Muster the troops

THE STRESS OF cooking food in bulk can frazzle even the most organised and competent of cooks. The best way to solve this is to go on strike, and tell everyone to go to a hotel for Christmas dinner, writes Domini Kemp.

If that isn't an option, then ask for help, and delegate responsibly. There is no shame in it, and finally I have come around to saying yes when people ask what they can make or bring on Christmas day.

My sister usually gets roped in to bread sauce and some spud dish, and the in-laws are bringing some lovely cured meats for an antipasti starter. The Yankee, Republican godmother will be put on dessert duty. That said, it may cause her more than a little indigestion to be taunted about W whilst wearing this year's Christmas present (a Barack Obama apron). So I may just play it safe and talk about the Lisbon Treaty instead.

The other trap is over-catering. There are only so many slices of meats and piles of veg we can consume, and I, too, am always guilty of cooking far too much. Don't overestimate the portions as it can be very depressing allowing food go to waste. People are generally stuffed throughout December and even more so on Christmas Day. If we had a lackey with a pen and notepad to jot down every morsel that enters our mouths, I would say by noon on Christmas Day we would have reached our calorific allotment for 2009!

I am a big fan of Nigella's tasty Coca-Cola ham, but just can't bring myself to make it as I am not a fan of soft drinks, so I tend to leave the ham plain enough. Once boiled, it gets smeared in mustard and honey and roasted till crispy and golden. I then have to spend the next few hours guarding it, as everyone wants to steal the crispy bits.

Brussels sprouts do make an appearance on my Christmas menu. I can't help it, they are just fab, especially when sliced very thinly and laced with bacon and chestnuts. At this time of year, everyone may be a bit sick of smoked salmon, but it's a fool-proof starter, as is the salad below.

If you're going for a three-course dinner, be sure to serve a cold starter you can plate up in advance, or serve a soup, which is easy to dish up. Don't try and do a hot starter and then have to serve Christmas dinner. You'd be making life far too tricky.

I've only once bothered to make cranberry sauce, and won't bother again. Despite protestations about how easy it is to make, I don't think you can beat the bought stuff. It's like mint jelly and ketchup. The commercial stuff tastes great.

I've also never had the time nor the inclination to make Christmas cakes or puddings, so I am sorry but you'll have to turn to Delia for help there. Lots of good artisan companies specialise in this kind of thing, so buy one and support a small producer. You don't have to do everything, you know.

Sage and apple stuffing

(serves 10-12)

I have always made a really plain stuffing ever since I was a veggie and had to suffer in silence with no stuffing on Christmas Day, because my cruel sister made only a sausage-based stuffing that was then cooked in the turkey. How mean is that for a vegetarian? Making a dish that's meat-based and then cooked in a dead bird . . . it's no wonder vegetarians get so angry.

100g butter

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

3 sticks celery, finely chopped

2 apples, peeled and finely diced

1 loaf of white bread, made into breadcrumbs

zest and juice of two oranges

small bunch of sage, finely chopped

few sprigs of thyme

2 eggs

water or vegetable stock (probably no more than 200ml)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter in a large saucepan, and sweat the onions until soft. Add the garlic, celery and apples. Cook for another five minutes over a low heat and then gradually mix in the breadcrumbs, orange zest and juice. Add the herbs and mix well. At this stage you can set it aside for a couple of days.

When you are ready to cook, mix the cold stuffing with the eggs and add enough water or stock so that the mixture is moist enough to stay together when you pinch it between your fingers. Season if necessary. Cook for about 30-40 minutes in a buttered and covered gratin dish at about 180 degrees/gas four.

Cider-brined turkey with maple chilli glaze

This recipe is only slightly adapted from a new cook book by Paula McIntyre, A Kitchen Year, and is a concept I have been dying to try out. Have you thought about brining something like turkey? It is worth it because the brining process helps the turkey to absorb moisture and seasonings so that when you roast it, it stays a lot more moist than usual. Turkey crowns are very manageable when it comes to storage and cooking times.

1 x 5kg turkey crown

100g soft butter

Salt and pepper

Brining solution

250g sea salt

500g Demerara sugar

2 litres cider

2 litres water

2 cinnamon sticks

Juice and zest of 2 oranges

1 onion, chopped

Handful of fresh chopped sage, rosemary and thyme

Maple chilli glaze

1 small red chilli, deseeded

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp cider vinegar

200ml cider

Salt

At least two days before D-Day make the brine solution by heating up all the brining ingredients together. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to cool completely, which could take a good few hours. (The brine must be cold before you put the turkey in it because if the brine is vaguely warm, and you put the turkey in it, you are providing perfect conditions for breeding bacteria.) Put the cold turkey into the cold brine and keep it cold for at least 24 hours until you go to roast it, at which stage it's fine to take it out of the brining solution, pat dry and come up to room temperature.

You can prep the maple-glaze by sweating the chilli and onion in the olive oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently simmer until reduced by half. Use a hand blender and blend until smooth. Pass through a sieve and reheat until it is reduced to a syrupy consistency. Set aside.

