A Delicious Magazine Xmas Feast

Main: Roast Chicken with Apricot Cous Cous Stuffing plus Baked Pumpkin with Thyme & Brie
From: Delicious Christmas 2020

Dessert: Raspberry Gingerbread Ice Cream Cake
From: Delicious Christmas 2020

Washed down with Sparkling Watermelon and Basil Mojitos!!

Hi Everyone!

Well, getting in the mood for some Xmas feasting and trying out several recipes from the latest Delicious Christmas Magazine was the order of the day. There were so many fabulous recipes that it was hard to choose so I aimed for the ones that would make Xmas a little less tough on the pocket.

Sometimes I find turkey can get a little dry so I was keen to try the Roast Chicken in this Delicious Mag because it had the most interesting stuffing as well as spectacular butter pushed under the skin. I bought two beautiful little chickens which were on special making this the most cost effective xmas meal I have ever served. Once washed and dried they are stuffed with a delicious couscous, apricot, pistachio, herby stuffing that is so tasty I could easily eat it as a salad on its own.

The butter is to die for.

It had a fresh flavour and even once cooked in the chicken it wasn’t gluggy. However, the absolute joy of this dish is the Pickled Eggplant Butter. Now, before I go on let me say that this butter could be incredibly versatile. It would go with steak, chicken snittys, sausages, ham and the list goes on. Anyway back to the recipe – very simple, once you’ve softened the eggplant (which, by the way is in the Indian section of the grocery store) you just throw it all in the stand mixer and away you go. Make the butter the day before so that it has time to set in the fridge ready for slicing.

I made a gravy from the drippings because MAV cannot live without gravy but just imagine all the juicy bits and the butter drippings that were a part of that. You can tell I really enjoyed this can’t you. This is basically baked chicken with a wonderful modern twist. Hey, I’m going serve it on baked dinner night and not keep it just for Xmas. A unanimous 10/10 for these humble little birds.

Baked Pumpkin with Thyme and Brie just sounds so mouthwatering doesn’t it? Well, I started this recipe and thought to myself the whole time “oh my goodness this is too much work for Xmas morning”.

I discovered Brie slices for this recipe.

I wanted to pre-cook it to leave the oven free for the chickens and then I just re-heated it. It is rustic and messy and labour intensive so I was against this dish before I even served it up and then I took a mouthful. It is the most delightful vegetable dish I have cooked in a long time. The flavours of garlic, fennel, thyme, tomato passata mooshed up with brie and comté cheese are insane. Everyone raved about it so, regardless of the effort it took, I’ll definitely do this one again. When you go to buy the cheese for this dish, to reduce the cost, go for an inexpensive brie and perhaps substitute the comté cheese for a hard tasty cheese. 10/10

It looks rustic and tastes divine

I added hasselback potatoes and a charred vegetable salad (which I’ve done loads of times before but will include the recipe here again) and Xmas dinner was served.

Dessert was an ice-cream cake which is something I have never done before so was keen to try but in my usual way, not calculating freezer space, there had to be some speedy re-arranging. You will need a decent freezer as this is a large cake and then if you want to do the meringue on the top in advance of your function, you can put it back in the freezer but you will need height space also.

The crust was a little thick so maybe use a bigger pan or discard some of the crust

I added extra fruit to this ice cream just because I had berries in the fridge that needed to be used and it worked really well. If you love ginger this is the dessert for you. I am not overly fond of it, however, my guests loved it. I think I would give it another go certainly because it is not a difficult dessert but use lime or lemon instead of ginger. The crust is too thick so don’t feel you need to use all of the madeira cake or use an even larger pan and definitely use a springform one (the recipe doesn’t tell you to do so but really it will be the easiest way to manage it). The Italian style meringue is always a winner. This also received 10/10.

Word of advice – don’t start drinking the mojitos too early or you will not get dinner on the table. Wahoo, they went down very well indeed.

Hope you find something here for your Xmas table. Until next time.

From my table to yours with love x

Roast Chicken, Apricot Couscous, Eggplant Butter

There is enough stuffing in this recipe to cook two smaller chickens if you wish

1.6 kg whole chicken
¾ c couscous
1 lemon (zest & juice)
150 ml hot chicken stock
3 eschalots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
¼ bunch coriander (leaves picked, finely chopped)
¼ bunch oregano (leaves picked, finely chopped)
⅓ c dried apricots (finely chopped)
¼ c toasted pistachios (chopped)

Pickled Eggplant Butter

1 tbs pickled eggplant (indian food section of the supermarket. If unavailable use preserved lemon)
250 g unsalted butter, at room temp (chopped)
2 tbs moroccan seasoning
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
¼ c loosely packed flat-leaf parsely leaves (finely chopped)
1 lemon (zested)

