Put ‘Chestnut Stuffing’ into Google and the first result is from Delia Online resurrecting an 18th Century recipe and advocating those traditional 18th century vacuum packed chestnuts.  Having already invested in 2 for 1 fresh chestnuts, this was an instant turn off.  Hit number two on Google was a ‘Classic Chestnut stuffing recipe’ from Waitrose.

With the Waitrose recipe as a starting point, it felt appropriate to throw in a few extra ‘Christmassy’ ingredients to add a little more excitement to the recipe.  The basic recipe is available on the Waitrose Website or the What I Ate Today variation is below:

• 3 large shallots,
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large clove garlic
• 110g (4oz) streaky bacon
• 55g (2oz) butter
• 400g (14oz) chestnuts, peeled whole and roughly crumbled
• 170g (6oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
• Juice and zest of 2 lemons
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 100g dried cranberries
• 100-150ml of traditional dry Cider (more if the mix is dry)

To prepare the chestnuts, I used a small, sharp paring knife and made a cross on the pointed end of each chestnut.  I then dropped them into a pan of cold water on the hob and turned up the heat.  bring to boil and then simmer for 10-15 mins.  The chestnuts will swell and start to split.  While the chestnuts are simmering, it’s a good opportunity to prepare the remaining ingredients:

• peel and dice the shallots,
• crush the garlic
• chop the bacon into 1cm squares
• make the breadcrumbs (blitz bread in food processor)
• chop the herbs

Its a good idea to let the chestnuts cool a bit before you start peeling.  This method makes the chestnuts go soft (not a problem for the stuffing) and it is possible to actually squeeze the flesh out or to peel the outside off with your fingers.  Roughly chop any larger pieces, leaving them a bit larger for texture.  It does take a little time, but patience is a virtue and since you only need some of the cider for the recipe, you can open up the cider and enjoy some (not all) while you peel!

The remaining steps are simple and quick.

• Fry the bacon and onion in the oil until golden, then add the garlic butter and peeled chestnuts and fry for 2 more minutes.
• Add everything else except the cider.  The Waitrose recipe called for juice of one lemon; I added the second to counteract the sweetness of the cranberries which I added.
• Finally, add cider little by little until the mix stops being a dry, friable mix and begins to clump together a little.

Don’t saturate the mixture as you want the mix to be dry enough to absorb some of the juices from the meat when you cook it.   I usually about 100-150ml of dry cider – I avoid sweet cider as the dried cranberries are already sweet.

The stuffing works really well stuffed inside a roasted pheasant (pheasants seem to love chestnuts) and takes on a really moist, meaty flavour.  Stuffing rolled into small balls and baked around the meat tends to be lighter, drier and crisper, but still delicious.  If you plan to use the meat juices for gravy/sauce, don’t add too much stuffing around the meat or it may all be absorbed.

Having seen how simple and relatively quick it is to make stuffing like this, I’m a convert – the chestnuts add a sweetness and smoothness which made the effort worthwhile.  Reflecting upon this recipe,  I realised that I really enjoyed the time spent together in the kitchen peeling chestnuts, drinking cider and chatting with the people helping me.  I am assured that you can’t tell the difference between fresh and vacuum packed chestnuts.  If you really cant spare time to prep the chestnuts, use ready prepared chestnuts and enjoy all the other lovely fresh flavours in this recipe!  When its not Christmas time, other variations may be fun to try, such as the Easter variation below.  If you fancy making a vegetarian version, drop out the bacon and add a little more butter to replace the lost fat.  When fresh chestnuts aren’t available, why not give it a go with ready prepared ones.

Easter Variation

My family traditionally eat roast lamb on Easter Sunday, so I  will adapt this recipe to be more suited to lamb.  To do this, I will drop out 1 lemon, the sage, parsley, cranberries and cider.  In will come more garlic, more rosemary and some port or red wine.  The ingredients being:

• 3 large shallots,
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 large clove garlic
• 110g (4oz) streaky bacon
• 55g (2oz) butter
• 400g (14oz) chestnuts, peeled whole and roughly crumbled
• 170g (6oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 100-150ml red wine or port (more if the mix is very dry)

Make the stuffing in exactly the same way as before, just using the Easter version ingredients.  At Easter time, you may have to use vacuum packed or tinned chestnuts.

Waitrose.

On paper it looked like it might be a bit of a faff, but it was actually really easy, if a bit sticky.  The day before baking I put some raisins, sultanas and candied peel to soak in a LOT of brandy.  I also made some marzipan from ground almonds, caster sugar,  icing sugar and egg and kept it in a plastic bag in the fridge.

