Festive food for the holidays

It's the time of year when you want to have plenty of do-ahead dishes up your sleeve, so you can enjoy the festivities too. Here's how...
SMOKED SALMON PARCELS FILLED WITH SALMON TARTARE

Festive little pre-Christmas parcels of marinated salmon with avocado and herbs, wrapped up in smoked salmon slices and tied with chives. Serve with blinis.

Serves 8
600g skinless, boneless salmon fillet
salt and freshly ground white pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 3 limes
2-3 tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs (chives, parsley, chervil)
1 avocado, cut in small cubes
8 large slices smoked salmon
chives for tying the parcels
some salad leaves to serve
crème fraîche épaisse (thick, lightly soured cream)
chopped red onion

• Dice the salmon in small pieces and put it in a bowl
• Add salt and pepper, stir in the olive oil and lime juice
• Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours
• Strain the mixture into a colander set over a bowl, reserving the juices
• Add the herbs and avocado cubes to the salmon
• Divide the mixture between the smoked salmon slices, close or roll them up like little Christmas parcels and tie or garnish with chives
• Arrange some salad leaves on plates, put the parcels on top and drizzle with the reserved juices
• Put a blob of sour cream beside the parcel and sprinkle with red onion

TOURTE OF GUINEA FOWL OR PHEASANT BREASTS A LA STRASBOURGEOISE WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE

Serves 6
2 x 30cm rounds of puff pastry
6 guinea fowl or pheasant breasts
salt and pepper
6 slices fresh duck foie gras (about 200g)
OR 200g duxelles (chopped, cooked mushrooms)
1 egg (to glaze pastry)
Mushroom sauce
25g butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, mashed
150g mushrooms (include some wild if possible), sliced
100ml dry white wine
100ml chicken or beef stock
a sprig of thyme
200ml crème fraîche épaisse (thick soured cream)
salt and pepper

• Place one puff pastry round on non-stick paper on a baking sheet 
• Season the meat and arrange on the pastry, star-form, leaving a border of at least 1 inch/2.5 cms all around the edge
• Lay a slice of foie gras (or duxelles) on top of the meat 
• Brush all exposed pastry with water
• Lay the second puff pastry round on top, press down in the spaces between guinea fowl/pheasant to seal together; press down with a fork all round the circumference to seal edges together
• Snip holes in the top with scissors to let steam escape, make cross-hatchings with the point of a sharp knife without piercing pastry
• Brush the pastry with beaten egg; refrigerate the tourte if not to be baked immediately
• Heat the oven to 220oC
• Bake the tourte for 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crispy and the meat firm and just cooked (meat thermometer 70oC)
• Heat the butter in a small pan and soften the shallot and garlic
• Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper 
• Cook slowly for 5 minutes till the juices run; raise the heat and cook hard to evaporate juices
• Add the wine and cook till completely reduced; add the stock and thyme and reduce by half
• Stir in the cream, check the seasoning, remove thyme and serve

TAJINE OF PUMPKIN AND COURGETTES/ZUCCHINI

A gorgeous, golden, spicy pumpkin dish for winter. Great with beef, lamb or duck; or serve over couscous as a main course vegetable dish. Do all the initial frying of pumpkin and courgette with spices in advance, put it in an ovenproof dish and then bake when you’re ready.

Serves 6-8 as an accompaniment, 4 as a main dish
2 tbsp olive oil
1.2 kg pumpkin flesh (no seeds, no skin), cut in chunks
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, mashed
optional: 1 fresh red or green chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
2 courgettes (500g) cut in chunks
1 measure powdered saffron
1 stock cube or 1 tsp powdered stock + 1 cup water
a walnut-sized piece fresh ginger, grated (or 1 tsp powdered ginger)
1 tsp ground cumin
a sprig of thyme + 1 bay leaf
a handful of black olives
optional: 1 salt-preserved lemon (citron confit), finely chopped
loads of fresh coriander, chopped

• Heat the oil in a large casserole (e.g. oval Le Creuset), fry the pumpkin chunks for about 10 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and put them on a dish
• Add a bit more oil to the pan and soften the onion, garlic and chilli (if used) without allowing them to brown; tip the pumpkin chunks back into the pan
• Put the saffron powder and stock in a measuring cup and add boiling water. Stir to dissolve and add to the pan with the grated ginger, cumin, thyme and bay leaf
• Cover the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the pumpkin is just tender - stick a knife into it to test.  
• Add the courgette chunks and cook for 5 minutes more
• Stir in the olives and chopped lemon (if using) - taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary (the olives and the preserved lemon will probably do the business)
• If not to be served immediately, let tajine cool, then refrigerate
• Reheat tajine, stirring, until thoroughly hot (if necessary add a little more water or stock), fish out thyme and bay leaf, sprinkle with coriander and serve

 

BASLER BRUNSLI TORTE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE AND RASPBERRY COULIS

Brunsli are Basel’s classic Christmas cookies. Here the Brunsli base (dark chocolate and ground almonds) is topped with a white chocolate mousse and served with a red fruit coulis for a sharp contrast. If you don't have access to ready-made Brunsli dough, you need to buy my book A Taste of Switzerland, available on Amazon, or direct from Bergli Books in Basel.

Serves 8-10
500g Brunsli dough
50g sugar + 6 tbsp water
2 leaves gelatine, soaked in cold water till floppy
200g white chocolate
500ml whipping cream + 1 packet cream stiffener + 1 tbsp sugar
500g raspberries
sugar to taste
optional: a splash of Kirsch or framboise

• Cut a disc of non-stick baking paper to fit the bottom of a 26 cm springform cake tin and oil the sides
• Press the dough out into the bottom of the tin to cover the bottom
• Heat the oven to 250oC and bake the base for 5-6 minutes until firm
• Remove the tin from the oven and let it cool
• Dissolve the sugar gently in the water in a small pan, bring to a boil and boil the syrup for 5 minutes; pull it off the heat
• Squeeze out the gelatine, drop it into the pan and stir to dissolve
• Put the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl with 3 tablespoons of the cream, cover with clingfilm and melt in the microwave on medium heat for one minute (be careful, it blocks easily) – check, and give it another half minute if necessary to melt thoroughly. Remove from the microwave and beat till smooth. Mix in the cooled gelatine syrup and allow to cool to room temperature
• Whip the rest of the cream with the electric mixer until beginning to thicken; add the cream stiffener +  sugar and beat till stiff
• Add the whipped cream to the chocolate, using a wire whisk to lift and fold the two together smoothly
• Tip the mousse into the tin, smooth the top and chill till firm
• Purée the raspberries in the liquidizer with a little water, optional spirit and sugar to taste, strain through a sieve to eliminate pips
• Release the springform and set the torte on a plate
• Serve in slices with the raspberry coulis