Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 47: Martha Collison on Perfect Roasties and the Ultimate Christmas Gravy

Starting point is 00:00:00 Coming up on Dig It. Oh my gosh, people stress about the roast potatoes, and they are kind of the crucial thing. So my top advice on potatoes is plan your whole Christmas dinner around the potatoes rather than the turkey. Oh. Disco, Steve, he just wants a curry on Christmas Eve. And we're all like, no, you cannot have a curry at Christmas time. It just does not feel right. I know friends who go for a curry on Christmas Day.

Starting point is 00:00:24 Oh, on Christmas Day? Yeah. Then no one has to cook. I'm actually quite inspired idea. My secret ingredient has always been a really good dash of ketchup. Whoa. A little bit of marmite is a secret thing that I pop in. But then again, I feel like if my family actually watched me make it,

Starting point is 00:00:41 they'd be slightly horrified. But it makes a lovely gravy. This is great. This is so good. All of that right after this. So we have some very, very exciting news. are taking Dig It to the stage. Woohoo! Yes, we're going to be live in Sheffield at Crossed Wires on Sunday the 5th of July.

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Starting point is 00:02:48 Most of it involving food. So we thought, why not dedicate a special episode of Digget entirely to your questions around food and drink at this time of year? Which is why we are absolutely delighted to be joined by our special guest today, the wonderful Martha Collison. Martha is a best-selling food writer, broadcaster and recipe creator. Back in 2014, age just 17, she took part in the fifth series of the Great British Bake Off and is still the youngest contestant the show has ever had. Since then, she's written three cookbooks with her most recent pull up a chair being an absolute joy. Hello, Martha.

Starting point is 00:03:26 Hello, I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you so much for having me. How busy is this time of year for you, by the way, and how in demand are you from your friends and loved ones because you're so brilliant at cooking? Oh, that's very kind. I feel like Christmas is for anyone who loves cooking. It's like the peak time because you have the kind of personal pressure

Starting point is 00:03:47 you put on yourself to do everything that you can to make everything delicious. And everyone has the expectation that, right, you've been writing recipes for this for the last three months. You've got to have some good things up your sleeve. And how do you deal with pressure and stress? Because this is what everybody suffers from, I think. There's just, it feels like if you're not a cook, there is so much to do. In which order do you do it? When do you get your provisions delivered? What do you order? How much? I mean, it's just, for my tiny non-cooking brain, it is just too much. But how are you? Are you quite chilled with it all?

Starting point is 00:04:18 I try and be as chilled as possible because Christmas is a time to relax, isn't it? So I'm quite a relaxed person. So I don't mind popping out to the supermarket and grabbing a few last minute. bits and trying to weave things together. But also my top tip is never tell anyone what time anything is going to be at. So that no one has any expectations of when lunch is ready. That's such a

Starting point is 00:04:40 good idea. Because that's the worst. If you're hosting, everybody is just full of questions. Where's the loo roll? Where should we put the coats? Where do we park? Where should you bring this? Where's the wine? Where's the bottle opener? Where's the beer? Where's the thing? He needs to snap. It's relentless. Hosting is full

Starting point is 00:04:56 on, actually, at Christmas time. And good luck to anyone who's doing it. I've managed to wiggle out of hosting this year. Hooray! Come on. So good luck to my brother Nick. He's brilliant at it. Tell us about your Christmas Day. How does it look in terms of food? What happens for you? Oh, Christmas Day food. So I'm always the first one up and turkey. Turkey is the first thing on my agenda. So I'm up. I've got my hands deep in a turkey. And the rest of my family, you think that looks absolutely disgusting and horrible and would never want to do that. But I love it because

Starting point is 00:05:24 it's so quiet. Everyone's asleep. I'm just doing my thing with a turkey. and it ready. And then once that's in, you feel a lot more relaxed and you can start working on the other bits. But then we do a Christmasy breakfast. I normally delegate that to somebody else because I've got my mind on the real deal. So my dad does a Christmas Day breakfast. And then we go out to church for a little bit, come back and then it's like all systems go. What time do you reckon you end up eating? I think normally around two, half two. That's not bad. Yeah. Our lot is often like four. Yeah. It depends if you've got kids around as well. Because if you've got kids, you're up earlier, things all, because they're opening presents at 20 past 4 in the morning. And then what do you have, though, for your Christmas breakfast? You're saying your dad does that. We're obviously all out for ideas here, Martha. We're going to rinse you for as many ideas we can get. What do you have for Christmas breakfast?

