Al Dente

Robert Irvine’s Raspberry Porter Trifle

Christmas is the sweetest time of the year, and for someone like me, that is a very good thing.  Simultaneously, one of greatest weaknesses and greatest joys in my life is an appreciation for sweet desserts. Cakes, cookies, creams and puddings, pies and tarts are all welcome additions to the Christmas table, and putting a focus on great desserts and sweet treats is a wonderful way to set your holiday feasting apart from the fare you serve up the rest of the year.

I’m a big fan of the English approach, featuring plum puddings, treacle tarts, rich trifles and sponge cakes coupled with sweet creams, preserved fruits, flaming rum or brandy sauces and the like. Don’t underestimate the power of fresh fruits or preserves spooned over ice cream with a little raspberry sauce or some other expression of syrupy goodness. Anything that seriously involves chocolate is usually a winner. You don’t have to limit dessert or “sweetmeats” to just after dinner. Mince pies, strawberries with clotted cream, fresh fruit pastries, dried and sugared fruits or creamery butter and preserves with flaky hot scones right out of the oven, are all must-haves for a festive Christmas afternoon tea.      

Whether you choose to buy desserts from your favorite purveyors, or if you are talented enough to make your own, celebrate the season and indulge yourself and your family. A great dessert not only makes indelible memories for all of the children in your home during the yuletide season, it brings out the child in all of us. When I served aboard the Royal yacht, Britannia, whilst in Her Majesty’s Navy, it was an honored tradition that the royals on board would descend to the galley and, with the ship’s cooking complement in attendance, christen the Christmas pudding. Make a commitment to give your desserts the royal treatment.

For more recipes and thoughts on culinary matters, go to www.chefrobertirvineblog.com

Robert Irvine’s Romaine Salad with Two Dressings

In an America that is so replete with food of every kind, from every ethnicity, celebrating every trend and innovation, ranging from the demand for artisanal and organic products and a growing local movement, to the use of foams, gels and liquid nitrogen in the preparation of dishes, Thanksgiving remains the time of year that promises all of the comforts of coming home. Whether you’re having dinner at the White House, in a suburban home with a white picket fence, on a beach in Malibu or stationed in a foreign land far away, there is something to be said for the simple pleasures of tradition.  As a British import, I was introduced to the holiday as an adult, but as a boy in England, my Thanksgiving came every Sunday, with the family roast. You will not go wrong, I think, by applying the precepts of the English Sunday dinner to your holiday meal. 

I think it’s nice to have a starter. In our house, we’d often have shrimp cocktail with a special dressing my mother used to make. A salad or a pureed vegetable soup, with chestnuts or root vegetables or squash, lightly spiced and warming, are great choices. Potatoes are a must, and in this category, I prefer mine roasted, but as the son of an Irishman, I would recommend adding at least one more dish of spuds, mashed, boiled or Lyonnaise into the mix. Have a field day with your veggies, with green beans (casseroled or not),  sprouts, squash, broccoli, asparagus, peas; you can’t have too many and the sky’s the limit. Butter, garlic and lemon, salt and pepper are your greatest arsenal to showcase their beautiful flavors. Just, please, don’t overcook them.

The roast is the star (which usually means a big turkey over here!), but in determining the supporting cast, think mainly about flavors and about family favorites (candied yams with marshmallows are permissible), and if you’re doing it right, those will be one and the same.

The second best thing about Thanksgiving? You can virtually guarantee that there will be pie.

The best thing? Being truly thankful for all of your blessings. The triumph is in being together.

For more recipes and thoughts on culinary matters, go to www.chefrobertirvineblog.com.