Mary Berry's Christmas Collection
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As sure as it never snows on Christmas Day, you can guarantee that when Mary Berry brings out a book with 'Christmas' in the title it is going include recipes for the traditional feast and trimmings and maybe even a Christmas cake and Yule log
So not to disappoint, here we have Mary Berry's Christmas Collection, gathering together all her classic Christmas favourites in one comprehensive book.
It doesn't just contain these seasonal staples, with all the entertaining for friends and family that Christmas brings; Mary features a selection of vegetarian main courses, buffets and simple suppers for the whole holiday period, with cooking for larger groups in mind.
The real draw of this book is her step-by-step guide to preparing a Christmas meal for eight, which begins well before Christmas morning, with a shopping guide to buying the Christmas lunch ingredients and an extensive list of store cupboard essentials. So in the unlikely event of you being snowed in for the entire Christmas season, you won't have to rely on that family-sized tin of Quality Street for sustenance.
Mary suggests a countdown to the big day that begins a week in advance, with reorganising the fridge and filling the freezer. This is perfect for those of us who are more accustomed to flailing around the supermarket on Christmas Eve, getting into scraps with other customers over the last packet of smoked salmon. By the time the 25th arrives Mary will have you confident in the knowledge you can make a success of the vast cooking task ahead, because she will also have you up at 7.30am to put the turkey in.
The easy-to-follow guide to the actual cooking, which tells you when to start roasting the potatoes or why to cook the sprouts at the last minute, is invaluable. In fact it's the cookbook equivalent of having your Mum on the other end of the phone. Mary has obviously already factored in that her readers may not know which part of the turkey to carve first, and it's all here in her simple, instructive advice.
Possibly rather tongue in cheek, the book has a number of recipes for using up all that superfluous carved turkey - yes, if you are looking for that infamous Turkey Korma recipe its here, alongside Five-Spice Mango Turkey and Eastern Curry with Fruits.
Other highlights include some fabulous canapés, of which Roquefort and Pear Crostini, and Parmesan and Pistachio Nutters stand out. Other sure fire winners are the Roast Fillet of Pork with Cranberry and Madeira gravy, and Mary's seasonal twist on Bread and Butter pudding containing luxury mincemeat. For those of you with more time on your hands, you could try your hand at creating a classic Victorian Christmas cake from scratch; just make sure you have three days to soak that fruit!
And catering to all needs, Mary will please Aga owners with her adapted cooking times for each and every recipe. Appealing to the masses, The Christmas Collection is a superb buy for the novice cook, or anyone who likes their cook books instructional without assuming any prior culinary knowledge. Even those who think their Christmas fare is fantastic enough without any updating could do themselves a favour by taking a look. So this year have yourself a very Mary Christmas with Mary Berry's Christmas Collection.
It doesn't just contain these seasonal staples, with all the entertaining for friends and family that Christmas brings; Mary features a selection of vegetarian main courses, buffets and simple suppers for the whole holiday period, with cooking for larger groups in mind.
The real draw of this book is her step-by-step guide to preparing a Christmas meal for eight, which begins well before Christmas morning, with a shopping guide to buying the Christmas lunch ingredients and an extensive list of store cupboard essentials. So in the unlikely event of you being snowed in for the entire Christmas season, you won't have to rely on that family-sized tin of Quality Street for sustenance.
Mary suggests a countdown to the big day that begins a week in advance, with reorganising the fridge and filling the freezer. This is perfect for those of us who are more accustomed to flailing around the supermarket on Christmas Eve, getting into scraps with other customers over the last packet of smoked salmon. By the time the 25th arrives Mary will have you confident in the knowledge you can make a success of the vast cooking task ahead, because she will also have you up at 7.30am to put the turkey in.
The easy-to-follow guide to the actual cooking, which tells you when to start roasting the potatoes or why to cook the sprouts at the last minute, is invaluable. In fact it's the cookbook equivalent of having your Mum on the other end of the phone. Mary has obviously already factored in that her readers may not know which part of the turkey to carve first, and it's all here in her simple, instructive advice.
Possibly rather tongue in cheek, the book has a number of recipes for using up all that superfluous carved turkey - yes, if you are looking for that infamous Turkey Korma recipe its here, alongside Five-Spice Mango Turkey and Eastern Curry with Fruits.
Other highlights include some fabulous canapés, of which Roquefort and Pear Crostini, and Parmesan and Pistachio Nutters stand out. Other sure fire winners are the Roast Fillet of Pork with Cranberry and Madeira gravy, and Mary's seasonal twist on Bread and Butter pudding containing luxury mincemeat. For those of you with more time on your hands, you could try your hand at creating a classic Victorian Christmas cake from scratch; just make sure you have three days to soak that fruit!
And catering to all needs, Mary will please Aga owners with her adapted cooking times for each and every recipe. Appealing to the masses, The Christmas Collection is a superb buy for the novice cook, or anyone who likes their cook books instructional without assuming any prior culinary knowledge. Even those who think their Christmas fare is fantastic enough without any updating could do themselves a favour by taking a look. So this year have yourself a very Mary Christmas with Mary Berry's Christmas Collection.
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