Christmas Presents Home Comforts at Christmas

'The heart of my home is the kitchen.

'And at this time of the year, it's the perfect place to gather

'and celebrate the festive season.

'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.

# Have yourself a merry little Christmas... #

'Christmas is a time for giving,

'but it's the presents you've taken the trouble to make yourself

'which reflect the special time of year.'

And I've got tonnes of ideas for home-made treats

that make perfect gifts for the festive season.

'So I'm knocking up some Christmas goodies for the carol singers.'

You've got to sing for your supper in this house.

In Austria, Annie Gray gets top marks for her cranberry chocolate.

I've done well.

And back here, I'm cooking Mary Berry a very special meal.

Mary! 'And trying hard not to ruin her Christmas jumper.'

-Are you trying to get it...?

-Oh, crikey!

-It's the lobster getting its own back!

-You're doing quite well.

'But first, I'm getting things off to a magical start

'with my snow-covered take on a time-honoured tradition.'

# Let it snow, let it snow let it snow... #

'Gently spiced and covered with candy,

'all the kids will fall in love with it.

'Even the big ones, like me.'

Now, as Christmas presents go, you can't beat the excitement

of a group of kids diving into a gingerbread house.

I'm not going to do a gingerbread house,

I'm going to do a gingerbread garage.

And I've got a load of kids coming around to dive into it later.

But it all starts with an amazing spiced gingerbread mix.

'To make the biscuit walls, cream together 400 grams of softened butter

'with the same amount of soft brown sugar.

'Then drizzle in two tablespoons of treacle.

'And 200 grams of golden syrup.

'And mix everything together.

'Next, add two tablespoons of ground ginger,

'four teaspoons of mixed spice...

'..one teaspoon of ground cloves...

'..and half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.'

Just carefully mix it now to mix in all those spices.

Now, you're not creating a cake,

so you don't have to beat the hell out of it.

You're just creating a biscuit.

So once all your spices are together...

..stop the machine and then throw in a kilo of flour.

This is why it's important, depending on the size of your house, or garage,

will depend whether you make this in two batches or not.

'Mix in the flour along with two tablespoons of water.

'Then tip this batch of mix on to the work surface.

'Start to pull the dough together,

'adding another tablespoon of water if it feels dry.

'Then gently knead it until it forms a dough.'

It doesn't really matter if you overwork it a little bit.

Perfect!

'Now for the templates.

'You can order them online and simply print them out.'

But I've made my own because instead of a house, I'm going to do a garage.

'Lay a third of the dough on a silicone mat.

'Lightly dust with flour and roll it out to roughly three mils thick.'

So once you get to that stage,

you can grab a little template, like that,

use a knife and cut around.

You can still use all the trimmings, as well, from the edge.

'Next, grab a cookie cutter to make a window.'

Press through, take that bit out.

And there you have one of your gable ends.

Just repeat the process with all the templates, really.

And I've set the oven quite low for this one

because we want to gently cook these.

And these want to cook for about 17-18 minutes.

Now, obviously, you need the mortar for your brickwork.

And for that, we turn our attention to icing.

'To make it, mix together 650 grams of icing sugar with three egg whites

'and beat for at least 10 minutes.

'It needs to be rich, smooth and thick enough

'to decorate and hold the gingerbread pieces together.

'When the gingerbread is ready,

'trim the pieces one more time to match the templates.

'And then leave them to cool down before you attempt the big build.'

Now, this is kind of royal icing that we want.

Nice and firm. We don't want it too wet.

It's never going to stick the biscuits together.

'Next, fill a piping bag with the royal icing

'and pipe a thick foundation line on to a baseboard

'and carefully stick down the walls.

'Then pipe between the sides to strengthen.

'Cement never tasted this good.'

To be honest, there's something actually enjoyable about doing this.

It's a bit like a fancy Airfix kit.

'To finish, be as decorative with the icing as you like.

'And add a final designer flourish with some sweets.'

My favourite ones at school were always floral gums. They tasted like soap.

Why I liked them? Maybe I didn't like sharing with other people.

Nobody else seemed to like them on the bus.

Not quite finished yet. This is a garage, remember.

'Now, that's a garage I'd like to park my car in.

'Sweet, spicy and completely edible.

'Willy Wonka would be proud.

'But before the kids can tuck in,

'there's a few presents to hand out first.'

LAUGHTER

That's yours, buddy.

Let's go and grab some gingerbread.

