Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities (32 page)

Not, I hasten to add, that I intend my Christmas brunch to be for the big day itself. I have no desire to bust a gut – infelicitous as that sounds – on Christmas Day: there’s enough cooking and eating as it is, without adding more of either. But around that time, whether you have family staying or friends visiting, brunch can be the answer. This isn’t just about streamlining the schedule: the essential uneverydayness of this hybrid of a meal makes it feel like a holiday hoolie from the off.

Cooking a good breakfast for people really requires you to be a short-order chef; my brunch is designed to free you from stoveside captivity or last-minute frenzy. Yes, there are eggs, but the strata – which is a cross between a savoury bread-and-butter pudding and a toasted sandwich – is assembled the night before, left in the fridge to steep and merely popped in the oven to bake mid-morning. The pumpkin in the pancakes means they can be made ahead of time and kept warm, or reheated, without drying out or going limp. I have been known to make the Antioxidant Fruit Salad with ready-cubed mango; and the Christmassy Cranberry, Almond and Honey Granola, well, that can be done ages ahead, in quantity, to be stored in a jar and brought out whenever needed.

Not that anything needs adding, but if at any time there’s some Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake knocking around, slice and toast it and present people with golden triangles of what tastes like French toast, but requires no soaking or frying.

But the final step here is really my first: that’s to say, if there’s a better kick-start than is provided by the Espresso Martini (next recipe), I’ve yet to discover it. I don’t even drink coffee in the normal run of events, and yet I can knock this back. You could, of course, partner it with a matching jug of Marteani or cut a little slack for those who want to start the day less boldly by mixing up – for the recipe – a pitcherful of Poinsettia, a festively red and knock-backable drink made of fizzy wine, orange liqueur and cranberry juice.

ESPRESSO MARTINI

MARTEANI

TRIPLE CHEESE AND ONION STRATA

PUMPKIN PANCAKES WITH STICKY MAPLE PECANS

ANTIOXIDANT FRUIT SALAD

CRANBERRY, ALMOND AND HONEY GRANOLA

ESPRESSO MARTINI

It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that this magnificent creation – a full fabulous jugful of it – is the rock on which this whole brunch rests.

I am unashamed to boast about it, as it is a filch rather than a fully-fledged offspring of mine. That’s to say, I once had a sip of the espresso martini at Locanda Locatelli in London, and I knew, just knew, I had to make it mine. I own, too, that my version isn’t quite as virtuoso as theirs. Order one there, and it comes whizzed to perfection, with that pale frothy head of foam – the authentic crema – and a trio of coffee beans on top. I just mix the ingredients together, but it tastes no less fabulous.

The only thing to bear in mind is that you should make your espresso the night before so it’s properly cold, chilled if possible, before you start.

Makes 1 litre

250ml espresso or very strong coffee, left to cool

250ml Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur

250ml vodka, chilled

250ml toffee vodka (see note below) or butterscotch schnapps

ice cubes to serve

• To make a pitcher, mix the ingredients together and serve over ice.

• To make just 1 drink, remember that this martini is made up of equal parts, so 1 × 25ml measure of each component is enough, with a pile-up of ice, for a gratifying martini-glassful.

NOTE:

I love the Cornish toffee vodka called, compellingly, Todka (see Stockists).

MAKE AHEAD TIP:

Make the espresso the day before, cool, cover and chill. Next day, mix all the ingredients together up to 4 hours ahead. Cover and leave in a cool place.

MARTEANI

As already mooted, this is an obvious partner for the coffee-cocktail, above. As with that, remember to get the crucial component – here tea, rather than the espresso above – brewed the night before so it’s cold and ready to be mixed into a cool drink for your brunch.

Makes 1 litre

250ml strong Earl Grey tea, left to cool

250ml Cointreau, gin, or Triple sec

250ml vodka, chilled

• To make a pitcher, mix the ingredients together and serve over ice.

• To make just one drink, replace the 250ml amounts with a 25ml shot each.

TRIPLE CHEESE AND ONION STRATA

A strata is, in effect, a savoury bread pudding and this one is a particularly shining model of its kind. It’s the easiest way to make an egg dish for breakfast when you’ve got a tableful of people, as it’s composed in advance and you don’t need to stand at the stove like a harassed, short-order cook.

