Christmas with Gordon

Smoked salmon with avocado and horseradish mousse on pumpernickel

Makes 28-30


1 ripe medium avocado
1 tbsp creamed horseradish
1 tbsp lemon juice
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
75ml double cream
4-5 large slices of pumpernickel or rye bread
225g smoked salmon
dill sprigs, to garnish

Halve the avocado and remove the stone, then scoop out the flesh into a blender or food processor. Add the creamed horseradish, lemon juice and some seasoning and whizz to a very smooth purée.

Whisk the double cream in a bowl until thick and just holding peaks, then fold in the avocado purée. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Cover and chill for at least an hour until firm.

To assemble, remove the crusts from the bread and then cut into bite-sized squares. Cut the salmon into strips and drape them neatly over the bread squares. Place a quenelle or neat teaspoonful of chilled avocado and horseradish mousse on each one. (To shape a quenelle, warm a spoon in hot water, shake o the water, then run the spoon along the surface of the mousse to take up a neat oval shape. Slide it o the spoon onto the smoked salmon.)

Garnish each canapé with a dill sprig and arrange on a platter.

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Honey glazed ham

Serves 8-10


3kg unsmoked boneless gammon joint
4 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 leek, cleaned and roughly chopped
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed 
1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
3 bay leaves
handful of cloves Honey glaze
100g demerara sugar
50ml Madeira
25ml sherry vinegar
125g honey

Put the gammon into a large saucepan and pour on enough cold water to cover. Add carrots, leek, onion, peppercorns, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for 3 hours, topping up with more boiling water if necessary. Skim off the froth and any impurities that rise to the surface from time to time. If cooking in advance, leave the ham to cool in the stock overnight. Otherwise, allow it to cool a little, then remove from the pan. Strain the stock (and save for soups, etc).

To make the glaze, put the sugar, Madeira, sherry vinegar and honey into a pan and stir over a low heat. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until you have a glossy dark syrup. Do not leave unattended, as it can boil over.

Preheat the oven to 190C/ gas 5. Lift the ham onto a board. Snip and remove the string and then cut away the skin from the ham, leaving behind an even layer of fat. Lightly score the fat all over in a criss-cross, diamond pattern, taking care not to cut into the meat. Stud the centre of each diamond with a clove.

Put the ham into a roasting tin and pour half of the glaze over the surface. Roast for 15 minutes.

Pour on the rest of the glaze and return to the oven for another 25-35 minutes until the ham is golden brown, basting with the pan juices frequently. It also helps to turn the pan as you baste to ensure that the joint colours evenly.

Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 15 minutes before carving and serving.

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Pear and amaretto cheesecake

Serves 8-10


Poached pears
2 large pears
50g caster sugar
100ml water
1 vanilla pod Base 
150g digestive biscuits
50g unsalted butter
2 tbsp chocolate spread, such as Nutella Filling
300g full-fat cream cheese (ie Philadelphia-type)
125g caster sugar
550ml double cream
3 tbsp amaretto liqueur
100g amaretti biscuits, lightly crushed

To decorate
120g good-quality dark chocolate
icing sugar, to dust

First, poach the pears for the filling. Peel, quarter and core the pears, then cut into 1cm dice. Dissolve the sugar in the water in a small saucepan over a low heat. Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds into a large bowl; set aside for later. Add the pod to the sugar syrup and simmer for a few minutes to infuse. Add the diced pears and poach gently for about 3 minutes. Drain and leave to cool.

For the cheesecake base, blitz the digestives in a food processor to  ne crumbs, then tip into a bowl. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the chocolate spread. Add to the biscuit crumbs and mix well. Spread the mixture evenly over the base of a 23-24cm springform cake tin, pressing down lightly. Chill for at least 20 minutes until set.

For the filling, add the cream cheese and sugar to the vanilla seeds. Using a hand whisk, beat the mixture until well blended. Add 450ml of the cream and the liqueur and whisk to soft peaks. Fold in the crushed amaretti biscuits and poached pears.

Spoon the filling on top of the biscuit base and level the surface. Chill for at least 30 minutes, or until firm. Spread over the remaining cream to form a thin layer, then chill again.

For the decoration, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water, then spread in an even layer on a marble slab or the underside of a clean baking sheet. Leave until just set, then draw a sharp knife across the surface at an angle of about 25° to shave o large curls.

To unmould the cheesecake, run a hot thin-bladed knife around the edge and remove the side of the tin. Slide a palette knife under the cheesecake and transfer to a  at plate. Arrange the chocolate curls on top, then dust with icing sugar. Cut into slices to serve. (This dessert will keep in the fridge for a day or two.)

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Christmas bombe

Serves 8-10


400g good-quality chocolate Swiss roll (jumbo size)
390g jar cherries in kirsch- flavoured syrup
180g caster sugar
75ml water
2 large egg whites
300ml double cream
50g preserved stem ginger in syrup, chopped, plus 1 tbsp syrup from the jar
1 tbsp Grand Marnier or Cointreau 50g chopped mixed glacé fruit
30g marron glacé (optional), chopped
30g shelled pistachio nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
few redcurrant sprigs, to finish (optional) 
icing sugar, to dust (optional)

Line a 2-litre bowl with a double layer of cling film, leaving some excess overhanging the rim. Cut the Swiss roll into 1cm slices and use to line the base and sides of the bowl, cutting a few of the slices into pieces to fill gaps as necessary. Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup. Drizzle the Swiss roll slices with kirsch syrup, reserving a few tablespoonfuls. Set aside.

Put the sugar and water into a small heavybased saucepan and stir over a low heat to dissolve. Increase the heat to high and boil until the syrup registers 120C on a sugar thermometer. Meanwhile, in a clean large bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.

When the sugar syrup is ready, gradually pour onto the egg whites in a steady stream, whisking as you do so. Continue to whisk until the meringue has doubled in volume and the side of the bowl no longer feels hot.

In another bowl, whisk the cream to soft peaks. Fold in the ginger syrup and orange liqueur, followed by the meringue. Taste and sweeten with a little more ginger syrup if required. Stir through the cherries, chopped ginger, glacé fruit, marron glacé, if using, and chopped pistachios. Spoon into the Swiss roll-lined bowl and level the top.

Cover with remaining Swiss roll slices, cutting them to fit as necessary. Drizzle with the rest of the kirsch syrup, then fold the excess cling film over the top to seal. Place a  at plate on top (one that just  ts inside the rim) and weigh it down with a heavy tin. Chill for an hour, then remove the weight, wrap and freeze the bombe.

To serve, unwrap and place on a flat plate. Decorate with sprigs of redcurrants dusted with icing sugar if you like, or serve it just as it is. Let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Christmas, by Gordon Ramsay, with photographs by Chris Terry, is published by Quadrille, priced £15.