How To Entertain This Month With Alexandra Dudley
I love the smells and flavours of Christmas. Cinnamon, citrus and cloves feature heavily in my cooking all throughout December. When entertaining, I will fill a bowl with clove studded oranges or clementines and place it at the centre of the table. It’s quite fun to busy the table with small bowls of other treats too. Chocolate coins, walnuts and chestnuts add a wonderful festive element and keep guests lingering at the table long after supper has finished which is just the way suppers should be during the Christmas period.
This month, I’ll be cooking warm-spiced chicken with shallots, prunes and chestnuts. The chestnuts and shallots soften, taking on some of the rich flavour from the chicken, whilst the prunes go beautifully jammy. The best thing about this is that there is no need to marinade. You just toss everything together and get it into the oven. A simple side of roasted carrots get a herby lift by way of a hazelnut gremolata (which looks rather festive when spooned over too). For pudding I love homemade chocolate truffles. Seemingly impressive, they are deceptively simple to make and can be made in advance.
I tried a bottle of this Pasqua’ Hey French 'You Could Have Made This But You Didn't' wine for the first time the other day and loved it. The name made me laugh but it is seriously good wine. It was very good with chicken, but I suspect it would be good alongside Christmas Day turkey too.
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Baked Chicken With Chestnuts & Prunes
I love a good chicken traybake and this one has a subtle festive spin which makes it a good choice for entertaining at this time of year. The best thing about this is how quick it is to make. Everything is tossed together with the chicken nestled on top. The result is golden crispy chicken skin and buttery soft shallots and prunes beneath. Make sure you spoon over the cooking juices as you serve as they are delicious.
Preheat the oven to 200°C Fan. Peel the garlic cloves and shallots and quarter the shallots.
Place the shallots, garlic cloves, prunes, chestnuts, chicken thighs, herbs, mixed spice, white wine, stock into a large baking dish with a glug of olive oil and good pinch of sea salt and toss everything together with your hands.
Rearrange the chicken thighs skin side up and drizzle over the skin with more olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Bake for 40 minutes until the chicken skin is golden and the shallots and prunes are soft. Spoon the cooking juices over the chicken and serve from the baking dish or transfer everything to a serving platter for everyone to help themselves at the table.
Roast Carrots With Hazelnut Gremolata
Roast carrots are a staple side dish but this hazelnut gremolata adds a little bit of extra flavour and colour which is perfect when entertaining. You can make the gremolata ahead of time and store it in the fridge if you like.
Preheat the oven to 200°C Fan. Slice the carrots length ways if using large ones. If using baby ones as I have here just half any very large ones.
On a large baking tray drizzle the carrots with a generous glug of olive oil and pinch of sea salt. Toss to coat and roast for 40 minutes until cooked through, golden and slightly sizzled.
Finely chop the hazelnuts and parsley leaves and combine in a small bowl with the finely grated garlic, lemon zest and juice, and enough olive oil until you reach a spoonable consistency.
Arrange the carrots on a serving plate and spoon over the hazelnut gremolata.
Homemade Chocolate Truffles
These truffles are wickedly indulgent and incredibly simple to make. I like to make them a day ahead so that they have time to set properly in the fridge. I mix and match rolling them in cocoa or chopped hazelnuts but you could roll them in desiccated coconut or finely chopped almonds too.
Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and line a brownie tray (of about 20cm x 20cm) with parchment paper.
Heat the cream and butter very gently in a saucepan stirring until the butter melts and the cream just begins to simmer. Pour over the chocolate and stir until you have a smooth ganache. If you are adding a splash of alcohol stir this in now.
Pour the chocolate mix onto the lined tray and place into the fridge for about two hours until set.
Sprinkle the hazelnuts onto a flat plate and the cocoa onto another and, working quickly use a teaspoon to scoop truffles from the set ganache. Roll the truffles into a bowl using your hands and roll them into either the chopped hazelnuts or cocoa so that you have two variations. Keep the truffles in the fridge and enjoy over a week.
For more from Alexandra, follow her @AlexandraDudley or visit AlexandraDudley.com
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