OK, guys, this is my present to you.

And it's all edible, apart from the cars. Dive in!

EXCITED CHATTER

-There you go.

-The whole roof! I'm going for the whole roof!

-Oh!

-Ginormous!

See, four hours to make, five seconds to destroy.

My house is always full of sweets and treats at this time of the year.

But if you have a very sweet tooth,

Austria is the place to indulge it at Christmas.

We sent our festive food reporter, Annie Gray.

Austria's long-standing love affair

with cakes, baking and all things sweet

really comes into its own at Christmas.

'I spent the last few months here meeting the artisans

'and food producers who transformed this country

'into the capital of Christmas food.

'And my next stop is in the heart of Tyrol.

'In the mountains above Landeck, I met Therese Fiegl,

'mastermind of Tiroler Edle,

'an artisan chocolate

'made with ingredients from the surrounding mountains

'and the milk of an unusual local dairy cow.

We try to get only milk from the roaming grey cows,

which is not easy because there are not so many grey cow farmers,

but...but we did it!

And we have especially one farmer,

who is delivering to the confectioner every week.

The Tyrolean Greys, a formally endangered breed,

have been grazing on herbs and grasses high up in these mountains

for more than 3,000 years.

Their bells play the soundtrack of Tirol

and they produce a flavoursome milk perfect for Therese's chocolate.

All the products that go into the chocolates are local, aren't they?

-So things like honey.

-Yes.

-What else do you use?

We have honey, we have different kinds of nuts, we have mint,

also cranberries and wheat.

-We get it over here.

-THEY LAUGH

With all those local ingredients,

that must mean the chocolates are really seasonal.

How does that affect what you make all year round?

We have some chocolates only in autumn and some only in spring.

And in summertime, we don't produce any chocolates

because the grey cows are up in the higher mountains

and we say our cows are on holiday!

-That's brilliant!

-Yes.

The cows might be part-timers, but down in the valley,

Therese's master chocolatier, Hansjoerg Haag,

is busy all year round.

Their chocolates now come in 45 different flavours.

Five of which have recently been added to

the Selfridges' chocolate library.

-Hello!

-Hello.

'And today, I'm going to help Hansjoerg

'make his Christmassy cranberry chocolate.'

HE SPEAKS GERMAN

What makes this chocolate so special,

so perfect for a Christmas gift

is all of these locally-sourced fillings.

This is milk from the local Tyrolese grey cows.

HE SPEAKS GERMAN

'These cranberries grow on a nearby hillside

'and the first stage is to add them to the rich Tyrolean cream.'

-What we're doing here is heating this.

-Ja.

We're just going to put all of this cut chocolate

into our hot cream and cranberry mix.

Effectively, we're making a ganache.

'The mixture must now cool and thicken up

'before it can be poured into the chocolate moulds.'

Obviously, if it was boiling hot, the whole thing would melt

and we'd have an almighty mess and I'd just have to eat it.

So it's probably better that we've left it to cool.

When it's cooled, it's time to pipe the cranberry mixture

carefully into the chocolate shells.

It's quite something to know that we're piping into chocolate

and behind us, if I just looked out of the window, I'd see cows

and could probably, if I squinted, the field

where the cranberries are growing that are going into this.

HE SPEAKS GERMAN

OK. The last thing to do when these have cooled enough

is to put one more layer of chocolate on top

so that you've got a sandwich of this half milk, half dark chocolate,

which is gorgeous.

The cream, cranberry chocolate layer

and then another layer of chocolate itself,

which really is a sort of Tyrolean chocolate sandwich.

And I am going to put the final touch on top.

OK.

THEY SPEAK GERMAN

And all made here, in these beautiful surroundings,

with the mountains outside the window.

'Beautiful it may be,

'but will my attempt at Christmassy cranberry chocolate

'impress Hansjoerg?'

-OK.

-OK?!

HE SPEAKS GERMAN

SHE LAUGHS

I've done well! Excellent!

I think this looks perfect for Christmas. I can't wait!

'I promised Hansjoerg I'd keep his chocolate for Christmas morning.

'Yeah, right!'

This is really special.

It not only looks really good, but now I've seen it made,

I understand that it's totally regionally specific to here, the Tyrol.

I look at these mountains and I eat them.

This is the kind of gift I would be so proud

to give my friends for Christmas.

# It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...#

'If you're anything like me,

'you hate turning up to somebody's house empty-handed

'over the festive period.