I tend to let the bread stale in the day, and put the strata together before I go to bed, removing it from the fridge and cooking in the oven the next morning, which makes for a very unstressful way of having people over.

I kept this meatless on purpose, as a veggie-pleasing brunch dish is always a consideration, but of course a panful of sizzling bacon served alongside would keep me most awfully happy.

1 baguette or French stick (both elbow-ends discarded), cut into 1cm slices and allowed to go stale (this is about 225g of stale bread slices, in case you want to substitute other loaves or types of bread)

6 spring onions, roughly sliced

1 ball mozzarella, roughly chopped

50g flaked Parmesan (I like to make this in the processor, so it’s easier to use flaked Parmesan, but if you’re grating, do use proper block Parmesan.)

100g cheddar, broken into pieces

100ml sour cream

6 eggs

small bunch of chives to garnish

• Arrange the stale baguette slices in a dish measuring approx. 24cm square.

• Put the spring onions, mozzarella, Parmesan and cheddar into a food processor.

• Add the sour cream and eggs, then process to make an eggy-cheese sauce. Pour this over the stale bread, cover with clingfilm, and leave it to soak overnight. If you want to do this by hand, simply whisk together the eggs and sour cream, then finely chop the spring onions and mozzarella and add them to the eggs. Grate in the cheddar and Parmesan and stir to combine before pouring over the bread pieces.

• In the morning, preheat your oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Take the strata out of the fridge and uncover it.

• Bake for 30 minutes, though the strata may need longer in the oven if it is really f-f-f-fridge c-c-c-cold when it goes in.

• Once it’s out of the oven, scissor the chives finely over the strata and spoon onto serving plates.

MAKE AHEAD TIP:

Assemble the strata the evening before. Cover with clingfilm and leave to soak overnight in the fridge. Next day, take the strata out of the fridge and uncover. Allow to come to room temperature while you preheat the oven. Cook as directed.

PUMPKIN PANCAKES WITH STICKY MAPLE PECANS

Although these pancakes are perfect for a brunch with a party feel, to be honest, I feel they can be eaten at any time. Add a little ice cream or crème fraîche and you have a pretty fantastic supper-party pudding, too.

What I like about them particularly is that without too much of an initial shopping expedition you can be sure you have the wherewithal to make these as and when: maple syrup and canned pumpkin purée are stashed in the store cupboard; buttermilk has a pretty long life in the fridge, or you could simply add a teaspoon of vinegar to ordinary milk and let it stand, souring, for 5 minutes or so before proceeding.

And these are special. Pumpkin pancakes are to ordinary breakfast pancakes as a duvet is to a blanket. The sweet puréed flesh blends with the sour tang of buttermilk to make a pancake that is fleshy and downy and supersoft. You could, of course, eat these any way you so wish, but topped with pecans that have been tossed in a hot pan with maple syrup and doused with more maple syrup, is the best way I can think of.

It’s probably easiest to make these before people appear and just stash them, covered loosely with foil and interleaved with greaseproof paper, in a low oven (say 120°C/gas mark ½), for 45 minutes to an hour.

Makes approx. 30

FOR THE PUMPKIN PANCAKES

2 eggs

375ml buttermilk (see margin note below)

1 × 400g can pumpkin purée

250g plain flour

3 × 15ml tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

½ teaspoon Maldon salt or ¼ teaspoon table salt

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

FOR THE STICKY MAPLE PECANS

175g pecans

2 × 15ml tablespoons maple syrup, plus more for pouring over pancakes

• Whisk together the eggs and buttermilk until frothy, then add the pumpkin purée and whisk again.

• Beat in the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, whisking until you have a smooth batter. Or just put everything into the blender, together, and liquidize.

• Heat a heavy-based frying pan or flat griddle, and pour in the oil. Wipe away any excess with kitchen paper, taking care not to burn your fingers, so that the pan is very lightly oiled. Any more than that, and the pancakes will burn.

• Using an espresso cup, pour small amounts of batter into the pan or onto the hot griddle, gently coaxing them into 7–8cm diameter circles.

• When bubbles form on the top of the pancakes, flip them over. (You’ll have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan or griddle. I get 4–5 on my griddle comfortably at any one time.)

