New Year's Knees Up 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.

-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.

If there is one night that is perfect

for having a gang of friends round,

it is New Year's Eve, so this evening, it's all back to mine.

And when I am entertaining, these are the dishes

that I like to cook to start my New Year off with a bang.

So I am going to make a dessert guaranteed to make every guest drool.

How good does that look?

Annie Gray is certainly in the party mood,

as she joins a boozy celebration in Austria.

Please, two bottles.

And back here, I invite one of my friends to make himself at home.

So, welcome to the Charley Boorman Cooking Show.

RECORD SCRATCHES

Hang on - not that much at home!

I'm starting with a bite-sized bake

and a simple nibble that are perfect for kicking off a party.

I am going to make a really simple choux pastry,

but fill it with full of some delicious smoked salmon mousse.

Really simple to prepare, but there are keys to making a choux pastry

work properly, and it is all about this first part.

Put 125ml of water along with 50g of diced butter into a pan.

Then slowly heat the water

so the butter melts before it comes to the boil.

If we boil this rapidly while waiting for the butter to melt,

all that water is reducing, and it unbalances the recipe

and your choux pastry doesn't rise - it's as simple as that.

As soon as the butter does melt,

add 75g of flour.

Keep it on the heat and mix it all together well.

You can tell when this is ready for two reasons.

One - it will come together as a big lump.

The other, and this is how I was taught -

ever since I was a young kid I have been making this -

but I was always taught to listen.

That wasn't just at school,

it was also for choux pastry.

Listen.

MIXTURE CRACKLES

If it pops...it's ready.

As soon as that happens, spread the mixture out

on a nonstick mat for two to three minutes,

allowing it to cool down.

Then transfer everything into a mixing bowl.

And then what you need to do is add the eggs, and to do this just put

the machine on low at first,

then pop one egg in at a time.

If you put all the eggs in, the mixture separates and splits.

Once the last of the eggs has gone in, crank it up for a final mix.

And now it is time to pipe,

which is all about confidence and a little practice.

Let me show you.

Press the nozzle in, stop, twist.

Press the nozzle, stop, twist.

This hand is squeezing, this hand is deciding where the mixture is going.

It's as simple as that.

But I like canapes that are... chunky, I suppose.

That's the first thing people say about me when they see me, but...

I actually think they should be almost little mini meals.

So obviously don't make these too big,

but they want to be a decent sort of size.

Then press all the tops with your fingers, having dipped them in water.

The main reason for this is the oven is quite hot,

and the tops, the pointed part of it, will burn.

Some more water sprinkled over the top

will create extra steam while they're cooking,

that all helps them to rise.

After that, pop them in the oven for 15 minutes,

which is just enough time to rustle up a super-simple canape.

And it uses feta, but really good quality feta.

Start by chopping up some watermelon.

And then do the same with the cheese.

Next, layer them up and place onto a serving plate.

And we are going to top this with some Greek basil.

It is kind of like a fragrant basil, if that makes sense.

And we are just going to put a little sprig on each one.

And finally, only got to finish this with one thing.

And that is vinegar.

And it is not malt vinegar, don't ruin it,

it is sherry vinegar.

Sherry vinegar has got a fabulous, fabulous taste,

but you only want a tiny, tiny bit.

I like to put it on to the platter so it doesn't discolour the cheese.

And that is your really quick and simple canape done.

The choux buns are now cooked,

so take them out of the oven and let them cool down

while making the filling.

I start this by pureeing some smoked salmon in a blender.

Then I add some cream cheese...

creme fraiche...

and a squeeze of lemon.

Good grind of black pepper.

You won't want any salt,

because of the smoked salmon, and give it another blitz.

And what you end up with is a simple smoked salmon mousse, like that.

By now, the choux buns have cooled down,

so I can make holes in the bottom where the filling will go.

The great thing about choux pastry is you can make this

and freeze it and then when anybody comes round, you can just

grab them out of the freezer and fill them.

They defrost in minutes.

Pop the salmon mousse into a piping bag and then you can start filling.

Put the piping bag right in... and fill each one up.

For the topping, mix some creme fraiche with lemon juice.

Almost like butter icing.

