...

..and 75ml of cider.

You bring this to the boil

and just rapidly cook this now for about eight to ten minutes.

Once the apples have softened, taste the sauce and add caster sugar.

Two or three tablespoons should be enough.

And then we can season it...

..with a bit of salt...

..a bit of pepper...

and that's it!

When the sauce is cooked,

turn your attention to your final seasonal ingredient - cabbage.

And this really is a great veg to serve around Christmas time.

So the first thing you do is chop it all up.

You want a decent-sized pan.

You want about...say about a centimetre-deep full of water -

no more that that, really, for a pan this sort of size.

And then you want a good dollop of butter.

That's a technical term for about 30g,

but don't worry if you go a bit over - it is Christmas, after all.

Black pepper and salt.

Now you can see in here,

it's starting to, basically, emulsify into this sauce,

which is exactly what you want.

And then what we do is we take the cabbage

and throw it in.

Do not take it off the heat.

Do not lift the pan - just keep it on the heat.

Now, the temptation, really, with this,

is to add more and more water,

and what cabbage will do is soak that water

and then all of a sudden, like a sponge,

dunk it out onto your plate.

Cabbage, funnily enough, should be this colour - green!

Not grey! Green!

When the cabbage begins to wilt, throw in 50g of dried cranberries

and cook for another minute.

It's an unusual combination, but oh-so Christmassy.

So, at that point in time, we can then season it

with a bit more salt...and pepper.

And then I'm going to do as the French do -

you get a little bit more butter.

In.

When the cabbage is just about done,

get the duck out of the oven and let it rest.

Then use the veg as a bed for the meat.

And then not forgetting...

our potatoes in the oven, the lovely boulangere potatoes.

HE LAUGHS IN DELIGHT

And there you have it - an amazing meal for four

that's absolutely jam-packed with rich, seasonal flavours.

And by adding cranberries together with the apples,

you get a lovely sharpness which works really well

with the fattiness with the duck.

It's just a great meal to have at this time of the year -

it's warming, it's everything you want and full of flavour.

I love this.

Christmas is a time for indulgence.

Well, for me, anyway.

No sweets for Ralph though - they're bad for his teeth.

I bet he wishes we lived in Austria.

Everyone shares in the seasonal spirit there,

as our festive food reporter Annie Gray has been finding out

at the country's famous markets.

If there's one thing surer than Santa,

it's that these guys really know how to do Christmas.

Just look at it here.

But to get a flavour of how one Austrian food producer

is adding a touch of seasonal extravagance to the festivities,

I headed for the hills.

A few weeks ago, I visited the beautiful Wachau valley

to unearth one of the festive season's

most decadent ingredients - saffron.

It's harvested from a particular type of autumn-blooming crocus

by saffron-lover and botanist Bernhard Kaar.

They look really pretty,

they sort of look like a...almost a bald man's head

that's starting to grow.

-HE LAUGHS

-What do you mean?

Nothing like getting off on the right foot.

And there's something else to put Bernhard in a bad mood -

these hills SHOULD be alive with crocuses,

but this year's crop is a little late.

-I can see one! Well... Is that one?

-HE LAUGHS

Well, that is the only one - or one of the few ones.

So what actually is saffron?

Well, it is a spice, but we get it from a flower,

which is a crocus, a full-flowering crocus.

What we actually take is the red thing here.

So the bit that looks like a sort of tongue

sticking out of a monster's mouth.

-HE LAUGHS

-Yeah. There's three of them,

and this is the only aromatic part of the flower,

so we only take the red things,

and then we dry them, and this is the actual spice.

And we need about 200,000 flowers for two pounds of saffron.

Good lord! That's a lot of saffron.

Presumably, it must mean that it's a really expensive spice.

Very much so. That's good for me.

THEY LAUGH

The delicate nature of the flower

means saffron has to be collected by hand,

making it even pricier.

Just two ounces are worth around £4,500,

so, ounce for ounce, saffron is more expensive than gold.