Starting point is 00:06:21 So we normally go for like a smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on like a croissant or a croissant or a. a crumpet kind of situation. Something that's quite light and doesn't take too long to prepare. But a bit special. Don't have that every day. But I have been previously done a Panatoni French toast. If you've got a Panatoni knocking around. And that is very indulgent.

Starting point is 00:06:42 Different vibe, but just as delicious. Oh, wow. That sounds amazing. I may have to adopt that. I'm trying to work out. How do you slice your Panetoni if you're going to do it as French toast? Just nice and thick is what you want. But it doesn't really matter what shape it is.

Starting point is 00:06:56 You can even cut it into little. stars or do things with it and then you dip it in this kind of egg custard which I put a bit of lemon sorry orange zest and cinnamon in and then you kind of fry it on both sides it's nice with a bit of yoghurt the lodger would love that

Starting point is 00:07:12 definitely right I'm writing that one down if you've just found digits then welcome we have two brand new episodes for you every single week the fun never stops hit follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode I think we've got lots of questions to put to you.

Starting point is 00:07:32 Lovely diggers have been getting in touch. So let's go to the first question. Hi Joe. Hi. Zoe. This is Linda from Liverpool. I'm calling to ask a question about roast potatoes for the Christmas dinner. I keep hearing that you can pre-make them and freeze them.

Starting point is 00:07:47 If I do that, do I need to defrost them before I warm them up again? Or do you just chuck them straight in? Should I not be doing that? Should I use goose fat, olive oil, vegetable oil? Do we need to sprit them with vinegar like Jamie Oliver? says so I put semolina on them like nijela says i'm lost in a world of roast potato advice and i just don't want to let anyone down on christmas day and so any simple way to fail safe make good potatoes will be fantastic totally love the podcast thanks girls keep it up thank you god asking for

Starting point is 00:08:14 all of us that question it's exactly what we all need to know semolina vinegar what do we do oh my gosh people stress about the roast potatoes and they are kind of the crucial thing so my top advice on potatoes is plan your whole christmas dinner around the potatoes rather than the turkey because the best thing about turkey or a big piece of meat is it can rest and it can wait until everything else is ready. But potatoes are one of those things that you want to be eating within kind of 10 minutes after they're out of the oven or they lose their crispy deliciousness. So plan your meal around those. Once your turkey's out, then be like, right, what time do I want to eat? Potatoes roughly an hour for those in total.

Starting point is 00:08:54 So start planning your timings around the potato. I did a big research project on roast potatoes last year because I write a recipe column for waitros and it was the best roast potatoes. So I've done many an experiment of different varieties of potatoes, all the different fats, to see what would come out best,

Starting point is 00:09:12 like a mad scientist with all these potatoes with little labels of what they were cooked in. And for me, the best ones were... This is excellent. It's crazy, isn't it? The best ones were King Edward potatoes and cooking them in goose fat really is the kind of the top.

Starting point is 00:09:28 way to do it. But olive oil came a close second. So if you're not feeling like something as heavy as goose fat, I recommend the olive oil. And because there'll be vegetarians as well who won't want to, A, have a turkey and also won't want to use goose fat. So olive oil is good. Olive oil is great. And then it's all about the parboil. So parboil your potatoes. I put a bit of garlic into the water. So I put two clothes of garlic still in their little skins. So you just literally chuck them in and a few herbs and some salt so that the potatoes are kind of flavoured right from the inside out, parboil them for six to seven minutes until they're, if you just poke them with a knife, the outside is a little bit frosty and a bit kind of coming away,

