Christmas is coming! It’s so close, I can practically taste it. Well, to be strictly truthful, I’ve already tasted it this year as I decided to get my act together and get cooking so I could share my Christmas recipes in time for others to try them, rather than posting my usual round-up of what I did on Boxing Day.

Christmas Dinner is my most favourite meal of the year to cook and I am lucky that there has barely been a year since I left home at 18 when I didn’t get chance to cook most if not all of it myself (blimey, that’s 16 Christmases so far!!!).

The thing is, not everyone is fortunate enough to be surrounded by family and loved ones and it can be a really difficult time emotionally, not to mention how left out people can feel as most festive recipes feed an army.

Whilst I may not be able to fill your homes with loved ones, I can certainly help with the food conundrum! As it’s just the two of us here at the Apple Chapel, I wanted to show you how you can enjoy a proper, traditional Christmas Dinner without missing out on a roast turkey and all of the trimmings. Over the course of the next week, I’m going to share my recipes to help you plan your own mini Christmas feast.

Christmas Dinner

Starting with my Ten Minute Cranberry Sauce. This is the easiest thing on the menu to make and you can make it up to 3 weeks ahead, as long as you store it in a sterile jar in the fridge. (By sterile, I mean a glass jar ran through the hot cycle on the dishwasher and filled whilst still warm; don’t put your fingers inside to prevent contaminating it with your commensal skin bugs!).

This will make enough to use as a condiment on the day, as part of the stuffing for the turkey and give plenty for leftover turkey and stuffing sandwiches. You can freeze it if you don’t think you’ll make it through the lot within a month of festive eating. I’ve got a recipe coming up after the Christmas ones to use any you’ve not got through so watch this space.

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Ten Minute Cranberry Sauce
A glistening ruby red cranberry sauce with just enough sweetness to counter the tang of the berries.The Cointreau and clementines compliment the tang of the berries beautifully. Just use extra clementine juice if you don't want to add the alcohol.
: 870 kcal
Author: Just Jo
Ingredients
  • 300 g fresh cranberries
  • 125 g caster sugar
  • 50 ml Cointreau
  • Zest and juice of two clementines
  • 50 ml water
Instructions
  1. Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring up to a bubble on a medium high heat.
  2. Stirring frequently to prevent it catching on the base of the pan, crush the cranberries against the sides of the pan to help them pop and as soon as there are no whole berries left, it's ready.
  3. Pour into a sterile jar and seal if not using immediately and store in the fridge once cold.
Recipe Notes

Cranberries are a super rich source of pectin so whilst the sauce is very runny when hot, it sets solid.
Keeps in the fridge for 3 weeks or you can freeze for up to 3 months.

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