Dunk the top of each bun in the mixture

then give them a quick dip in some finely chopped chives.

Lay them out for your guests,

but do a little taste test before they arrive.

Bon appetit.

You can taste the lemon, smoked salmon and the chives,

and then after that you taste a little bit

of the choux pastry.

They're delicious.

Don't forget to sample the watermelon and feta canapes either.

The first thing you taste is the vinegar.

Bang! Hits you on the tongue.

And then everything else starts to work.

It's delicious.

Two mouthwatering canapes, and both can be prepared

in under half an hour.

The perfect curtain-raiser for any New Year party.

But as well as food, a celebration needs drink.

Fizzy drink.

Not fond of traditional bubbly? Herefordshire farmer Denis Gwatkin

might just have the thing for an alternative midnight toast.

Cheers.

Denis produces perry, a form of cider traditionally made

from the perry pears of Herefordshire and the surrounding areas.

The family have been farming here for roughly just over 100 years.

Perry is quite a difficult drink to make from start to finish,

it's a difficult fruit to grow, it's a difficult fruit to harvest

and process, so it is mainly

the smaller makers that are still doing it.

We're here in the main orchard of the farm where we grow

most of our perry pears. These trees are 20-ish years old.

Planted by me as a boy, so that is quite nice.

They will grow for another 20ft up into the air.

They will live very near 300 years,

so hopefully... Well, they'll long outlive me,

put it that way! They'll be somebody else's worry one day,

but you plant pears for your heirs, they say.

So they are here for the future.

A number of varieties are suitable for making perry,

but for a sparkling one, nothing beats the Blakeney Red.

See, with the Blakeney Red pear, they are sun-blushed on the skin,

which is where the sun hits it and ripens it,

and puts all the sugar content in.

The only trouble with perry pears, unlike apples,

they have a tendency to ripen from the inside out,

which means you can have them rot on the tree.

If I were to cut one open, I could show you the inside of the pear.

As you can see, these are just about ripe for harvesting.

Because their branch life is much shorter than apples, the pears need

to be picked swiftly, otherwise they will rot.

To protect the trees, the fruit is all brought down by hand,

using a long hooked rod, or "planking pole".

They are like bombs when they come down and hit you on the head.

But that is all part of it.

Over the years I have had a couple of black eyes.

Everyone thinks it's from down the local pub,

but it's not, it's from the orchard!

Perry pears are quite different to apples.

It might not sound like the right thing to say,

but they are the fairer sex of the two. Bit like a woman, really,

they need a bit of high maintenance from start to finish.

Letters of complaint to Denis, please, not me.

With the tractor loaded,

it is time to go back to the farm with the precious cargo.

For the last five years, Denis had had a modern press,

producing 7,000 gallons of perry annually.

But before that, he did everything by hand in the traditional way.

And if you want to now what that was like, well, here's a demo.

First he mills the fruit into a pulp.

Then he packs this into cloth layers known as cheeses.

Then the pulp is pressed until all the juice has run out.

This is a barrel that has just come off the press out there.

It needs a couple of months now to ferment, that one, to mature.

This is one we have done earlier off the new, modern press.

And for us to to turn that into our sparkling perry

for Christmas and New Year,

we need to add a little bit of yeast and sugar to just give it

that second fermentation to kick it off.

So I start off with a little bit of sugar.

So we sprinkle a little bit on, yeah?

Because it's a natural way to make natural sparkling perry.

And add a little bit of yeast - this is a cultured yeast, and this is actually a champagne yeast,

so it's the right one for the job.

When it's the finished job we call this, cheekily, "cham-pear",

because it has exactly the same characteristics as champagne.

Denis has invited his cider-making team

to his own pub on the farm

to taste the fruits of their labours.

So, how's the bubbly?

It is cheaper than champagne and I think it has more taste.

You can see now, I am blushing, because it is very, very strong,

this glass of perry actually!

It has gone straight to my head already.

Well, that sounds like the perfect cue for a celebration.

HE PLAYS JAUNTY TUNE ON ACCORDION

Well, I don't have my own pub - not yet, anyway,

so I will be doing my New Year's Eve entertaining at home.

After eating so much meat over Christmas, I can't think of

anything better to serve up than fish.

