Ingredients

Festive Grazing Board with Baked Brie
Serves 5 to 6

For the skewers

  • 200g prosciutto di Parma
  • 300g mozzarella balls
  • 200g pitted green olives
  • 60 seedless red grapes
  • 20 medium skewers

For the baked brie

  • 200g round brie – you will also need a cheese baker that the Brie fits into
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp chopped rosemary
  • 1 tbsp dried cranberries
  • 20 sprigs of rosemary, to garnish the skewers
  • Crackers, to serve

Baked Ham with a Cider and 5 Spice glaze
Serves 8 to 10

For the ham

  • 4kg raw smoked ham on the bone, soaked over night
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and halved
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly sliced
  • 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
  • 10 spice cloves
  • 12 black peppercorns
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 600ml apple cider
  • 2.5 litres water (you may need more)

For the glaze

  • 120g light brown sugar
  • 50ml apple cider
  • ½ tsp ground 5 spice powder
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 orange, zest only
  • ½ tsp ground ginger

To decorate

  • Spice cloves, to insert

To garnish

  • Sprigs of bay leaves
  • Sprigs of rosemary and sage
  • Chargrilled pineapple wedges

Pineapple, Red Pepper and Pomegranate Salsa
Makes about 600g

  • ½ pineapple, peeled and cored, diced small
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 1 red onion, diced small
  • 1 red chilli, finely diced
  • 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • ½ tsp caster sugar
  • 2 limes, juice and zest of 1
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • Salt

Sweet Potato Rice Pilaf
Serves 6

  • 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 shallots, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 200g quick cook brown rice
  • 100g basmati rice
  • 600ml hot vegetable stock
  • 2 tsp chopped thyme
  • 300g roasted diced sweet potatoes
  • 3 tbsp finely chopped dried apricot
  • 1 lemon, zest only
  • 6 Brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed and finely sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 3 tbsp roughly chopped pecans

Rich Chocolate and Orange Mousse with Frosted Cranberries
Serves 4 x about 150ml

For the frosted cranberries

  • 16 fresh cranberries
  • ½ egg white, whisked lightly
  • 100g caster sugar

For the mousse

  • 200g good quality dark chocolate
  • 2 gelatine sheets (platinum grade – size is 7cm x 11cm)
  • 450ml fresh cream
  • 80g caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)
  • 1 medium orange, zest only

For decoration

  • Whipped cream, for the top
  • Frosted cranberries, to decorate
  • 4 sprigs of rosemary dusted with a little icing sugar, to decorate
  • 4 small candy canes, optional
  • You will need 4 x 150ml pretty glasses, jars, cups or ramekins

Method

For the skewers & baked brie

  1. To assemble the skewers, thread the grapes first onto the skewers, add the olives.
  2. Slice the prosciutto into 2cm strips and roll it up, threading it onto the skewer.
  3. Add a mozzarella ball and a grape and thread until the skewer is fill. Set them aside.
  4. To prepare the brie, preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/ gas 4.
  5. Place the Brie cheese into a baker.
  6. Spoon over a little honey, add the chopped rosemary and bake for 8 minutes.
  7. While the brie is baking, attach rosemary sprigs to the tops of the skewers by inserting them into the grape at the top.
  8. Arrange the prepared skewers on a round board leaving a space in the centre to place the brie cheese into.
  9. Once the cheese is ready, place it in the middle of the skewers.
  10. Serve with crackers.

For the ham

  1. To prepare the ham, weigh the ham before you begin to cook. The cooking time for ham is 20 minutes for every 500g.
  2. Place the onion, carrots, celery, spice cloves, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick and pour in the cider and enough cold water to cover the ham, bring to the boil and simmer according to the calculated cooking time. Keep topping up the water level and scoop the foam off the top.
  3. For the glaze, mix all the ingredients together and set aside.
  4. Carefully remove the ham from the liquid (keep the liquid for making soup).
  5. To glaze, preheat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5.
  6. Lift the ham onto a large roasting pan. Cut away the skin leaving a thin even layer of fat.
  7. Score the layer of fat in a diamond pattern and spread some of the glaze over the top.
  8. Insert the spice cloves and roast in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes until golden. Keep an eye on the ham as the sugar tends to burn quickly. Spread more glaze after 10 minutes of roasting.
  9. Cover, and allow the ham to "rest" for 20 minutes before carving.
  10. To serve and garnish, lift the ham onto a serving plate or board.
  11. Slice half a pineapple into wedges, brush with oil and caramelize or chargrilled them on both sides.
  12. Arrange sprigs of bay leaves, rosemary sprigs, sage, and the chargrilled pineapple wedges on the serving platter around the glazed ham.
  13. Serve with a pineapple, red pepper and pomegranate salsa.

Pineapple, Red Pepper and Pomegranate Salsa

  1. To prepare the salsa, combine add the ingredients for the salsa and mix well. Season with a little salt.

Spoon into a serving bowl and set aside, ready to serve.

Sweet Potato Rice Pilaf

  1. Heat a large saucepan with oil and add the shallots, sauté for 3 to 4 minutes before adding the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  2. Stir in the brown and basmati rice.
  3. Pour in the hot vegetable stock and add the chopped thyme.
  4. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  5. Place the lid on and turn down on a low heat and simmer for 16 minutes.
  6. Turn the heat off, leave the lid on and leave to stand for 12 minutes.
  7. Using a fork, fluff up the rice.
  8. Stir in the roasted diced sweet potatoes, dried apricots, lemon zest, chopped parsley and thinly sliced fresh Brussels sprouts.
  9. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  10. Add the pecans on top.

Rich Chocolate and Orange Mousse with Frosted Cranberries

  1. To prepare the frosted cranberries, brush the cranberries lightly with egg white.
  2. Place the sugar on a plate.
  3. Roll the cranberries in the sugar and leave to dry. Set aside in a dry place.
  4. To prepare the mousse, melt the chocolate over a bain marie (a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water). Once melted, take the bowl off the saucepan – the chocolate should not be too hot.
  5. Soak the gelatine sheets in 125ml cold water.
  6. Heat half the cream and all the sugar together in a saucepan over a low heat until warm and the sugar is dissolved.
  7. Squeeze out the excess water and add the gelatine to the warm cream and whisk well until dissolved.
  8. Whisk the other half of the cream until soft peak stage.
  9. Sieve the gelatine cream into a large bowl. It is important to do this.
  10. Add the melted chocolate and mix well.
  11. Stir in the Grand Marnier and orange zest.
  12. Fold in the whipped cream.
  13. Pour into a jug and then carefully pour into glasses, two thirds the way up and leave to set in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.
  14. When ready to serve, pipe cream over the top of each chocolate mousse.
  15. Decorate with frosted cranberries and dusted rosemary sprigs.
  16. Insert a small candy cane into each mousse if you are decorating with them and serve.