Seasoned campaigner (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Seasoned campaigner

3:15pm Tuesday 16th November 2010 in Food & Wine By Sally Clifford

Christmas is coming and we’re already feeling the pressure. We have a year to plan for the festive season, when families get together and celebrate, yet we feel the strain of making sure everything goes perfectly on the day.

With presents to buy and so much preparation, it’s no wonder Christmas is considered to be one of the most stressful times of the year.

Expectations are high and there’s nothing more daunting than cooking Christmas dinner. There’s always the option of booking a table in a restaurant for Christmas dinner, but the costs can be steep. So why not learn the hassle-free way of preparing a festive feast?

John Rudden has come up with the perfect solution – a Christmas cookery class. The chef and proprietor of Grassington House Hotel in the picturesque village of Grassington, North Yorkshire, is running the classes on December 7 and 14 to teach people how to avoid getting stressed over the stove.

John came up with the idea after giving tips to diners who often ask his advice. Since running his first cookery class last year, he has gone on to host ten more. The course, called Effortless Entertaining, sold out before he’d even released the date!

John appreciates the importance of cooking a Christmas feast but he also realises that families want to spend time together instead of toiling away in the kitchen.

He believes that preparation is the key ingredient to putting on a good spread without too much stress. “Christmas dinner for the family is the biggest meal of the year,” he says. “You’re all sitting down, it’s the one day when you all get together and the last thing you want is to have a disastrous Christmas lunch. You want to be showing off a little bit of what you can do.”

He says people who have been on his Christmas cookery course before have told him he changed the way they cook.

One of his tips is how to bone out turkey legs. The legs are tied with string and cooked at the side of the bird, reducing cooking time. Cooking the bird slowly reduces shrinkage and makes it juicier too.

Other short-cuts include pre-prepping vegetables and sauces and storing them in containers in the fridge so you’re not wasting time later when you could be entertaining your guests.

John’s expertise comes from experience. Washing up in a restaurant near his Skipton home whetted his appetite to pursue cooking as a profession.

Spending two years at the Old Swan in Harrogate gave him an excellent grounding. His culinary journey took him to Devon and to the Chester Grosvenor, owned by the Duke of Westminster. John takes great pride in the fact that the restaurant earned its Michelin star while he was part of the team.

When he joined, the kitchen had just undergone a £1 million make-over. “I joined a brigade of 40. I’d never worked anywhere that big. I realised at 19 I had started to learn to cook,” he says.

John reached the finals of several culinary competitions and got the opportunity to spend a week with renowned chef Pierre Koffman in the kitchens of La Tante Claire in London.

Throughout his time at the Chester Grosvenor, John became accustomed to cooking elaborate meals.

Back in his home county of Yorkshire, people are renowned for being thrifty – some simply wouldn’t consider spending £50 on a main course.

With that in mind, John wanted to cook quality dishes which were affordable for customers. Being head-hunted to work at the renowned Angel at Hetton in the Dales gave him the opportunity. “It was a fantastic move for me,” he says.

John spent two years as a sous chef there before being head-hunted by the White Hart in Saddleworth where he became involved in a refurbishment, helping to design the kitchen.

The offer of a partnership followed. “We built the business from a turnover of £200,000 to in excess of £2 million,” says John proudly.

John earned the title of Chef of the Year and the White Hart was also named Pub of the Year in magazine awards.

Fifteen years later John turned 40 and, with their daughter reaching school age, he and his wife decided to seek a new challenge which would fit around family life.

“We decided to look at various places and came up with Grassington House,” he says.

The couple took it over in July 2008 and closed briefly for refurbishment. The transformation is stylish yet traditional – very much the ethos for the food produced here.

Meals are based on a traditional menu, embracing a modern and European slant. Locally-sourced organic whitebait, salmon and slow roast rare breed belly pork produced from John’s own pigs are just some of the dishes he and his team prepare.

It’s a real family affair too. John’s wife, Sue, helps out in the business and their six-year-old daughter Jessica is involved. Eggs from her ducks help create a multitude of culinary delights!

