A staggering 40 per cent of what we buy at Christmas gets thrown in the bin. Not if Jamie has anything to do with it. He's determined to make the most of festive fare this Christmas
Roast turkey
First up it's the turkey roast and Jamie insists it's just a case of mastering a few basic principles that are the same whatever the bird. Firstly rub a little olive oil into the skin with some salt and pepper. Then stuff pork, sage and nutmeg loosely in the bird to allow lots of air in. Pop a flavour bomb of clementine and rosemary inside then place it all in the oven.
Leftover turkey salad
So you've made the most of your delicious turkey. What about the leftovers?
"They may look uninspiring," says Jamie, "but don't throw them away." Instead he makes two piles, one with white meat and stuffing and the other with brown meat.
Time for a Asian-inspired turkey salad…
Jamie adds the brown meat to cashew nuts, sour cranberries, five-spice and mint. "Give it love," he says, gently shaking the pan. "Every good salad needs a good dressing," says Jamie and this one is no exception. Clementine, pomegranate, lime, red onion, olive oil, soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger all go in to this sensational sauce. "Dress that little baby up then give it an edge with two little friends of mine," adds Jamie, "pomegranate and chilli." Chilli is Jamie's best friend, apparently, and he folds it up with the mixture into a crispy pancake. "That is a winner."
Mulled wine
"Most people ruin mulled wine," says Jamie, optimistically. Luckily he's on hand to show us how. He takes some sugar, the zest of a clementine, zest of a lemon, zest of a lime, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, nutmeg and vanilla and bubbles it all up to make a syrup. After setting a little of the syrup to one side he chucks in a couple of bottles of red wine and leaves it to 'infuse like a cup of tea'.
"If you put rubbish red wine in it will taste rubbish," warns Jamie, "but don't go for anything super expensive, go half decent." When it's ready he adds a little of the reserved syrup and tucks in. "By separating the syrup at start you don't have to over boil the wine - and you haven't cooked all the alcohol away," explains Jamie with a wink.
Christmas ham
There's a pair of piggy dishes on the menu in the Oliver household this Christmas as Jamie and Gennaro go to work on some Christmas hams. First up is Gennaro with some Italian style porchetta. "I love a chicken liver," sings Gennaro as he prepares his stuffing. "Rock and rolla."
Next it's over to Jamie who's come over all Jamaican with a jerk ham dish. "When you look at the spice list of a West Indian jerk recipe it's basically a mulled wine recipe," says Jamie. "Look at the recipe instead of the name."
It's time for the boys to taste each others recipes and their mouths are moist. "Oh my Lord," groans Jamie. "What we've done is gone to Jamaica and back then we go to Italy, it's just Christmas all over." Buon Natale.
Truffles
But Christmas isn't all about mammoth feasting; Jamie's also got tips for the subtler side of eating and entertaining. Take truffles for instance…
"If you put this tray down on the table at the end of the night," says Jamie cradling a plate of boozy truffle mixture, cocoa powder, ground nuts, biscotti and water, "people will talk about it." The idea is to get your guests to roll their own truffles as after dinner entertainment. "Think of it like posh Nutella," suggests Jamie "everyone buys truffles; to do your own is pretty cool."
Next up – frozen grapes and after popping the fruit in the freezer for a couple of hours Jamie's left with sorbet like pulp. "Get a couple of friends together," he suggests. "Good quality chocolate, Grappa, a little game of cards… anyone who does that understands food." He's even rustles up some baked figs to jazz up the cheese board.
Turkey and leek pie
Time for some more turkey and this time Jamie's rustling up some sweet turkey pie. "A lot of people think pies are laborious," admits Jamie, "but the stewing part is already done, so you've only really got half the work to do."
Jamie cooks up some leeks, smoked bacon, thyme, olive oil, butter salt and pepper and reduces them for 30 minutes until they're creamy and melt in mouth.
On to the pastry and Jamie is doing a Delia. "The last thing I'm going to do at Christmas is make puff pastry," he groans. "If you buy half decent all butter puff pastry, it's great stuff." If it's good enough for Jamie it's good enough for us.
But not content with a humble crust Jamie gives it a little tweak by adding some chestnuts and sage. Delicious served with peas and turkey gravy.
Popcorn
"If you don't put loads of sugar on it, popcorn's quite a healthy snack for kids," says Jamie. Time to tear them away from the selection box and get popping. First he cooks up some Christmas sugar with lemon, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange, vanilla pods and sugar. But the little monkey has a trick up his sleeve. Ever the Christmas jester Jamie has sneaked some chilli flakes into the mix to give Gennaro a spicy surprise.
They heat the corn, toss in the sugar and get stuck in…well Gennaro does, and is soon reaching for the wine as his mouth begins to tingle. Oh Jamie, you big tease.
Christmas sundae
Jamie's last tip is for leftover Christmas pudding, which he wants to turn into a Christmas sundae. First he fries up the pud in a pan like bubble and squeak then adds it to a glass with cranberry sauce, red wine, ice cream, toasted almonds and chocolate. Delicious.
"This is the last reminder of Christmas," says Jamie with a sigh. "By the time you've eaten this you're going to have to wait another year." Well at least we've got enough ideas to be going on with.
Hungry for more Christmas recipes? Check out what Hugh and Willie are up to.
When Jamie isn't improving school dinners, he's busy cooking delicious fresh food
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Watch Jamie do his stuff again, free, with 4oD
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