Put your Christmas cookery questions to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and talk to him about ten years at River Cottage HQ and his new book River Cottage A to Z, Thursday 15 December, 1-2pm

[RachelMumsnet]

Is making your own stuffing worth the effort? What's a tasty alternative to turkey? Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall will be joining us on Thursday 15th December to solve all your Christmas cookery conundrums and talk about his new book River Cottage A-Z: Our favourite ingredients and how to cook them. Find out Hugh's top tips for cooking with your favourite winter vegetables, fruits, herbs, fish, fungi, foraged foods, pulses, grains, dairy, oils and vinegars.

Come and chat to Hugh on 15th December between 1 and 2pm or post up your Qs in advance on this thread.

Hi Hugh, what kind of thing do you have for breakfast on Christmas Day?

I also wanted to say that I really appreciate the work you have done to raise awareness of food waste and non-recyclable coffee cups.

@oldlaundbooth

Hi Hugh,

My husband's family are French and they are coming for Christmas Day : how do I cope? How do you cope with your French in-laws, or do you just eat their cheese and think of England?

Any tips much appreciated!

Enjoy the the holidays

OLB.

My French relations are very relaxed about Christmas. But they do like to have the big feast of Christmas Eve. I usually do a whole baked fish, and yes, they do bring delicious cheese, which always goes down well.

@GoodyGoodyGumdrops

Hi Hugh, I like your foraging and am also a bit of a hedgerow grazer. But my question is nothing to do with foraging I once heard a TV chef say that the best way to carve a turkey was to remove the wishbone first. That, apparently would make it easier to carve the breast and get the maximum meat off it. But they did not say how to remove the wishbone, nor whether to remove it before or after roasting. Any ideas?

Hi GoodyGoodyGumdrops, thank you for your question. Removing the wishbone is a good tip for carving, and can definitely be done after the bird is roasted. Just get the knife in between the wishbone and the rest of the bird and you can lever it out quite easily. Lucky person who gets the wishbone with delicious meat and crisply skin attached. Merry Christmas!

What is the best way to make Beef Wellington?

@Flanderspigeonmurderer

Hi Hugh, we're cooking a turkey crown this year. What is your best tip to make it really succulent and to stop it being dry? Thanks!

It’s a good idea to cook the crown separately, I sometimes do this even if I have a whole bird - removing the legs and cooking them separately as a kind of “coq-au-vin” - the liquor from that makes fantastic gravy.

@Silvertap

My mother in law is a cross between Mary Berry and Alan Titchmarsh and coming to mine for my first ever Christmas dinner.

Hers are legendary - what can I cook that will even slightly compare let alone compete?

Ah, I thought we might have a turkey leftovers question! My four favourite recipes are in River Cottage Love Your Leftovers (pages 284-290): A curry, a tagine, a satay, and some nice herby rissoles. The tagine is a real winner using up a bit of mincemeat too.

@Silvertap

My mother in law is a cross between Mary Berry and Alan Titchmarsh and coming to mine for my first ever Christmas dinner.

Hers are legendary - what can I cook that will even slightly compare let alone compete?

If you want to impress the talented cooks in your family, roasting a whole goose is pretty spectacular. Why not try the slow roasted goose with star anise, orange, and chilli in River Cottage A to Z page 283? It’s perfect for a Christmas centre piece.

@StillNoFuckingEyeDeer

Hi Hugh. I'm cooking turkey and all the trimmings for Christmas, but won't be eating any of the meaty bits myself. I was planning to make a vegan stuffing, chestnut and something, to serve with the vegetables. Do you have any suggestions to make it special?

Ah we’ve spoken before. Nice to have you back. You could improvise a lovely stuffing with chestnuts, celery, sundried apricots and lemon zest, or head for the recipe on page 28 of River Cottage A to Z, second para from the top. No problem adding a handful of chopped chestnuts to that one either. And you can bake it separately in a greased dish. To make it vegan just use rapeseed or coconut oil instead of the butter, and a dash or nut milk or oak milk instead of the egg.

Hi Hugh, we are having duck this year for Christmas as there isn't many of us. Have you got a recipe for a tasty duck gravy? Having never Cooked a while duck before I'm not sure where to start

@P1nkP0ppy

Hello Hugh, my question is what can I cook for my vegetarian daughter that's a bit special? I usually do a nut roast or something involving filo pastry and butternut squash but it's getting a bit boring. Any ideas gratefully received!

One of my favourite veggie special occasion dishes at the moment is my Jerusalem Artichoke and Seaweed Tart, A-Z p33. It may sound odd but it’s a great combination and the seaweed makes it super special.

Hi Hugh, I'm cooking Goose this year for the first time. Any tips and any suggestions for side dishes? Thanks 😊

@starlight36

Hello Hugh, My question is do you have a recipe for a make-ahead turkey gravy? I'd like to keep things simple on Christmas Day so I can spend as much time as possible with my young children playing with their new toys but would prefer not to resort to salty, shop bought gravy.

To get ahead with turkey gravy, have yourself a nice roast free-range chicken this weekend and make a lovely strong stock with the bones and freeze it. You could then add the turkey giblets – neck heart, gizzard etc. – when you get your turkey a day or two before Christmas. Strain the finished stock, add a glass of wine, simmer and reduce by about half and you could serve this as is, or thicken it by whisking in a little beurre meuniere (a paste of butter and flour) into the boiling gravy. You can then reheat with your roast turkey the next day.

@walsh1234

Hi Hugh,

Is there anything we can do in the UK to help end the ivory trade ?

