James Martin's gravy and stuffing two ways
Last week James showed us how to get ahead with our Christmas cooking by making cranberry sauce, chilli jam and biscotti. Today, he's back in the kitchen and sharing his secrets to the perfect stuffing and gravy - which you can make now and freeze for the big day! He’ll be serving the gravy with his famous toad in the hole for tasting
Gravy two ways
Serves: 8 to 10
Ingredients
For the Yorkshire pudding
8 eggs
8oz plain flour
1 pint milk
100g beef dripping
For the toad in the Hole
6 slices of streaky bacon
6 large sausages
Mother’s gravy
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp veg oil
3 tbsp Bisto gravy granules
Water to mix
1 tbsp Marmite
1 tbsp Bovril
Restaurant gravy
1 onion sliced
1 tsp veg oil
100ml red wine
200ml beef jus
Knob of butter
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200c
2. Mix all the ingredients together for the Yorkshire puddings, cover in cling film, then chill in the fridge overnight
3. Wrap the bacon around the sausages. Place onto a roasting tray, then roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Add the dripping and pop back in the oven when hot. Pour over the Yorkshire pudding mix and bake for 45 minutes.
4. To make my mother’s gravy, fry the onion in oil until browned. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.
5. For the restaurant gravy, fry the onion in oil until brown and then add the wine. Bring to the boil then add the jus. Bring to the boil again, then reduce by half. Finish with the butter.
Stuffing 2 ways
Ingredients
1 onion, peeled
1 pack chestnuts, peeled
2 small bunches sage, chopped
1 orange, zest of
1 lemon, zest of
100g fresh breadcrumbs
2 eggs
To make into a meat version
250g sausagemeat
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Place the onion into a food processor and blitz until smooth
3. Tip into a bowl, then blitz the chestnuts and tip on top of the onion. Blitz the herbs and tip on top of the chestnuts.
4. Add all of the remaining ingredients and mix by hand
5. Roll into balls and pop onto a baking tray, drizzle in oil and bake for 20 minutes
6. To make the meat version, simply add the meat to the bread mix by hand form into balls and roast for 30 minutes