“I just enjoy using really good produce and serving it well and simply, not over-complicating it, giving it respect and making sure customers enjoy it,” says John.

Christmas recipes from John

Christmas Stuffing

(Serves 8)

Ingredients: 10 dried apricots chopped; 8 pitted prunes chopped; ½ chopped onion; 4 leaves of sage; 1 clove of garlic crushed; 1/2pt gravy – reduced stock; 1lb pork mince – not too lean; 1 dessert spoon of parsley.

Method: Cook the onions in a pan with a little oil & butter, add garlic, and mix together all other ingredients. Season with salt & pepper.

Roll in double layered cling film – poach steam for approx 30 mins until cooked. Cool – this can be frozen.

To serve – remove from cling film – place on tray and grill until golden brown 5 mins approx. Serve with bacon rolls on top.

Roast grouse bourguignonne

(1 grouse per person – tied with string)

Bourguignonne sauce ingredients – per person: 3 baby onions; 4 lardons of cured bacon; 2 button mushrooms cut into quarters; 30ml red wine; 2 thin garlic slivers; 125 brown meat stock; 1 teaspoon chopped parsley.

Method: Heat a pan, add a drizzle of oil and a knob of butter. Add onions, lardons & mushrooms until lightly coloured.

Add garlic – cook for 1-2 mins, deglaze the pan with the red wine. Reduce – add stock. Simmer for 4-5 mins. To serve add chopped parsley.

Roast grouse: Heat oven to 180°. Heat a pan – add a drizzle of oil – season grouse with salt & pepper.

Place grouse in the pan on their side, cook in the oven for 4 minutes then turn onto the other side for four minutes and then on it’s back for 4 minutes Remove from oven and rest

Braised cabbage

(Serves 4)

Ingredients: 1 Savoy cabbage sliced thin; 1 onion chopped; 50g butter.

Method: Heat a pan – add a drizzle of oil, add butter, onions & cabbage & season with salt & pepper. Stir , cover with a lid and cook slowly for 5-6 mins – taste and check for soft cabbage. Serve or cool for later.

Red Currant Jelly

Ingredients: 1lb red currants fresh or frozen; 1lb sugar; 1 bayleaf; Zest of 1/4 orange; 1/5 pint of orange juice; 1/3 cinnamon stick.

Method: Bring all the ingredients to the boil – simmer slowly until a glossy quite thick mixture. Remove from heat. Cool and store in the fridge.

Christmas pudding

(Serves 8/10)

Ingredients: 20z self raising flour; 4 oz shredded suet; 8 oz soft dark brown sugar; 4 oz sultanas; 4 oz raisins; 10 oz currants; 1 oz almonds skinned and chopped; 1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped; 1 oz mixed candied peel finely chopped; Grated zest 1/2 large orange; Grated zest 1/2 large lemon; 2 tbs rum; 2 ½ fl oz barley wine; 2 1/2 fl oz stout; 2 large eggs; 4 oz white breadcrumbs; 1 level tsp ground mixed spice; 1/4 tsp nutmeg; 1/4 tsp cinnamon.

Method: Mix very thoroughly together flour, suet, breadcrumbs, spices and sugar. Add dried fruit, nuts, mixed peel, followed by the apple, grated orange and lemon zests.

In a separate bowl measure out the rum, barley wine & stout, then add the 2 eggs and beat together Pour this over the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.

The mixture should have a fairly sloppy texture, if needed add a little more stout. Cover the bowl and leave overnight Next day – pack the mixture in a lightly greased basin and cover with baking parchment and a sheet of foil and tie securely with string.

Place the pudding in a steamer set over a saucepan of simmering water and steam for 8 hours. Keep an eye on the water and keep topping it up with boiling water from time to time.

When the pudding is steamed let it go quite cold and remove from steamer. Keep in a cool place.

To cook: Fill a saucepan with boiling water, put it on heat, place a steamer on top of the pan and turn down to gentle simmer, put the Christmas pudding in the steamer and cover, leave for 2¼ hours To serve: remove pudding from steamer and take off the wrapping. Slide a palette knife around the edge of the pudding then turn out on to warmed plate.