Christmas can be a bit of an issue if you’re frazzled of mind, hard up and by yourself. But I’ve spent the last eight of them alone and on benefits and, apart from last year when I was unwell, each one has been a blessed and tranquil respite, albeit a brief one, from a scary and troubling world. There’s a simple reason for this: for a few days everything shuts down.
But I think that whatever our circumstances, we all need, for the sake of our wellbeing, to treat ourselves occasionally. And if you’ve had to scrimp and save all year then what better time than the coming yuletide? What I’m saying is that the festive period is exactly the wrong time to be proposing extreme frugality.
I would have suggested starting your own Christmas Food Club by spreading your purchases over the preceding year, but as we’re now just short of six weeks before C-Day, here’s a more compressed plan that will hopefully work for you if money is tight.
Avoid excess
Apart from booze and presents, it’s probably our insane habit of buying trolley-loads of food as if preparing for a zombie apocalypse that makes Christmas so expensive. The shops are only closed for one day. Only buy exactly what you know you are going to cook and eat.
Humble ingredients can make for majestic dining
There is no compromise, in terms of flavour and enjoyment, in using the cheaper and less vaunted foodstuffs – often it’s the contrary. The following recipes use pork belly, chicken livers, wood pigeon and smoked salmon trimmings.
Pigeons, bless the little buggers, are available all year round. If you haven’t tried game before, they are a perfect introduction – just gamey enough, but not overpoweringly so. And they are easily affordable.
Smoked salmon trimmings always seem to come in packs of 120g, for some unknown reason, and cost between £1.25 and £1.69 at the supermarkets. The only thing to bear in mind is that they tend to be a bit saltier than the more expensive slices. Blending with creme fraiche counteracts this.
And there is one humble ingredient that opens up a whole world of wonders in the kitchen – homemade chicken stock. All you need to do is bung the leftover carcass, bones and skin from a roast chicken into a pan along with an onion, a carrot, a stick of celery, a leek, a handful of parsley stalks, a bay leaf, a few black peppercorns and water, and simmer away for a few hours.
Some supposed ‘luxuries’ are affordable
Some things are expensive. Others are value for money. Some people think there is no difference between a 31p tin of tomatoes from the basics range and a tin of, say, Pomodoro S. Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP. Those people are wrong. I picked up a few tins of the latter recently in Morrisons for £1.45 each and they are worth every penny.
My current favourite coffee bean is the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. You can buy it online from Monsoon Estates for £4.95 for 227g . That works out at a smidge over 40p per cup, if you work on the basis of 18g for “double shot” strength. And, by the way, if you buy four bags they deliver free.
I’m fortunate to live near the Brick House bakery and can buy an 850g loaf of its peerless sourdough for £3, which is the same price as two 400g supermarket loaves of pain de campagne but for a far superior product.
My website features a cheeseboard for two for each month of the year at under £7.50 a time. I’ve chosen three British beauties for this menu.
One of my favourite store-cupboard regulars is Jules & Sharpie hot pepper jelly at £3.49 for 300g. I’ve used it here in the gravy and to accompany the rillettes.
The menu
These recipes include a deep, rich and 0wintry pasta dish, perfect for a Christmas Eve or Boxing Day evening, and a stonking pork-belly rillette that will last you over the holiday period. But here’s my suggestion for a Christmas Day lunch for one or two:
Smoked salmon toasts with avocado and watercress salad
Pigeon, spinach, potato cakes and hot pepper jelly gravy
Cheeseboard of Beenleigh Blue (sheep’s milk), Brinkburn (goat’s milk) and Gorwydd Caerphilly (cow’s milk)
Yirgacheffe espresso, with almond thins
The plan
Week one Buy a jar of hot pepper jelly.
Week two Buy the wood pigeons and freeze.
Week three Buy the pork belly and make the rillettes.
Week four Buy a sourdough loaf, cut into quarters and freeze it. Have a roast chicken for Sunday lunch, then make a stock from the carcass.
Week five Buy your coffee.
Weekend before Christmas Buy your cheeses, the chicken livers and the rest of your food shopping.
Christmas Monday Make the almond thins.
Christmas Tuesday Make the pasta sauce and the smoked salmon paste.
Christmas Eve Make the potato cake mixture, and the hot pepper jelly gravy.
Costs
The smoked salmon toasts cost £2.32, the avocado and watercress salad £2.50, the pigeons, spinach and potato cake dish £7.73, the rillettes £8.84, the pasta £6.15 and the almond thins £1.79.
