Great British Food - Christmas 2025

2. Cut the beef into pieces, aiming for 3cm cubes, then cut the bacon into lardons. 3. Put the beef in a large bowl with the lardons, vegetables, garlic and bouquet garni. Pour the cooled wine over, making sure the ingredients are fully covered. Marinate overnight in the fridge, or for at least 4 hours if you are stretched for time. 4. Pour the marinated ingredients through a sieve over a bowl and leave to drain for a fewminutes, reserving the red wine. You want the ingredients to be as dry as possible, so they get maximum caramelisation in the pan. 5. Preheat the oven to 120ºC fan. 6. Place a large, heavy-based pot which has a lid over a medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the oil, followed by the beef, turning until all the pieces are nicely browned all over. Remove from the pot and repeat this process with the lardons, then finally the vegetables and garlic bulb, keeping the bouquet garni separate. Once the vegetables are nicely browned, reduce the temperature and evenly sprinkle over the flour, then cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. 7. Gradually add the red wine to the vegetables, stirring, to form a smooth sauce that starts to thicken. Then add the beef stock in the same way. Follow with the coloured beef, lardons and bouquet garni. Check the seasoning, cover with a lid and place in the oven for 3 hours. 8. After 3 hours, everything should have begunmelding together nicely. At this stage, you want to remove the vegetables from the sauce. The easiest way to do this is to place a large colander over a clean pan and pour everything into the colander. Now that the sauce is in a clean pan, pick out the beef and lardons from the colander and return them to the sauce, discarding the vegetables, garlic and bouquet garni. 9. Add the baby onions and button mushrooms to the beef, then place back in the oven for a final hour. 10. At this stage your sauce should be luscious and thick: beef completely tender andmelting and all vegetables nicely cooked. Finish with the chopped parsley and serve. Crème caramel This velvety set custard, infusedwith vanilla, with its rich, dark, caramel syrup, balances indulgence and lightness and is surprisingly easy tomake, so it’s one of France’smost popular desserts. It’s a dish I first came across long before I appreciatedwhat I was eating, andno, it wasn’t this luxurious version… It came in a plastic pot witha tag on the bottom which, whenyoupulled, as if bymagic slipped out of its packaging on to your plate. Although the flavourswere not memorable, I remember the silky mouthfeel and always try to replicate it. Here, I’ve used amix ofmilk andwhipping cream, for the perfect texture. You can use vanilla extract instead of pods, but it won’t have quite the same special flavour. This is a greatmake-ahead recipe andwill sit happily in the fridge for a fewdays. Serves: 4 Prepare: 10minutes, plus two hours chilling time Cook: 50minutes 140g caster sugar 20ml hot water 2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk 200ml wholemilk 100ml whipping cream 2 vanilla pods, split lengthways and seeds scraped out, or 2 tsp vanilla extract (see recipe introduction) Youwill need 4 small ramekins, each 9 x 5cm 1. Preheat the oven to 130°C fan. 2. Start by making caramel. Have a bowl (or sink) of cold water to hand. Put 100g of the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan in an even layer. Add the measured hot water and allow the sugar to absorb it for a fewminutes, then set over a mediumheat and leave to dissolve. You can help it along by shaking the pan, but do not stir. Once a syrup forms, it will turn golden and then to a rich caramel colour. To stop the cooking, place the base of the pan in the bowl (or sink) of cold water. Divide it between 4 ramekins, each 9 × 5cm, then place in a roasting tin. 3. Whisk the eggs, yolk and remaining 40g of sugar in a bowl. Bring the milk, cream, vanilla seeds and pods, if using, to the boil in a saucepan, then pour slowly over the eggmix, whisking all the time. Pass through a sieve into each ramekin. Add the vanilla extract, if using. 4. Place the roasting tin in the oven and fill with enough boiling water to come halfway up each ramekin. Bake for 35 minutes, or until just cooked and still wobbling. 5. Cool, then chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Serve in the ramekins, or run a knife around each, turn out on to a plate with a rim and watch the caramel lakes spread out. Recipes extracted from French Classics by Matthew Ryle, published by Bloomsbury. Photography by Patricia Niven. “This is the perfect meal if youwant to impress but don’t want to work too hard” “This is a great make-ahead recipe andwill sit happily in the fridge for a fewdays” RECI PES | MATTHEW RYLE 63 greatbr i t i shfoodawards.com