Starting point is 00:10:06 drain them and leave them just to steam for about five minutes so that they dry out because the drier they are, the more fat they'll absorb. And we're going all out at Christmas. We want them to absorb as much fat as possible. So once they're dry, give them a good shake in the pan, put the lid on and shake them within an inch of their life. You can't really overdo it. And then put them into a big baking tray into the oven and about 35 to 40 minutes I would say give them a little turn in the middle and you get the perfect roasties. Wonderful. So no semolina, no vinegar. We don't need to do that at all. Don't need to coat it with anything. I don't do that. I think it kind of changes the flavor or the

Starting point is 00:10:42 texture a bit too much for me, but people like it. I do do a Christmasy salt because I think that adds a bit of finesse. So I tend to get like a few flaky sea salt, some very Rosemary, some thyme and some Clementine zest and kind of chop that all together or stick that in a food processor. Then you can toss your potatoes in that and it just makes them look a little a little fancy. Or if you've bought them from a shop, which do you know what? Some people might do. You can still give them a little toss in your special salt and it feels very artisan. Oh, I like the idea of that. That's good. So Christmas salt. It's those extra little bits, Martha. This is why you're so good at what you do. The zest,

Starting point is 00:11:21 it's that extra little magic. I'm going to throw some of these things. and really impressed my family and they're going to be like, who are you? And then I will give you the credit, Martha. I will, I promise. We have an email from Bex. She says, I'm the youngest in my family and I'm cooking Christmas lunch for the first time this year to give my mum a break. I'm doing turkey and ham, two different stuffings, roast potatoes, carrots, greens and a soup starter that I'm going to make ahead. Clever. I've cooked a roast before, but I've never cooked for seven people. So there's a bit of pressure here. What's the one clear strategy you'd give a first time Christmas lunch cook to stop them panicking? Is making a spreadsheet sensible or completely unhinged? I love that.

Starting point is 00:12:11 I feel like a spreadsheet is not completely unhinged, but for some people that will stress them out more than it would calm them down to be looking at kind of a huge array of timings. I like to make a few notes just so that kind of you have, especially if you've got kids, I've got an 18 month old. So if you get called away from the kitchen for any reason, someone else can step in and see roughly what's going on. So a few notes are helpful. But I think the key thing when you're working around all of these different elements is getting the main ones done first. And the best thing about turkey and ham is they can almost, a good rule of thumb is they can basically rest under a bit of foil for as long as they took to cook. So obviously turkey.

Starting point is 00:12:51 takes ages, hours and hours. So you can. It will hold its heat really well if you cover it in foil. So you can cook that. You can put that in first thing in the morning, get that done, and then let that just rest whilst you crack on with everything else. And it really sets your mind at ease thinking, right, the meat is done. It just gets more juicy and more tender as it goes resting, as it has its little rest. Martha, you can imagine, because my daughter, India took the photographs for your book. She did. And she said you were the sweetest, kindest, loveliest person to work with. And she was so impressed by watching you in action. She loved the whole experience

Starting point is 00:13:21 but she takes over she does Christmas you'll be no surprise she's a food photographer amazing food photographer but also amazing in the kitchen too so I literally

Starting point is 00:13:30 I don't really do very much I just take instruction from India she just tells me to kind of chop the potatoes or do whatever and I just I do as I'm told I learn I used to say well we don't normally do it like that

Starting point is 00:13:40 and now I'm like no no no whatever India says in the kitchen goes I love that so thank you I've got to know you through India and yeah she couldn't speak highly enough of you Oh, my absolute pleasure.

Starting point is 00:13:51 I love to work with India. She is such a talent and just so chilled. And we had the best two weeks even doing. We did a few Christmassy things with mould wine and a roast dinner in the middle of, I think it was July. It was like everyone got their Christmassy spirit on. How bizarre. How surreal. You say she's chilled.

Starting point is 00:14:10 She's not chilled in the kitchen. She's very, very, very on point. She's that terrifying, I think, I've said in the past. You've got to be, right? Do you have to be quite fierce in the kitchen? You've got to have your head chef head on if you want things done a certain way. Right. Got your brigade.

