Episode 1 Nigella's Christmas Kitchen

# The weather outside is frightful

# But the fire is so delightful

# And since we've no place to go

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

You know, some people are so boringly cynical about Christmas

but I just love it - every last twinkling light.

# The lights are turned way down low

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

# When we finally kiss good night

# How I hate going out in the storm

# But if you really hold me tight

# All the way home I'll be warm... #

I am drinking in Christmassyness.

I mean, there's the market there and my Gluhwein - my mulled wine - here,

and there's something about the smell of this, it has the trifecta of aroma that is Christmas.

The fruits, the cinnamon, the cloves

and I suppose it's this, really, that runs through all my Christmas cooking.

If I think, really, when I make my Christmas cake, I get the scent of this.

And my spiced aromatic ham.

As I pour the Christmas-coloured glaze all over it,

that is Christmas and that is inspired by the mulled wine, really.

This is what it's all about -

not just the smells, but also about relishing tradition,

but feeling you can play with it too.

# Merry Christmas, baby

# Sure did treat me nice

# Merry Christmas, baby

# Sure did treat me nice... #

As much as I love the travelling, this for me is where Christmas really begins.

Being at home and filling the house with smells of Christmas -

all those gorgeous spices and everything that makes you feel cosy and your heart lift.

At this time of year, food has to be familiar and cosy and it has to be welcoming.

For me Christmas just isn't Christmas unless there's a ham in the fridge,

sandwiches to be had, and deliciousness always.

It's so simple. You just start off...

A pan - and I'm going to pop this inside -

a snug fit is good, because you don't need as much liquid.

And now all I need to do is have a lazy stretch for my aromatics.

It's a funny thing to say but this is my lead aroma - red wine.

I always have a sort of amount of disdain for those wine writers

who talk about, you know, the blackberry smells and the new car leather and so on,

but actually, there really is something incredibly aromatic about wine,

and especially when it's heated.

I would say I'm going along the more macho spectrum of aromas

and I'm going to do some fennel, which is just extraordinarily...

I'd say it was like liquorice, but it's not as strong as that.

It's like a leafier form of celery and even if you don't like this kind of thing normally,

I've been told this is still delicious.

Just as well.

And an onion.

Plonking it in.

A couple of cloves of garlic.

And now I'm just going to add some fennel seeds and mixed peppercorns.

I mean it doesn't matter - you could use black peppercorns, white, but I love the mixture.

Last, and I know it seems as if I've got liquorice on the brain,

but these star anise I'm putting in, these two beautiful flowers of it,

really do have a kind of deep liquorice intensity.

You couldn't use more than two here.

# I'll keep you warm... #

Just need to cover the ham with water and it can be left

to cook for about three-and-a-half hours, with its heady aromas heavy in the air.

The ham has been cooked and it's cooled slightly, not cold, just so I can handle it.

I know it's got a slightly sombre look at the moment, this ham,

but just you wait, once it's got its glaze on,

it's going to be as Christmassy as you'll get. I mean, really fabulous.

Here, redcurrant jelly.

I love redcurrant jelly. It's incredibly useful.

It's saved many a too-bitter gravy of mine.

Some smoked paprika. Ah, look, this incredible colour.

And now...bit darker in tone but really magnificent in flavour, some cinnamon.

People think cinnamon is really pudding but it really isn't,

and you'd be surprised how well it goes with meat.

Just to counter the sweetness here,

and to intensify the redness, a little red wine vinegar.

And while the jelly is melting down - a quick whisk first.

I'm going to get on with some minor, but still pleasurably absorbing, surgery on the ham.

# This heart that glows like an ember... #

I strip off the rind and a little of the fat layer, if it's very thick.

And cut a diamond pattern into the remaining fat and stud each intersection with a clove.

The glazed ham will take about 15 minutes to become burnished

and rosily gold in the heat.

This just needs to go in the oven,

to turn this into a kind of full-on Christmas feast,

and I'll be happy, and it can preside over my table.

# If it could be so

# Then you'd keep me so

# Warm in December

# Ooh, it's cool in December... #

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without my aromatic, spiced ham.

It's an essential ritual.

But I need more than that, and I do need a fruit cake.

I mean, for me, it is necessary. We're talking about a really fruity,

full-on Christmas cake here and I'm going for the full fragrant immersion.