Especially when it's prepared like this.

It is the perfect dish if you make it properly,

and what I mean by that is, you use the right fish, and I have

a beautiful selection here which is prefect for this.

Nice, natural smoked haddock, a few prawns,

and instead of salmon I am using some trout,

and if you combine all of this together with potatoes,

a few herbs, a little bit of lemon juice,

and do it with a classic beurre blanc,

you have got a brilliant dish for this time of the year.

So the first thing we're going to do is cook the fish,

and for that, you want to create,

as the French call it, a little court-bouillon,

which is a mixture of water, lemon juice...and a few aromats.

I have got some bay leaf and just a bit of onion.

After that, place the fish into the poaching liquor

and gently bring it to the boil.

I always find it easy to cook fish in a mixture like this,

because it keeps it nice and delicate.

Particularly the trout.

When it is has been simmering away for three to four minutes,

take it off the heat and leave it to cool.

While that is happening, I can get on with making the beurre blanc.

It's a French traditional sauce,

and it's one that I have been making for years,

and it's really simple.

Start off with some diced shallot...and white wine.

And you put a fair amount in and bring this to the boil.

And reduce this down by half.

What you are looking for is the texture

of sauteed shallots.

Now, they shouldn't have any colour on it,

but they should be softened shallots.

And then what we do is add butter, quite a lot of butter.

And all the while you are doing this, off the heat, you keep whisking it.

Look at that, the whole block of butter has just gone in there.

Now, it may look excessive, but don't blame me.

This is French, nothing to do with me.

Finish off with a squeeze of lemon juice

then pass it all through a sieve.

Just put a touch of black pepper in there.

And then finally, some chopped chives.

And there you have it - a classic beurre blanc,

which is brilliant with fish and fishcakes.

It is just so simple and so delicious,

but you can leave that to one side and it will quite

happily sit there. Meanwhile, we can turn our attention to the fish.

It has cooled down enough to be handled now,

so starting with the trout, peel off the skin

and flake it up.

Then do the same thing with the haddock,

but make sure you remove all the bones first.

Next, chop up some prawns,

along with some dill and spring onions.

Add a squeeze of lemon before throwing in boiled potatoes

that have been left to dry.

Season and combine it all together.

For me, the ideal ratio is two parts fish to one part potato.

Now, if you are going to deep-fry these,

I would advise you to basically flour, egg and breadcrumb them,

that way it will seal in the mixture.

Because I am going to pan-fry them,

there is really no need to put any egg in here

to bind it up, but you must make sure that the potatoes

are properly cooked.

When you have finished making the patties, pop them

in the fridge to firm them up.

That'll give you time to make the garnish.

All I am going to use for this is just some rainbow chard.

I love this stuff. I grow it all the time in the garden.

Just look at the amazing selection of colours you get -

purple, orange, reds, yellows - it's fabulous!

I am going to quickly cook the chard in a pan

with some water and butter.

Don't leave them in there too long,

or they will start to lose their vibrant colour.

So drain it off...

and then we can cook our fishcakes.

So we grab plenty of butter.

If you are worried about the butter in this bit,

you clearly weren't watching when I made the sauce.

And then you throw in the fishcakes.

It only takes two to three minutes on each side.

And then everything is ready to plate up, starting with the chard.

You can grab your nice fishcake...

..and then not forgetting this amazing beurre blanc.

Now, you can serve this as a starter or as a main course.

Mm, it is so delicate - that flavour of the smoked haddock

is exactly what you need in this.

That combined with the trout and you get chunks of meat,

which are the prawns. But it's that sauce, it's just delicious.

I like that.

Guests won't be expecting these on New Year's Eve,

but they will love them, especially with the sumptuous beurre blanc.

As for the amount of butter involved,

let's just keep that between us!

New Year's Eve has always been associating with partying,

and today, food historian Ivan Day is going back in time

to make a historic 18th celebratory brew called a wassail.

I am going to explore wassailing traditions by first of all

attempting to reconstruct a beautiful, rustic wassail bowl,

and also make some wassail.

Traditionally, village wassail bowls were made

from either apple wood or something called maplin,

what we would now call maple.

