Sweets treats and leftovers

FOOD: Make a turkey tortilla instead of a sandwich and keep the treats flowing with a new take on crème brûlée

ONE EASY, PEASYsuggestion for an alternative Christmas dessert is to brush some panettone with melted butter, sprinkle with Demerara sugar, grill it until slightly caramelised and then serve with a blob of crème brûlée ice cream. It has been adapted from a Rick Stein recipe and is so rich and delicious that you can only eat a small amount of it.

I love crème brûlée, but unless you have a blow torch at home, they just don’t work under the grill. Sorry, but I think they are a dessert to be enjoyed in a restaurant and not at home, unless you like eating slightly crunchy, scrambled-eggy custard. However, this recipe worked without a blow-torch as the eventual aim is to make ice cream rather than crème brûlée, so once you freeze the custard down a bit, it’s safe to brûlée under your grill and then re-freeze before smashing it up a bit, so that the shards of caramel are mixed through.

The chocolate bars are adapted from a recipe by London chef and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi, and would be absolutely fabulous served with coffee as a kind of rich, Christmassy truffle cake.

Even though it’s a grim notion, you’re going to have to do something with your turkey and ham leftovers. Every year, I sob my heart out with the sheer frustration of trying to come up with something edible.

My first suggestion is rather unoriginal: make sambos, but I do appreciate that the appeal of sandwiches wanes after 48 hours of constant grazing. This tortilla was a bit of an experiment that didn’t go awry and ended up being one of the tastiest things we cooked on the day. I’m already looking forward to making these, drawing the curtains, turning on the telly in search of a James Bond flick, and scoffing them with a beer in hand. dkemp@irishtimes.com

See also itsa.ie

Cinnamon and brown sugar crème brûlée ice cream

Serves 4-6

200ml milk

375ml cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Good pinch cinnamon

5 egg yolks

120g caster sugar

2-3 tbsp Demerara sugar

In a non-stick saucepan, heat the milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon until just coming to the boil. Take off the heat. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until thick, pale and creamy. Whisk in the cream and milk. Wash out the non-stick saucepan and pour the custard mixture back into the clean, non-stick saucepan and heat very gently until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Pour into a shallow gratin dish and when cooled down to room temperature, put it in the fridge overnight. An hour before you want to brûlée it, put the gratin dish in the freezer. Sprinkle with the Demerara sugar and grill until caramelised and deep golden brown. Freeze for at least a few hours and smash up with a fork and then re-freeze for another couple of hours.

Chocolate and chestnut bar

Makes 9-12 squares

190g digestive biscuits

90g melted butter

225g dark chocolate

150g butter

3 eggs

45g caster sugar

120g cooked, peeled chestnuts, chopped

120g dried figs, finely chopped

120g white chocolate, chopped

Pre-heat an oven to 150 degrees/gas two. Line a 20cm square brownie tin with baking paper. Crush the digestives in a food processor or sealed plastic bag, and mix with the melted butter. Press the biscuit mixture into the base of the tin and chill. Melt the dark chocolate and butter in a bowl over barely simmering water. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and caster sugar, until pale and creamy. Fold the melted chocolate, chestnuts, figs and white chocolate into the whisked egg and sugar mix. Pour into the baking tin and bake for about 20 minutes. A skewer should come out gooey rather than clean, if inserted. Chill overnight, then remove from the tin and cut into squares. They last a few days wrapped in cling film in the fridge.

Christmas tortillas

Serves 4-6

225g cooked turkey, finely chopped

225g cooked ham, finely chopped

1 x 250g pot crème fraiche

200g white cheddar, grated

Salt and pepper

Good few splashes Tabasco sauce

4-6 flour tortillas

Melted butter

In a large bowl, mix the turkey, ham, crème fraiche, cheese, plenty of black pepper and some Tabasco sauce. Mix well and taste. You may not need any salt as the ham and cheddar are quite salty. Brush two tortillas with some melted butter and place, buttered side down on a baking tray. Spoon half the mixture onto each one, spread it out and then top with another tortilla. Brush the top side of the tortilla with melted butter and when ready to cook them, bake at 170 degrees/gas mark three for 20-30 minutes until they are golden brown. Cool slightly before cutting into slices and serving with the dip and salsa below.

Avocado dip

3 avocados, mashed with a fork

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Juice of 2 lemons

Salt and pepper

Mix everything together and season well, adding some Tabasco sauce if you like.

Chilli tomato salsa

2 punnets cherry tomatoes, chopped

1 small red onion, peeled and diced

2 tsp sweet chilli sauce

Bunch coriander, roughly chopped

Juice of 2 limes

Salt and pepper

Mix everything together and season well.