Everything is cooked in one pot.

That's the raisins. You can see there are a lot.

And currants.

After the currants, some prunes.

And it's these prunes that make sure the cake is dark, squishy and moist.

It used to be called boiled Christmas cake,

which sounds rather unappetising, and this is just not boiled but soused - aromatic, perfect.

And to help this intensity along,

I have been into my declasse drinks cabinet and got some Tia Maria.

You could use any coffee liqueur

but what I like about this is it promises to be uniquely dark and intriguing.

Now some butter, just a small amount.

You need that, it's going to melt and be gorgeously absorbed.

Some spice. I just use mixed spice.

There's something about the fruits and the liqueur in here which makes it taste anyway spicy.

And I've got dark Muscavado sugar and actually the molasses in the sugar

gives a strange feeling of spice anyway.

It's like liquorice, almost, it's so intense.

And now a gorgeous amber glossy slick of honey.

Honey is just something that so reminds me of this time of year

but I also feel the same way about oranges, the way their smell sort of permeates everything.

And I'm using two - zest and juice.

It's a lot of juice, I know, but that's what

keeps this so liquidy and the heat means it's absorbed all in one go.

Hmmm.

If I could get a scented candle of this cake mixture, I'd be happy.

The thing that makes this fruit cake special, and I didn't tell you earlier

because it made it seem somewhat sort of vulgar and immature,

is that it's a chocolate fruit cake.

And the chocolate in this is not instantly obvious and it's not sweet.

It just gives it a gorgeously haunting, like ghost of chocolate flavour. A real depth.

Just going to turn the heat on and help everything melt together.

Then I'll just leave it for now and get on with a bit of Blue Peter work with a cake tin.

I find it easiest to line the tin with reusable baking parchment.

The trick is that the paper should come up higher than the sides of the tin

to insulate the cake and protect the top from burning.

To turn this boozy, fruity mix into a cake, you need a few extra ingredients.

Three eggs...

A cup of flour...

some ground almonds and half a teaspoon each of bicarb and baking powder.

And in it goes.

Just need to stir it all together and this really is my Christmas miracle,

because the heat has done months of steeping work.

This is the easiest way of getting that sort of Christmas spirit you will ever find.

Finally, pop the treacly batter in a pretty low oven for around two hours and that's it, done.

This, for me, is THE magical moment of Christmas.

It's time for the cake's unveiling.

But more important,

its crowning.

Now, it's my method of getting the cake, which is fully cooled now in its tin, out.

There we are.

Leave it like that, it looks beautiful enough.

Perfect.

Take it off its base.

Peel off this reusable baking parchment.

This is such great stuff.

And now there it is.

So this is a really simple way of decorating the cake, but fabulous.

In the middle - this is especially useful if your cake has sunk a little -

some chocolate-covered espresso beans,

some disco gold glitter - edible, I'm told.

Can you hear choirs of angels singing?

I've got some gold stars which I want to

stud round the outside.

And finally, I want to drop some little gold baubles in amongst the coffee beans.

When you see this, you realise there really is no turning back now.

It always seems like a good idea to have a party at Christmas

but unless you're careful, it can go hideously wrong.

Suddenly you feel like some deadline pressured,

stressed out professional, or not so professional, caterer.

I don't want to be a caterer.

I want to eat with friends and have them around at Christmas.

So I certainly don't do those fussy food origami things.

I want food that's simple, delicious and feels like a treat at the same time.

I mean, for example, sticky ribs - how can that not be good?

And what's lovely is the whole house smells so welcoming,

as people come in - so the party gets off to a good start.

I always do my Parma ham bundles,

with three ingredients and incredibly simple to make.

I think my friends wouldn't come

if they didn't know beforehand they were gonna have my crab cakes with lime spritzed on them at the end.

A party, like a meal, needs a good ending,

so I finish with a wonderful, decadent, sweet mouthful.

My first strategy in making Christmas party food joyously undemanding

is to get the preparation done ahead.

And I should say, really, that by preparation

I'm not talking about a vast array of activity.

I'm talking about five minutes work, or not even that.

So here is the wherewithal for my sweet and sticky ribs.

A bit messy, I agree, but you can always give people baby wipes.

