Neven Maguire: feasts without all the fuss

The Christmas season is the best time of the year to relax with your family and friends – it is definitely not the time to get stressed in the kitchen. When it comes to Christmas entertaining, my advice is always the same: don’t over-complicate things. If you’re making a traditional roast dinner for a crowd, preparing two types of vegetable is plenty, alongside some roasted and mashed potato.

In the chef world, we have a French term we all live by: mise en place. This translates into “everything in its place”, and our mise en place comes from preparing things ahead of time and thinking of the components which come together for a final dish. It’s important to spread out the preparation work, to ensure that whoever is doing most of the cooking can enjoy the day along with everyone else.

In my house, I find delegating jobs makes a big difference. My wife Amelda is always in charge of the table setting – she likes to set it on Christmas Eve. Most years, we have a lot of people to feed on Christmas Day, so setting the table is no easy task, but she always makes it look beautiful.

Over the last few years, a routine has developed where the kids also get involved: Connor helps out with the vegetables and Lucia does the dessert. My father-in-law and uncle are always in charge of the fire, which is only fair because they enjoy sitting by it while I supply them with mulled wine and sticky cocktail sausages.

These two recipes might look a bit familiar, because they both featured in my Christmas specials on RTÉ1, which were filmed in the Cashel Palace Hotel. Again, I have received so many lovely comments about these Christmas programmes, so thank you very much for your kindness.

Very soon, I will be teaching others how to make this sticky damson ham at our cookery school for the upcoming “Christmas Made Easy” course – this is a great, straightforward recipe to keep in your repertoire. I say this a lot, but it’s so important to look for the Bord Bia Quality Assured mark when shopping for your Christmas gammon. In Co Roscommon, Waldron’s Family Meats produces wonderful cured hams, which are available through the Dunnes Stores Simply Better range.

This is a big joint, which will easily feed a large family – just note that it takes a bit longer to cook than smaller joints of ham or bacon. I love this sweet sticky glaze – I have tried a lot of different recipes for glaze over the years and this one is as good as it gets. Damson jam can be difficult to find, so you could use apricot jam instead.

The nice thing about cooking a larger joint is that hopefully there will be leftovers – this gammon is ideal sliced and pan-fried for breakfast the next day, with some poached eggs and used in a sandwich.

Christmas made easy

For our second recipe, this turkey roulade is an excellent value Christmas recipe and can still feed a crowd without the fuss of roasting a whole bird. Easy to cook and easy to carve, it can be prepared ahead of time.

This stuffing has a lot of complementary flavours happening with the cranberries and apricots, adding the perfect amount of tartness. We do this recipe in our “Christmas Made Easy” course as well, and we always serve this turkey with smashed roast potatoes or potato gratin.

We get our turkey from Hogan’s Farm in Kells, Co Meath. We have been going to them for a long time. In fact, my father used to buy turkeys from the Hogans. They are great people and I’ve been more than happy to continue the family tradition.

Christmas will be here before we know it, so think about what can be done in advance and take some pressure off of yourself on the big day.

Ingredients: Serves 8-10

2kg unsmoked gammon joint

1 onion, sliced

2 celery sticks, roughly chopped

1 tbsp black peppercorns

8 star anise

175g damson plum jam or conserve

Juice of 1 orange

100g light-brown sugar

Method

1 Rinse the gammon with fresh water and place in a pan of boiling water. Add the onion, celery, peppercorns and two of the star anise. Bring to a simmer over a low heat and cook for 1½ hours. Leave to cool in the liquid.

2 Meanwhile, make the glaze. Put the damson jam or conserve in a small pan with the orange juice, sugar and the rest of the star anise. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then simmer for three to four minutes or until reduced to a thick glaze, stirring to ensure it doesn’t catch at the bottom. Leave to cool slightly.

3 Preheat the oven to 220°C. Remove the gammon from the pan and place in a baking tin. Using a sharp knife, cut off the rind, leaving the fat on top, and score diagonally into a diamond pattern.

4 Pour approximately 500ml of the cooking liquid into the baking tin – this will help keep the joint moist. Smear the damson glaze all over the ham, reserving two tablespoons and making sure the star anise are sitting on top of the joint.

5 Roast for 20-30 minutes, until cooked through.

6 Remove from the oven and drizzle over the remaining glaze. Leave to rest for at least 15 minutes, or up to one hour, covered loosely with tin foil.

7 Carve slices and arrange on plates.

Ingredients: Serves 6-8

75g butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

100g fresh ciabatta breadcrumbs

2 tsp chopped fresh mixed herbs

(sage, rosemary and thyme)

20g fresh flat-leaf parsley,

leaves stripped off

1.75-2kg boneless turkey breast, skin on

50g dried cranberries or chopped apricots

2 tbsp maple syrup

200ml store-bought poultry gravy

Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2 Heat a sauté pan over a medium heat. Melt half of the butter and gently sauté the onion for eight to 10 minutes, until softened but not coloured. Season well with salt and pepper.

3 Put the breadcrumbs and herbs into a food processor and blitz into fine crumbs, then add the sautéed onions and pulse to make a paste.

4 Place the turkey breast skin-side down on a chopping board, then butterfly it by cutting partway into the thickest side. Open the turkey breast out and cover with parchment paper, then use a rolling pin to gently bash it out to an even 2cm thickness.

5 Remove the parchment and season, then spread over the breadcrumb paste, leaving a border around the edges. Scatter the cranberries or apricots on top, then press down so that they form part of the stuffing.

6 Starting from one of the short sides, roll the turkey breast into a tight log shape, then tie at even intervals with kitchen string. Melt the rest of the butter in a small pan with the maple syrup and use this to glaze the joint, reserving any that is left over. This will keep in the fridge for two days, or it can be frozen and defrosted.

7 Put the turkey roulade on a rack in a roasting tin and roast for 40 minutes, basting halfway through with the rest of the glaze, until the turkey is cooked through. A thermometer inserted into the centre of the joint should read 70°C. Transfer the roulade to a platter, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

8 Meanwhile, put the roasting tin on the hob and stir in the gravy with a splash of boiling water, scraping the bottom of the tin to remove any sediment.

9 Carve the turkey into slices and arrange on plates, then pour over some of the gravy to serve.

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