A tale of two christmas dinners

Purely in the name of research we at the spicery have decided to have not one,but two christmas dinners. The first is going to be in honour of the traditional christmas dinner, one that Charles Dickens would be proud of. And the second is going to be a pimped up tandoorified Indian extravaganza fit for a Mughal emperor. The Spicery team will let you know which one is best. Christmas is undoubtedly a time for using spices with nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and ginger being the christmas spice headliners. There are lots of spiced sweet dishes including mince pies, christmas pudding, spiced biscuits, gingerbread but also quite a few savoury ones including red cabbage, chutneys and pickles and bread sauce. We're letting our imaginations take it a little bit further with a fennel, chilli, lemon and sage stuffing, carrots flavoured with coriander and caraway and potatoes with a pinch of toasted cumin for a little bit of extra savouriness. The verdict: Overall thumbs up. Bread sauce and red cabbage were traditionally spiced so nothing too crazy, the carrots were nice and sweet with a hint of caraway and coriander and think we could've gone even a bit further with the cumin on the carrots. The stuffing was slightly under debate as to whether the fennel was a touch to far but to me it tasted like Italian sausages so I was a fan!

Charles Dickens Christmas Dinner

Chicken with fennel, chilli, sage and onion stuffing served with.....

Herby roast potatoes

Braised red cabbage

Garlicky brussel sprouts

Carrots cooked with cracked coriander and caraway

Nutmeggy bread sauce

You need (to serve 6 people) 1 large chicken (or use a small turkey) 350g plain sausage meat 1 few rashers of bacon or a chunk of chorizo - chopped into bite size pieces 1 Kg floury potatoes - peeled and chopped into large chunks 3 onions - 1 cut in 1/2, 1 finely chopped, 1 thinly sliced 500g brussel sprouts 1 red cabbage - thinly sliced 2 eating apples - peeled, cored and roughly chopped 1 lemon 6 large carrots 1 pint of milk Butter 4 slices white bread - blitzed into crumbs 500ml full fat milk Sugar Spices: STUFFING SPICES: 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp of aleppo chilli flakes (or you could use 1/2 tsp normal), 1 tsp dried sage RED CABBAGE WHOLE SPICES: 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon quill, dried mandarin zest (or you could use a piece of fresh unwaxed orange peel) RED CABBAGE GROUND SPICES: 1/4 tsp each of ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace ROAST POTATO SPICES: 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp cracked toasted cumin CARROT SPICES: 1 1/2 tsp cracked toasted coriander, 1 1/2 BREAD SAUCE SPICES: 2 bay leaves, a few peppercorn, 10 cloves, a few grates of nutmeg And how to make it.....(takes about 2 1/2 hours from scratch) Preheat the oven to 190 deg C For the Stuffing:

• Fry the finely chopped onion for 10 minutes until soft and translucent then squish together with the sausagemeat, 1/4 of the breadcrumbs, STUFFING SPICES, juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon and 1 egg

For the Chicken:

• Stuff the neck end of the chicken with the stuffing then drizzle the bird with oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for around 2 hours or until the juices run clear when you insert a skewer into the chicken leg

For the Bread Sauce:

• Stud the cloves into the onion halves then simmer them in the milk with the remaining BREAD SAUCE SPICES for 10 minutes then leave to allow the spices to infuse

For the Braised Red Cabbage:

• Fry the sliced onion, 2 cloves garlic and RED CABBAGE WHOLE SPICES in a large knob of butter until the onions are melted and soft. Add the cabbage, apple, 2 tbsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt and 100ml of water (or cider or red wine) then cook on a low heat for around 2 hours

For the Potatoes:

• Boil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes or until just tender. Drain and allow all the water to evaporate then sprinkle with the ROAST POTATO SPICES
• Heat a 2 tbsp of oil in a large roasting pan in the oven for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, toss to coat in the oil and then roast for 1 hour until golden and crispy

For the Carrots:

• Cook the carrots with 200ml of water, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp of sugar, the CARROT SPICES and a big knob of butter for 40 minutes until all the water has evaporated, the carrots are really tender and are just starting to caramelise on the bottom of the pan (cover the pan for the first 20 minutes)

Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving (you can use the juices that run out to make the gravy). Turn the oven up to get the potatoes nice and crispy For the Bread Sauce

• Remove the onion pieces, bay leaves and peppercorns. Stir in the remaining breadcrumbs and a knob of butter then simmer for a few minutes until beginning to thicken

For the Sprouts

• Fry the bacon (or chorizo) and garlic until beginning to brown. Add the sprouts and a pinch of salt and stir fry for 10 minutes until soft and beginning to brown

Wash down with a few glasses of wine and finish and a nice afternoon nap!