'Well, I have a Christmas cracker of a dish

'that will be welcome at anyone's door.

'And it uses up all those seasonal leftovers.

You can call it a chicken pan bagnat,

or basically, a fancy chicken sandwich.

Call it what you want, but this is a great thing

to take around to all your friends around Christmas time.

It's really a special sandwich.

You're almost making a terrine, really.

But the first thing I'm going to do is make our sauce for this.

And it's basically just a simple orange and cranberry sauce.

So we take some cranberries, these are frozen cranberries,

which are perfect for this.

We grab some orange juice, throw the whole lot in.

And basically, bring this to the boil.

And while that's coming to the boil, I'm just going to crush up some juniper.

'Add the well-crushed juniper berries to the pan.

'Along with some caster sugar...

'..and some orange zest.

'Bring it to the boil...and let it simmer for five minutes.'

Now, while that's happening...

..we can then grab our chicken.

And then what we want to do with this is basically just rip it up.

And keep all the meat.

Including the skin, but take out all the bones.

Do it quite carefully because some of the bones are a little bit dodgy.

And also, with a chicken, get this bit here.

This is what's known as the oyster, or the eye.

There. You've got this amazing knuckle of meat just underneath

the leg area, where the thigh is. That's the best part of the chicken.

And one that...the cook always keeps for themselves. Delicious!

'Consider it as a gift to myself.'

You can make this with entirely anything you want.

A bit of turkey, a bit of beef, pork.

It's entirely up to you.

But it all starts with the star of the show, which is one of these.

Because what you're going to use this for is a nice terrine.

And as we layer it all up, it'll hold in all that nice flavour.

So the first thing we do is make a little hole in the top.

Lift this out. The smell of sourdough is fabulous.

'Yes, I know, that was another little gift to myself.

'But you need to rip out all the bread from the loaf's centre

'to make way for the sandwich filling.

'You can always keep the bread to make stuffing.'

So our chutney is now ready. Switch this off and grab...

I'll just press this down just a little bit,

just to break the cranberries.

'I'm starting my sandwich assembly with a layer of cranberry chutney.

'And some sliced red onion.'

Throw that in the base.

You can then grab some rocket. This is purely for colour.

You can just put basil in there if you wanted to.

A little gem. It's entirely up to you. Courgettes.

Anything you've got left over.

I've got some stuffing here, sage and onion stuffing.

That can go in.

'I've also got mozzarella cheese in the mix, too.'

Every couple of layers, you want to stop, grab some seasoning.

Salt and black pepper.

And then you can put a layer of this chicken in.

'Keep layering the various fillings, including those juices

'and onions from the roasted chicken pan

'until you reach the top of the bread.'

You've got some of the cranberry sauce.

Now, you want to put a little bit on the top.

And obviously, you've got the lid.

So spread it around the top.

Salt and pepper.

Like that.

Now, really, the key to this as a Christmas present is, wrap it up.

'But we're not talking tinsel and Christmas paper here,

'just good old clingfilm.'

And we have it nice and tight, like that.

Stick a nice little label on it, "Happy Christmas, Doreen!"

Lovely!

'The wrapped sandwich can now be stored in the fridge

'for up to five days.

'But I can't wait that long to open this Christmas present.'

Check out this for the ultimate Christmas sandwich.

Ho-ho-ho-ho!

See, how good does that look?

And if you're wondering how it tastes,

don't take my word for it, take theirs. Come on, guys.

'Someone's got to feed the elves.'

Yum! I'm just going to go for a slice.

-It's amazing!

-That's so good!

It's like a leftover Christmas dinner sandwich.

-It is perfect.

-This is actually my idea of heaven.

'This is one almighty sandwich stuffed with leftovers

'to be loved over.

'Bring this to the homes of friends and family

'and you'll be more welcome than Santa.'

You don't get many leftovers with you lot.

LAUGHTER

'Of course, one of the best things to eat with any festive leftovers

'are chutneys and relishes.

'Which always make a welcome seasonal present.'

And just a few miles from where I grew up in Yorkshire,

Sarah Puckett produces a range of pickles and preserves

inspired by her seafaring family.

The exotic ingredients they brought home

still take her right back to her childhood.

The fondest memory for me

was what Mum used to call a fridge-cleaning supper,

where we would have lots of leftover meats and cheeses

and then Dad, who was a big chutney-maker,

would open his chutney cupboard

and out would come all these weird and wonderful pickles and chutneys

and all sorts of goodies.

