Season’s eatings
Eat, drink and relax this season with dishes from Jane Lovett’s new book, The Get-Ahead Christmas Cook
First published in edition 203 of The Northumbrian, Dec 2024/Jan 2025
Crab, Preserved Lemon & Samphire Tartes Fine
Ingredients
1 x 320g chilled ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry sheet (straight from the fridge)
Plain flour, for dusting
50g fresh samphire, stems discarded
50g (drained weight) preserved lemons, drained
8 tbsp good thick mayonnaise
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
225g brown crab meat
325g picked white crab meat
Pink peppercorns, micro-leaves or snipped salad cress and dried chilli flakes, to garnish
Olive oil, to finish
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 7.
Unroll the pastry, lift it from its paper, dust the paper lightly with flour, replace the pastry and cut eight 9cm discs with a pastry cutter. Remove the excess pastry, space the discs out on the paper, prick all over with a fork, and slide the paper and discs onto a baking sheet. Cover the discs with a sheet of silicone paper or baking parchment, followed by another flat baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 mins or until crisp and golden (turn over any discs not browning evenly on the top, cover again and cook a little longer). Press down hard with oven gloves all over the top baking sheet to flatten the pastry further, then remove the sheet and covering paper. Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet.
Meanwhile, cook the samphire in a pan of unsalted boiling water for 3 mins; drain, run under cold water to cool, roll up in kitchen paper to dry and set aside.
Quarter the preserved lemons and remove the pips. Cut off a small piece of rind and finely dice it (you want around 1 tsp diced rind) and set aside for the garnish. Finely chop the remainder of the lemons and mix, with their juices, into the mayonnaise. Check the seasoning.Beat the brown crab meat in a small bowl with a spoon or fork until lump-free and almost smooth.
Just before serving, spread the pastry discs with the brown crab meat, not quite to the edge, and top with the white crab meat, leaving a slight rim of brown meat and pastry showing. Let the lemon mayonnaise down to a coating consistency with a little warm water. Spoon a little of this sauce over the white crab meat to coat, leaving some meat visible.
Arrange a small cluster of samphire on top of each tarte, scatter with the diced lemon rind, garnish with a few pink peppercorns and micro leaves/cress and a small pinch of chilli flakes, and finish with a swirl of olive oil.
Mushroom, Butternut & Spinach Koulibiac with Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
About 750g butternut squash, peeled and de-seeded (500g prepped weight)
1 large fennel bulb (or 2 small), tough outer layer discarded
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and ground black pepper
Olive oil, for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped
400g shiitake or chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 x 500g chilled (or frozen, defrosted) block
Vegan puff pastry
250g regular whole spinach leaves
200g ready-cooked white Basmati or white
Basmati and wild rice mixed (from a pouch)
50g cooked peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped
50g dried cranberries, roughly chopped
60g walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
Around 40g vegan butter, melted, for glazing (or use olive oil)
Sesame, nigella/onion seeds and sea salt flakes
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 7. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment or silicone paper.
Cut the squash into 2-3cm chunks, quarter the fennel bulb(s) and cut into 2-3cm chunks, add all to a shallow roasting tin in a single layer. Scatter over the thyme, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with a little olive oil and toss to coat. Roast at the top of the oven for 20mins or until caramelised underneath. Turn veg over, roast for 5mins more, and set aside.
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and cook the onion on a low heat until soft and just beginning to brown (about 10mins). Add mushrooms and garlic (and a dash more oil, if necessary), season generously and cook, stirring occasionally, on a high heat until all the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are sizzling and beginning to brown. Tip into a large mixing bowl.
Cut off a third of the pastry and roll out thinly into an oblong about 38 x 18cm (don’t stretch the pastry or it will shrink back when cooking). Transfer to the lined baking sheet, prick all over with a fork and bake for 8-10mins or until golden, crisp and cooked through. Turn it over if there is an uncooked area in the middle and bake for a further 2mins. Flatten with a palette knife or your hands if it has risen. Set aside to cool (leave the oven on).
