Tony Tobin - Dare to be different
Above: Surrey Life's celebrity chef Tony Tobin
December in Britain is not a good month for chefs, or food for that matter. While many people’s working lives (with the notable exception of those in high street retail) wind down during the festive period, chefs work longer hours cooking more meals in one month than they do in January and February put together.
To make matters worse, the demand for traditional fare usually means they have to serve up the entire gamut of Christmas ‘standards’ at the expense of more imaginative dishes. Kitchens overflow with turkeys, sprouts, sage and onion stuffing, chipolatas and plum puddings. Inspiration – the most important ingredient in any kitchen – ends up cast out and neglected like some Dickensian orphan.
Unfortunately, things are often no better at home. Sales of ready-meals and take-aways go up as the Christmas celebrations reach fever pitch and no-one can be bothered cooking. Finally, the last week of December becomes a groundhog day of recycled leftovers. In short, we all eat much more, but the quality plummets like Santa coming down a tall chimney.
So (and allow me, if you will, to reach for the Tobin branded soapbox here), I would like you all to rebel. December can and should be a culinary treat on all levels. Avoid getting tangled up in some sort of culinary equivalent of the advent calendar and focus your minds on some of the great seasonal food out there. People are in high spirits and there is no more sociable time of year so there’s no better time to serve up some truly delicious cooking. Be prepared to break the mould, open your mind and combine new ideas and ingredients into traditional dishes.
December is definitely a poultry and game kind of month, so at The Dining Room in Reigate, I always look to mix up the Christmas menu with guinea fowl, pheasant and duck dishes. These run alongside turkey for the die-hards, which I serve with a twist by wrapping each breast in succulent Parma ham, to keep it juicy inside with a crispy contrast outside.
At home, I would recommend you mix it up too and surprise your families and dinner guests with dishes that include wonderful seasonal ingredients such as celeriac, celery, pomegranate, red cabbage and sea bass. You can even try serving the kids parsnip chips, which are absolutely delicious when cut into chunks with points that caramelize during an hour in the oven.
When the great day does come, I have two simple suggestions to add a twist to Christmas lunch: Christmas Cassonades, which are a wonderful light alternative to a dollop of plum pudding, and Chestnut and Orange Stuffing, which will add new flavours and zing to your turkey (see recipes above). And on the subject of turkeys, my best advice is this: go for a really good fresh one. See if you can remember where you saw queues for turkeys on Christmas eve last year and book yours from the same place. Don’t be tempted by the cheapness of the supermarkets, support local Surrey butchers and farmers – you will both appreciate it.
And with those thoughts, I would like to wish all of you the happiest of happy Christmases and the very best New Year. A special thanks to my Surrey Life readers – keep sending in the questions – and to all of you who have eaten at my restaurants during the last year. I hope to meet even more of you in 2008!
Chestnut and Orange Stuffing for Christmas Lunch
SERVES 6
Ingredients:
1 x 170g pack of ordinary sage and onion stuffing
60g vacuum packed chestnuts
Zest of 2 oranges
3 slices of fresh bread (turned into crumbs)
50g butter
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme
250g pork sausage meat
Method
Empty the contents of the stuffing mix into a bowl. Roughly chop the chestnuts and add to the bowl along with the breadcrumbs.
Boil one pint of water with a chicken stock cube, butter and the orange zest; add the thyme and pour into the bowl. Stir well and leave to cool. When the mix is completely cool, add the sausage meat and mix well.
Lightly flour a board and roll the stuffing into a long sausage shape. Cut into little croquet shapes and place onto a baking tray. Dot with butter and bake for 30 minutes at 200c/400f/gas mark 6.
Christmas Cassonades
SERVES 4
Ingredients:
1 Madeira cake
1 clementine (segments)
1 packet dried cranberries
8 Brazil nuts, crushed
8 dates, chopped
8 walnuts, chopped
4 cherries, chopped
Splash of good brandy
4 whole eggs, 2 egg yolks
2 heaped tbsp sugar
1pt double cream
1 vanilla pod - seeds only
6 tbsp caster sugar
4 tbsp water
Method
Cut the Madeira cake into small pieces and place into a mixing bowl. Add the clementines, cranberries, nuts, dates and cherries. Mix well, splash with brandy and divide between four large ramekins.
In a bowl, mix the whole eggs, yolks and sugar together. Bring the cream and vanilla to the boil and pour over the egg mixture, mix well and return to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens but be careful it doesn’t curdle.
Strain through a sieve and pour into ramekins filling them to the top, refrigerate until cold (three to four hours).
Mix the caster sugar and water and boil to a caramel, then pour onto a tray lined with oiled tin foil and allow to cool completely. Crush this caramel to a fine powder and sprinkle a thick layer on top of the ramekins. Serve with a huge smile!
Tony Tobin has been a regular on the BBC’s Ready Steady Cook for over a decade, competing on the show over 200 times. He has also hosted shows for the Carlton Food Channel. He runs two acclaimed restaurants in Surrey: The Dining Room in Reigate and POST in Banstead.
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