And has this region, the Wachau, always been associated with it?

Does it have a long growing history?

It probably started around 1200

and ended in about 1870.

Then it was gone for 120, 130 years,

and...and I brought it back.

It's a bit like Saffron Walden in Britain then,

which has a long history of growing saffron,

but today there's no crocuses left at all.

In Tudor England, the town of Saffron Walden

was the epicentre of British production,

although little of the industry remains.

So we need someone like you to come back and...

That's right, that's right.

I'm waiting for Prince Charles' call, actually.

And you're harvesting it between October and November -

does that mean that it's really very much

a Christmas, seasonal product.

It is. Yeah. And the yellow colour is nice, too.

In Austria, saffron is used mainly in desserts and baking,

so Bernhard and I are making a traditional Austrian cake

called a gugelhupf, which is often eaten at Christmas.

I heard that you're a brilliant saffron grower

but aren't as good with the cooking of things.

No. That's why my wife gave me a recipe,

and this tells me how to do it.

That IS a little recipe.

Let's hope making it is a piece of cake.

First, I have to grind the saffron in a pestle and mortar

and then add five tablespoons of milk,

allowing the saffron to dissolve and release its unique flavour

and sunshine yellow colour.

Wow. That's a really vibrant colour.

That's yolk yellow. It looks like a yolk.

I certainly haven't cooked with anything like this before.

I'm mixing together some icing sugar and butter

before adding vanilla sugar.

Then I have to beat the mix till it's light and creamy.

Right, I think we can probably call that creamed.

Very much so. And then we put the yolk inside.

So that's the three egg yolks, and my arm is now going numb.

OK. It says, "Beat the egg whites together with the salt

"and the granulated sugar

"and beat until it forms stiff peaks."

-SHE SIGHS

-You didn't pick a nice, easy,

non-physical cake.

Where's an electric mixer when you need one?

Phew...

-While I'm panting...

-You're doing fine.

-..tell me why...

-It's really entertaining, actually.

-THEY LAUGH

-Sorry.

It must be hard work holding that little recipe, Bernhard.

Then what?

OK. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

"..and mix it with the dough."

You can really smell the saffron, can't you?

I didn't expect to be able to.

That's premium quality. The best we have.

Next, I add some flour mixed with baking powder

and stir it all together.

And now I put the mixture into the gugelhupf mould.

I want to know what it tastes like.

What do you think?

Oh, my God!

Every time I've ever cooked with saffron,

it's just tasted like a dead spider fell in the bowl

and got kind of mixed in.

A bit dusty in the background.

I don't even think I can even describe it.

It's definitely a spice, isn't it?

Almost like paprika and honey mixed,

but without the spicy notes or without the clawing notes.

It's just a really beautiful, rich flavour.

Now we put it in the oven, and we're done.

Bernhard's not sticking around for the baking bit -

he's off to encourage those reluctant crocuses to bloom,

leaving me to enjoy a slice of gugelhupf and one terrific view.

It's a really unusual taste. I can't quite put my finger on it.

It's...it's absolutely exquisite,

but not at all what I was expecting.

And what I like most about it is the idea that you plant it in August

and you harvest it and it's ready for Christmas.

It's like taking a piece of summer sunshine

and making it last throughout the cold, cold winter.

I always keep some saffron in my house throughout the year.

It's perfect for mixing with other seasonal ingredients

to make this spicy and hearty winter warmer.

Pumpkins are one of my favourite seasonal veg

this time of the year.

I'm going to make a classic soup with pumpkin and mussels

and one that takes no time at all.

I'm getting the ball rolling by cooking the mussels.

First, fry half a chopped onion in butter,

then add thyme and a good glug of white wine.

And then throw in the mussels, a decent amount of mussels.

Now, I don't know why, but whenever I buy saucepans,

the first thing I do is I throw away the lids,

and it's not until a dish like this

where you actually realise that you need the lids.

