RECOMMENDATIONS

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  Courgette Christmas candles

  Serve your guests these stunning looking guilt-free morsels from the Vegetarian Society

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  Irish stew

  Myrtle Allen’s Irish stew – that classic combination of lamb and potatoes – tastes even better if you make it the day before

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  Hot toulouse sausages with a tomato, caper and shallot salad

  Seriously meaty, these delectable sausages go down a treat with Rick Stein's refreshingly light salad

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  Carrot cake

  James Martin's lusciously moist carrot cake is sandwiched with velvety orange-liqueur whipped cream and drizzled with orange liqueur icing

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  Christmas pudding

  Nigel Slater's delicious Christmas pudding has the seedy crunch of figs, a sparkle from hand-cut peel and a slight tartness from the apricots and orange zest

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  Floating islands with rhubarb compote

  Rachel Humphrey, head chef at Le Gavroche, makes a delicious dessert of crisp meringues floating on crème anglaise with a vivid sauce

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  Poached chicken salad with pomegranate molasses

  A pomegranate dressing gives a beautiful sweet-tart flavour to Sophie Grigson’s chicken salad

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  Latkes with bacon and apple sauce

  Lindsey Bareham makes sweet-savoury potato cakes with crisp bacon and a tart apple sauce

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  Chicken in a jar

  Paul Bloxham serves a dramatic dinner party dish of chicken cooked in a preserving jar with a deluxe salsa verde and crisp slices of French sourdough bread

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  Baked beans balti

  It's time to give baked beans a makeover with Manju Mahli's simple Indian flourish