All ingredients are from Asda except the pigeons, which came from a local butcher, the pork belly (free range) and the chicken livers (organic) which are from Waitrose, the sourdough bread which was from the aforementioned Brick House, and the Cyprus potatoes which I bought locally. I couldn’t find the hot pepper jelly in any of the supermarkets (Sainsbury’s used to sell it), so used Ocado. You’ll be able to find some make of chilli jelly though, if not Jules & Sharpie. I didn’t include the cost of the salt and spices, but I did for the fresh herbs. The cost for the cheeseboard will vary, of course, depending on who you buy it from and how much of each cheese you end up with. If you were to get 100g of each, it would probably cost you around £8.50.
The recipes
Smoked salmon toasts with avocado and watercress salad
Serves 2
smoked salmon trimmings 120g
cream cheese 60g
creme fraiche 100g
lemon juice 1 tbsp
chopped chives 1 tbsp
black pepper a couple of pinches
watercress 2 handfuls
avocado 1 small
spring onions 2-3
olive oil 2 tbsp
lemon juice 1 dsp
Dijon mustard a blob
salt and black pepper
sourdough toast two slices, crusts removed
chopped chives 1 tbsp
Blitz the first six ingredients together briefly in a food processor. Spoon the result into a couple of ramekins, cover, and leave in the fridge overnight.
Put the watercress in a bowl. Cut the avocado flesh into small cubes. Slice the spring onions. Add both to the watercress. Make a dressing with the oil, lemon juice and mustard, season, and mix into the salad.
Pile the salmon mixture onto the toast and scatter more chopped chives over. Serve with the salad.
Pigeon, spinach, potato cake and hot pepper jelly gravy
It’s very easy to remove the breast meat from a pigeon but you can, of course, ask your butcher to do it for you. This recipe might seem ever so slightly fiddly, but it’s all dead simple and you can do most of it well in advance.
Serves 2
For the potato cakes
potatoes 425g, in chunks (I use the waxy Cyprus)
butter 10g
pancetta or streaky bacon 4 rashers, fairly thick, diced
spring onions 4, finely sliced
dried sage a pinch
egg 1, beaten
plain flour for forming
For the gravy
pigeon carcasses, roughly chopped up
olive oil a splash
chicken stock 500ml (ideally homemade)
hot pepper jelly 2 heaped tsp
thyme 2 sprigs
garlic 2 cloves, peeled but whole
butter 10g
pigeons 2, breasts removed (skin on or off, it’s up to you)
baby leaf spinach 250g
butter 10g
butter and oil for frying
salt and black pepper
Boil the potatoes until cooked, drain, allow to dry off and then mash, adding the butter. Put the diced pancetta, along with the spring onions and sage, in a dry pan and fry until golden. Add to the mash, together with a beaten egg. Season and mix with a wooden spoon. Allow the mixture to cool, then put into the fridge to firm up.
To make the gravy, season the chopped up carcasses, throw them into a roasting tin and drizzle with a little oil. Roast at 220C/gas mark 7 for about 15 minutes or so, until nicely browned. Then transfer to a pan and add all of the other ingredients for the gravy, except the butter. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced by roughly half. Strain the liquid, then return to the (wiped clean) pan and put to one side.
Dust your work surface and hands with a little flour, then form the potato mixture into two flat, round patties. Fry them in a little vegetable oil until crisp and golden on both sides then transfer to a shallow dish in a low oven while you finish the rest of the cooking.
Wipe the frying pan clean, heat it up again and add a little oil and butter. Season the pigeon breasts and fry for around 4-5 minutes, turning several times. Remove and leave to rest while you finish the rest of the cooking.
Bring the gravy back to the boil, and let it simmer and reduce even more. Keep an eye on it – you don’t want it to boil away to nothing – and, when it’s intense enough for your liking, taste and add a little more hot pepper jelly if you think it could do with it. Whisk in a little butter and season to taste.
Meanwhile, add the spinach and butter to a pan and wilt. Season and gently drain. Have two plates ready. Place a potato cake on the centre of each one, followed by the spinach. Rest the pigeon breasts on top. Pour a little of the gravy around the potato cakes and serve the rest in a jug.
Wine match for the pigeon, by David Williams
Ploughstone Shiraz/Petit Verdot, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2013
(£4.99, Morrisons)
There’s a lot of wine in this spicy South African red for the money. Unlike others at this price, it doesn’t rely on excessive sugar to plump up thin fruit, offering a mouthful of brambly dark berries and seasoning of pepper it echoes the gravy flavours in succulent fashion.