So just cover it over with tinfoil.

And we're going to bring this to the boil

and cook this quite quickly for about three minutes,

just until the mussels start to open.

While they bubble away, prep your pumpkin -

although, you can make this with squash.

I like to use the nice...yellow ones.

You can see this beautiful yellow colour.

These are bang in season at this time of the year.

They're fantastic. You can use them for so many different things.

I've even made ice cream out of these as well.

An acquired taste, I admit,

but not quite as Christmassy as this soup.

In the couple of minutes it takes to peel your pumpkin,

the mussels will be done.

Drain them, but keep the cooking liquor for later.

Then get back to deseeding and chopping your pumpkin,

before frying an onion in a little bit of butter.

Then we can add this diced, or sliced, pumpkin.

Now, you can keep these seeds - you can use these on salads

mixed together with a little egg white and salt

and baked in the oven.

You can get a nice snack that you can have around Christmas time,

so don't waste them.

Once the pumpkin's in the pan,

add two cloves of roughly chopped garlic,

125 ml of white wine

and 400ml of stock.

And then we can take the juice of the mussels.

Now, it's important when we do this just to let the pan sit

because so often, in mussels, you end up with a little bit of grit.

Now, if you let the pan sit, that grit will sink to the bottom,

so when we tip it out, we leave that grit behind.

It's just unpleasant to taste, really.

And then I'm going to bring this to the boil...

..and add just a little bit of cream.

I like to add double cream for this,

but you can add single cream

Well, the diet starts after Christmas.

Next throw in warming winter spices,

starting with a prefect compliment

to your seasonal pumpkin - star anise.

Now, count them in because we're going to take them out.

we don't want to puree the soup with these in -

it becomes far too strong.

And then, saffron.

The redder it is, the deeper red it is,

the better quality the saffron, generally.

But be very, very careful with it - it's very, very strong.

This soup should be a nice and yellow colour from the pumpkin -

too much of this, it's like a spray tan.

And as a former Strictly contestant, I have known the trauma of tan.

Bring your soup to the boil and simmer for seven to eight minutes

until the pumpkin is tender.

In that time, you can get the mussels out of their shells.

When you've got mussels as good as this -

right on your doorstep in the UK - you've got to use them.

Make sure you get them nice and fresh.

And simply cooked, these can be one of the tastiest things...

you can ever wish to eat.

When the soup is cooked, it's almost ready for the blender,

but there's one important job to do first.

Now we need to go hunting for our star anise,

because one thing you don't want to be doing

is blitzing this with these little fellas in.

So you just need to find the other one...

which is easier said than done.

It's in here somewhere.

With all the star anise EVENTUALLY accounted for,

I add about two thirds of the mussels

and blend the soup in batches.

And the great thing is you can always freeze what you don't use.

Hopefully what we end up with...

is a lovely rich...soup.

And then you've got to season it.

For that, you've just got to keep trying it...

..which is an added bonus.

Salt.

When it's got enough seasoning, I add a squeeze of lime juice.

And once it goes into my festive serving dish,

I throw in a few whole mussels, a splash of cream

and, for an extra citrusy kick, a garnish of wood sorrel.

Then comes the best bit - tasting.

It's warm and it's everything you want for this time of the year.

It's got that little bit of spice with the star anise,

but most of all it's great flavour,

and you get that from the mussels and the pumpkin predominantly.

That is one cracking bowl of soup.

One of my favourite Christmas jobs is chopping down my own tree,

but I never remember to rope in someone

to help me carry it to the car.

A bad back is not going to stop me enjoying the festive season, though.

But food historian Ivan Day has been finding out

that our ancestors didn't have half as much fun

in the lead up to the big day.

We associate Christmas with feasting,

but before the 16th century,

it was proceeded by a month of deprivation

during the Advent fast

when all meat was forbidden until Christmas Day.

Fish and seafood were an important element

in any meal in the lead up to Christmas.