Meanwhile, wilt the spinach in a pan with a splash of water or in a microwave on High for 2mins. Drain, cool under the cold tap, squeeze out excess moisture and add to the mushrooms, breaking it up as you do. Add the rice, breaking up any clumps, the chestnuts, cranberries and walnuts, a scant teaspoon of salt and some pepper and mix. Check seasoning (it should be very well seasoned). With a large spoon, carefully fold in the squash and fennel with their tasty pan juices.
Trim the sharp corners off the cooked pastry croûte and along the edge to straighten if necessary. Spoon the rice mixture on top, mounding it up high in the middle, then press down a little with your hands to hold it together.
Roll out the remaining pastry thinly to around 28cm x 40cm and lay this over the rice mixture. Cut off the corners and trim the edges, leaving about 2.5cm to tuck underneath. Tuck the pastry under the croûte (crisp base) in stages, gently lifting the croûte with a palette knife. Score a diamond pattern over the pastry.
Brush the top with vegan butter or olive oil and garnish with the pastry trimmings. Sprinkle with the seeds and salt flakes. Bake for 20mins or until golden brown and crisp. Leave on the baking sheet for 5mins, transfer to a platter, slice and serve with the mushroom sauce (recipe below).
Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
10g dried porcini or other dried wild mushrooms
Small glug olive oil
100g fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
400ml vegetable stock (or 1 stock cube)
250ml vegan double cream
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
Method
Put the dried mushrooms in a small, heatproof bowl, barely cover with boiling water, set aside for a minimum 30 mins, then strain, reserving the liquid, and chop finely.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the fresh mushrooms with some seasoning on a high heat, stirring, until the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms are sizzling. Add the soaked mushrooms, cook for another minute, add the stock (or water and crumbled stock cube) and reserved mushroom liquid, leaving the sediment/grit behind. Bring to the boil and simmer on a high heat for around 20 mins until reduced and a little syrupy. Stir in the double cream and bubble up. Add the parsley just before serving.
Almond Shortbread Torte with Cranberry & Apple
Ingredients
For the almond shortbread
170g butter, softened
85g caster sugar
170g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
85g ground almonds
For the cranberry and apple topping
900g eating apples, cored, peeled and
Sliced lengthways into strips
100g caster sugar
30g butter
350g fresh or frozen cranberries (no need to defrost if frozen)
To finish
3 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted
Icing sugar, for dusting
Method
Briefly blitz all the shortbread ingredients together in a food-processor until just combined. Form the dough into a ball and knead gently with a little extra flour just until smooth (do not overwork it). On a piece of baking parchment or silicone paper, roll the dough out into a flat disc around 1/2-1cm thick. Cut out a 24cm circle (a plate is a handy template). Trim around the template to make a clean edge. Re-roll any trimmings and use to make smaller biscuits.
Carefully slide the parchment/paper onto a baking sheet or upturned roasting tin, placing any biscuits around the edge, and chill for 20mins.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°G/Gas 31/2. Bake shortbread for 15-20mins until very pale golden (it will have expanded a little). Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet. (if you've made biscuits they will take less time to cook, so remove from the oven earlier). Once cool, release shortbread with a palette knife and slide onto a large plate. Set aside.
Meanwhile, for the topping, put the apples, caster sugar and butter into a saucepan and cook on a low-medium heat for 8-10mins, stirring occasionally, until softened but still just retaining some shape. Add the cranberries and cook for 7-10mins until they have all ‘popped’, stirring occasionally without breaking the fruits up too much. Transfer to a heatproof bowl to cool.
Just before serving, spoon the cranberry and apple mixture onto the shortbread and spread it out (not too uniformly – it looks better rippling naturally rather than smooth and flat), leaving roughly a 4cm border around the edge. Scatter the flaked almonds over the top and lightly dust the entire plate with icing sugar.