Jamie's Christmas With Bells On

21 November 2011

TX: Wednesday December 14th and 21st, 9pm, Channel 4

 

Jamie Oliver is the person most of us turn to for advice on how to cook the most important meal of the year: Christmas dinner.

And this year, in two hour-long festive specials, Jamie wants to show that Christmas can be fun, with a collection of traditional classics, alongside new ideas and fantastic party food.

Filmed at his Essex home and featuring family and friends, the programmes are packed with stress-free, sure-fire ways to cover the classics for a fab Christmas dinner - turkey, roasties, gravy, stuffing and veg - as well as fresh ways to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.

The first programme shows how a little bit of preparation before the big day can leave you free to enjoy yourself and shows how to avoid some of the disasters - from frozen turkeys to exploding Xmas puds - we've all faced at some point!

Jamie will be introducing some exciting new ideas, including Turkey Wellington, Jerky Ham Hock, Griddle-Pan Waffles & Epic Hot Chocolate, Hot Rummy Lemonade, Pimped Up Prosecco and After 10 Treats.

And he will be giving a refresher on a couple of his favourite festive recipes, including Classic Get-Ahead-Gravy, Classic Christmas Stuffing and Mince Pies.

The second programme is all about the big day as Jamie demonstrates how to pull everything together for a perfect Christmas Day, including Festive Fiesta Tacos, Brussels with Hustle, Marathon Semi-Freddo, The (one and only) Rocky Mountain and Bloody Mary Seafood Platter. And he shows how to make the best of leftovers, like Boxing Day Turkey Chowder.

Meanwhile, he re-visits other Christmas Day favourites, including Classic Roast Turkey, Classic Roast Potatoes and Classic Mulled Wine.

So settle down and let Jamie get you in the mood for the best Christmas ever!

"For me, Christmas is the most fabulous time of the year - family, friends, a little bit of excess, or a lot - I love it - love it all," says Jamie. "I'm gonna be giving you roast turkey - the best potatoes - amazing gravy - we'll do the business of Christmas.

"But on top of that, I'm gonna give you incredible party food that will just knock your socks off, nostalgic memories and I'm determined that we all have the very best Christmas ever. The rest is all about having fun - letting your hair down and having a bloody good party!"

 

Series Dir: Mike Matthews

Series Prod: Nicola Pointer

Exec Prod: Zoe Collins

Prod Co: Fresh One Productions

 

Some details and quotes from recipes:

 

Griddle Pan Waffles with Epic Hot Chocolate
Jamie's figured out a way to make waffles at home without an expensive waffle iron, just cook the batter up in a griddle pan. He claims this is "one of the very best breakfasts on earth!" He's up at dawn cooking on an open fire: "Homemade waffles and the very best thick malty, chocolatey hot chocolate!"

Jamie reckons his mega chocolate mix "is going to literally transform the benchmark of hot chocolate". And the final combo of waffle + hot choc = "outrageous...life is definitely too short for never having this!"

 

Turkey Chowder
"So what we're gonna do is a really beautiful Turkey chowder. I wanted to use the original clam chowder as my inspiration. I wanted to pull out all of those things like creaminess, the potatoes, the sweetcorn, comforting dish and I wanted to apply that to Turkey instead of the clams and I think people are gonna love this.

"For me this is a lovely, simple, quick way to use up leftover veggies and the turkey, it's got a kick, it's got spice, it will definitely warm your cockles. It's got all those bits from chowder that I love, but it's got a full on Turkey dinner in there!"

 

Festive Fiesta Tacos
This is an amazing Mexican twist on the bacon sarnie: "What I really love about this breakfast is it's not expected - it's not the kind of flavours that we do in Britain, but when we put it in our gob and swallow it, it's like happy food. It wakes you up, it makes you feel really good".

 

Marathon Semi-freddo
Jamie is joined by his old mentor, Gennaro Contaldo to make an amazing ice cream treat. All the classic elements of a classic Italian semifreddo, but with a hit of chocolate and peanuts to make it super indulgent:

 "Semi-freddo is basically Britain's only way of making a viable kind of ice cream at home, coz you don't need a machine, you don't need a churner. You can literally beat up your ingredients, bang ‘em in the freezer a week, two weeks, a month before xmas.

"The reason we're doing this recipe for Christmas is you can do it a week before when it's stress free - dressed up as a turkey with your nan's jumper on - it's all normal!"

 

Turkey Wellington
Jamie makes an absolute Christmas dinner showstopper with bells on: Turkey Wellington.

"I'm gonna do a wonderful twist on the great beef Wellington, but with turkey - Turkey Wellington. Beautiful puff pastry, the lovely mushroom duxelle stuffing, juicy turkey stuffed with cranberries. The great thing about Turkey Wellington is you do it the day before - you take all the stress away and then on Christmas day you just cook and carve".

 

Jerky Ham Hocks
Jamie cooks up a cheap alternative to the traditional Christmas ham, marinating ham hocks with Jerk spices to offer an abundance of ideas for surprise guests this Christmas. He makes a delicious jerk ham hock salad with pomegranate and a fantastic Jerk BLT bonanza, ably assisted by his mum Sally.