Advent fasting went out with the Reformation in 16th century Britain,

but the custom of eating seafood on Christmas Eve

continued for many years afterwards,

so new recipes were always in demand.

If I was a cook in 1758 looking for ideas,

I might turn to his book by John Thacker -

The Art Of Cookery.

In it, I have found a very interesting recipe

for oysters in a red wine spiced jelly.

Sounds a bit Christmassy because it does remind me

a little bit of seafood in gluhwein.

Now, I've seen Ivan cook a few unusual dishes,

but oysters in jelly - he's outdone himself.

He starts with calf's foot jelly, which is the setting agent.

He then adds red wine, spiced peppercorns,

mace and lemon juice.

And finally, these little cochineal beetles,

which will make the jelly a bright Christmas red.

It then goes onto the stove to heat up.

Ivan's using something simple

to ensure his jelly is clear - egg whites.

So, look - that's perfectly whipped,

and we really quickly need to move on

and get it into the saucepan.

The whipped egg whites act as a filter

by attracting particles of spices and crushed beetle.

The liquid is then slowly strained through a cloth bag.

Thacker cooked for the dean and chapter of Durham Cathedral.

Religious institutions like Durham

were expected to cater for all classes,

especially at Christmas.

But this wasn't for the poor,

and they may have had a lucky escape there.

Fancy dishes like oysters in jelly were only for high status clergymen.

And while Ivan's jelly is clearing, he's heading to the garden

to prepare his festive but slightly messy shellfish.

Our ancestors had a very slippery definition

of what they thought were fish -

they even included beaver, porpoise and sometimes barnacle geese

on the fish menu for the Advent fast.

This process is called shucking.

It's meant to be the sound as they open -

they make this sort of shucking noise.

But with these British native ones,

I always find it really difficult to do,

especially these very big ones - they just don't want to open.

Come on.

I've been there, Ivan, and bought the messy T-shirt.

Now, shell wrestling complete,

he goes back inside to gently cook the oysters

with some mace and peppercorns,

by which time the jelly's finished straining.

So the jelly has been dripping down and cooling as it drips,

and, as you can see, the egg white

has absolutely cleared it.

So here I've a bowl of ice.

And I'm going to ladle in a couple of ladlefuls of the red jelly.

And I'll start off by putting a layer of oysters,

and then some more jelly.

Finally, the very last ladleful of jelly.

So that's Mr Thacker's oyster jelly finished,

but before it's served, it really needs to sit for about 24 hours,

so I'm going to put it into a really cold place.

OK, time's up - so has the jelly set?

Hopefully...

..it will come out.

For the final flourish,

Mr Thacker tells us to garnish the jelly

with fennel,

and there's an oyster dish fit for a cathedral Christmas feast.

Well, it looks nice enough,

but I'll let you do the tasting, Ivan.

Here goes.

Bon appetit.

I'm surprised.

It's actually quite delicious.

With a nice glass of white wine,

that would probably go down pretty well

in the deanery at Durham Cathedral.

Well, it's no big surprise that

oyster jelly has fallen out of fashion,

but I cant ever imagine Christmas without chestnuts.

They're tasty enough roasted,

but I also love them in an amazing dessert from across the Channel.

It's one of the most festive sweets I've ever tasted.

Now, as Christmas scenes go,

you don't get any more Christmassy than the French Alps -

that beautiful snow-covered mountains,

and this dessert really epitomises that.

In fact, it's named after one of those mountains -

it's a gateau Mont Blanc.

Now, at its heart, it's got a combination

of three main ingredients -

it's got cream, it's got meringue and it's got chestnuts,

which are bang in season at this time of the year.

But it's all about the meringue to start off with.

Get going by putting six egg whites

and 300g of caster sugar in a mixing bowl,

then place it over a pan of warm water.

Now, there's so many different methods of making a meringue.

This is a Swiss meringue.

And the technique is to heat the sugar with the egg whites.