Starting point is 00:14:24 But it sounds like you've got a good system there. You've got a few people who are happy just to do the chopping and do the bits. I'm the same with my mum. She's very happy to be very relaxed and do the chopping. And I always say, I feel bad. I'm giving you all the boring jobs. She says, no, I love just doing the chopping. There's no pressure.

Starting point is 00:14:40 I can chop. I can mix. You're absolutely right. That's what it is. I think it should be like in The Bear as well, Joe, where everyone, you know, when India tells you what you to do. You should be like all of them in the bow and you go, yes, chef, yes, chef. We do.

Starting point is 00:14:53 That is like the ultimate respect for the chef, I think. I think we all have the most respect for whoever cooks Christmas dinner. However it goes, it's like well done for offering to do it because it is such a big pressure. Speaking of respecting the chef, we've got a text from Lucy who said, I'm having my very first friendmas Christmas. Just me and four of my mates coming over to my flat for dinner. Now, one of my friends is vegan and everything feels so meat. and dairy heavy, and I don't want the vegan option to feel like an afterthought. So suggestions

Starting point is 00:15:24 please from Martha about a vegan kind of Christmas. Oh, I love that. I feel like offering to cook Christmas dinner for anyone, let alone your friends, is such like a top friend thing to do, especially when there are dietary requirements. So hats off to this person for taking on the reins. My favourite thing with vegan centrepieces, which is a good hat for when things are busy is that puff pastry that you buy in the supermarket is vegan. So you can do a lot of things with puff pastry that either help replicate the things you've got for non-vegan guests. So you can make vegan pigs in blankets, but I use a little bit of pastry as a little roll across a vegan sausage. And my favourite centrepiece that I've been making this year is a kind

Starting point is 00:16:06 of parsnip tart tatan. So we've got roasted parsnips and then they get tossed in maple syrup. You can use vegan butter and a bit of whole grain mustard. then you just have to unroll your puff pastry, cut it into a circle, kind of nestle that over your parsnips and then bake that for 25 to 30 minutes. So it's quite simple, but it looks so impressive because you turn it out and it's all shiny and it smells gorgeous. And I think that's a lovely thing to give to a vegan friends. I don't feel like they just got a little bit of brown nut roast that's come out of your microwave.

Starting point is 00:16:37 It looks like something really special, something for the middle of the table. And all these recipes that Martha is showing with us, We're going to put in our substack. So if you are desperately trying to write these things down, don't worry. Check out our substack later in the week. We'll let you know when it's up. And we'll have these recipes ready to hand fresh from Martha. We have an email from Margaret and she says every Christmas Eve, I have my son and his kids over.

Starting point is 00:17:01 We keep it fairly simple. A light supper, presents for the grandkids, lots of excitement. The kids are always perfectly happy with sausage and chips, which has now become a bit of a tradition. Yeah, great for the kids. That's wonderful. For the adults, I buy the three for two party food from the fancy supermarkets and call it a day. It's lovely, but this year I'd quite like a bit of a Nigella moment, something where people go, oh wow, what is that? Are there any finger foods that are actually easy to make, but look impressive enough to earn a compliment? I'm looking for something that feels a bit more special than opening the boxes.

Starting point is 00:17:43 That's a great question because we all get taken in by the big arrays in the supermarket of all the party feed. But don't you often find that when you open the boxes and put them all on a plate, it's like the tiniest little morsels of food. Yes. Having a few substantial things is good. They can be so mini. The thing that I do each year and I love to do is use kind of mini popadoms as a base for a nice canop. Because it's the kind of thing you can't buy a canop like this because they're so crispy that they need to be eaten straight. to wait, but I do like a mini little popadon, and then I make a quick mix of mango, prawns and