And I have three magic ingredients for this.

The first, sweet chilli sauce -

either Thai or Chinese.

The only important thing is that it's the sweet kind and not the really punchy, fiery kind.

The best way of thinking about a marinade like this,

is not think of measurements but proportions and, for me,

it's two parts of the sweet chilli sauce

to one part cranberry sauce.

Not quite in the same register but for Christmas I have to have it.

To one part sweet, black soy sauce.

Look at that sweet, thick, black, shiny syrup I've got here.

And in it goes...

that gorgeous gloop.

And then... I want the juice of a clementine.

And I have to say, I haven't got any such seasonal excuse for the lime,

but I do think to offset all that very desirable sweetness,

it is good to have some more acerbic note and the sourness of lime is perfect.

And the wonderful thing about this marinade, or sauce,

is that it's so adaptable.

I use this quite often for chicken wings.

And, although I don't marinade sausages,

if you just dunk cocktail sausages in this mixture and then roast them in the oven, they are perfect.

So they just need to sit in the fridge till this evening and then I'll take them out,

stick them in a hot oven about an hour and a half before the party,

and when everyone gets there, they are going to be succulent -

almost melting off the bone and really sweet and juicy.

# The snow is snowing

# The wind is blowing

# But I can weather the storm

# What'll I care how much it may storm?

# I've got my love to keep me warm... #

I want to get everything ready

but because I want it to look like a bacchanalian feast,

I do my decorating shopping at the green grocers.

And I found some really fabulous clementines with leaves.

So beautiful!

And what I like with these...

I said, you know, like a bacchanalian feast,

but actually I think there really is something almost Roman

about the way grapes just tumble down over the edges of things.

It makes everything look SO beautiful,

in a sort of ready-to-be-debauched Roman scene kind of a way.

A few more grapes here.

But, despite all this talk of bacchanalian abandon,

at my mother's insistence I'm not forgetting about detritus.

And practicality means I've got some pewter bowls around,

so pips and satsuma or clementine peelings can be put there.

Oh, and you have to have - I have to have -

gold coins at Christmas and scatter these about as well.

Really what I want is that the minute people come in,

they feel surrounded by good things to eat

and I think it's that that provides warmth and welcome.

# ..Off with my overcoat

# Off with my gloves

# I need no... #

This is a continuing part of my prepare-ahead strategy.

I suppose you could say what I'm making is a homespun version of Reese's peanut butter cups.

And it's useful to have something sweet at the end of a party

because you don't want to start turning the lights up and down,

like you used to get at a disco.

So if something sweet comes out, they know no more food. It's time to sort of wind down.

The base is made up partly of icing sugar.

And then... Please don't look too closely cos you'll start worrying this isn't very good for you.

It's not good for you but it's Christmas. Anyway, some dark sugar.

You can think about your waistline and your dietary virtue in the new year, if you must.

Little bit of butter.

And now the uber-important ingredient - peanut butter.

I buy that self-righteous organic Hessian weave peanut butter

but it just won't play here.

I'm going to mix these together in my mixer just coz I like using it

but you can see from these ingredients that a wooden spoon and a regular bowl would be just fine.

And this just needs to be mixed

until it starts clumping together like wet sand.

# ..I've got my love to keep me warm... #

That's about ready.

I'm just going to squadge this rather lovely vanilla-coloured sand...

into each cup...

and go on your merry way until all are filled.

Just going to add the chocolate.

I find a mixture of dark and milk chocolate perfect for this.

# ..The flame, flame grows higher

# But I will weather the storm

# What do I care...? #

I'm going to adorn these little beauties with some jewellery,

especially for Christmas.

Look at them - lovely Christmas trinkets.

# ..Love to keep me

# I've got my love to keep me warm. #

There is absolutely no point giving a party

if you're so tense and wound up about everything,

you just hate everyone for coming!

So, as well as the planning ahead strategy that I go in for

to make everything bearable and enjoyable,

I also believe you've got to do some things which are ridiculously simple

but still really fabulous to eat.

In a way it's an Italian classic, or my take on it,

just Parma ham and figs.

So this is my Christmas version, which uses dried figs.

And it works because you've got incredible Parma ham - salty and pink.