Don't have it sat in the water,

cos otherwise, it's going to get too hot very quickly

and start to cook.

Another key to getting this right is

to use a really clean and dry whisk and bowl -

grease or water can spoil the meringue.

Now, what you end up with is like a royal icing, really,

and it's perfect for making a dessert

if you want to stick it in the fridge for a couple of days

before you serve it.

Now, ideally, you want to get this to about 60 degrees.

You can use a little thermometer.

Once it's the right temperature and all the sugar is dissolved,

put it onto your mixer.

Then whisk it for three to four minutes

until smooth and glossy, but still warm.

As you can see, it's really firm.

It's almost like a cloud - it's fantastic.

Spoon the meringue onto a tray lined with silicon paper.

Then you need to make a large disk shape with a raised edge.

And then all you do is pop that in the oven

for about two and a half hours.

The oven will need to be preheated to 100 degrees centigrade.

And once the meringue comes out,

you'll need to let it cool before adding the snowy filling.

To turn it into a Mont Blanc, you need cream...

and a few more ingredients.

Now, I'm using double cream for this.

And you incorporate that with what's in this tin.

Now, this is chestnut puree.

They come in sweet and savoury versions.

Make sure you get a 250g tin of the sweet one for this

or else your dessert will taste like Christmas stuffing.

And I like to add this at the beginning, really...

..so when you whip it up...

you get all the flavours of the chestnut in there.

While that's whipping up, you can just grab the seeds of a vanilla pod.

We only want the seeds for this bit.

You can use a bit of vanilla bean paste if you want.

But pop that in there as well.

Don't need any sugar added into this -

you've got enough with the meringue.

Don't over do the cream either -

you just want to whisk it to soft peaks.

Once you get to that stage,

you're ready to create your alpine scene.

My best advice with this is to stick the meringue onto the dish

so it's nice and solid.

And then we can basically build it up.

So you just take your chestnut...

and cream,

and don't do anything with it other than that.

And then we can grab some of these.

This is really the jewel in the crown at this time of the year -

marron glace.

So all it is, really, is a chestnut

that's been seeped in stock syrup for several times

and then slowly sort of dried out,

and you get candied chestnuts, which these are.

The idea is you put them all the way round,

so when you cut it, each person gets a marron glace.

That's is the idea, anyway

The snowy dessert gets a final dusting

of grated dark chocolate and seasonal chestnuts.

It's kind of one of those desserts that is hugely popular

in the Alps and on the Continent,

but a lot of people have never even heard of it.

At first glance, you wouldn't think

meringue was a seasonal sort of dish.

But don't forget the chestnuts.

Full of flavour - simple flavours, as well -

but the jewel in the crown being these fantastic marron glaces.

They are so good - I promise you.

It is wonderful.

Now, we all know this is supposed to be a season of good will,

but there's one veg that gets bad-mouthed all year round,

which is a shame because the Brussels sprout

is an essential part of the British Christmas dinner.

East Yorkshire farmer Matthew Rawson and his wife, Zoe,

are on a mission to rehabilitate this humble green

and to remind us that it's a veg for all seasons.

It's a big misconception - a lot of people think that

Brussels sprouts are just for Christmas.

I grow around about 17 varieties of Brussels sprout,

and that's to give me supply from the 1st of September

right through until the end of March.

We sell about a third of our Brussels sprouts

from the very beginning of September to the first week in December.

We then sell about a third of our crop in December

with the vast majority of that disappearing

in the ten days before Christmas.

Nearly 2.5 billion sprouts are picked, sold and eaten in the UK

during the festive season -

that's enough to give one in three people on the planet

a sprout for Christmas -

although not all of them would thank you for it.

Back in the day, I think sprouts were maybe overcooked, overboiled,

a lot of the older varieties were very bitter,

but really, we've come away from that -

we've got lovely sweet-tasting varieties all year round.

And the sprout's on the rise -

we're increasing consumption year on year.

