Catherine Fulvio's Christmas dinner: Today

Ingredients

Tower of Avocado, Horseradish Cream and Smoked Salmon

Serves 6

For the avocado base

• 2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted
• 2 medium size tomatoes, finely diced
• Juice of 1 lime
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the cream

• 150g sour cream
• 2 tsp horseradish sauce
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt

For the top

• 150g smoked salmon, diced
• Small wedges of lemon
• Chives, to garnish
• Crusty bread, to serve
• You will need 6 small glasses

5 Spice Honey Glazed Roast Duck with an Orange Berry Sauce

Serves 6

For the sauce

• 200g tinned pitted cherries in syrup, drained
• 120ml drained cherry syrup
• 60g dried cranberries
• 60g raspberries or any of your favourite berries
• 1 orange, zest only ½ tsp
• 5 spice powder
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 50ml sherry
• 1 to 2 tbsp arrowroot mixed with 2 tbsp water, to thicken sauce

For the roasted duck

• 1 whole duck (about 1.5kg) Salt to rub over duck

For the cavity

• 1 onion, roughly sliced
• 1 orange, sliced in wedges
• 2 sprigs bay leaves
• 1 star anise

For the glaze

• 70ml honey
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 60ml orange juice
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• Sprigs of bay leaves, to garnish
• Pomegranate seeds, to garnish
• Dried orange slices, to garnish (optional)

Sage Cranberry Mini Stuffing Balls

Makes about 24 mini (depending on the size)

• 100g finely chopped leeks
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 100g finely chopped pancetta
• 4 tbsp dried cranberries
• Zest of 1 large orange
• 2 medium eggs
• 2 tsp chopped thyme
• 1 tsp finely chopped sage
• 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
• 300g breadcrumbs
• 2 to 3 tbsp milk
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Christmas Cheesecake

Serves 8 to 10

For the base

• 20 chocolate digestive biscuits, crushed
• 100g melted butter
• 3 tbsp toasted flaked almonds, crushed

For the filling

• 400g white chocolate
• 50g butter
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 70g candied ginger finely cut
• 70g candied ginger finely cut
• 3 tbsp dried cranberries
• 2 lemons, zest only
• 400ml cream, lightly whipped
• 250g mascarpone

For the coulis

• 100g raspberries
• 3 tbsp icing sugar
• Raspberries, to decorate
• Whipped cream, to decorate
• 7 sprigs of rosemary, to decorate
• Crystalised cranberries, to decorate

Method

Tower of Avocado, Horseradish Cream and Smoked Salmon

1. Place the avocado into a bowl, add finely diced tomato, the lime juice and some olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mash well.
2. Place the sour cream, horseradish sauce, garlic clove and olive oil into a blender and blend until smooth.
3. To assemble, spoon the avocado mix into the base of each glass. Pour the cream mixture into a squeezy bottle and squeeze onto the avocado mix. Spoon over some diced smoked salmon.
4. Sprinkle over chives to garnish and add a lemon wedge. Serve with crusty bread.

5 Spice Honey Glazed Roast Duck with an Orange Berry Sauce

1. To prepare the sauce, add all the ingredients to the saucepan except the arrowroot. Bring it to the boil, turn the heat to low, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
2. To thicken the sauce, make a paste from the arrowroot with 2 tbsp of cold water. Add about 3/4 of the arrow paste and stir until thick – add the rest of the paste if you feel it needs to be thicker. Set aside until cool, it will keep in the fridge for several days.
3. To prepare the whole duck, fold the neck flap over and secure with a cocktail stick. Place the onion, orange, bay leaves and star anise into the cavity and close with a cocktail stick or small skewer. Score the duck breast. Rub salt over the duck.
4. Place the duck into a large roasting tray and pour over 2 litres of boiling water. Leave for 4 minutes until the skin has tightened.
5. Take it out the water, pat dry and place back into the fridge, uncovered for 4 hours or overnight. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Combine all the ingredients for the glaze together and spoon some onto the duck generously.
6. Place on a rack / trivet on a roasting tray and roast for ½ hour. Spoon more glaze on and lower the temperature to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4 and roast for a further 50 minutes.
7. Pour the duck fat into a container for later use for the potatoes. Depending on the weight of the duck, you may need to roast for longer. To check that the duck is done, insert a thermometer in the thickest part and the reading should be 74°C.
8. Cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
9. Arrange on a serving platter, garnish with sprigs of bay leaves around the platter, orange slices (if you are using them) and pomegranate seeds around the duck. Serve with warm berry sherry sauce.

Sage Cranberry Mini Stuffing Balls

1. To prepare the stuffing balls, heat butter and oil in a large frying pan, add the leeks and sauté until softened but not brown. Spoon into a large bowl.
2. Add the pancetta and cook until crispy. Spoon into the bowl. Leave to cool. Add cranberries, orange zest, eggs, thyme, sage, rosemary, breadcrumbs and a little milk.
3. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix well. Dampen your hands with water and shape into walnut size stuffing balls. Heat a large frying pan with oil and fry the stuffing balls in batches until golden.

Christmas Cheesecake

1. To prepare the base, combine the biscuits, crushed almonds with enough melted butter to combine well. Spoon into a 23cm loose base flan tin and spread the buttered crumbs up the sides and over the base surface. Leave in the fridge to set for ½ hour.
2. To make the filling, melt the chocolate with the butter over a bain marie. Leave to cool but not set. Add the ground ginger, candied ginger, cranberries, lemon zest and fold in the whipped cream and mascarpone in the melted chocolate. Spread over the biscuit base and place in the fridge to set.
3. To make the coulis, blend the raspberries with the icing sugar until smooth. Sieve into a jug and pour into a squeezy bottle, ready to use. To serve, take the dessert out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving. Wedge a thin knife around the biscuit base and lift the tin off.
4. To decorate, drizzle the coulis over the top. Spoon the whipped cream into a piping bag and pipe rosettes around the top. Decorate with rosemary sprigs and crystalised cranberries.
5. To crystalise cranberries – you will need 10 fresh cranberries, egg white and caster sugar. Wipe the cranberries dry. Break up the egg white with a fork. Place the cranberries into the egg white and then roll them into the caster sugar. Leave to dry for about 2 to 3 hours.