Starting point is 00:18:19 sweet chili sauce. So it's lovely and sticky and sweet and spicy. And then just put a little dollop onto the top of each popadom. They're like this little bite-sized nibble, but just people always go, oh, that's fun. It's a bit different, but it's so easy. So that's one of my favorite go-to canopets. For something a bit more substantial, I feel like you just can't go wrong with cheese. We love cheese in my family. So every year, there is cheese galore but I think something like a baked camember feels quite special and you can do different little toppings on a baked camembert so do a couple of baked camers you could do one more classic with a bit of garlic and

Starting point is 00:18:55 rosemary studded in there you could do one with like a drizzle of hot honey or something spicy and sweet and then I'd often do one where I roast it with figs or roast it with dates and it just adds a bit of variation and people go oh it wouldn't have thought of doing that which I think is what hopefully what Margaret is looking for I'm starving now, by the way. What do you dip into your cammer bear? Oh, crusty bread. If I'm feeling very organised, sometimes I make little doughballs out of like a brioshy dough.

Starting point is 00:19:24 But I feel like that was a pre-kids, Martha. And now I've got one and a half children. And I'm not sure I'll be making dough balls on Christmas Eve. Oh, you had me at melted cheese. You just can't go wrong with melted cheese. What do you both do on Christmas Eve? Because we have an ongoing debate about what we have on Christmas Eve because we sometimes have friends around to have a bit of a meal.

Starting point is 00:19:52 And I always do jacket potatoes, but the kids have started saying, Mum, it's a bit much. We have potatoes Christmas Eve. We have potatoes on Christmas Day. Steve, Disco, Steve, he just wants a curry on Christmas Eve. And we're all like, no, you cannot have a curry at Christmas time. It just does not feel right. And I'm always intrigued to know what other people do.

Starting point is 00:20:09 I know friends who go for a curry on Christmas Day. Oh, on Christmas Day? On Christmas Day. They'd like just go for a curry. And then no one has to cook. I'm actually quite inspired idea. Yeah, Christmas Eve, it depends where we are. My family always do a ham.

Starting point is 00:20:24 In fact, I did my first ham last year. And that's always a favourite on Christmas Eve is to start digging into the ham that you've soaked in treacle or Coca-Cola or whatever you've done. And those, my family are huge fans of pickles and the cheeses. So I quite like things like that on Christmas Eve. Occasionally we'll have a pie. But again, sometimes that can feel a bit heavy when you know you've got a big meal the next day.

Starting point is 00:20:50 So I quite like picky bits. Because also people arrive at different times, don't they? Yeah. Sometimes we go to the pub and eat in the pub on Christmas Eve. That's a great idea. Joe, in your family, are you all vegans, vegetarians? What's the sort of mix? No, the majority of vegetarian.

Starting point is 00:21:07 And then there's a couple of meat eaters. And yeah, we always have a lot of vegetarian options, but then also a selection of meat. And then, you know, with the grandparents coming over on Christmas Day, it's very much traditional turkey or chicken. But the tradition is that Jude and Cassand, India and Coco make a nut roast on Christmas Eve. And it's always such a lovely time. It's, you know, like absolute food chaos everywhere. But it's a really nice thing to watch them do, just putting together a nut roast. I love it.

Starting point is 00:21:34 I love watching them. What do you do, Martha, on Christmas Eve? I feel kind of similar. We do a few different things. So growing up, my parents would always throw a Christmas Eve party. And now that I am a grown-up, I really admire the fact that they would do that because they would have kind of like 20 or 30 people around to do nibbles and canapes and drinks. And now as a child, you just kind of absorb it and you're part of it.

Starting point is 00:21:57 But they would then have to do all the clear-up from the party as well as all the Christmas Day preparations before the big day. So I hugely admire that. But now we normally do like a slightly stripped-down version of that. So when all the family have arrived, if we're all together, if it's a year where we're all together, then we'll have, yeah, picky bits, probably quite similar to Margaret's letter, to be fair. We'll have bits of cheese, we'll have little nibbly bits and play a few games. So it's, yeah, just a good little starter for the Christmas festivities. We have another one. We've got a text, and this is from Helen, who said there's an ongoing debate in our house about gravy, especially turkey gravy. And I need you to weigh in, please. My gravy method has been the same for years.

