Downsize your Christmas dinner

• Nutty herbed cream cheese salad with smoked salmon
• Duck breasts with cranberry salsa
• Individual root vegetable Röstis
• Sticky toffee puddings with caramel brandy sauce

RECIPES

Herbed cream cheese salad with smoked salmon
Serves 2

For a rich but easy starter, mix 1 tbsp each freshly chopped chives and parsley and about 1 tsp dill into half a tub of mascarpone cheese. Finely chop 50g smoked salmon and fold through the herb and cheese mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Lay some fancy salad leaves on 2 plates and drizzle over some fresh lemon juice. Take a teaspoonful of the cheese and make tiny quenelles by scooping the cheese between two spoons until you have a rugby ball shape. Dot the salad leaves with the quenelles and serve with Melba toast.

Individual root vegetable Röstis
Serves 2

For the röstis, fry a chopped small onion gently until soft. Meanwhile, peel and grate 1 parsnip, 1 carrot, about a quarter of a medium size swede and 1 baking potato. You can do this by hand on a coarse cheese grater or with the grater attachment on a food processor. Add the softened onion to the vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Heat a little butter in the frying pan while you ‘build’ the rösti. If you have special chefs rings, use them, otherwise use an empty, washed small can of tuna fish with the top and bottom taken off with a can opener. Place on a board or plate and press the vegetable mixture firmly into the ring so it is about 2.5cm thick. Slide a metal spatula or fish slice under the ring and carefully lay it in the hot pan. Lift off the ring and repeat until all of the röstis are shaped and cooking. Don’t move them until they have had a good 6-8 minutes cooking over a medium heat. Carefully turn them over and cook on the other side.

Spicy duck breasts with cranberry sauce
Serves 2

2 duck breasts
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
salt

For the Cranberry Salsa
150g fresh or frozen cranberries
2 tbsp sugar
juice of half an orange
pinch ground cinnamon

1. Use a sharp knife to score diamond shapes in the skin of the duck, taking care not to cut into the flesh. Mix together the spices and rub into the skin.
2. Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
3. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat and lay the duck breasts skin-side down (you won’t need any oil) and fry for about 4-5 minutes until the fat has melted from the skin and turned a golden brown.
4. Transfer to a roasting tin, skin side up, and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on size. They are best served slightly pink in the middle.
5. While the duck is roasting, place the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Cover and heat until the cranberries begin to pop and wilt, stirring occasionally. The sauce should be juicy but chunky.
6. When the duck breasts are done, allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing to serve. Place two root vegetable röstis in the middle of the plate, fan the duck slices around and spoon over the cranberry sauce.