To roast the turkey, preheat an oven to 180 degrees/gas four and allow 30 minutes per kilo, plus an extra 15 minutes. If you can, shove your hand under the skin and divide the butter across the bird so that it forms an extra layer between the skin and the turkey breast. If not, just dot the butter on top. Season well and roast, covered with tin foil, for one hour. After that, baste the turkey with the maple glaze every 30 minutes or so, for the next couple of hours. If you can do it more often than that, happy days. Let the turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before carving and again, make life simple. Carve it up, put it on a big platter, pour over some cooking juice, cover with tin foil and you can easily leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes while you get everything else sorted.

Paprika and onion roast potatoes (serves six)

This is an easy spud dish that won't require too much expertise

600g small potatoes

2 onions, peeled and quartered

1tsp hot paprika

1tsp smoked paprika

Salt and pepper

2tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas four. Chop the potatoes into big, bite-sized chunks and toss with the rest of the ingredients, making sure everything is well coated. Roast for 30 minutes until they are golden and tender. If the spuds need longer, turn down the oven to 160 degrees/ gas two and cook for another 15 minutes.

Leek and cured ham salad with truffle oil (serves six)

This is plain and earthy. All you need to turn this into something fabulous is a teeny weeny bottle of truffle oil.

A few splashes olive oil

100g wild mushrooms, thinly sliced

250g waxy potataoes

3 leeks, sliced into 2cm-thick slices

2 shallots, peeled and very finely sliced

Bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Juice of a lemon

Salt and pepper

6-12 slices Parma ham (from Parma)

100ml truffle oil

Handful of mixed leaves

Heat up a splash of olive oil and sauté the wild mushrooms till they are soft. Meanwhile, cook the spuds in boiling salted water until they are tender. Drain and slice them into thin slices. Cook the leeks in boiling water until they are just tender (about four minutes). Drain and carefully mix with the potatoes and another good glug of olive oil, the shallots, parsley, and lemon juice. Season well. Arrange the leeks and potatoes on each plate, along with a handful of mixed leaves and a few mushrooms. Add the ham and a good spoonful of truffle oil and serve.

Roast fig and gorgonzola polenta (serves four)

Like puppies, a vegetarian is not just for Christmas. So spoil them any time of the year with this meat-free dish.

1.25 litres vegetable stock

225g polenta

Salt and pepper

100g Parmesan

200g Gorgonzola

50g butter, peeled and cut in half

500g shallots

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

Sprig of thyme and of rosemary

100ml balsamic vinegar

8 dried figs, roughly chopped

4 fresh figs

150g cooked chestnuts

Heat up the stock in a large saucepan until it is boiling and then pour in the polenta in a steady stream, whilst stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, getting rid of lumps and basically standing there for the next 45 minutes, stirring as often as possible, until the polenta comes away from the sides of the pan. Add the Parmesan and half the Gorgonzola and check the seasoning. Pour it into a large gratin dish.

In a large frying pan, heat up the butter and sauté the shallots until they are starting to caramelise. Add the sugar (which will speed up that process) and keeping the heat up high, add the herbs and balsamic vinegar and the chopped figs. Once the pan has de-glazed somewhat, add the chestnuts and turn down the heat. Mix well and season. Pour this on top of the polenta. Top with the remaining Gorgonzola and pieces of fresh fig. Grill or bake until heated through and the cheese is melting.

Carrot, fennel and liquorice puree (serves six)

A light and tasty and slightly unusual, but very do-able veg dish.

2 small bars of liquorice

Knob of butter

1kg carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

2 fennel bulbs, roughly chopped

1 onion

200ml cream

Salt and pepper

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the liquorice and butter. Cook the vegetables in the boiling water until soft and tender (about 20 minutes). Drain and blend with the cream. Pass through a sieve if you want to be fancy, season well and reheat as necessary.

Nutty Italian chocolate cake (served 10-12)

Adapted from a Diana Henry recipe, this is rich and delicious. You need a 25-cm springform tin.

75g shelled walnuts

75g blanched almonds

75g shelled hazelnuts

175g butter

325g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

175g caster sugar

100g raisins

150g chestnuts

Grated rind of 2 oranges

½ tsp ground cinnamon

5 large eggs, separated

50g ground almonds

Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees/gas four. Toast the walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts on a baking tray in the oven for a few minutes and then crush them haphazardly so some are big and some are small. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Add the sugar and stir until it dissolves. Take off the heat. Add the toasted nuts, raisins, chestnuts, orange rind and cinnamon. Beat the egg whites until they are in soft peaks. Add the egg yolk and ground almonds to the chocolate and mix well, then fold in the egg whites carefully, before pouring the mix into the cake tin and baking for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least one hour before unclasping the tin. It is quite delicate and mousse-like, so be careful. Dust with icing sugar or glaze with a little extra melted chocolate and sprinkle with nuts. Serve with cream.

dkemp@irishtimes.com