Starting point is 00:22:38 When the turkey is resting, I pour the juices into a pan with some chicken gravy granules, add a splash of white wine, and I let it thicken. Here's the controversial bits. My secret ingredient has always been a really good dash of ketchup. Whoa. Okay. It gives that slightly vinegary kick, and everyone's loved it. Last year, my husband actually saw me put the ketchup in and was genuinely horrified. He's been eating this gravy for years and praising it, but now he insists it's wrong.

Starting point is 00:23:04 Obviously, I'm still doing it. So, first of all, is this a weird addition? Secondly, are there any other unexpected or slightly rogue things that you put into the gravy that can actually make it better? I love this. I feel like gravy is one of those slightly chefy secret things that you don't want to do with anyone watching because whatever you've cooked, whether it is meaty or vegetarian, or it's always going to taste slightly different with the juices you get off, the amount of juice, all that kind of thing. And I feel like it's the chef's prerogative to have a little taste and go, okay, that needs a little bit of sweetness or a little bit of sharpness. And ketchup is actually a really good ingredient because it's got that balance of sweetness, sharpness. It thickens things slightly. I've never actually put it in. I am feeling a little bit inspired. Something I do put in every Christmas is a bit of cranberry sauce. I sieve my gravy or I have one of these special jugs that has a strainy thing on top, which is great because it sieves out any of the lumps.

Starting point is 00:23:57 But I always put in a couple of spoonfuls of cranberry sauce because that adds the sweetness and it always works well with the turkey or whatever else you're having. and sometimes a bit of chestnut puree and then if it's not salty enough a little bit of marmite is a secret thing that I pop in but then again I feel like if my family actually watched me make it they'd be slightly horrified

Starting point is 00:24:15 because you have a taste bit more, that needs a bit more salt, bit of marmite oh that needs a bit more sweetness a bit more cranberry or a little bit of the water from boiling carrots is also a really lovely thing to add because it's got a little bit of sweetness got some of those soluble vitamins

Starting point is 00:24:29 which makes you feel virtuous but it makes a lovely gravy This is great. This is so good. I love the fact that in that family now, having given her really hard time about putting ketchup and she's now also going to be sneaking in a bit of marm, like, watch their faces then. You wait for her husband at that point. What outrage is this? It's like, hang on a second.

Starting point is 00:24:50 But great tips there. Cranberry sauce, though, that's a lovely idea because you get that sort of festive taste all the way through. Oh, Martha, you are spoiling us with these tips. We've had an email from Harvey. We are very much countryside people. so we have Christmas lunch early, usually around 1 o'clock rather than in the evening. My wife does an amazing Christmas lunch every year, and by the time we're settling down with the soaps around 7 o'clock, we normally just put out a casual buffet.

Starting point is 00:25:18 This year, I'd really like to make more of an effort in the evening as a way of saying thank you to my partner for all the work she's put into Christmas lunch. What are some nice ways to tart up Christmas leftovers into a proper light supper that still feels easy, but a bit special. Oh, this is so sweet. These questions are so good. Can I just say? They are so good. You're asking everything I want to know. I love the Christmas supper. It's better than the Christmas lunch, I think. And also, Christmas lunch at one, hats off to you. You're doing a great job there, getting that ready. Oh my God, respect. Wow. Major respect. I feel like a lot of the Christmas supper, for me, this is like a lot of cold cuts. So it's the turkey coming back out, the ham, coming back out, the pigs and blankets. If there's any

Starting point is 00:26:02 coming back out. And then it's a lot of it is how you present it, I think. So I think the way you can make your partner feel loved and celebrated for all of the hardware they put into the main deal is by making the leftovers look good. Because I think a lot of food is eating with your eyes. So making big platters out of things and adding little garnishes. So fresh herbs, get yourself some figs and some dried fruits and some nuts and maybe some olives. And then you can make one of those little nice grazing boards, which is quite practical when you've got a lot of people sitting down for supper and eating the cheese. But it also kind of respects each bit of the meal.