So for me, chutneys and pickles

always evoke a really nice, warm family feeling.

Sarah's father and both of her grandfathers were sailors

who always brought unusual ingredients

and spices back from their travels.

My grandmothers used to make them into fantastic chutneys.

They used to have their own veg gardens, too.

So they would use lots of British produce,

but then put a little bit of a twist on it

by adding in all these different spices

that my grandfathers had brought home.

Sarah's own chutneys, based on her grannies' original recipes,

went down so well with her friends,

she decided to turn her hobby into a business.

I quit my job, I bought two pans, two wooden spoons and off I went.

And all my friends thought I was completely mad.

But I decided that I was going to give it a go.

And at least I'd tried. And here I am two years further down the line.

You can always spot somebody

who's really passionate about making pickles and chutney

because we've all got really bad hands.

Because we keep our hands in lots of salt and lots of cold water.

Ah, well, bad hands make good pickles.

And with her busiest time of year fast approaching,

Sarah's on the lookout for new variations.

Every walk in the Yorkshire countryside

is a chance to search for seasonal produce

in nature's very own larder.

Let's have a look.

I'm foraging for sloes.

We had a good, hard frost last night.

As soon as you've had the good, hard frost of the year,

then you can go and get the sloes.

And they're fantastic for putting into port or gin.

And it goes really well with my redcurrant and sloe port chutney,

which is lovely for Christmas.

But they're quite tricky to pick because they're quite spiky.

Armed with last year's home-made sloe berry port,

Sarah's now ready to make that seasonal chutney.

This one is designed, it's nice and sharp,

so it goes really well with your festive goose.

And it's also fantastic for sticking with fatty meats, like duck or lamb.

This one, we're going to pop on the table for Boxing Day.

Most commercial chutneys take months to ferment and mature,

but as Sarah uses a mild cider vinegar

rather than the more acidic malt version,

hers can be eaten within 24 hours.

And alongside her chutneys, she also produces these.

But be careful, her family recipe for pickled onions

does come with a health warning.

So if you like your pickled onions hot, you snap your chilli

and if you like your pickled onions to have just a little bit of heat,

then you keep your chilli whole.

Or, if you're like Dad,

then you take a whole...heap of chillies,

you snap them all and then you might put in one or two pickled onions.

After Boxing Day, we tend not to get

an awful lot of visitors in our house, but I've no idea why.

SHE LAUGHS

Mm. I think I can guess.

Anyway, one final question.

What does Sarah do with all the fresh veg that doesn't end up in a pickle?

The best thing of all is, when you've finished your Christmas party,

you then take your garland to pieces

and you've got a cracking soup

which will keep you going all the way through January.

Friends and family have gathered for a festive supper.

And Sarah is being Santa,

laying the table with a feast of different chutneys.

Because everyone has their own favourite bit on the side.

Carrot and cardamom is a personal favourite of mine. It goes with ham,

which you tend to have a ham on Christmas Day.

It's very good with cheese and things like that.

Pear and apricot is my absolute favourite.

Delicious with sheep's cheese.

Rob's is the chilli jam.

I love to have it with burgers, steak.

It's really nice. I love it.

I think this is so lovely, that when you've worked really hard

and you're really passionate about using lots of fresh

and local, or British produce,

there's no better symbol of love and friendship

than all your friends and family all sat around at Christmas time,

all really enjoying a really good meal

with some really good quality pickles.

A jar of pickle or chutney is a great foodie present

to give at this time of the year.

But what if you want individual,

edible treats to satisfy a Christmas crowd?

Thankfully, I always have these to hand.

They're even gift wrapped.

There are many great food gifts you can give people at Christmas time,

but this has to be the ultimate - panettone.

And it's really simple to make.

So the first thing we're going to do is take a selection of dried fruit.

And for that, you can use whatever you want, really.

I've got some candied peel, which is the usual sort of thing in panettone.

You get that nice little sharpness with the zest from the peel.

'I'm also adding 100 grams each of golden sultanas and cranberries.

'And a splash of rum.'

We want, not too much, about two tablespoons of rum.

You're not soaking it in the alcohol,

it's just a light coating of the rum.

Now, we can leave that to one side.

Meanwhile, we can get on with making our most important part of this,

the batter, or the dough.

'To 425 grams of strong flour, add 60 grams of caster sugar.

