trimmings

Christmas dinner wouldn't be the same without a bit on the side. Peter Gordon cooks up little extras that will make any festive feast a huge success I was wondering what treats to get you to cook for Christmas, when it occurred to me that it would be pointless telling you how to prepare the traditional main courses, so I've decided to concentrate on the side dishes.

A fun feast demands the right accompaniments, an exotic array of side dishes to complement the meal. So rather than give you a recipe to cook a piece of a juicy duck, turkey, leg of lamb, pork shoulder and the like, I want you to spend time making the extras that will make your last Christmas dinner of the 20th century a memorable one. The pudding, by the way, looks really full on. It is.

Smoked salmon, dill and mascarpone nori roll Toasted nori, Japanese in origin, is what usually comes wrapped around your sushi. Here it's teamed with something Scottish. Serve this as a canape, sliced thin, or in bigger chunks as a starter.

Serves four to six 200g mascarpone or cream cheese half cup chopped dill 2 pinches of salt half teaspoon cracked black pepper - sheets of toasted nori seaweed - large thin slices of smoked salmon (about 300g in total) Mix the mascarpone with the dill, salt and pepper. Lay a sheet of the nori on a board and lay a slice of the salmon on top covering about three-quarters of the sheet - you may need to trim it somewhat. Spread with a quarter of the cheese mixture, leaving a 3cm border at the end furthest from you. Roll up tightly, sealing the edge with a little cold water brushed on, then leave to rest for a minute sitting on the 'seam', before cutting up.

Cornish-style roast turnips One Christmas, about five years ago, I hired a cottage in Cornwall with some friends. Down the road was a paddock bursting with turnips that were literally being squeezed from the frozen ground in the cliffs above the sea. This is one of the ways we dealt with them. You can roast an assortment of root vegetables in a similar way.

Serves four to six 600g medium sized white turnips, skins scrubbed, cut into chunks 2 medium red onions, peeled and quartered quarter cup mixed fresh 'hard' herbs, ie rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme 50ml extra virgin olive oil 50g butter salt and pepper Heat the oven to 200C. Mix all of the above together and place in a roasting dish just large enough to hold everything. Add one cup water, then cover with foil and roast for one hour. Take the lid off and continue roasting until the vegetables begin to caramelise.

Redcurrant and cherry sauce for the Christmas roast Make this up to a week in advance and keep it in the fridge. Serve it with the big feast and savour the flavours. I especially like it with roast duck or pork.

Serves four to six 100g caster sugar 50ml orange juice zest of one orange finely julienned 200g redcurrants, off the stem 200g pitted cherries 80ml red wine vinegar 1 red chilli, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 1 bay leaf Place the sugar and juice in a pan and bring to boil, stir until sugar dissolves. Cook on a high heat until the sugar caramelises, then add zest and fruit. Stir well and cook for two minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and rapidly simmer for five minutes, until sauce thickens. Pour into a sterilised jar and seal. Place in fridge once cooled.

Grilled mango and coconut sandwich with caramelised banana cream There are many steps in the making of this dish, but it will make a great ending to your dinner party if you want to impress. All the steps in themselves are really quite simple, it's in the assemblage that it begins to look complicated.

For the coconut wafers:

Serves four to six 200g dessicated coconut 270g caster sugar 60g flour 240g egg whites 100g melted butter Preheat the oven to 180C. Mix the first three ingredients in a bowl and stir in the egg whites. Lastly, stir in the butter and leave to sit for 30 minutes. Lay non- stick baking paper on baking trays, or lightly grease them, and dollop a dessert-spoon full on the tray, spread it out to the shape of your mango, adding a bit more if needed, but you want this wafer quite thin. Make 12 wafers, leaving 3cm between each one, then bake until golden brown. Once cooked, leave to cool for 30 seconds before removing from the tray and placing on a cake rack to completely cool.

This mixture will make more than you need, but it will keep in the fridge for a week, and the cooked wafers will keep in an airtight jar for two weeks.

For the caramelised banana cream:

150g caster sugar 20ml water 1 large ripe banana, peeled and cut into 1cm chunks 30ml lemon juice 400ml whipping cream Bring the sugar and water to boil, then cook without stirring until it caramelises. Once it begins to give off a caramel aroma, carefully but quickly add the banana pieces and lemon juice. Stir carefully, as it will be viciously hot and may splatter, then cook for one and a half minutes on high heat, mashing the bananas as you go. Take off heat and leave to cool, then place in fridge until needed. To finish, whisk the cream until soft peaks form, then add the banana mixture and whip until fairly stiff. It will keep in the fridge for up to two hours.

For the grilled mango:

2 medium to large ripe mangoes, peeled 100g demerara sugar Cut the two lobes from the stone of each mango using a sharp knife. Lay these on a board, cut side down, and cut in half horizontally. Place on an oiled foil-lined baking tray and sprinkle the demerara sugar on top. Place under a grill, about 3-5cm from the heat, and cook until the sugar caramelises and the mango begins to colour. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

To assemble, place a small teaspoon of the cream on each of four plates and sit one wafer on top. Place an eighth of the cream on each wafer and smooth it out, then sit the flatter pieces of mango on top. Sit a wafer on these and again spread some banana cream on top, sit the rounded piece of mango on top and balance the last wafers on top. Sometimes, I serve creme fraiche on the side with this dish, as its sharpness complements the richness in the dessert.

Coffee pistachio chocolate truffles 300g dark chocolates 100ml very strong espresso, chilled 100ml double cream, straight from the fridge 250g lightly toasted pistachio nuts, roughly chopped melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over apot of simmering water, then remove from the heat. Mix the coffee with the cream and pour over the chocolate, stirring well. Mix in half the nuts, then leave to cool until it becomes quite firm. Take marble sized lumkps and roll in the remaining nuts, making sure they don't look too perfect or smooth. These will keep in the fridge for up to one month.

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