The stollen dough was a slight variation on normal dough, with an egg, sugar and butter added.  It used a 2-stage ferment and dough process,  which takes a bit longer but you need less yeast.  Get the ferment going and keep it somewhere warm for about an hour, then just add the dough ingredients, knead energetically (this is one of the sticky bits) and leave it to rise for another hour.

Finally you drain the fruit, drink the brandy (mmm) and fold it into the dough.  Roll the dough into a rectangle, roll the marzipan into a slightly smaller rectangle (another sticky bit), and place it on top.  The whole thing can then be rolled lengthways into a long sausage shape.  Brush with some egg and leave it to prove (rise a bit more), before baking for about 30-40 minutes at about 180C.  As soon as its ready you brush it with melted butter, and after it’s cooled you can dust with icing sugar.

Fruits:

• 180g mixed sultanas, raisins and candied peel
• Lots of brandy or rum!

Marxipan:

• 60g ground almonds
• 20g caster sugar
• 20g icing sugar
• Egg (beaten)

Ferment:

• 5g sugar
• 5g fresh yeast
• 60g milk or water (at 32C)
• 50g stoneground wholemeal flour

Dough:

• 30g sugar
• 70g strong white flour
• 40g stoneground wholemeal flour
• 1 egg
• 50g salted butter

We made a few of these over Christmas for various people, and a couple of tips we picked up:

1.  It’s definitely worth making the marzipan the day before and then keeping it in the fridge – it’s much less sticky and easier to roll this way.

2. Use your hands to fold the fruit into the dough. It’s easier to get it mixed in well, otherwise it all seems to end up on the outside.  You need to be careful not to break up the structure of the dough.

3. Dust with icing sugar just before serving otherwise it gets soaked up really quickly and disappears.  Andrew says shop-bought stollen contains lots of chemicals to stop the icing sugar getting absorbed.

4. The whole thing seems quite messy while you’re making it and doesn’t sound anything like the instructions, but it comes out really well once it’s cooked.  I prefer the rustic look anyway….

And that’s it.

I’m really impressed with the Bread Matters book – thanks Alice!  It’s worth reading some of the theory before getting started.  More adventures in baking to follow soon…

The recipe was incredibly simple and can be summarised in a Ramsay-esque way as  

‘…mix ingredients…pudding bowl…steam…done’. 

As I struggled around the supermarket with my basket full of yummy ingredients, I turned a blind eye to the £1 value puds sitting in rows on the shelf and told myself that this would be worth it.  During my lunch hour I had bought enough ingredients for 2 of these puddings and also for a christmas cake!  I could see the people on the Tube looking at me and wondering “what this strange man doing with so much dried fruit at rush hour?”

 I’m quite chuffed with my first Christmas pudding.  Bring on the Brandy Butter!

Ingredients:

• 280g each of suet, golden caster sugar, currants, raisins & sultanas
• 150g each of plain flour, breadcrumbs, chopped mixed peel
• 70g chopped almonds
• 60ml lemon juice
• 1tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp salt
• 1tbsp marmalade
• 3 eggs
• 180ml Guinness/Murphys
• ½ grater cooking apple

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients into a large bowl.
2. Divide mixture between 8 x individual buttered moulds or 2 x 1 litre pudding basin.
3. Put a circle of greaseproof paper and a circle of foil on top of each, with a fold across middle (allows room for expansion).  Tie with string.
4. Put into pan of boiling water on steamer, trivet or upturned saucer.  The water level should be ¼ way up the pudding.
5. Cover & steam for at least 4hrs.  The longer you steam, the darker the pud!
6. Steam again for 1hr before serving

Quince mince pies

When I told my mother about putting quince in mince meat she said ‘well that’s not very traditional’, I pointed out if we were having traditional mince pies they would have beef in them and that a little bit of seasonal exploration never did anyone any harm.  I am loving quinces at the moment, they must be one of the few fruit left that you really can only get for one month in a year.  The recipe is from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess, which has to be one of my favourite cook books of all time.

• 500g quinces (which is about two)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 125g each sultanas, raisins and dried apricots
• 125g light muscovado sugar
• 125g vegtable sugar
• 1 teaspoon each ground cardomon, cloves and cinnamon
• 50g crystalised peel
• 50 ml brandy (Nigella suggests various other expensive sounding liqueurs, but I never think its worth it for one recipe)

Heat the overn to 150C, peal the quinces and cut them into wedges, coat them in butter and roast in the oven until tender.  When they are done leave them to cool, then cut into mince meat size chunks and put them into a bowl with all the other ingredients, give it a stir and stick the mixture into clean jars (or make it straight into little pies like I did).