'A teaspoon of salt...and 18 grams of fresh yeast.

'I'm mixing it with a little bit of water first.

'And then add 160 mils of water.

'Two eggs...and mix to combine.'

So as this dough starts to come together, always enrich yeast dough,

then you add the butter. And for this, I need about 75 grams.

Rather than just put the whole lot in all at once,

just drop little pieces in at a time.

And then we need to knead this for about three or four minutes.

'Once the mixture is soft and tacky,

'add a little orange zest and combine in the mixer.'

And then, once you've got it to that stage,

cover it over and leave it for an hour.

So after an hour, you end up with still quite a tacky dough.

'Take the dough out of the bowl and knock the air out of it.'

So all we do now is grab our fruit,

pour it into the top.

And then what I like to do is cut this in.

So you use a pastry cutter, fold it over...

..like that. Basically, just tuck it in, like that.

'Once the fruit is well and truly combined, the dough can be divided

'and then put into moulds.

'I'm using a muffin tray.'

Take the mixture, which is very wet, a bit more flour in your hand,

and very quickly, just cup it...as you roll it.

And lift.

And once you get to that stage, we leave those as they are

and let those prove for about 30-40 minutes.

'When you return, the panettone should have risen.

'All they need now is a brush of egg wash.

'Before being placed in a hot oven for 20 minutes

'until golden brown and risen.'

And now, for the main event.

Your home-made panettone.

Just let them sit there nicely first of all,

otherwise you'll never get them out of the moulds.

Straight out of the oven.

You get this great...

You know when you try a really good scone recipe

with clotted cream and jam?

I reckon this is the Italian alternative.

It is fantastic!

But... Mm! Just tastes delicious.

'Served with some rum butter, these moist and citrus-scented panettone

'are the perfect foodie gift to have on seasonal standby,

'especially when the carol singers come a-calling.'

# We wish you a Merry Christmas

# We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

-# Good tidings we bring

-Good tidings, good tidings

# To you and your kin

# We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

-# Now, bring us some figgy pudding

-Now, bring us some figgy pudding

# And a cup of good cheer

# We won't go until we get some

# And we won't go until we get some

# So bring some out here

# We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. #

You've got to sing for your supper in this house.

LAUGHTER

Bite-sized goodies like these

are the perfect Christmas treat for family and friends.

But what do you bake for guests who have everything?

19th-century royalty were hard to impress.

But as food historian Ivan Day explains, one chef did his best.

I'm going to make a sweet alternative Christmas gift.

A boar's head cake made from sponge,

filled with ice cream

and covered in chocolate icing.

This was a show-off culinary novelty

fit for a royal table.

It may seem odd today, but boars' heads were served

with great ceremony at medieval banquets.

That tradition died out, but it was revived centuries later by Queen Victoria.

Ivan's cake is from the same period,

and spoofs the popularity of the boar.

Victoria kept a herd of boar at Windsor,

and gave the prized pork to her children as Christmas gifts.

The heads would be stuffed, which became a craze that everyone followed,

even cake makers.

This is a joke.

It was very popular at this time

to make lifelike dishes pretending to be savoury

but which were made from sweet ingredients.

The recipe Ivan's using comes from Charles Elme Francatelli's book, The Royal Confectioner.

Francatelli was once the chef to Queen Victoria,

and specialised in elaborate dishes like this.

His recipe begins with a large sponge cake.

It's a bit like Michelangelo standing in front of the big

block of marble, and he's got to carve some amazing figure out of it.

This, I've got to see.

Ivan's going to sculpt it into the shape of a boar's head.

He's using a pine cone to hold the mouth open.

Then covering it with chocolate icing...

..which will be roughed up to look like pig's hair.

I've modelled a couple of ears out of something called confectioner's pastry.

It's a very sweet, flexible pastry,

and then I have covered them with some of the chocolate icing.

What I am going to try and do now

is get the second one into position,

and I just want to check that...

Yeah, they're both the same height. That looks great.

Next, the eyes.

He makes these with white sugar paste laid over marbles.

Don't eat those.

He also uses sugar paste for the tusks.

During Victoria's reign, festive food became more over the top.

Her royal banquets were often a celebration of the lavish feasts

that had happened in the Middle Ages.

At these great Christmas feasts,

the boar's head was often paraded into the dining room with a great deal of ceremony,

perhaps symbolising the victory of the hunter

over the beast of the forest.