Starting point is 00:26:38 When people just get out all the Tupper works from the fridge, it doesn't feel very celebratory, does it. So it's quite nice to tart it up and then melted cheese. That's what I'm going to suggest again. Few more camemberes, maybe a little fondue, so you could dip all the bits in. I think that works really nicely and adds a little change of flavour. I mean, heaven.

Starting point is 00:26:57 And obviously, lushing is a bread sauce with all of this, whether it's Christmas lunch and then the Christmas supper as well. Oh, don't you start bread sauce. I only say this to wind up, Zoe. You guys love your bread sauce. Oh, are you not a bread sauce, Zoe? It's just the words, bread sauce makes me feel funny. No, but I tell you what, you can't move for condiments.

Starting point is 00:27:16 You cannot move for quince jellies and pickle lily. My brothers both make pickle lilies each year. They had a bit of a competition one year. Also, in our family, it's been a bit of a tradition on the ball side of the family to do pickled eggs. My granddad, Fred, used to make the pickled eggs and he's no longer with us. Then Uncle Paul make the pickled eggs and now my brother Nick makes them as well.

Starting point is 00:27:40 We used to consume quite a lot. Less so now because after a very heavy lunch you do get this quite a serious odour in the lounge after a while if people have eaten pickled eggs. But we do, I love all the pickles. Picklewornuts, pickled cabbage and the cheese is the spread.

Starting point is 00:27:58 Oh, that's how I prefer all that stuff. almost a Christmas lunch. That's my favourite bit, is the cheeses and the hams and the nibbly bits. I love all that side of it. We have another email, and this is from Pat. I'm very lucky to have a big extended family who tend to casually just drop in

Starting point is 00:28:16 during the week before Christmas and even in the days after. It's really lovely, obviously, but it does mean I need to have goodies on standby. I would love some ideas for things that can make in advance in either freeze or even store in a cupboard. It can't be the fridge, by the way,

Starting point is 00:28:29 because that's always absolutely rammed with the essentials. I know what you mean. Something sweet or savoury that works with a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Yeah, just a light spread that I can just whip out if somebody calls around unexpectedly. God, what do you do there? I always go for quiche, and not everybody likes quiche like I do. Oh, I like a quiche, but that is some epic hosting, isn't it?

Starting point is 00:28:49 She's just ready, ready to go, ready to have a few things to go from the freezer. Yeah. I appreciate that. I think for me, it's about things like sausage rolls, Either vegetarian sausage rolls I do them sometimes with like a stuffing mix inside like what was it, sage and onion or chestnut and cranberry stuffing inside the sausage, the puff pastry and you can store those frozen and then just bake them from frozen

Starting point is 00:29:13 which I think adds a lovely nice smell to your home and, you know, they're just really, it's nice knowing that they're done in the freezer and you can cut them, I often will freeze them as one big log and then you can either slice them into little canopy-sized ones or you can do more substantial ones if people are coming over for a bit of lunch. It can be a meal in its own right with a dollop of chutney

Starting point is 00:29:33 and a bit of greenery. For sweet things, oh, I'm thinking things like Tiffin. Christmas Tiffin never disappoints and it lasts for ages in a tin or things like Amaretti biscuits which are really soft and squidgy and again, they last well in a tin and they're kind of flour-free

Starting point is 00:29:50 so they kind of tick a lot of boxes for different people. What is Tiffin? Yeah, how do you make? your tiffin. What's going into your Christmas tiffin? What even is it? It's a bit like Rocky Road, but without the marshmallows and with like a very thick layer of chocolate on top, but it's a fridge cake, so it's really easy to make. You just kind of go for digestive biscuits. I chuck in things like cranberries and dried apricots and you can put raisins in, but some people feel a bit, kind of, you know,

Starting point is 00:30:15 there's a bit of a raisin debate that normally goes in in the family. It's like, oh, it's got raisins in it. But people tolerate cranberries better, I find. And then basically loads of butter and golden syrup and then you mix that all together until it forms like a nice mix, pat that into a tin, chill it and then top that with melted chocolate. And it just is a really delicious, caloric, but beautiful bite of Christmassy flavours. I do one sometimes I make it look like a little reindeer. You put some little pretzel ears and a few little eyes and then it makes it, you know, child-friendly as well. It's a good staple. Our final question is from Emma. We're hosting a Christmas Eve this year and I want to make

