JAMIE OLIVER’S CHRISTMAS
MORE FABULOUS FESTIVE RECIPES FROM JAMIE, ONLY IN YOU THIS CHRISTMAS
Welcome to this special selection from my Christmas Cookbook. Some of you may recall that I dedicated the book to the memory of my dear nan, Betty Marjorie Palmer. This time of year is all about bringing your loved ones together and, of course, remembering those who can’t be with us, and Nan was always on great form at Christmas. One year, she was so excited to get her mitts on the stuffing that her paper crown caught fire on a candle, in turn setting fire to her heavily hair-sprayed blue rinse. I clearly remember recoiling in horror at what Dad had to do to put her out, but we were all relieved when the fire was extinguished and the meal soon carried on with gusto. And that’s Christmas for you – it never goes according to plan. But as long as you keep laughing, it will all be all right.
I put the book together with a great deal of love, thought, care and consideration, so you can have faith that you’re in safe hands with the recipes here, every one of which has been rigorously tried and tested to ensure it’ll work for you at home, every single time.
Timing, organisation and lists, while perhaps a little boring, are really important. There’s no such thing as luck when it comes to a really well done Christmas meal. Planning ahead will give you not only wonderful, tasty food, but also the ability to wow people, delivering the unexpected to mind-blowing levels and getting them almost fighting over the best roast potatoes, the perfect stuffing or the most succulent, juicy bird you’ve ever slapped bang in the middle of your table.
The book has got all my old favourites from over the years, plus loads of new ideas to really tickle your tastebuds and ramp things up on the flavour front. This is the food that makes me and my family about as happy as can be, and it provides the perfect excuse to bring all your loved ones together. Wherever possible, I’ve designed the recipes to be cooked at the same oven temperature, so you can be efficient with your time and oven space, and it will be super-easy for you to mix and match the different elements and build your own perfect Christmas meal.
One of the best bits of advice I can give you to avoid big-day stress is to check your equipment a few weeks in advance and make sure you have all the kit you need. I can’t tell you how many stories I hear about people going to cook their turkey and realising that they don’t have a tray big enough for it, or that they’ve gone the other way and bought a tray that doesn’t fit in their oven! Good, basic kitchen equipment is widely available, so it’s easy to get kitted out. Give yourself enough time to shop around and find the best prices, choosing better-quality items wherever you can – they’ll last much longer, maybe even a lifetime.
What I’m saying is, if you can get yourself into the mindset of doing a little pre-Christmas homework, it’s only going to serve you well over the festive period, making your life much easier. In these pages, you’ll pick up lots of tips and hints, putting yourself in the best possible position for a stress-free Christmas. When there are recipes or elements of recipes you can easily get ahead with, I’ve flagged it on each one, so you’ll be armed with the knowledge to be super-organised, should you wish to be. Look through this pullout, pick your recipes, build your plan and, above all, have a good one, my friends.