But let's be honest here -

consumption might increase even more

if sprouts didn't have a certain...you know, reputation.

There's a lot said about Brussels sprouts giving people wind,

and, yeah, maybe if you've got poor digestion, they maybe do.

All brassicas and sprouts have a high glucose inlet content

and that, if you eat too many,

you maybe can get a slight wind infection, yeah.

A wind infection? Sounds lethal.

Fortunately, Matthew has ways of changing

the public's perception of his beloved greens.

Today, he's invited a group of local school kids

to come and learn how the sprout reaches their dinner plate.

All right, guys, who wants a sprout?

But would sprouts appear on their own Christmas wish list?

I like sprouts because they're healthy and I just find them tasty.

Oh, I just don't really like them.

They just feel weird in your mouth when you're, like, eating them.

So these are my sprouts.

This is as we see them ready for picking.

I plant these out in May. And the sprout is really, really clever.

If you can see right now,

each sprout leaf's got a bit of moisture in it,

and each leaf is designed to run water down to the leaf

and down to the root,

so it just keeps itself watered all the time.

Brussels sprouts come from the same brassica family as cabbages

and their name may have been the result of their popularity

in the capital of Belgium during the 16th century.

It was the Victorians who first introduced them to the UK

and they probably used children to pick them too.

Luckily for these kids, Matthew has some modern-day farm tools -

without them, he couldn't cope with the Christmas rush.

All right, guys. So what we've got here is

a sprout harvesting machine.

All that good work that you guys were doing back there on the stalks,

this machine does for us.

And believe it or not, it actually goes though a vacuum cleaner

which sucks up all the debris and the rubbish

and nothing but pure sprout, like you've got in those trays,

land in the hopper.

But enough of me talking about it - let's see these guys in action.

In the lead up to Christmas, it becomes very manic.

We have to run 24/7 for the ten days before Christmas,

so that involves working a lot of hours, not sleeping,

but we have to do it to not let the public down

and to get their sprout on the Christmas table.

It's Matthew's wife, Zoe, who gets the Brussels sprouts ready

for their family's Christmas table.

And she's got a few tips for cooking them.

We don't put a cross on the bottom of the sprouts -

Matthew won't let me put a cross on the bottom of the sprouts.

If you want your sprouts mushy, then that is the way to go about it.

If I'm boiling them, I do boil them,

but not very much water, so it's not a full pan,

and probably only about three or four minutes.

If you cook it too long, they have in them sulphites

and that is what makes that horrible, sulphury eggy smell.

So, basically, you want to avoid that

by not cooking them for very long.

They tend to go really bright green

and that's kind of the best indicator that they're ready.

But as Matthew said earlier, a sprout isn't just for Christmas,

so Zoe has had to come up with quite a few recipes

to keep this veg interesting throughout the winter months.

Annie, you were quite good at making

-the croquettes last week, weren't you?

-Yeah!

I stir-fry them, we have them raw, I do coleslaw or salads with them,

do a sort of bubble and squeak type thing.

If they're cooked properly or eaten fresh or raw,

they are a really, really nice vegetable.

Her latest creations are Brussels sprout croquettes

and a bacon and cranberry sprout salad.

But will this be enough to win over a new generation?

I think it tastes quite nice,

especially with the flavour of the sprouts in with the potato.

I think they're very nice with, like, the sprouts in there.

I think it makes it taste even more nice.

-ALL:

-We love sprouts!

Well, I was one of the unusual kids who always really liked sprouts,

but with so much fantastic winter produce around,

I'd never seen the point of making the same old dinner every Christmas.

I've been dying to catch up with

my mate and gardening buddy Charlie Dimmock

so I'm delighted she's popping over.

-Charlie!

-Hello! How are you?

How are you doing, stranger? Are you all right?

-Oh, sorry.

-Oh, a gift!

-A little present for you.

-Thank you very much.

-A foolproof flowering house plant.