• Cook for another 1½–2 minutes, then transfer them to a plate, and keep warm with a layer of foil over the pancakes.

• This amount of batter does make a lot, but the pancakes are not very big, and will keep well under foil until you have finished making all of them. And they’re so good for when you’ve got people staying that it seems a pity to make fewer (and you can always freeze any leftover pancakes).

STICKY MAPLE PECANS

• Toast the pecans in a large, hot, dry frying pan.

• When the pecans are warm and smelling nutty, spoon the maple syrup over, stir to coat them and keep sautéeing them in the pan until they are stickily, glossily coated.

• Take the pan off the heat, and as you serve the pancakes, sprinkle each plate with a few sticky pecans and pour some maple syrup over the top.

NOTE:

You can make milk into buttermilk by souring it with vinegar, but you can also substitute a runny natural yogurt here, such as Activia.

MAKE AHEAD TIP:

Make the pancakes the day before and stack on a heatproof plate. Cover with a “tent” of foil and keep in a cool place. To reheat, keep them on the plate under the foil and pop in a warm oven, about 170°C/gas mark 3, for 20 minutes.

FREEZE AHEAD TIP:

Make the pancakes and cool as above. Stack them interleaved with greaseproof paper. Wrap securely in foil and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight at room temperature. Reheat as above.

ABOVE:

Espresso Martini, Triple Cheese and Onion Strata, Pumpkin Pancakes with Sticky Maple Pecans

ANTIOXIDANT FRUIT SALAD

This combination of mango, pomegranate and blueberries – named not entirely ironically to take account of fashionable medico-dietary concerns – is probably my favourite fruit salad of all time. It is sensational, at any time, and I often serve it alongside the Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake as a dinner party dessert. But it is a crucial part of this or, I rather think, any brunch. I’m certainly not suggesting you make everything altogether every time, but I’d never leave this out.

If you’re using a whole mango, to dice, stand the mango on its end in front of you and, using a sharp knife, score vertically through the skin all round. It should then be easy to peel off the skin from one half. Now, cut through the peeled half of the mango, right to the stone, in lines down, about 1cm apart; do the same across. Then, take your knife and press it down, sliding it right against the stone so you feel it scrape the stone, thus letting the dice you’ve scored through tumble out. Do the same – messily – with the other side. If I can do this, it really doesn’t require any great dexterity, trust me.

750g mango cubes (I buy 2 tubs of ready-diced mango, each just 400g in weight, but if you’re using whole mango, you’d probably need 3 large or 4–5 small ones)

300g blueberries

150g pomegranate seeds (I buy pomegranate seeds in packs of just this weight; otherwise, we’re probably talking 2–3 pomegranates here.)

4 teaspoons lime juice

• Put the mango cubes into a bowl and tumble the blueberries and pomegranate seeds in after them.

• Squeeze the lime juice over the fruit, mix everything together gently, and taste to see if you want to add more lime juice before serving.

MAKE AHEAD TIP:

If using whole mangoes, prepare the mango cubes the day before and put into a non-metallic bowl. Squeeze the lime juice over, cover and chill. When ready to serve, add the blueberries and pomegranate seeds.

CRANBERRY, ALMOND AND HONEY GRANOLA

Granola is really nothing more than extra-crunchy muesli. And this seasonal variant provides texture and a gorgeous cinnamony honeyed taste, best savoured – both taste and texture – with a luscious dollop of yogurt. By all means, though, eat it with milk like regular breakfast cereal if you prefer. I am permissive in these matters; besides, I concede that the granola-flavoured milk at the end of a bowlful is always a treat worth looking forward to.

Makes enough to fill a 1.2-litre tin or jar

225g rolled oats (not instant)

60g sunflower seeds

60g white sesame seeds

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

150g (125ml) runny honey

50g soft light brown sugar

60g whole natural almonds

60g blanched almonds

½ teaspoon Maldon salt or pinch of table salt

1 tablespoon rapeseed or sunflower oil

150g dried cranberries

• Put everything except the dried cranberries into a large mixing bowl and mix well. Two spatulas are probably the best tools for the job here – or use your own two hands, wearing CSI (vinyl disposable) gloves.