Tom Doorley on what to eat for dinner tonight
Maybe it's a blessing, considering what's to come, but Christmas Eve tends to be a time for patchy meals, snatched sandwiches and takeaways. It's almost like advance penance for the impending indulgence. I realise that lots of people are so organised that Christmas comes and goes without leaving even a minor blip in the calm and steady progress of their lives. I am not one of them.
Christmas Eve is demanding. It drains the reserves of energy and, if you are going to come down with a cold for Christmas, it will set in as darkness falls and as you discover that you have no echinacea or vitamin C in the house. This is one night when you simply have to eat well. Simply and well.
Actually, I have a bit of an aversion to cooking anything that isn't simple. Spend money on good raw materials, do very little to them, and that way lie happiness and contentment. I'm not going to bone a quail or make a gateau pithivier on Christmas Eve - or on many other occasions, either.
I want something that can go in the oven until it is cooked, then be turned down, so it stays hot until it's convenient to eat it.
There are two dishes in my repertoire that fit the bill here: lamb hotpot and chicken with vast quantities of garlic. The former has the virtue of being a one-pot dish; the latter needs only crusty bread as an accompaniment. Both will be all the better for a good green salad, a bottle of decent wine and some cheese.
Long, slow cooking can transform quite basic ingredients into something very special, as in this lamb hotpot. There is a kind of alchemy going on, and, when you lift the lid, the mixture of meat, thyme, onion and sweet carrot becomes much more than the sum of its parts. I trim the fat from the chops, but there are those who believe that this spoils the taste. The sprinkling of flour is to provide a little thickening for the liquid element.
I realise that cooking chicken on Christmas Eve is something of a minority pursuit, but there are two reasons I include it here. For a start, lots of people don't eat turkey for Christmas dinner; and, as it happens, this makes quite a good Christmas dinner in itself.
CHICKEN WITH GARLIC
1 organic chicken (about 2.25kg/5lbs)
4 heads of garlic, divided into unpeeled cloves
1 wine glass of extra virgin olive oil
1 glass of dry white wine (such as Muscadet)
2 bay leaves
1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
handful of fresh parsley or parsley stalks
handful of fresh thyme
black pepper
flour
Scatter the garlic cloves, unpeeled, into the bottom of a heavy casserole (which must have a tight-fitting lid). Put the bay leaves, thyme, parsley and celery into the cavity of the chicken, then place the chicken on top of the garlic. Pour the oil and the wine over the chicken, grind some pepper over it and put the lid on carefully, to ensure a good seal. You may want to seal it completely with flour-and- water paste, in which case mix plain flour and water until they resemble playdough and place accordingly.
Put into a hot oven - 200 degrees/ gas seven - for 30 minutes, then reduce to 170 degrees/gas three. If you're not ready to eat at this stage, simply turn the oven down to its lowest setting.
Make sure you open the casserole at the table, because the aroma that is released is half the pleasure of this dish. Transfer the chicken to a warm serving plate for carving. Spoon the soft garlic cloves and the cooking juices over the top, and use good bread for mopping up.
LAMB HOTPOT
Quantities for this dish must be judged on the basis of how many you want to feed and the size of your casserole.
1 lamb gigot chop for each person, and a few extra
olive oil
flour
onions
carrots
potatoes
thyme
salt and pepper
Cover the bottom of the casserole with chopped onion and sprinkle with a little flour, thyme, salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a pan and brown the chops. Place them on top of the onions. Sprinkle with a little flour and thyme and season. Now put in a layer of sliced carrots - the thicker the better, as they will cook for a long time, and you don't want them to disintegrate. At this point pour boiling water into the pan and scrape, to dissolve all the caramelised juices from the chops.
Pour this liquid into the casserole until the carrot layer is just covered. Top off with a thick layer of peeled, sliced potatoes, dot with butter, cover and bring to the boil. Place in the oven at 140 degrees/gas one for at least four hours.