Christmas in the kitchen: Jessica Murphy

Where will you be spending Christmas this year and with whom?
I'll be spending it at home in Galway with my husband Dave, my pug Gurtie and other Galway orphans.

What will be on the menu and who will be doing the cooking?
I'll be doing the cooking. We'll probably be having something like beer and cheese soup to start with, then wild pheasant with bread sauce, sherry gravy and spuds. For dessert I'll do a brown sugar pavlova with poached quinces.

Sprouts/bread sauce – yes or no?
Both, definitely.

How many will you be cooking for?
10 people.

Will there be music playing in the kitchen while you do the prep and if so who/what?
There's always music in the kitchen. For Christmas prep, is has to be Toto's greatest hits.

Crystal and china or kitchen table?
Definitely the kitchen table.

What bit of the Christmas celebrations do you most enjoy?
The gift of giving.

Is there anything about it that you don't enjoy or that you find a chore?
Answering a million phone calls from the family on how to cook a turkey.

What is your top tip for dealing with leftovers?
Making outrageous sandwiches.

Where was your most memorable Christmas spent?
Rottnest island in Australia. It was 45 degrees and we caught a 3.5kg crayfish

If you could spend it anywhere other than home this year, where would that be?
In my hometown of Hooks Bay in New Zealand with my family.

Jessica Murphy is the head chef and proprietor, with her husband David, of Kai Café Restaurant in Galway