Ivan has decorated his bowl

with a specially-made hazelwood frame covered with

traditional Christmas greenery like holly, mistletoe, rosemary and bay.

Evergreens have been used as Christmas decorations

since the medieval period.

All the plants they chose are the ones

that still had their leaves - they symbolised everlasting life.

Brightly-coloured ribbons add the final flourish to the wassail bowl.

And it is now ready.

But what did people do with it, exactly?

What you did was you picked it up like this, and it is lovely,

and you went off and you scrounged lots of free booze

off your neighbours.

So off I go!

# Wassail and wassail all over the town

# Our cup, it is white and our ale, it is brown

# Our tap, it is made of the good old ashen... #

While the villagers are carousing around the green with their

bowlful of beer, the village squire was enjoying a much more

refined type of wassail made from expensive sherry,

and served from a beautiful china punch bowl.

I am going to make a rather posh bowl of wassail

from a recipe in Robert Chambers' The Book of Days, published in 1864.

He starts by coring apples and baking them

in the oven for 40 minutes until they are soft.

He then adds spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger

to a cup of water, and simmers them gently to release their flavour.

The Book of Days tells us about the merrymaking of New Year.

"The head of the house assembled his family around a bowl of spiced ale.

"The word that passed among them was

"the ancient Saxon phrase 'Wass hael!'

"That is, 'To your health.' "

So wassail is the earliest way that we said "cheers!"

The next step for this festive drink

is to add sugar and the all-important sherry or wine to the pan.

Depending on the region you lived in, wassail varied -

in some areas, it was made with ale, in others, with cider.

Both, however, were zested up with spices, sugar

and often whipped eggs.

The gentry, however, preferred theirs made from wine.

Once the sherry is hot,

the aromatic spice mixture is strained in.

To make the drink nice and frothy,

whisked egg yolks are added along with a bit of elbow grease.

We keep whisking and whisking

until we get this wonderful froth appearing.

That is called the grace of the wassail.

The drink is then poured into the squire's fancy punch bowl.

The final touch is to float the baked apple pulp on top of the wassail.

So here is a lovely warming drink

to get the new year off to a brilliant start.

So, cin-cin, bottoms up,

or should I say wassail?

Wassail to you, Ivan.

Another way to kick off the new year in style

is with a show-stopping dessert

and I reckon I have found the ultimate.

Now, there are lots of desserts that you can do at New Year

but this one has to be the best

and as a pastry chef, I am saying that with trepidation, really,

because when it is made properly,

this can be the tastiest dessert ever.

It is a delice of fruit.

Really simple to prepare if you break it down into stages.

I am starting with making the fruit mousse filling.

For that, I place four leaves of gelatine into cold water.

While they are softening up, I pour some frozen fruit into a pan

along with a splash of cold water.

We can actually mashed this around a bit to get plenty of flavour out.

As it comes to the boil, I am adding some cassis.

Just a little drizzle...

Now stick everything in a blender.

After a couple of minutes, the puree is ready to pass through a sieve.

You don't need a cloth for this - just through a nice, fine sieve.

Now put it back on the heat and add the softened gelatine.

You need to warm the mixture up,

otherwise it won't dissolve the soaked gelatine.

Just warming it through

and once you don't see any gelatine in there,

you can take it off the heat.

And while that is cooling down,

I am going to make the next part of the mousse filling -

Italian meringue.

Start off by heating up some sugar and water in a pan.

This has to be brought to an exact temperature

so you will need a sugar thermometer.

There is no real way of testing otherwise,

because boiling water boils at 100 degrees.

When it has sugar in it, it keeps increasing the temperature,

so you have to get to what they call "soft-ball"

which is about 120ish degrees centigrade.

As soon as you get the magic number...

..put two egg whites into a bowl and start mixing.

As they whisk up,

pour the hot sugar solution slowly and steadily into the bowl.

As soon as the sugar hits the egg white,

it starts to fluff up.

And this is exactly how you make marshmallow,

just with the addition of gelatine.

When the Italian meringue is done,

swap the bowls over and whip up the last part of the filling -

some double cream.

No need to worry about washing the whisk -

it all gets mixed in together anyway.

Now, the key to this is to make sure

the cream is the same consistency as the whipped egg whites,

so not over-whipped, otherwise it splits in the mixture.