I wasn't going to bring you cakes, was I?

-HE LAUGHS

-Come along, come along.

She's going to help me rustle up something festive, seasonal,

and just a little bit different.

-Right, welcome to the kitchen.

-Thank you.

Now, simplified, I'm going to do you, like, a chicken casserole.

OK. So chuck it in the oven and that's it?

You don't even need an oven for this one.

-All we need is a pan, really.

-OK.

-Nice and simple.

First thing I want you to do is grab me the chicken,

which is in the bottom of the fridge there.

Cos what we're going to do,

rather than just chuck this into one pot,

I'm going to chop it up first.

Big year for you, though, this year,

cos you're preparing Christmas lunch, aren't you?

I know. First time since 2009.

So how many people are you catering for?

Well, at the moment, it's varying between eight and 12.

What could go wrong?

Well, you need to know how many you're cooking for...

-Yeah!

-..that's the first potential thing.

If 16 people turn up, you're going to have a problem, aren't you?

No. Well, we'll just have to spread it thinly.

This is kind of a dish that you could do

for those eight to 12 people, you see.

This recipe serves four,

so obviously Charlie will need to multiply it up for a bigger party.

The first thing to do is to cut your chicken up into eight pieces

although, of course, you could get your butcher to do it,

and something tells me that's the option Charlie would go for.

Fantastic. You look like you might've done this before.

I've done it a few times, you see. You know, a few times.

I saw you on TV, as well -

you're quite accomplished in the kitchen - MasterChef and all.

I wasn't - I was out first round, you lying toad!

Dare I say not your domain this?

They sold it to me as, "Do you like cooking?"

I do, but my cooking is...

music on, glass of wine, pootle around,

not here's a kitchen, there's a box

with some ingredients in it, make two dishes - go!

-Right.

-I spent about ten minutes looking for the knives.

Right, it looks like I'll be doing

most of the work in the kitchen today then.

When the chicken's portioned,

I season the pieces really well, dust them with a little flour

and fry them in butter until they're golden brown on all sides.

The reason why we use butter

is butter gives it flavour but also it gives it colour.

-OK.

-So what got you into gardening in the first place?

This is going to really surprise you -

-I was quite a tomboy as a kid.

-Never, never.

I was down the garden to help my grandad in the veggie patch.

So, yeah, that's... I just sort of fell into it, really.

When all the chicken has been sealed,

remove the pieces and put them into a casserole dish.

Then add one finely chopped onion and a clove of garlic.

So, if you can get me some Madeira, which is over there.

Now, a little tip for you - always, always buy good Madeira...

-OK.

-..cos if the food's rubbish, give that to the folks

and they'll get hammered and they'll forget about this.

So a little bit of Madeira in here.

-There.

-A little bit? That's like a gallon and a half!

No, it's not a gallon and a half - it's just a small amount.

It's more like 75ml, actually.

I follow it with half a litre of chicken stock

and 200ml of double cream.

Always, always double cream.

You chefs love to keep the calories up there, don't you?

-This is actually a low calorie show.

-Oh, is it?

-This whole series is all about...

-Wow.

-..keeping your body in shape.

THEY LAUGH As I pour in the double cream.

-Yeah.

-Mmm...

-Mmm...

-Look at that.

So salt and pepper,

and always buy good quality salt.

You're going to hate me cos I really don't use much salt at all.

No. Well, I just want you to taste this.

The only time I have a lot of salt is with a margarita around the rim.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Sorry!

See, that's quite pleasant, isn't it?

-SHE COUGHS

-Yeah. It's really salty.

-It's salt - that's why it's...

-Yeah, it's really, really salty.

Blimey!

Well, she may not share my salt habit,

but I know Charlie won't object to fresh herbs.

Right, a little bit of fresh thyme.

Now, obviously, Christmas is a busy time for you.

You're cooking this year. Are you doing panto again this year?

No panto this year, so that's why I'm doing it.

