Sides take centre stage

Why the sides will always be my favourite bit of Christmas and week three of my gift guide

Hi and welcome to my newsletter a celebration of cooking, vegetables and life. It’s great to have you here. If you have found yourself here but are not yet subscribed then you can sort that out below….

My cookbooks (there are five) are available here. The latest is Easy Wins - a Sunday Times bestseller. There are hundreds of free recipes on my website which you can find here.

If you are someone who, like me, doesn’t like thinking about Christmas until December 1st then I offer my sincerest apologies. I know this festive recipe showing up in your inbox in November might feel early, annoying and too organised. I see you. But we are in the minority. A lot of people like to start thinking about their festive dinners long before December. So in an attempt to be helpful, organised, grown up and useful my festive recipes have already been coming for a few weeks and I have to say it feels nice to be thinking ahead, uncharacteristic but calming.

It was so good to see my new Squash and chestnut Parmigiana on so many Thanksgiving tables yesterday. Happy Thanksgiving to you if you were celebrating. You can find that recipe here. It's what I’m making for the middle of my table this Christmas.

I’ve said it many times before but it bears repeating that, to me, the sides (aka the vegetables) are what makes Christmas dinner. The fact that ‘sides’ are called ‘sides’ feels throw away and is not fair on how excellent they are. It comes from a culture that values putting meat at the centre of any celebration (on which I have lots of thoughts but no judgment). You know that's not how it goes in my house. Whatever you put in the middle of your table, the right combination of sides is what makes your dinner great.

Each side has to fulfil its purpose. Sides fit into roughly into three camps. Crunchy and crispy - roast potatoes, roast parsnips, anything golden and crisp. Creamy and generous - mashed potato, gratins, cauliflower cheese. And fresh and bright - red cabbage, sautéed sprouts, radicchio salad, Christmas slaw.

Side nirvana comes when you pick one side from each of these camps. Usually, I also add something raw like salad or slaw. Three or four sides is the sweet spot. Any more will be hard to juggle for whoever is cooking, any less and it’s just not Christmas dinner. Choose, then do three things with care and attention - way better than five average sides.

A caveat - when I talk about sides I am not also talking about sauces - for me that’s cranberry, bread sauce and gravy. I see these as a category all of their own and they are non-negotiable. If making the cranberry and bread sauce feels too much then buy them - there are some really good ones around. My make-ahead, roasted veg gravy recipe is here.

I’m putting all my attention on these three sides this year; Roast potatoes - crispy and crunchy. Red cabbage - fresh and bright and confit garlic cauliflower cheese - creamy and generous. And cauliflower cheese brings richness, and its creamy sauce brings the whole plate of food together.

To me, no festive dinner is worth the plate it's put on without roast potatoes. I have given you a loose recipe, more like my golden rules for the best potatoes around, follow them and you will have golden potatoes with craggy crispy edges. The crunch will be audible and everyone will be happy. Make more than you need. A leftover roast potato is just about the best leftover. I eat them cold.

Red cabbage always surprises me as the bit of my dinner that I enjoy the most. This red cabbage is a best-of all the cabbage recipes I have made over the years. It's got 2 types of vinegar which bring the (mellow) acidity, lots of lemon (sorry no orange for me) and no red wine (I prefer that in my wine glass). It is the red cabbage I will make forever. It's topped with some very easy maple pumpkin seeds because they sparkle like the snowy branches of a Christmas tree but they could be skipped for a more traditional take.

And cauliflower cheese brings richness, and its creamy sauce brings the whole plate of food together. The cauliflower cheese deserves a place on every Christmas table. It's a recipe I make throughout the comfort food/gratin months. The sometimes hard-to-love Cauliflower becomes the best thing on the table. Golden-topped, rich, saucy. I often eat it with a winter salad or chilli and lemon greens. But it works so well on the Christmas table. It's pretty much the only dish I will make a bechamel for.

This works with non-dairy butter, oat milk and vegan cheese, for anyone in the UK I’m keen on the “I am nut ok” brand of vegan cheese at the moment. Also remember that not all cheese is vegetarian so if that is important to you then make sure you check.

I have made a video for you of all three sides it includes twinkly music and emphatic arm gestures. And the recipes are on my (new) website so this newsletter is not too long. On the website, there are some new things I am proud of, like the ability to toggle between cups and grams, tick-boxes for when you have added an ingredient and a step-by-step view which isolates the ingredients for that step so it's easier to cook from. I hope it's useful to you - it's been a labour of love and all the recipes are free for everyone.

Week three of my festive gift guide (with discounts for you)

• Table linens that remind us of spring in the depth of winter (discount below)*

• A Hackney hamper from local Hackney Essentials (discount below)*

• I’m eagerly awaiting Andrea’s ceramic stock update on the 1st (discount below)*

• London Borough of Jam is a local favourite (discount below)*

• These alternative stocking shapes make me want to get sewing

• Casa De Folklore’s rippled serving plates, handmade in Romania (discount below)*

• An evening of winter wreath making and ribbons

• The gift of perfectly seasoned suppers from Halen Môn (discount below)*

• These SZ Blockprint napkins will be on festive my table (discount below)*

• I’m not sure how to choose between these scarves (discount below)*

• Glittering Christmas ornaments and a traditional Polish nativity scene (discount below)*

• Not much makes a cook happier than a hamper, or this one, or this one…

• Carefully crafted in Cornwall by Francli, very special bags (discount below)*

• Botivo and tonic is a favourite early evening drink at my house (discount below)*

• Easy Wins is £13.99 this weekend, a very useful discount

(discount below)* = As an extra bit of festive cheer for my paid subscribers I have some generous discount codes for some of my favourite places to shop - stuff I will be giving to my family. They are for paid subscribers, so if that’s you then you will see them below the recipe, there will be more discounts in the next few newsletters. Sign up to support my work and get them all.