Starting point is 00:30:54 a cocktail that feels festive without immediately knocking everyone sideways before dinner. Yes, Nick Ball and your Nogronies and your Dirty Martini's. What are your go-to Christmas Eve cocktails? This is such a good question. Anything that feels special and Christmassy and ideally something I can batch, so I'm not stuck shaking cocktails all night. Not egg-knock, apparently. What a hideous concert.

Starting point is 00:31:21 This is a great. It's a great question. I've been sending my brother Nick we've been going back and forth with loads of different Christmas cocktails and we've got a selection of so many now we just want one really and you're so right you want something

Starting point is 00:31:34 that's festive and delicious but doesn't give everyone a horrific handover before the events even begun what are your suggestions Martha oh this is a great question I love the eggnog hatred I feel like eggs in cocktails are a bit controversial and people maybe don't realise

Starting point is 00:31:48 some of the other ones that there's a sneaky egg white because my favorite cocktail ever is an amaretto sour which is lots of lemon juice amaretto and then you put cherries and it tastes a bit like a, I feel like a Bakewell tart so that's my favourite but it does have an egg white in it and you shake it to get that lovely foam

Starting point is 00:32:05 and I feel like that freaks people out so maybe not the right suggestion for Helen for this question but I, for something a bit lighter that's a bit different with a slight Christmassy feel I love a white port tonic So instead of the usual red port you can get this port called chip dry white port which is slightly more fruity and a bit lighter

Starting point is 00:32:27 and then that with tonic and a slice of orange and a bit of rosemary you can't even do that fancy thing that I've seen on Instagram or TikTok where you freeze your glasses with a little bit of upside down rosemary in and it looks like a little Christmas tree then put your pour and it's a bit different to a gin and tonic nice and simple and people can self-serve which I think is takes the pressure off one person from standing there with the shaker all night.

Starting point is 00:32:51 I love that thing lots of people are doing is of the ice cubes with a bit of rosemary and some berries and some cranberries sort of frozen and I keep looking going yeah, I'm going to do those, I'm going to do those and I just have a sneaky feeling I might not get round to it.

Starting point is 00:33:08 I think if you could adopt one or two of these things then we're really going to impress our family and friends. I hope so. I'm all about easy cooking because I don't think that things need to be super chefy and complicated. I'm a home cook myself that's managed to accumulate a wonderful following for people who like easy, simple, achievable recipes. So hopefully there'll be a few little nuggets in there that help people out. Yeah, this is what we like and this is what we want. Martha, you're amazing. Yeah, thank you so much. Honestly. And you've made me feel really hungry, really like a fancy

Starting point is 00:33:38 drink and really festive Martha. And you're so lucky to have little ones. Christmas is so wonderful when there are little ones around. And I love my grown-up kids. But you do miss the little toddlers because the magic of Christmas with the little ones around. My nephew, Zach, is five. So he's the youngest in our clan at the moment. And he's very gorgeous. But yeah, enjoy it. Oh, thank you so much. You're going to have such a lovely Christmas. Thank you. Hope you both have a wonderful one with your families too. If you want more inspiration from Martha, her latest book, pull up a chair is out now wherever you get your books. It's full of effortless, unfussy recipes. designed to be shared. Special shout-out to double chocolate marmalade cookies. Yes, you're

Starting point is 00:34:21 looking your lips now, aren't you? Yes, please. And beautiful photographs as well, of course, shot by the delightful India Wiley Morton. Yay! We've popped the link to the book in the show notes. Thank you again, Martha, and we hope you have a really, really lovely break. Happy Christmas. Merry Christmas, Martha. Yeah, Merry Christmas. Bye. Merry Christmas. Digit is a Persephonica production.

Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 47: Martha Collison on Perfect Roasties and the Ultimate Christmas Gravy

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