So I haven't had a Christmas at home since 2009, so...

-Cos you've done panto for, what, six...six years?

-Six years, yeah.

What is that like?

-It's good fun.

-Really?

-It is good fun, yeah.

Cos I keep getting asked to do it,

but they keep asking me to be some, you know, like, fat orange

in James And The Giant Peach or something like that or...

Well, I've always been Fairy Organic.

-A what? Fairy Organic?

-Fairy Organic.

What's...what's that? What's that?

-Well, there's many jokes that can be had at my expense.

-All right.

And, yeah, there's some jokes in there that are very clever.

All right. So next time I get asked to do panto,

-I've got to say yes.

-Do it. Just do it one time.

You will enjoy it.

It's not going to happen.

I am definitely sticking to cooking.

And now I leave the pot to simmer for 15 minutes,

then get on with chopping the mushrooms.

So, we've got chanterelles,

a little bit of chestnut mushrooms as well.

So seasonal produce - now, obviously we've got pumpkins,

we've got squashes, we've got, you know, mushrooms -

what else...?

Leeks are still going, your cabbages will still be going,

-Brussels sprouts will still be going.

-Yeah.

So Brussels sprouts - will that be on the menu for you this Christmas?

Yes, because we are a very traditional family, so yeah.

But is it quite nice to have Christmas off this year?

Yeah, I'm very excited by it

cos I'm going to put some Christmas decorations up,

which I haven't done for ages.

I have got Christmas decorations that I made as a child as well.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

You've still got all the Christmas decorations you had as kid?

It's a four-pointed star and it still goes on the tree.

-That's all right.

-Not all this posh stuff that you've got.

I haven't got posh stuff!

Look, this thing - this is all you've got to do.

-Look - is you've put the mushrooms in...

-Yeah.

..gently simmer this for 15 minutes and then leave it.

Put it in the fridge and then, when you come to reheating it,

put it back on the stove,

cook it gently for about 20 minutes - it's done.

Whether you cook it and serve it on the same day or prep ahead,

I like to throw in a healthy handful of chopped parsley

just before serving.

-Have a taste of this.

-Go on, then.

You can tell me what it needs.

-It needs something. What does it need?

-Pepper.

Yeah. It needs something else.

-You're going to say butter, aren't you?

-Exactly right, Charlie.

You're exactly right there.

It needs a little bit of this to enrich it.

Now taste that.

Yes, that's very nice.

You could get a job doing this.

Well, thanks, Charlie - I'll keep that in mind.

Now, to go with my lovely seasonal stew,

I just need to reheat some mash I made earlier.

And if you thought the casserole was rich...

Best mashed potato is done with

equal quantities of potato, butter and cream.

-No!

-Yes, Charlie.

It's a must. Look at that.

I don't like it when it's like baby food, like, puree.

Could you add a few more lumps to it?

-THEY LAUGH

-I'm just joking, just teasing!

Now, check out this chicken.

-Are you ready?

-Mm-hm.

This is the moment you take it to the table on Christmas Day.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, smells yummy.

I was hoping to have our seasonal supper around the table,

but Charlie wants to watch the sunset from the garden.

My guess is she's been cooped up doing panto for too long.

This is actually the perfect dish for this time of the year, isn't it?

Yes, nice and warming, good flavours...

It tastes wintry, doesn't it?

-It does taste wintry.

-Mm.

I love cooking with fresh produce all year round,

but there's something extra special

about the seasonal flavours at Christmas time -

they're rich, warm, comforting

and guaranteed to put you in a festive mood,

unless you're made to eat it in the freezing cold.

I never thought a dish would warm up my knees.

You can find all the recipes from the series on...

Well, Charlie thanks for coming

and I hope Christmas lunch goes pretty well.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Are you on the end of the phone?

Well, if I'm not, I'm only ten miles away, aren't I, really?

You'll be here, banging on the door!

-"It's all gone wrong!"

-THEY LAUGH