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Jamie Oliver: Christmas in a Glass
Last Christmas we had so many tangerines and mandarins in the house, we knew that they were all going to go mouldy and dodgy. So we kept a few, then cut the rest in half and juiced them. Then we put the juice throug a coarse sieve to remove any chunky pith and added a few mint leaves. We served this chilled on Christmas morning and it was an absolute joy.all we could say was that it was Christmas in a glass. Every time we took a sip it tasted like Christmas, if you can imaging what Christmas tastes like. But seriously, this is one of the best drinks that I've ever had. When mandarins, tangerines or clementines are in season and cheap, its a great drink to use with maybe champagne, prosecco, in coctails or just as juice on its own. Give it a try. You will need about 5 mandarins per person.
From Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver
Gordon Ramsey: Grilled Flat Mushrooms and Pancetta on Toasted Brioche with Welsh Rarebit
Brioche is the ballerina of all breads - light, subtle, but with an acquired taste (it's usually served with pate, which I cringe at).
You can get hold of flat, capped field mushrooms anywhere, and they are full of flavour. When you mix them with pancetta, cheese and mustard it is like a posh cheese on toast. It's a quick and easy snack with a wonderful creamy topping and amazing field mushrooms underneath. Absolutely delicious.
Serves 1
3-4 flat mushrooms, peeled and trimmed/ olive oil/4-5 slices good smoked pancetta/1 slice of large brioche, toasted/ 25g grated strong cheddar cheese/ 1 tablespoon English mustard/ 4-5 dashes worcestershire sauce/ 2 small egg yolks/ 2 tablespoons whipped cream/ sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fry the mushrooms in olive oil until cooked and drain on some kitchen paper. Grill the pancetta until crisp. Lay the mushrooms neatly on the toasted brioche, with the pancetta on top. Mix together the cheese, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and egg yolks and then fold in the cream. Season well and spoon gently over the pancetta. Place under a very hot grill until golden and bubbling.
From Gordon Ramsay Kitchen Heaven
Heston Blumenthal: Desert Toasts
Tomatoes on Toast
You can use confit tomatoes (4 per person) or fresh tomatoes (2-3 per person), skinned, deseeded and chopped. Put 2 knobs of unsalted butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. When it is sizzling add 1/2 teaspoon of icing sugar per person if using confit tomatoes and 1 heaped teaspoon if using fresh tomatoes. When this starts to brown, add the tomatoes and grill for a minute or two. Put the tomatoes on the toast. Reduce the tomato juice, adding some vanilla seeds or extract if you like, and pour over the tomatoes. spoon a little cream on top and serve.
Strawberries on Toast
Take some strawberries, remove the stems and lightly crush the berries with a fork, adding a little unrefined caster sugar to taste. Spread them on the toast. You can add freshly ground black pepper, lemon juice or even a little extra virgin olive oil to the strawberry mixture. Instead of bread you could use a slice of brioche, or ciabattta if using olive oil.
Children's Tip
Here's a little experiment you can conduct with your children. Crush some strawberries with sugar and some without. Don't let them know which is which, just let them taste and guess for themselves. Obviously it is important not to put too much or too little sugar with the strawberries.
From Family Food: A new approach to cooking by Heston Blumenthal
Jill Norman: Hummus
One of the staples in Middle-Eastern mezze, it is now sold in every supermarket. Most bought hummus can be improved by adding more olive oil, tahina and lemon juice. It is easy, however, to make your own; even using canned chick peas it will havea nuttier, richer flavour.
For 6-8 people: 300g chick peas or 2 x 400g cans/ juice of 3 lemons or to taste/ 250g tahini/ 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed/ salt/ 1 tsp paprika/ 1-2 tbs olive oil/ 1 tbs chopped parsley
Soak the chickpeas overnight inplenty of water; they will double in volume. Drain and rinse them, a put them in a pan wellcovered with unsalted cold watter and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover teh pan an docok at a fast simmer for 1 - 2 hours, until the chick peas are very tender. Drain them, keeping some of the cooking liquid for thinging hte puree. If you use canned check peas, drain and rinse them.
Put the chick peas in a food processor with a little of the lemon juice and cooking water and process to a coarse paste. Add more lemon juice and some of the tahini; the chick peas can absorb quite a lot of both, so find the balance that suits you. The puree should be creamy. If it is too thick add a little cooking liquid or plain water.
Turn the hummus intoa flat dish. Stir the paprika into the olive oil and drizzle over the hummus. Sprinkle the parsley on top and serve with pitta or as a dip for raw vegetables.
From The New Penguin Cookery Book by Jill Norman
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