There was even a medieval carol,

sung to mark the arrival of the grand platter.

The boar's head, as I understand

Is the rarest dish in all this land

Which thus bedecked with a gay garland

Let us serve with a song.

No breaking into song for you, Ivan.

There's still some work to do.

Like garnishing the base with round and square jellies.

Then fill in the back of the boar's neck with ice cream.

Finally he needs to decorate the back of the head with sweet treats,

like truffles on skewers.

These would represent the woodland truffles

that would have been served on the real boar's head.

So, as in this wonderful old carol,

my boar's head is bedecked

with a gay garland of oak leaves and acorns.

The fruits of the forest.

So, it now looks fit for a royal, but will he impress a commoner?

Go on, Ivan, make a pig of yourself.

Here we go.

Mmm.

The ice cream is superb.

Mr Whippy, eat your heart out.

The chocolate is lovely too.

It's really delicious.

It would make a terrible mess once it's completely carved.

It does taste good, though.

MUSIC: Santa Baby by Michael Buble

# Santa, buddy A '65 convertible... #

Having good friends and family round your dinner table

really is the true gift of Christmas,

and this year I must have been a really good boy,

as my friend and baking icon, Mary Berry, is dropping in for a seasonal supper.

-Hello.

-Mary.

-Hello, how are you?

Lovely to see you, and a happy Christmas.

-Thank you very much, you too. Come on through.

-Right.

-Straight to the kitchen, I bet.

-I think so.

And, boy, do I plan to spoil her,

with a little bit of seafood luxury,

and everyone's favourite side order.

Now, what do you cook Mary Berry when she comes round to your house?

I think it looks as though it's sheer indulgence, luxury.

Something so, so special. Could there be anything more?

Exactly, well, somebody told me you liked lobster thermidor. Is that right?

It's heaven on a plate for me.

What is it about lobster thermidor you like about this time of the year?

Well, I think it's the greatest treat.

It's the sort of thing you do for two or four, really, don't you,

because it is so luxurious?

-Two of us would eat that, wouldn't we?

-Oh, definitely.

-That's an absolute beauty, isn't it?

-It's lovely, isn't it?

So, do you often do this at home or is it something that

you kind of have when you're eating out?

-Definitely when I'm eating out.

-OK.

And it's something that...on perhaps a time when it's a celebration, you know,

anniversary or a real treat night out,

I would choose lobster thermidor, but I bet yours is better.

I don't know about that.

So, when was the first time you came across this stuff, then?

Oh, I can remember it, it was in the '60s, you know.

-It was very, very popular.

-Right.

To make the sauce, first chop a shallot.

And soften in a pan with a little butter.

Then add some white wine

and let it simmer till it is half its volume.

Now, what about growing up for you as a kid?

What was that like around sort of the festive period?

Great excitement. Erm...

Was food still an important part of your life? It must have been.

Oh, it was. We didn't have turkey, because it was just after the war.

We used to have a cockerel. You don't have cockerels now, do you?

-I'll tell you a little story.

-Go on.

-My dad was a farmer,

and it was by default, really, we got into farming.

We started off with six pigs and ended up with about 3,000.

And chickens, he got them cheap from the Exchange and Mart, which was the old magazine.

-I remember.

-They all used to flick through with that...

Anyway, the reason they were cheap, they were all cockerels.

We'd bought them as laying hens

and we didn't get any eggs at all,

so we had plenty of cockerels to eat.

-Oh, ideal for Christmas.

-Yes.

In fact, a cockerel or a capon is a good idea for Christmas.

Bigger and more flavourful than a chicken,

and cheaper than a goose.

Now add some fish stock to the pan.

And again reduce in volume before preparing some chanterelle mushrooms.

If you can't get chanterelle, which kind of mushroom would you choose?

You know, any mushrooms will work for this sort of dish.

It doesn't have to be wild mushrooms.

-I would use the small chestnut mushrooms sliced.

-Yeah, great flavour.

So, is there a best Christmas for you?

Is there one that you remember more than any or...?

The Christmases I liked best were with my own children.

-When we did a play, all the cousins...

-You did a play?

They do a play, you know, they work it...

They get to an age, the bigger ones work it out and they all act, and I love that.

I am hoping now that my grandchildren, they are from 13 downwards,

that perhaps they will do a play, and it's really lovely

seeing how they all react together.

To bring the sauce together, add some double cream to the pan

along with some Dijon mustard.

