What’s on the menu this Christmas?

I’m no fan of brussels sprouts so every year I try to do something with them to forge a good relationship. This year I’m feeling very loving towards them. I’ve put a dish on the menu at The Providores which includes half a pear, poached with turmeric and spices, which is then roasted. We’re serving that with a lovely goat's curd, and then scattering it with thinly sliced raw brussels tossed with a chilli, lime and palm sugar dressing (as you’d use on a Thai beef salad). We then finish it with deep-fried thinly sliced brussels. The combination of the hot pear and goat's curd is itself rather magical, but the crunchy citrus hit of the brussels and the deepfried crunch takes the dish somewhere else. So perhaps 2018 will be the year I finally connect with the one ingredient I’ve never been a fan of. In these days of global political uncertainty, with a dreadful Brexit on the horizon, it’s good to have something positive to end the year with. Peter Gordon

We always have a traditional family Christmas which is perfect as I do suggest that this is not the time for attempting an untried recipe — save that for those days between Christmas and the New Year. For dinner on Christmas Eve I’ll be making my eye fillet of beef and green tomato salad from my new book Meat & Three. A great recipe for entertaining as it can be made in advance and holds well. It’s ready to serve when everyone has arrived. Kathy Paterson

Eye fillet of beef and green tomato salad

Serves 6

1 kg piece of eye fillet of beef, trimmed of any

silver skin, at room temperature

Olive oil for rubbing Green tomato salad

4 thick slices one-day-old white sourdough 2 small cucumbers, trimmed

4 small zucchini, trimmed

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

6–8 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 4–6 medium-sized green tomatoes, cores removed (include a few green cherry tomatoes as well) 4–6 handfuls of small green edible leaves (such as rocket, baby spinach, baby kale, watercress, land cress, baby beetroot leaves, lamb’s lettuce and salad purslane)

A handful of small basil leaves White pepper

Heat a barbecue hot-plate until mediumhot. Rub the beef with olive oil and place on the barbecue hot-plate. Barbecue for 20 minutes, turning the beef to brown well on all sides. Lower the heat and barbecue for a further 5 minutes for medium-rare beef. Remove the beef from the barbecue and place on a plate. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover loosely with foil and a clean tea towel and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.

For the salad, tear the bread into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Using a vegetable peeler, slice the cucumber and zucchini lengthwise into thin strips and add

to the bowl as you go. Discard the cucumber and the zucchini once you peel to the seeds. Add the spring onions, vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and toss gently to combine. Slice the tomatoes or cut in half horizontally, then quarter each half. Add to the salad with the green leaves and basil. Grind over a little white pepper. Toss gently to combine and check the seasoning.

To serve, place the salad in a large shallow serving bowl or on a platter. Slice the eye fillet into thin slices across the grain of the meat and place on the salad, or arrange the beef slices on a separate serving plate.