Now you can bring all of the elements of the mousse filling together.

Start by mixing the cooled fruit puree into the Italian meringue.

Then add the softly whipped cream.

With the mousse filling done, I can start building the delice,

starting with the base.

To save time, I've basically just used a bought-in sponge

and all you do with this is just cut out the base like that.

Better save this, otherwise my auntie will be on the phone, whingeing -

"You can use that for trifle."

Then we want a nice, thin piece of sponge.

Now, I mean thin piece of sponge -

not a massive great inch-thick piece of sponge.

It has got to be nice and thin.

Place one half of this sponge

back inside the mould that you cut it with earlier.

Always do this on the serving platter that you are going to serve it in.

This is not a dessert that you want to be transferring round the kitchen

or wandering around with.

Then grab some more cassis.

And just a little drizzle over the top.

Now pour in the mousse filling.

Look at the colour of that - beautiful!

Remember, this is just with frozen fruit.

Don't forget to leave a little bit of space for the jelly topping.

Then pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.

While that is happening, I can make the clear fruit jelly for the top.

Start by softening three leaves of gelatine in cold water.

Then put some water into a pan

and add some frozen blackberries and blueberries.

And then we are going to add the sugar.

You can make this with fresh or frozen berries. It's up to you.

The thing about frozen berries is that they are available.

As the mixture comes to the boil,

add some cassis and keep it on the heat for a few minutes.

Then take it off the stove and sieve the mix.

It's always good to put it through a cloth.

You can use a tea towel but it kind of wrecks the tea towel.

Now, it's really important not to press this through at this stage.

If you press it through, the jelly just ends up being cloudy.

By now, the gelatine has softened,

so you can add it to the warm fruit liquid.

It will start dissolving immediately.

If you mix all this lot together,

you end up with this beautifully clear jelly like that.

Now, don't cheat and buy that ready-made jelly -

make your own!

Leave this to cool down slightly

by which time the mousse will have set in the fridge.

Time to take it out

and carefully spoon the jelly liquid over the top.

Then put it back in the fridge for a final couple of hours.

That gives me time to get Ralph smartened up

for tonight's celebrations.

Right - New Year, and a party. How cool is this?

That is proper smart.

Happy with that?

RALPH WHINES

Oh, come on, Ralph - cheer up a bit! We have the party of the year later!

Anyway, the delice will have set by now

and this is what you end up with.

The rewards for all your effort -

this amazing mirrored delice on the top.

Now you can decorate this just quite simply.

I have got some figs, a little bit of fresh raspberries...

..a little bit of mint...

You're probably wondering how you are going to get it out of the mould.

You can do this with a warm cloth around the edge,

but then you have got to clean the plate.

The easiest way to do it...

..is get one of these for Christmas.

This comes free with a mask.

When you are not using it, you can sort your car out with it as well.

You go round the edge of the mould.

The heat loosens the mousse just enough

for the ring to be lifted clean off.

Told you it is worth the effort!

When it comes to serving up,

the trick is to first off run a knife through some hot water -

that way, it'll cleanly slice through the delice.

Once you have cut it, clean your knife,

warm it up again, dry it and cut it again.

How good does that look?

Now this dessert is all about the taste.

It looks spectacular, there is nothing else like it,

but trust me, it is worth the effort...

..because it is not until you taste this...

The best dessert ever.

And what better time to serve it than New Year's Eve?

The biggest celebration deserves one of the greatest desserts.

Now whether you like to celebrate the New Year with a loud bang

or prefer to mark it with a quite night in,

there is one place that has it all.

Austria comes alive and alight at this time of the year

as our festive food reporter Annie Gray has been finding out.

Nothing beats the glistening lights, the mulled wine,

the lebkuchen and the savoury treats.

This place is like one big street party.

But the crowded markets are in stark contrast

to the remote mountains that stand above the cities

and that is where I went to meet Theresia Bacher

who runs a very unusual supper club

is Stuhlfelden in the Salzburg region.

Here, she cooks in her Rauchkuchl, or "smoky kitchen" -

an indoor open fire with no chimney.

The smoke collects under the ceiling of her 500-year-old farmhouse,

giving the food a flavour as unique as Theresia herself.