In another pan, lightly fry the mushrooms in some more butter

until they're softened.

Then tip them on to a plate and season well.

Now to tackle our precooked lobster.

So...now, lobsters are purple, obviously, when they're alive,

-and they go this colour when they are cooked, all right?

-Yep.

So, what we're going to do is basically just pop that on there.

Then, to prepare it...

-Now, what nature has done for us is created a nice little line for us to follow.

-Right.

I always start with the head end first.

You need a really sharp, strong-bladed knife, something really heavy for this.

You insert the knife in.

-So, you put it right in the middle of the head?

-Right in, right in.

Follow that line right the way down.

Straight through, press like that.

I always put it on a little bit of this paper,

cos you never know what comes out of it.

A little bit of this.

Get rid of that.

Another bit of paper as well.

Do you know, I very rarely have cooked lobster.

I cook lobster tails and I'm doing it as a first course, usually,

giving people half a tail, and they are much smaller.

This is an absolutely whacking sized lobster.

Give the lobster a wash under a cold tap.

And then remove the meat from the body.

Simple enough, but to get all the meat from the claws,

you might have to be a bit more...

heavy-handed.

-Are you trying to get it on me?

-The lobster got its own back!

You're doing quite well!

Oops.

Covering the queen of British baking with lobster shell

isn't part of the plan.

So, I am making this for you,

do you make anything for anybody at Christmas time, food?

I often do foodie Christmas presents.

People love home-made marmalade.

I do mulberry jam. Not everybody has a mulberry tree.

I've got a row of them in the garden. Delicious.

The main thing is not to wear a white shirt when you pick the mulberries

cos it goes all over you.

And so I often make food presents.

The grandchildren come and we make all sorts of biscuits.

Nicely presented.

That is typically chef-y, isn't it? Putting your hands in it.

Sorry

No, it's all right, look, I always think if I did that,

the doorbell would ring or the dog would want to go out,

-and I'd still have that all over my...

-The dog's already out, Mary, I just let him out before you arrived.

Next, add the mushrooms.

And then the lobster meat to the sauce.

Along with some chopped parsley.

Salt and pepper.

A squeeze of lemon juice.

And some grated Parmesan.

Then add a couple of egg yolks and cook for one minute to thicken the sauce.

Finally, pop the mix back into the washed lobster shells.

And top with breadcrumbs.

And some more Parmesan cheese.

So, what we're going to do now is just...

This is a grill and a half.

-This is a little grill.

-A little grill?

And we are going to pop that under the grill for a few minutes just to grill

and the perfect accompaniment for lobster thermidor isn't a salad, Mary, it is chips.

But not just any chips.

Double-cooked chips!

First pop them on a low temperature to soften.

And then a higher temperature to crisp them up.

And our lobster is ready too.

-Got all that lovely sauce in there.

-Oh, lovely.

It is just the right consistency.

Now, I would actually take that.

I wouldn't waste that sauce.

I would just trickle that down there, wouldn't you?

-Mary, if you want it.

-Just a little. I am not going to waste it.

-Oh, yes.

-Happy with that?

-Yes!

And it is interesting how the egg yolk has thickened it up beautifully.

TIMER DINGS

Right, these are about there.

-Oh, lovely, I can hear them crisp.

-Crispy, crispy chips.

That is what it is all about.

Now, we have a table waiting there,

so which do you want, the chips or the lobster?

Without doubt, the lobster.

-I thought you might say that.

-I am off, then!

THEY LAUGH

With rich lobster meat, creamy sauce and crisp-as-you-like fries,

this is one classy fish and chip supper. Lucky us.

Lobster and chips.

-A real treat.

-It is delicious, that.

It is kind of weird that when you're a chef,

you spend your life working in restaurants.

You cook all these dishes,

but never really get a chance to sit and appreciate them.

Until today I hadn't had lobster thermidor for about 20 years.

Well, if yours was 20 years, mine is 40 years.

I think in my courting days and first anniversary of knowing my husband,

I think we had lobster.

-In your courting days?

-Yes.

Who chased who?

-I am not too sure.

-Ah! JAMES LAUGHS

They say it is better to give than receive,

and these dishes and edible presents will certainly bring Christmas cheer

to those lucky enough to eat them.

They are my gift to you.

Well, Mary, it's an absolute pleasure to see you, as always.

And a happy Christmas.

And a happy Christmas to you.

You can find all the recipes for the series at...