Pork belly rillette
pork belly 1kg, skinned and deboned
celery 1 stalk
carrot 1
leek 1
garlic 2 cloves
fresh thyme 3 sprigs
bay leaves 3
cloves 3
mustard seeds ½ tsp
salt 1 tsp
black pepper ½ tsp, ground
white wine 250ml
butter 40g, melted
sea salt flakes
125ml Kilner jars 4
Cut the pork belly up into chunks. Chop the celery, carrot and leek into 3- to 4-inch pieces. Peel the garlic cloves.
Put everything (except the butter and sea salt flakes) into a pan. The wine should just about cover everything. If not, add a little water.
Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about four hours on a low heat. For the first half hour, you can lift the lid every now and again and skim any scum off with a spoon. You shouldn’t need to add any more water during the cooking, but check every half an hour or so anyway to make sure the meat is still more or less covered. When a piece of the pork belly pulls apart easily into shreds, remove the pan from the heat.
Spoon everything into a sieve or colander over a bowl to collect all the fat and juices. Wipe the pan clean. When cool enough to handle, pick out the pork belly pieces from the sieve and return to the pan, discarding the vegetables, thyme and bay leaves. It’s very doubtful you’ll find any cloves or mustard seeds to pick out.
Attack the pork vigorously with two forks until it’s all shredded. Pour the fatty juices in the bowl back into the pan and place over a fairly high heat. Let it bubble away until the liquid has reduced to a few spoonfuls, 10 minutes or so, shredding the meat all the while. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
While the rillettes are cooling, you can sterilise the small Kilner jars by removing the metal bits, filling each a third full with water and bunging them, lids and all, in the microwave for ten minutes. You don’t have to use kilner jars of course. Any jar, pot or ramekin will do.
Check the rillettes for seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Pack into the jars, then melt some butter and pour it over the surfaces of the rillettes to seal. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
Leave in the fridge for a few days before serving with sourdough toast and hot pepper jelly. Sealed with fat in a sterilised jar, rillettes will keep for ages.
Pasta with chicken livers and mushrooms
Serves 2
San Marzano tomatoes 1 tin
chestnut mushrooms 200g
garlic 2 cloves
chicken livers 250g
plain flour 1 heaped tbsp
olive oil a splash
butter 20g
red wine 125ml
salt and black pepper
pappardelle 200g
parsley a handful, chopped
pecorino grated
Pour the tomatoes into a pan and squish with your hand. Slice the mushrooms into quarters or sixths, depending on size. Peel and crush the garlic.
Using scissors, cut away fatty bits and sinew from the livers. Chop them into small chunks, season, and coat with plain flour, shaking off any excess.
Heat a frying pan over a high heat, add a splash of olive oil and fry the livers for a few minutes, turning them with a fork, until browned. Add to the squished tomatoes.
Lower the heat a little, add the butter and then the mushrooms and garlic. Fry until the mushrooms are soft and browned. Add the red wine and let it bubble away until reduced by about half, scraping the pan to loosen any sticky bits.
Add to the pan with the livers and tomatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Check for seasoning, maybe adding another slice of butter.
Bring a large pan of well salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and return to the pan, add the chopped parsley and some grated pecorino. Ladle in the sauce and stir. Serve immediately with extra pecorino.
Almond thins
I’ve got a flat baking sheet measuring 250mm x 350mm which is ideal for this when flipped upside down; what you want is a large flat surface so the dough can spread out over the edges as it cooks, like molten lava.
Makes 25-30 biscuits
unsalted butter 110g, softened
granulated sugar 120g
almond extract 1 tsp
vanilla extract 1 tsp
milk 1 tbsp
plain flour 120g
salt ½ tsp
flaked almonds 80g
Heat your oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Put the butter, sugar and both extracts into a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or a spatula until fluffy. Add the milk and beat in. Fold in the flour and salt until you have a dough.
Spread the dough out roughly onto the baking sheet with your spatula or spoon, then switch to a palette knife and spread it as thin as you dare – credit card thin.
You’ll probably need to wipe the knife clean with warm water a couple of times. If your baking sheet is the same size as mine the dough will reach right to the edges. Scatter the almonds over and press into the dough with the flats of your hands (which will also flatten the dough out even more). You might even give it one final slow pass with a well-floured rolling pin.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and then, using a long, sharp knife, cut the edges away to form a uniform rectangle and then cut this into roughly 35-40x80mm biscuits. With my tray, that means I cut across 8 times widthways and 2 times lengthways to end up with 27 biscuits. And the cook gets to eat all the lovely scraps.
Return the sheet to the oven for a further 8-10 minutes or until the biscuits are nicely golden. Remove from the oven and transfer the biscuits onto a cooling rack. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.