And some sharp goats' cream cheese, which you can get at the supermarket,

and then a soft, sweet,

slightly crunchy dried fig, or just a snipped off piece of it.

And, along with this, I'll have another Italian-inspired offering.

When I was young I went to Milan and I remember being really taken

by these really chic Milanese ladies.

When they had parties,

they'd just cut up a huge parmesan into wild wedges and shards.

And I thought, "When I'm grown up, I'm going to do that!" So I do!

About an hour-and-a-half before your guests arrive,

take the ribs out of the fridge and pop them into the oven.

Now, my crabcakes are the work of moments.

Start by blitzing a couple of spring onions with a clove of garlic.

Perfect. The other ingredients are fairly simple.

These are crab cakes, so in goes the crabmeat -

just white crab meat here.

And now a few flavourings.

I want to add some wasabi,

which is like a Japanese paste -

kind of a cross between horseradish and mustard.

I love the heat it gives and also the glorious green goo.

I like to sprinkle on a little rice vinegar.

It seems to set off the sweetness of the crab. Not much.

Perfect!

Some soy sauce.

To bind this mixture together,

I use rice flour.

What I really love is brown rice flour from the health shop,

but use regular or ordinary white rice flour from the supermarket.

OK. And, er...blitz to mix.

And that's all there is.

I'm going to sit the mixture in the fridge, just to firm up.

But it gives me time to finish getting the room ready

and start getting myself ready.

# Say, "It's all right."

# It's all right

# Say, "It's all right."

# It's all right

# It's all right to have a good time... #

..just a kind of really broken chunk of parmesan.

You see, everything is going well, everyone looking after themselves.

Nothing like a bit of food and that Christmas spirit in a glass.

I can sneak out - no-one's missing me -

and check the ribs, which are just as they should be.

Really browned by the heat. And all gorgeous.

And just need to be tonged, that's the easiest way, I think, out onto a large plate.

They're really tender - falling off the bone.

Perfect. Now, I was going to sprinkle a bit of coriander.

Although make sure there is someone on duty

to tell you if you've got green in your teeth.

It's a homemade barbecue sauce -

chilli and sweet soy.

Mmm!

I'm going to break away from the crowd for a moment

to do a bit of last minute frying up of the crab cakes.

And I don't feel apologetic about that

and I don't regard it as a penance, on the contrary.

One of the things I like at Christmas parties

is finding that little bit of quiet space by yourself while you cook

which you can't really get in any other way and everyone thinks you're working incredibly hard.

So it's good for everyone.

# Have a good time cos it's all right... #

BLUES MUSIC PLAYS

# You've got soul

# And everybody knows that it's all right

# Whoa, it's all right

# It's all right

# Have a good time cos it's all right... #

OK. OK. I know it's a seasonal hazard.

I'm in danger of losing my Christmas cheer.

Even the fairy lights are too much for me now!

What I need is a bowl of something restorative.

And in that bowl I need something hot and a lot of carbohydrate.

The heat...I'm going to get from this chorizo sausage,

or what remains of it in the fridge.

Oh, I think I'll turn the... pan on now.

Chop up the chorizo sausage.

I feel that help is on the way.

It's chopped fairly small but lets not go mad.

In this goes.

And this is just the right sort of heat

because there is something chewy and salty and even a bit sour

about the kind of chilly flavour in this.

OK. So...in with that, some spring onion.

I wish this knife wouldn't bang so much against the wood!

Enough.

And I need a tomato.

In an ideal world, I would peel and deseed

but lets not kid ourselves that'll happen now. This will be fine.

INGREDIENTS IN PAN SIZZLE

Need some spice in here.

Cumin. Cumin is actually perfect.

Now, what this is is kind of thick, spicy, black bean soup.

Got some black beans.

Known in my house as the Cuban cure.

It is indeed a cure for all ills,

especially self-inflicted ones.

Needs some stock.

Just going to use hot water from the kettle

and some instant chicken stock.

The deal about this is that it's both a salve

and also a slight shock to the system.

You'll get better one way or another...or both.

Into the bowl.

Mmm!

Some coriander.

Seen better days but then, haven't we all?

Mmmm! I need lime in this, I don't... Oh!

This will do. No time to be messing around.

Come...heal me.

Cook - heal thyself!

Oh, thank you, Lord!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]