INGREDIENTS

4 day or two old croissants
50g room temperature butter
50g golden caster sugar
1 large egg
75g ground almonds
30g plain flour
12 fresh or frozen blackberries
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1tbsp apricot glaze, warmed
20g flaked almonds
Icing sugar

METHOD

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180*c.
2. Slice the croissants horizontally through the middle and place the bottom onto a baking tray.
3. In a bowl beat the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift in the flour and add the ground almonds, bring together to form a paste.
5. Divide the almond paste between the croissant bases and smooth.
6. Halve the blackberries and place 6 halves onto the paste.
7. Place the lid on the croissant, brush the top with warm apricot glaze, sprinkle over flaked almonds and bake for about 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden.
8. Leave to cool for a few minutes and serve warm with a little sprinkling of icing sugar.

INGREDIENTS

2 packs ready rolled puff pastry
1 jar of Christmas mince pie filling
1 beaten egg
Sprinkling of caster sugar

METHOD

1. Place a piece of baking parchment onto a flat baking sheet. Roll out 1 pack of the pastry and cut out as many hearts as you can and place them onto the parchment paper.
2. Place a teaspoon of the mincemeat filling into the centre of the heart.
3. Roll out the second piece of pastry and cut out the same amount of hearts.
4. Brush around the edge of the pastry that has the filling on with beaten egg.
5. Gently place the second heart on top of the filling and press to seal in the filling. Crimp the edge with a fork.
6. Brush all over with beaten egg and pop into the fridge for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 190*c. / Gas 5
7. Just before you are ready to cook them, sprinkle with a little caster sugar.
8. Cook the heart mince pies for about 20 minutes or until golden.

INGREDIENTS

1kg potatoes, peeled
200ml Goose or duck fat, you can use vegetable oil
3 sprigs rosemary
1 bulb garlic, cloves separated but skins left on
1tbsp plain flour

METHOD

1. Peel and cut the potatoes in roughly equal sized pieces. Boil in a large pan with plenty of salted water. Once boiling, cook for 5 minutes then drain into a colander.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 200*c / gas 6.
3. Warm the Goose fat or oil if using in a high sided large roasting tray in the oven.
4. Sprinkle the flour over the potatoes and toss so the potatoes rough up a little and each has a little flour on.
5. Carefully remove the tray from the oven and place the potatoes in, making sure there is room between them. Add the garlic and bake for about 25 minutes.
6. Turn the potatoes over, roughly chop the rosemary and sprinkle over. Season with salt and milled pepper and cook for another 20 minutes until golden and crisp.

INGREDIENTS

1 large cauliflower
1 tsp ground cumin
¼tsp ground cinnamon
¼tsp smoked paprika
2tbsp olive oil
1tsp sesame oil
Natural yoghurt
Salt
Lemon juice
Pomegranate seeds
Parsley
Chives

METHOD

1. Remove the out leaves from the cauliflower, wash and leave to one side. Break the cauliflower into florets, cook in a pan of boing water for 5 minutes and drain.
2. In a bowl mix the spices with the olive oil, salt and milled pepper and toss in the cauliflower. Place into a roasting tray and cook for 10 minutes at 190* / gas 5.
3. Remove from the oven and tuck in the cauliflower leaves, drizzle over the sesame oil and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir the natural yoghurt with a sprinkling of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Spread onto the base of a serving plate. Arrange the cauliflower and leaves onto the yoghurt.
5. Top with pomegranate seeds, chopped parsley and chives, finish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve.

INGREDIENTS

2.5kg Beef silver or topside
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp fresh thyme
1tbsp fresh rosemary
1 garlic bulb, crushed
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 onion, cut into quarters
1tbsp plain flour
1 litre beef stock

METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220*c you want a very hot oven to get the beef started.
2. Place the onion, carrot, celery and garlic into a roasting tray. Place the beef onto the vegetables so the beef isn’t touching the tray. Drizzle over the olive oil and season generously with salt and fresh milled pepper. Place into the very hot oven and cook for 25 minutes until nicely browned.
3. Turn the oven down to 180*c, remove the beef and scatter over the chopped fresh herbs, add a glug of water and pop back into the oven and continue cooking for another 50 minutes for a nice medium cook, remove the beef from the tray and leave on a warmed plate, loosely covered with tin foil.
4. Place the tray with the roasted veg and all the juices onto a low heat on the stove.
5. Stir in the plain flour and then pour in the beef stock, bring to a simmer and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and milled pepper.
6. Strain the gravy through a sieve into a saucepan.
7. The beef is now ready for carving but do make sure to pour any juices from the plate into the gravy for maximum flavour.
8. A great tip to keep the gravy hot at the table is to warm your gravy jug with hot water from a kettle just before you are ready to pour the hot gravy in.