A belated Merry Christmas to you all! I am just awaking, bleary eyed and pot bellied, from a food coma.
My sister and I spent Christmas with our dear friend Chrissie and her family in Cambridge. Chrissie makes a fantastic roast and was responsible for convincing me a few years back that turkey doesn’t have to be a dry and dull affair when treated correctly. Still, I was very excited to discover a few weeks ago that we’d be having crown of pork instead; I’d choose fatty, juicy pork and crispy crackling over turkey any day.
Charlie and I did the starter: pan-fried scallops with beurre blanc. Traditionally, beurre blanc is an emulsion in which butter is carefully whisked into a white wine reduction at a low temperature so that it doesn’t split. However, to avoid the fuss of both getting the emulsion right and then having to keep it at the correct temperature, I add a little cream, which stabilises it. The consistency is a bit different from a traditional beurre blanc, but it tastes amazing and it’s much easier.
Chrissie’s son, Merlin, and his father, Simon, did a fabulous job with the pork, which was sourced from Spinney Abbey farm where the pigs are happy and it shows in the meat. Chrissie provided all the trimmings, including condiments for turkey as well as pork, since “Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without bread sauce.”
Homemade Christmas pudding with brandy butter was much better than I anticipated. I think I must only have had shop bought ones in the past, as it’s the first one I have really enjoyed. (We don’t bother with it in Australia – too hot!)
The recipe for beurre blanc that I give below is my family’s favourite, made with champagne, tomato and basil. We usually serve it with scallops, but it is fabulous with any seafood or chicken. Dill and chives also work well with seafood and tarragon is a good option with chicken. You can use white wine if you prefer and tomatoes are optional. If making ahead of time, I suggest leaving the tomatoes and herbs out and adding them later when you reheat the sauce.
Makes enough sauce for 8 starters or 4 mains.
Ingredients
200ml champagne, dry sparkling or dry white wine
1 shallot, peeled and roughly quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled and cut in half
Pinch of peppercorns
Small bunch basil
1 large ripe tomato or 1 handful cherry tomatoes
100ml cream
50g butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
Put the wine, shallot, garlic, peppercorns and a few sprigs of basil in a small saucepan over a low heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until it is reduced to roughly 1 or 2 tablespoons of liquid.
Meanwhile, dice the tomatoes and finely chop the remaining basil leaves. To avoid bruising the leaves, I do this by stacking roughly 10-20 leaves on top of each other, rolling into a cigar shape and finely slicing them. Put to one side.
Place a sieve over a medium-sized saucepan and pour the wine reduction through it. Discard the aromatics.
Place the reduction over a low heat and pour in the cream, whisking as you do so. Add the butter and continue whisking. It should thicken slightly at this point, but it doesn’t matter if not, it will still taste great.
Add the tomatoes, stir for 30 seconds and remove from the heat. Finally, stir in the basil.
Salmon with dill and tomato beurre blanc, mash and greens