You've gone to heaps of trouble for that special meal. Now for the final touches.
For the past three weeks I have been guiding you through a festive menu tossed together with a little nostalgia, slightly offbeat but cool, and all about embracing summer's bounty.
The final chapter today is all the incidentals, the veges, the sides and the little flavours, the parts that tie
the meat, fish and desserts together for one very delicious occasion.
These are often the perishables which need to be keep fresh and well protected. Visit your fruit and vege shop as often as possible so there's always a supply of fresh produce in the fridge.
Keep greens fresh by soaking sheets of Chux cloth in water. Wring them out, then roll up green produce such as beans, asparagus, zucchini, peas and spring onions. Secure them with a rubber band and refrigerate in a resealable bag. Try lining egg cartons with clingwrap, and place your vine ripened tomatoes in the depressions so you can transport them with no bruising.
Next, gourmet cheese. Christmas Day is the perfect time to splash out on a variety of soft, semi-soft and hard cheeses. They are best eaten at room temperature. Look for oozy-centred camembert that are not firm to the touch.
A well-made blue cheese is also hard to pass up, and partners well with Barkers pear and fig relish and oatcakes.
The Christmas nut selection needs to be fresh - bypass the bulk bins and make the effort to source Cathedral Cove macadamias, Kernelz walnuts or try the range of spicy Nuttz range.
Once those are sorted, consider the grains and lentils you are going to serve with the proteins in the menu.
I highly recommend using Spanish smoked bomba rice, which has a sensational smoky aroma, cooked with shellfish stock made from the dried shells of peeled prawns, lemon peel and coriander seeds.
Or try Ferron wholegrain rice, which is black and has an incredible texture.
Try puy lentils, which you don't need to soak. Just give them a wash in a sieve then put them in a saucepan of stock with a piece of smoked bacon and smashed garlic. Simmer until just about cooked, turn off the heat and allow them to cool down in the liquor so they won't split and will hold their shape before being drained.
A Christmas fruit basket should consist of fresh berries, stonefruit and watermelon. For something different, cut a cross in the top and bottom of a peach and lightly char the skin with a kitchen blowtorch. With a vegetable knife, peel back the skin to reveal mouthwatering flesh underneath. Cut into wedges and grill with fresh ricotta bound with herbs, podded peas, lemon and honey.
There you have it, you're all sorted for Christmas. May Santa Claus leave plenty of kitchen gadgets in your stocking.
Scottish oatcakes
Grilled peach, herb ricotta, peas, lemon and honey