Using paper towel, pat chicken dry all over and inside the cavity. Separate the skin from the meat by gently sliding you fingers under the breast skin and in and around the thigh and leg, taking care not to break the skin. Place chicken on an ovenproof wire rack in the fridge, uncovered, for the skin to dry. Stand for at least 1 hour or if time permits, overnight.
Meanwhile, for the eggplant butter, place the pickled eggplant and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and stir until melted and smooth. Cool Completely.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on high speed for 6-8 minutes until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add the remaining ingredients and half the pickled eggplant mixture. Season to taste and mix until well combined. Roll mixture into a log and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until set, then slice half the butter into 5mm-thick slices. Return sliced butter to the fridge. Place remaining butter in a small bowl at room temperature and set aside.
To make the apricot couscous stuffing, place the couscous and lemon zest in a heatproof bowl and stir in the hot stock. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and stand for 6-8 mins until couscous is tender. Fluff with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and remaining pickled eggplant mixture, season to taste and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 200°C. Spread sliced butter under the skin of the chicken, making sure it's under the breast skin, leg skin and thigh skin. Place as much couscous mixture as you can into the chicken cavity, then tie the legs together with kitchen string. Season chicken all over and reserve remaining couscous mixture. Place chicken on a wire rack in a deep roasting pan and roast for 1 hour – 1 hour 15mins until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven and rest, loosely covered with foil, for 15-10 mints.
place chicken on a platter and served with reserved softened butter and remaining couscous mixture alongside.

Baked Pumpkin with Thyme & Brie

⅓ c olive oil
1 large brown onion (sliced into rings)
4 garlic cloves (crushed)
3 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp brown sugar
¼ bunch thyme (leaves picked plus extra to serve)
2 750ml jars of tomato passata
¼ bunch curly parsley (leaves picked & chopped)
80 g unsalted butter (chopped)
2 1 kilo butternut pumpkins (peeled, seeds removed, sliced into 5mm slices)
250 g brie (chopped)
250 g comté cheese (finely grated)
¼ c toasted pepita seeds

Preheat oven to 220°C.
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic fennel, sugar and thyme, and cook, stirring regularly, for 5-6 mins until onion starts to caramelise.
Stir in the passata and bring to the boil. Stir in the parsley, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 mins. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the butter. Season to taste. Spoon one-third of the sauce over the base of a 3L-capacity ovenproof dish.
Layer pumpkin over the sauce, then spoon over remaining sauce. Scatter with the cheeses. Cover with baking paper then foil. Bake for 1 hour, remove foil and baking paper and bake for a further 20-25 mins until pumpkin is cooked and top is golden.
Sprinkle over pepita seeds and extra thyme leaves. Stand for 15 mins before serving.

Charred Green Salad

2 bunches broccolini (trimmed)
250 g green beans (trimmed)
150 g snow peas (trimmed)
¼ c olive oil
80 g pancetta (thinly sliced)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
100 g feta (crumbled)
freshly ground black pepper

Place broccolini, beans and snow peas into a large bowl. Add 1 tbs oil and toss until coated. Heat a BBQ grill on medium. When hot, add pancetta and cook for 2 mins each side or until golden and crisp. Transfer to a plate.
Add vegetables to grill and cook for 4 mins, turning until charred and tender. Transfer to a platter. Whisk remaining oil and vinegar in a jug. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad. Tear pancetta into shards and place over vegetables. Sprinkle with feta and freshly ground black pepper. Serve.

Raspberry and ‘Gingerbread’ Ice Cream Cake

Start this recipe the day before and make appropriate space in your freezer for the height

1 kg store-bought madeira cake
70 g unsalted butter (melted, cooled)
50 g golden syrup
1½ tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp crystallised ginger (finely chopped)
250 g raspberries
3 ltrs vanilla ice cream (softened)
9 egg whites
496 g caster sugar

Grease the base and side of a 22cm round cake pan and line with baking paper. (A springform is best).
Crumble madeira cake into a food processor, add melted butter, golden syrup and 2tsp ground ginger, and whiz to combine. Press into the base and side of prepared pan to form a crust. Freeze for 10 mins or until set.
Meanwhile, combine remaining ground ginger and crystallised ginger in a large bowl. Add raspberries, then gently fold through ice cream. Spoon on top of the cake crust, smoothing over the top, and freeze for at least 6 hours.
Place egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of a stand mixer set over a saucepan of gently simmering water (do not let the bowel touch the water). Gently whisk until sugar has completely dissolved and mixture reaches 60° on a kitchen thermometer.
Dry the outside of the bowl and transfer to a stand mixer fitted the whisk attachment. Whisk for 12-15 mins on high speed until thick, glossy and completely cool. Spoon meringue on top of cake and caramelise using a blowtorch. Serve immediately or freeze until required.

Sparkling Watermelon and Basil Mojitos

400 ml dark rum (I used white rum)
2 tbsp caster sugar
3 limes (quartered plus extra slices to serve)
400 g watermelon (peeled, roughly chopped, plus extra wedges to serve)
½ c loosely packed basil leaves (plus extra sprigs to serve)
ice cubes to serve
2 c chilled mineral water

Place rum, sugar, lime, watermelon and basil in a 2L (8-cup) jug, and using a small rolling pin, muddle ingredients until combined. Strain mixture through a fine sieve, extracting as much of the liquid as possible. Discard Solids.
Transfer mojito to a 3L (12-cup) jug and half-fill with ice. Add mineral water and serve with extra lime slices, watermelon and basil sprigs.