Ian Woods's List: Things for the house

"I see this dessert as a sort of cross between a summer pudding and an arctic roll, so it hits a lot of those retro buttons."

There are two things that make a good gravy: a vegetable trivet, which is the layer of vegetables in the bottom of your roasting tray that your meat sits on; and the juices from a roasted piece of good-quality meat.

Freeze in flat zip-lock bags until needed before final prep og gravy for meal

One thing’s for sure, if you can master the perfect roast potatoes, you’re well on your way to the perfect Christmas dinner.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can vary the flavour combos; herbs work really well, or you can try things like olives, sun-dried tomatoes, chilli or lemon zest. You can make it up to a month in advance so it’s one less thing to do on the big day, and keep some in the freezer so you have an instant flavour injection at your fingertips. You can use it with anything from fish to chicken, roast lamb, roast potatoes or bread – delicious!

Making your own minced pork like I’ve done here really turns your stuffing into something special. It will give you amazing flavour and texture, and it’s wicked to be able to see everything you’ve got in there.

This year I’m using a flavoured butter to give a bit of extra love to my turkey, and this is a job you can do the day before

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