Every celebrity chef has their forte and for British chef Rick Stein there’s nowhere he feels more at home than putting together the annual Christmas spread for his family and friends.
So it’s only fitting that he’s put out his first-ever Christmas cookbook, Rick Stein’s Christmas – a celebration of all things festive, born from his lifelong love of the holiday season and all the indulgent gourmet treats that come with it.
“Winter in the Cotswolds in the ’50s and ’60s always saw hard frosts and often snow on snow, but my memories of childhood Christmases there are some of my fondest,” the chef, 78, happily recalls.
CULINARY CURIOSITY
With three grown sons, Edward, Jack and Charlie, and now his grandchildren helping him in the kitchen – “this last Christmas I worked with my son Jack – I carved and he plated the meat, gravy, stuffing and sauces,” he explains – Rick is passing down his beloved recipes and culinary curiosity to the next generations.
“That’s really the point of this book,” Rick writes. “I want to share all the things I love about Christmas… starting naturally with all the recipes past and present that make it such a special time of year.”
Rick gets his grandkids in on the festive cooking. (Credit: James Murphy)
Christmas time in his second home, Australia, couldn’t be more different than his native England, with sun, sand, swimming and salads taking the place of snowflakes, roast dinners and mulled wine.
But having lived part-time Down Under with his Aussie wife Sarah and successfully run the iconic Rick Stein at Bannisters restaurants for years, the chef is well accustomed to adapting his menus to fit the location.
BUSIER THAN USUAL
“You will find some recipes here that I’ve previously published, like roast goose and Christmas cake, because they are festive essentials or particularly special to me over Christmas,” he says of the diverse cookbook. “But I also want to share my wife Sas’ Australian take on Christmas.”
This holiday season is a little busier than most, with Rick’s new venture in Sydney’s stunning Coogee area set to open its doors on December 1.
Rick wants to pass on his recipes to the next generation. (Credit: James Murphy)
“There’s a specialness about having a restaurant on the sea, if a lot of what you sell is seafood,” he says of the new restaurant’s location. “And I think Sydney is really special in that, with a lot of these beach suburbs, you don’t feel like you’re in a city. It just seemed like a great fit.”
On the menu? “Hero dishes will be oysters, clams, scallops, prawns, lobster and, of course, crab,” Rick says. “And various fish that I love, like snapper, blue-eye, whiting, flathead.”
This is an extract from Rick Stein’s Christmas (Penguin Random House, $60). Photography: James Murphy.
CAMEMBERT & SPINACH FILO PASTRY SLICES WITH A BEETROOT & POMEGRANATE SALPICON
There are a number of dishes in this book where the object, apart from great taste, is a Christmassy look. So here I have combined spinach and slices of Camembert in a filo pastry parcel with what I would call a salpicon: diced cooked beetroot and shallots with pomegranate seeds and molasses. So there we have the greens and shiny reds like little jewels, as David Pritchard, the television director I worked with for years, would have said. This recipe’s a little treat for times when there’s just a couple of you, but of course you can double it up if you like.
Rick’s Christmas recipes are yummy showstoppers. (Credit: James Murphy)
SERVES 2
250g spinach, washed and drained
3 large sheets of filo pastry (45 x 25cm)
25g melted butter
2 long slices cut from the middle of a Camembert round, each about 75g (check that your Camembert is suitable for vegetarians)
Sesame seeds (optional)
Salt and black pepper
Beetroot & pomegranate salpicon
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
250g cooked beetroot, cut into small dice
1½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
Seeds from 1 small pomegranate (about 80g)
Small handful of parsley, roughly chopped
1 First wilt the spinach in a pan in just the water that clings to the leaves after washing and draining, then squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Roughly chop, then season well and set aside to cool.
2 To make the salpicon, gently fry the shallot in the olive oil until soft. Add the diced beetroot and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the pomegranate molasses and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature, then stir through the pomegranate seeds and parsley.
3 Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C. Lay a sheet of filo pastry on a board and brush it with melted butter. Add 2 more sheets on top, brushing each with butter. Cut the rectangle into 2 squares. Place half the spinach on one of the squares, making it about the size of a slice of the cheese. Add a slice of cheese, then wrap to completely encase the cheese in pastry. Make sure there are no holes, or the cheese will leak out. Tuck any ends underneath and brush with butter, then sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Place on a baking tray and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
4 Bake for 20-25 minutes until crisp and golden brown and serve with the beetroot and pomegranate salpicon.
APPLE & MINCEMEAT STRUDEL
This is based on my recipe for apple strudel which appeared in Long Weekends, but I have substituted just under half the apple filling with mincemeat just for Christmas. This is another dessert worth considering!
Strudels are a delicious festive alternative to Christmas pudding. (Credit: James Murphy)
SERVES 4-6
550g Bramley apples, peeled, cored, quartered and sliced
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
Zest of ½ lemon
2 tsp lemon juice
100g caster sugar
95g butter
45g dried white/panko breadcrumbs
225g mincemeat (recipe in the book or shop-bought)
6 large sheets of filo pastry
(45 x 25cm)
2 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted
1 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting
To serve
Cream, ice-cream
1 Mix the apples with the cinnamon, lemon zest and juice and sugar.
2 Melt 20g of the butter in a small frying pan and fry the breadcrumbs until golden. Add them to the apples, then stir in the mincemeat.
3 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
4 Melt the rest of the butter in a pan. Place a clean tea towel on the worktop with the long edge towards you. Place a sheet of the filo on top and brush with some of the melted butter. Lay another sheet over it and brush with butter, then repeat until you have used all the filo.
5 Pile the filling on to the filo, leaving a border of about 3cm all round. Tuck the ends of the filo in and then, using the tea towel to help, roll the pastry away from you to enclose all the filling. Transfer the roll, seam-side down, to the lined baking sheet and brush with the rest of the melted butter. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden. Toast the almonds in a dry pan until golden.
6 Allow the strudel to cool to room temperature, then dust with icing sugar and scatter over the toasted almonds. Slice and serve.
MINI BRIOCHE TOASTS WITH WHIPPED FETA, FRESH FIGS
I always think canapes should box slightly above their weight – in other words, they need to be vividly flavoured to succeed. Here, the combination of crisp brioche, salty feta, pickled walnuts, figs, honey and thyme is just that. There’s a recipe for pickling green walnuts [in the book]. You can also make this with slices of goat’s cheese from a log instead of whipped feta.
Little bites are easy for guests to eat!
MAKES ABOUT 36
4 slices of brioche
35g butter, melted
4-5 fresh figs, each cut into 6-8 slices depending on size
2 or 3 pickled walnuts, chopped into small pieces
4-5 tsp clear honey
Fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked
Whipped feta
100g feta
90g Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C.
2 Brush both sides of each slice of brioche with melted butter. Cut each slice into 9 squares. Place them in a single layer
on a couple of baking sheets and toast in the oven for 4-5 minutes. Turn them over and cook for another 3 minutes until crisp and golden.
3 Whip the feta ingredients together with a stick blender until smooth.
4 Top each square of brioche with some whipped feta, a slice of fig and a piece of pickled walnut. Finish with a tiny drizzle
of honey and couple of thyme leaves.
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