SHE SHOUTS IN GERMAN

This is the last house of its kind in the Alpine region

and I am going to help Theresia prepare a feast

fit for a New Year's party here.

That is, if I can tear myself away from the views.

This is just unbelievable. And this is all yours?

Yes, I worked with my father when I was ten years old.

So you spent most of your childhood up here?

I helped my father to make the milk and we have cows, we have goats

and it was my life.

Theresia wants to make a drink for the celebration.

This is before we have done any cooking.

This is a sort of cranberry schnapps liquor.

Cranberries are known as "red gold" here

because help to cure the flu and colds and coughs

so that means that everyone who is here at our party

will be feeling great by the end of it -

especially useful at New Year.

-OK, so we start by chopping the vanilla?

-Yes.

And now schnapps, please, and put in two bottles.

We work now.

Please, two bottles.

So the rum and the cognac.

This one, half in each?

'Looks like it is going to be quite a party.'

Now we must taste!

-Mmm!

-It is too much schnapps. I think a little bit of sugar.

Wir lassen es schneien.

-Snow has come!

-ANNIE LAUGHS

-It is good - a little bit strong.

-'A little bit strong?'

That is an understatement!

As the guests begin to arrive,

Theresia starts cooking the main course in her smoky kitchen

and someone has "volunteered" me to be her sous chef for the night.

Bring me oil - I need oil.

And on tonight's menu,

the traditional festive feast of venison

is served with beans, red cabbage and potato dumplings.

At Christmas, do you cook like this? Is it particularly popular?

Yes, because it is the last day

for the hunter to go to the mountain.

-The last day of the shooting season?

-Yes.

To the venison, Theresia adds some onions, beans, herbs

and mushrooms from the mountain with a little bit of seasoning.

-Please, I need...cram? Cram?

-Cream?

'Oh, here we go again.'

Bring me cranberries, cranberries.

Please.

Bring me all the Bohnenkraut.

Being Theresia's sous chef is a bit of a challenge.

I think even James would struggle.

Every time Theresia cooks here for other people, the supper club,

she picks on someone and they are her stooge for the evening.

And I don't really mind

because it is all part of the joy of being here.

-It's right!

-Danke.

After adding some finishing touches,

the feast is ready to be enjoyed by the party guests

but before I get my break, Theresia and I must make dessert -

a special Austrian dumpling cooked in honey butter

served only at Christmas and New Year.

This is quite something -

there are so many elements in this New Year's meal.

There is the stuff from the mountain that gives a real sense of place.

There is the Rauchkuchl traditional cooking.

Everything just comes together.

This, if you were having a New Year's party like this,

would really be one to remember.

Prost!

The guests will soon be arriving for my New Year's party

and to help me cook the main course, I have called in reinforcements -

my mate and all-round adventurer, Charley Boorman.

Hey! How are you doing, fella?

Come on in.

Together, we are going to cook the perfect dish

for everybody to get stuck into.

Now, New Year, I actually cook a curry on New Year's Eve

cos I think it is fantastic -

it's a dish...you can chuck on the middle of the table and everyone dives into.

But I am going to do a butter chicken curry

cos it's one of my favourites.

Oh, my mouth is watering.

-The first thing we are going to do is marinate the chicken.

-OK, yeah.

So we have cumin, garam masala and chilli powder.

Two teaspoons of each in the blender.

Heaped or just normal?

CHARLEY LAUGHS That'll do.

-Heaped, heaped.

-OK, there we go.

-That will be all right.

To this, add three cloves of chopped garlic

along with a teaspoon of ground coriander.

Then comes the turmeric.

Turmeric is really, really strong.

-And really colours as well, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-So you want half, OK?

-OK.

-And then half of cinnamon.

These are the two strongest ones.

Next we have got some ginger

and you can grab the yogurt out of the fridge as well

and you can chuck a whole pot of yogurt in there as well.

When the ginger is chopped up, chuck that in too.

What you are going to do is just get the blender on

and get this going into a paste with these - these are cashew nuts.

-Oh...

-They are going to go in as well.

Once it's turned into a paste,

add the juice of a lemon and blitz again.

