The absolute best thing I love about Christmas is it is the only time of the year I genuinely give myself permission to stop everything.
Even in my farming days, or should I say especially in my farming days, that festive period was when I could take my foot off the gas and just enjoy the family, great food and the odd libation.
Livestock would all still be fed and checked but there wasn’t the intensity of needing to get things done.
The great benefits of having Scotland’s only two-Michelin starred chef as your brother was you could always get fantastic cooking tips.”
– Jim Fairlie on brother Andrew.
There was a calmness that no other time of year can bring.
As I write this there is a frost coming down to crisp off the slowly melting snow that’s been lying, and I’ve not long come back from a rosy cheek walk with Jack the beardy, so now my thoughts are turning to that all important bit of Christmas – the food.
Many years ago I was gifted a fabulous bone in gammon joint which I had no idea what to do with, but one of the great benefits of having Scotland’s only two-Michelin starred chef as your brother was you could always get fantastic cooking tips, which I took full advantage of.
So I am going to share a few of them here with you just now.
1. Shop local this Christmas
The gammon roast I always used was from Jamesfield Organic Shop in Abernethy, and was usually enough to feed a small army.
There are great places I would recommend locally to get a good gammon including Kenny Allan’s in Auchterarder, D Comrie and Son in Comrie, D Gourlay in Crieff, Hunters of Kinross (who are incidentally finalists in the Countryside Alliance Awards alongside Loch Leven’s Larder), D&G Lindsay and Son, and Simon Howie Butchers in Perth.
You can still get them at Jamesfield and Gloagburn Farm Shop where I have actually helped feed the pigs in my life before parliament.
2. Focus on the centrepiece
To cook the ham I would start the process the day before we would be eating it.
I would immerse it fully in a pan of cold water and bring it very gently to the boil.
Once it started to boil drop the temperature so that it was on a very gentle simmer (you could also add some carrot, celery, onion, some thyme and bay leaves to give you a nice soup stock once the ham is cooked).
Obviously depending on the size of the joint would determine for how long you simmer for, but a very good guide to know if it’s ready is taking a skewer and pushing it into the centre of the joint.
If the skewer comes back out without resistance, it’s ready.
Switch the heat off and leave the joint submerged in the water overnight to make sure it holds all that lovely moisture in the meat.
Once you are ready to honey roast your ham, take it from the water and peel off the hard outer skin from the fat.
Place the roast on a large baking tray and score the fat in a crisscross fashion.
Mix some wholegrain mustard, some clear Andrew Scarlett honey and soft brown sugar, then glaze over the scored fat of the roast.
Pop it into the oven at a high heat for approximately half an hour until it is a lovely golden brown on top with that fabulous crispy honey crackling.
3. Roast or mashed tatties?
I love my mashed tatties, but goose fat roasties are a must, so have both.
For the roasties par-boil them first in plenty of time to allow them to cool completely.
They should be well enough par-boiled to shake them in the pot and the edges will break so that when they roast you get those lovely wee crispy bits.
Once they are cold put them in a large roasting tray, spoon a big dollop of duck or goose fat into the tray and heat on top of the stove so the potatoes get a nice even coating on them.
Take a full bulb of garlic and cut through the middle.
Place that in the middle of the fried roasties and pop in the oven till they are a lovely crispy golden brown all over (it’s worth keeping turning them so they cook evenly all over).
4. Don’t forget the veg
I like a bit of veg as well and we are blessed here in Perthshire with fabulous farm shops to cater for all you need.
As before we have Jamesfield Organics, Gloagburn Farm Shop, and we can’t forget Loch Leven’s Larder.
My favourites are honey roast parsnips, roasted carrots with cumin seeds and of course, the wonderful sprout fried with shallots, garlic and crispy bacon.
For the parsnips par-boil them then pop in a baking tray and drizzle with your Scarlett’s honey and put in the oven till nice and golden brown.
For the carrots, again par-boil them then put them in a baking tray with some cold pressed rapeseed oil.
Scotland has some fabulous rapeseed oil producers these days – it has less saturated fat than olive oil, is high in omega 3 as well as helping to cut down food miles. What’s not to like?
Sprinkle a generous helping of whole cumin seeds over the oiled carrots and roast in the oven.
The combined smells while all this is going on is just Christmas for me.
For the sprouts, again par-boil them, take them from the water and once cooled, cut in half.
While they cool, gently fry some cubed smoked bacon or lardons, then add a finely chopped shallot and a clove of crushed garlic.
Sautee the sprouts in the pan and add a sprinkle of brown sugar to help them caramelise for a tasty side.
5. The secret to a great Christmas dinner
I hope these wee tips are useful and you get the chance to visit some of the great shops we are so lucky to have here in Perthshire.
There’s one last thing – if you haven’t got a tree yet, why not visit MGM Timber who have beautiful Nordmann fir trees for sale, with all the profits going to children’s charities.
So wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy new year.