Thanks
Claire

Ah, so perhaps you watched my shows about this on BBC One. If so, you’ll know that I think we need a total ban on ivory sales in the UK as we are still exporting thousands of pieces of antique UK ivory to Asia where is continues to fuel a corrupt trade that we know is selling recently poached African ivory. Along with many elephant conservation NGOs, I want to see a proper debate on this in parliament and to make that happen there is a petition at petition.parliament.uk/petitions/165905 – please sign this MumsNetters! We have just passed 80 thousand, and if we get to 100 thousand we will get the proper parliamentary debate that we so desperately need. Thank you!

Afternoon Hugh, Is the new River Cottage book just about ingredients or does it have recipes as well? I was looking at it as a possible Christmas pressie as my sis-in-law is a big River Cottage fan. thanks

@Christmasmice

Hello Hugh! I've been loving all the work you've been doing on food waste. What's your top tip for keeping food waste to a minimum over Christmas? We normally make turkey pie with our leftovers

It’s so important to try not to waste food at Christmas and so easy to buy more food than we can possibly eat. So that’s the first thing. Don’t go mad on the shopping and plan ahead to use your leftovers. Remember my turkey leftover recipes in Love Your Leftovers, they’re just as good as the main event in my view. In fact there’s a whole chapter on Christmas leftovers in that book, including my ‘recycled chocolate tiffin’ and even a Christmas pudding parfait page 296

@Disraeli

What's your recommendation for something interesting (and vegetarian) to do with sprouts? I'd like to avoid just steamed no or boiling and maybe add some more flavour. I've read that doing them with bacon is lovely, but I have several vegetarians for dinner this year.

Thanks!

I love roasting Brussel sprouts with shallots (cut in half) and chestnuts. Just spread them all out in a big tray tossed with oil, salt and pepper, a few bay leaves and roast in a hot oven for about 30 minutes. There is also a lovely raw sprout salad with sesame, ginger, and lime in River Cottage A to Z page 102!

@DoctorTwo

Hello Hugh, and welcome to MN. You're famously known as Hugh Fearlessly Eatsitall, is there a food you won't or don't eat as it looks or tastes disgusting?

I'm pretty broad minded but I still shiver when i see a fried egg that's got running transparent white next to the yolk. It's got to be flipped or basted to make the white turn white, or i can't be doing with it.

@lozengeoflove

Hi Hugh, really love your food and old Christmas programmes.

Could you please give me your best Christmassy trifle recipe. Fancy making this as we're not big Christmas pudding lovers in our house

I think trifle at Christmas is a brilliant idea! But I usually improvise rather than stick to a recipe. Soak some sponge cake or brioche in a bit of sherry or port, make a homemade jelly with orange juice, or even better squeezed Christmas clementines, then good homemade custard on top of that. It’s quite nice to make these trifles in individual wine glasses so you have boozy cake in the bottom of the glass, then a layer of jelly, when that’s set you pour on the custard, and then when that’s set finish with whipped cream and top with your favourite sprinkles – I like grated chocolate and toasted almonds. A smashed up crunchie bar is also a brilliant trifle topping sprinkle.

@MerryMen

Afternoon Hugh, Is the new River Cottage book just about ingredients or does it have recipes as well? I was looking at it as a possible Christmas pressie as my sis-in-law is a big River Cottage fan. thanks

It's massively about recipes as well as ingredients. In fact, there are over 350 of our favourite ingredients and at least one brand new recipe for each. Then more than 500 recipes in all if you include the tips and ideas in the text. I have to take this opportunity to big up my amazingly talented colleagues, Pam, Mark, Nikki, Nick, Steven, Tim, Gill and John, who've shared their knowledge and expertise as my co authors of the A to Z. it's been a real labour of love for us all and a brilliant way to mark ten years of weorking together and teaching together at RC HQ.

Hi Hugh,
My question is about festive tipples. What's your favourite?

@derxa

Hugh Do you still enter the local village shows and do you still have animals? Coming from a rural background, these are the bits of your shows I enjoy best. Also do people that eat your stuff really enjoy the food as much as it appears? I mean the tongues and tripe etc. I'm not being mean- DS and I love the old programmes.

I must admit, I haven’t entered any of the local village shows for a few years now but I do like to drop in and see what everybody is up to. I still have livestock at home and of course at River Cottage HQ, in fact I’m having a River Cottage duck for Christmas and a roast forerib of my own homereared beef. I’d like to think that the reactions to my food in the shows is genuine. There was one occasion when my pike fishing friend tasted my pike terrine and said it was delicious, but then pointed out after the cameras had stopped rolling that it was actually frozen on the outside. We were trying to get it to set in a hurry and had stuck it in the freezer… I still think it was delicious, but more of a pike sorbet than a pike terrine!

@MamaBear18

Hi Hugh

I have a 16 month old boy who I would love to get involved in growing/foraging/cooking - do you have any suggestions for things I might be able to get him involved with at this age?

We have a little bit of outdoor space and keep (and eat!) our own pigs which he loves, I'd love to grow more of our own food but don't know where to start!

The best place to start is to grow things you know you like to eat. Kids always seem to love popping baby peas from the pod, so why not start with that. You can grow them in a veg bed, or in a big container or extra large flower pot, with a wigwam of sticks and netting for them to climb. He can help you put the little peass in the earth and watch them grow until the pods are ready to pop. My kids have always loved this.

@DoItTooJulia

Hi Hugh, My question is about festive tipples. What's your favourite?

Another thing that I’m very broad minded about, but I do love mulled cider. Just heat up a litre of strong cider or scrumpy with a cinnamon stick, a few cloves, orange and/or lemon zest and a bashed star anise if you have one. A little dash of brandy and a sprinkling of brown sugar is optional.

@derxa

Yes I applaud your efforts on food waste - especially fish and odd shaped vegetables. It's a national disgrace

Thank you derxa

at pike sorbet