Then chop up some chicken breast into decent-sized chunks

and mix with the marinade.

It is best to leave this overnight,

which I've done already with some I made yesterday.

Then cover a baking tray with tinfoil for protection.

-Ruins your tray.

-What, because we're going to grill it?

What we are about to do next, because we're grilling it.

This what the chicken looks like

once it's been in the marinade

and what we do is basically just...

-Oh, lovely colours.

-..pop this all on to the tray.

There is something about Indian food -

every sort of three or four days, five days,

you start to crave Indian food.

With that cooking away, we can make the sauce,

starting with cinnamon, cracked cardamom,

along with chopped garlic, ginger and green chillies.

So what does New Year mean for you?

Is it the calm after the storm of Christmas?

My parents and my wife's parents don't really...get on very well.

If it is Christmas and New Year,

I always say have the family round,

but get another independent family involved

so that the families can't fight against each other,

cos they know they have to be polite.

Anyway, I shouldn't say that - I'm sorry, Jennifer.

By the time New Year's comes along,

we want to go and party and have some fun.

That is what it is all about, innit, really?

And for the last 20-odd years, we have been going up to Scotland.

New Year's up in Scotland is just fantastic.

They love it up there. It is a religion, almost.

This curry may not be Scottish

but it is ideal for setting you up on New Year's Eve.

Chuck the cardamom and cinnamon into a pan.

-In we go with garlic.

-Yeah.

-And the ginger.

Next comes the chilli, followed by a tin of tomatoes.

After that has simmered away for about five minutes,

the chicken will be cooked and ready to go into the pan, marinade and all.

The whole lot goes in.

Now we can make the chapattis -

start with tipping out some wholemeal flour onto the work surface

and make a well in the middle.

See? He knows what he's doing!

Yeah - it is from my building days. Ten years a builder.

Were you ten years a builder?

Yeah, I did a lot of acting,

then my acting career started heading south.

-So what films were you in?

-I was in Deliverance, as a kid.

That was my first role, at seven. I got a tricycle for that.

My father directed it and he said, "Look, Charley,

"if you sit on that sofa with that bloke, I'll give you a tricycle."

-It sounds all dodgy...

-JAMES LAUGHS

But I really wanted the tricycle.

Let's see if Charley's still got some of his building skills.

Add some water to the flour, little by little,

and mix it all together.

When the mixture becomes sticky,

divide it into four pieces ready for rolling.

Got a little rolling pin here.

We can then flatten them nice and flat

because you want the inside of this to stay nice and moist, you see.

When you get them nice and thin, lift them off

and cook them direct on the hot plate, like that.

-Superb.

-All right?

The chapattis only need 30 seconds on each side to cook.

After that, brush them with some melted butter.

I noticed you haven't clarified your butter here -

just saying...it's...

Anyway...anyway, we'll move quickly on.

One final thing - after you finish off buttering these,

we then take some double cream.

Oh - that's what it is all about, isn't it?

You don't normally see this in a curry, double cream.

And this is why we call it a butter chicken curry.

You take butter and you put it in.

And all this flavours it as well.

Yeah, and gives it that kind of shine as well.

Butter makes everything looks better, doesn't it?

You're getting all your cheffy techniques and words out now, aren't you?

Finally, add the juice of one lemon and season with pepper.

Then time for some quality control.

Charley Boy, that's pretty good, that.

If you want to replicate this, we have about 22 people coming

in about...about an hour.

OK. All right.

-You know where everything is.

-You get off and...

Break into that larder, wine cellar.

-I will do.

-OK.

So welcome to the Charley Boorman Cooking Show

and I'm doing a Christmas special at the moment

and we are going to do curry...

Cut, cut! THEY LAUGH

The curry is certainly going down a treat

and it is the ideal dish for everyone to dig into.

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

But Charley seems to be getting confused

about a few of the details.

Is this recipe yours?

Yeah, it's one of... actually, James stole from me.

-What's in it, again?

-Chicken?

THEY LAUGH

For me, New Year's Eve is all about bringing your best mates together

and celebrating everything good in life

and with these dishes,

you will definitely get your New Year off to a cracking start.

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

Three, two, one - Happy New Year!

CHEERING AND LAUGHTER