Read Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities for Free Online

fabulously firlike, but most of all, its delicate but resonant scent seals the deal with this flavour-packed mouthful.
    Small rounds of pumpernickel, or regular squares of it quartered, can be substituted for the soda bread here.
    Makes approx. 30 salmon soda bread canapés
    100g crème fraîche
    50g hot horseradish sauce
    1 × 400g loaf brown soda bread or other wholemeal bread, sliced
    225g very thinly sliced smoked salmon
    approx. 75g pickled red cabbage, from a jar, drained
    small packet/bunch of fresh dill
    • Mix together the crème fraîche and horseradish.
    • You will need about 8–10 slices of bread. Cut each slice into 3 or 4 bits; since soda bread comes in rounded loaves, the slices vary in size.
    • Spread the bread with the horseradish–crème fraîche mixture and top with a snipped ribbon of smoked salmon.
    • Fork a dark-red tangle of pickled red cabbage on each piece and top with a frond of dill.
    MAKE AHEAD TIP:
    The day before, cut the soda bread and store in a sealed bag. Make the horseradish–crème fraîche mixture, cover with clingfilm and store in the fridge. Assemble the canapés just before serving.
    PARTY PARMA HAM BUNDLES
    Since I would find it hard to give a Christmas party without at least one plateful of these feast-time favourites of mine – salty pink prosciutto wrapped around sharp soft goat’s cheese and sweet, grainy dried figs – it didn’t seem fair to leave them out here, although they have had an outing in print with me before. They are positively the party perennial; their omission, for me, not to be countenanced.
    Makes approx. 25 plumptious parcels
    400g sliced Parma ham or other cured prosciutto, not sliced ultra-thin
    200g ready-to-eat dried figs
    150g mild soft goat’s cheese, such as Chavroux
    • Cut or tear each slice of Parma ham into 2 or 3 strips.
    • Scissor each fig in half or quarters, depending on their size, remove the woody stalks and spread a teaspoon of goat’s cheese on the cut half of the fig.
    • Place the piece of fig cheese-side down on the centre of a strip of ham and then roll or fold up to make a bundle.
    • Sit each bulging pink parcel so that the darkness of the fig is hidden plate-side.
    MAKE AHEAD TIP:
    Make the parcels up to 6 hours ahead. Sit in a single layer on a plate and cover with clingfilm. Keep chilled until ready to serve.
    SEASONALLY SPICED NUTS
    There’s something addictive about a bowl of warm, toasted bar nuts, and although I used to bring them out as a starter substitute at dinner parties, I have rejigged my usual seasonings to make these a little more spicily aromatic and find them just the thing to keep a crowd fed without too much commotion.
    I don’t pay particular attention to how many of each nut I put into the mix, but just go for those packets of mixed, unsalted nuts; my last bag contained (in the order listed on the pack) cashews, almonds, pecans, macadamias and pistachios. If you want to buy nuts in single packets and mix, I’d simply go for pecans, almonds, Brazils and pistacchios. It’s the spicing, and the warmth, that’s key. Instead of the garam masala, you could use half a teaspoon each of ground ginger and ground cumin, and a pinch each of ground coriander, cloves and cinnamon. Indeed, it’s the ginger and cloves in the garam masala that make these taste so Christmassy in the first place.
    Makes enough to fill 2 small, not tiny, bowls
    500g mixed nuts
    1½ teaspoons garam masala
    1 teaspoon celery salt
    2 × 15ml tablespoons olive oil
    2 × 15ml tablespoons light muscovado or soft light brown sugar
    3 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped to make about 3 teaspoons, plus 2 sprigs for garnish
    sprinkle of Maldon salt or pinch of table salt
    • Put a large frying pan on a medium heat.
    • Line a large baking sheet or swiss roll tin with foil or reusable baking parchment and put at a handy proximity to the stove.
    • Tip the nuts into the now-warm pan and toss or push about with a spatula for 3 minutes or so