CHRISTMAS DINNER - ON THE BEACH !

I love a beach fire and while summers offer endless opportunities for these occasions, a Welsh winter is a different story. Weeks and sometimes months may go by of wind, rain and more wind and more rain…. So a winter beach fire or a winter beach feast requires a little more planning, a lot of patience and a very keen eye on the forecast.

When an opportunity arises though, grab it with both hands, a beach feast on a clear, clean, crisp winters day is probably even more rewarding than those in the summer.

A Welsh Christmas Feast - on the Beach

• Spatchcock turkey or chicken
• Pigs in blanket with sugar kelp
• Roasted potatoes with Dulse seaweed
• Roasted parsnips with honey, dulse and seaweed salt
• Red cabbage with red wine, garlic, wrack and laver
• Roasted sprouts with gutweed
• Peas with laver seaweed and salted butter
• Bread sauce with wrack

The trick is to get as much prepped at home as possible and then it’s a case of a simple winter beach feast over fire.

Hope you enjoy the recipes below and maybe see you down the beach.

Spatchcock Turkey recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 turkey (10 – 12 lbs) spatchcocked
• 3 tbsp of honey
• 3 tbsp of KelpChup
• 2 tbsp of Laver
• 2 tbsp of Seaweed Salt (Mermaid Confetti)
• 2 tbsp of Dulse
• 2 tbsp of Olive oil

Method

1. Ask your butcher to spatchcock the turkey by removing the backbone.
2. Then rub liberally with salt and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
3. The next day rub off the salt and add, honey, kelpchup, laver, seaweed salt, dulse and olive oil to the turkey and rub in (best to do this at home before beach cooking).
4. For any poultry cooking I would always recommend getting a temperature probe to check that the meat is cooked
5. For beach fire cooking, make sure your fire is well lit and you have plenty of hot coals. I like to cook it on a cross on which the height can be adjusted easily depending on the heat of the fire, this can take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours (depending on fire, weather, wind etc) so make sure that the turkey is your first job.
6. Flip the turkey regularly and ensure the skin is golden and crispy, temperature probe the legs and breast and as soon as you hit the magic 75oC you are good to go!

 

Pigs in blanket with sugar kelp recipe

Ingredients

• 12 rashers of smoked streaky Welsh bacon
• 12 finest chipolatas
• 2 tbsp of honey
• 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp of Sugar Kelp
• Season to taste (pinch of seaweed salt and white pepper)

Method

Again, this can be made ahead of time, so you can bring skewers full of marinated pigs in blanket to the beach ready to cook.

1. Wrap a rasher of bacon around each sausage
2. Heat the honey, mustard and sugar kelp in a pan until bubbling
3. Brush the mixture over the sausages and bacon and skewer onto bamboo skewers (best do this at home before beach cooking)
4. For beach fire cooking, make sure your fire is well lit and you have plenty of hot coals. Pigs in blankets should only take around 20 – 30 minutes depending on the heat of the fire.
5. Serve once cooked and crispy on the outside

 

Roasted potatoes with Dulse seaweed recipe

Ingredients

• Potatoes
• Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp on dulse seaweed
• Seaweed salt and pepper to taste

Method

You have two options here, precook at home and then simply warm up on the fire or wrap in foil and bury into the beach fire. Basically, if you are cooking for more than 4 people, I would always pre-cook roast potatoes at home and then simply warm up in dish on the fire as you have enough cooking to do.

• Pre-heat oven to 200C and place oven tray in
• Peel and part boil potatoes with a pinch of Dulse seaweed
• Once part boil strain water away, add the Dulse, olive oil and season.
• Replace lid and shack saucepan to fluff up the potatoes
• Remove the hot oven tray and tip the potatoes in and place back in the oven
• Remove every 20 minutes to turn over and cook until golden and cripsy

 

Roasted parsnips with honey, dulse and seaweed salt recipe

Ingredients

• ½ kg of parsnips (or 2 per person)

• 2 tbsp of Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp on dulse seaweed
• Seaweed salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C and place oven tray in
2. Part boil parsnips with a pinch of Dulse seaweed for around 5 mins
3. Once part boil strain water away, add the Dulse, olive oil and season.
4. Replace lid and shack saucepan to fluff up the parsnips
5. Remove the hot oven tray and tip the potatoes in and place back in the oven
6. Remove every 20 minutes to turn over and cook until golden and cripsy

 

Red cabbage with red wine, garlic, wrack and laver recipe

Ingredients

• 1 red cabbage
• 1 sliced red onion
• 1 tsp of coconut oil
• 70g soft brown sugar
• 70ml cider vinegar
• 150ml of red wine
• 4 cloves of diced garlic
• 1 thumb piece of ginger diced finely
• 1 tbsp of wrack
• 1 tbsp of laver

Method

1. Heat a large pan and place the coconut oil in to heat up
2. Half the cabbage, remove the core and slice finely and add to hot frying pan
3. Add the onion, sugar, cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, wrack and dulse and cook off for around 5 minutes
4. Add the red wine and simmer slowly for around 1 hour, add more wine if required

 

Roasted sprouts with gutweed recipe

• 500g of sprouts
• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp of gutweed
• Season with seaweed salt and pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C and place oven tray in
2. Place the sprouts, olive oil, gutweed and seasonings into a bowl and mix until all the sprouts are covered
3. Remove the hot oven tray and tip the spouts in and place back in the middle of the oven
4. Takes around 30 minutes to cook

 

Peas with laver seaweed and salted butter

Simply boil until cooked, drain the water away and add a tsp of laver seaweed and a general knob of butter

Bread sauce with wrack seaweed recipe

Ingredients

• 500ml of full fat milk
• 50g of salted butter
• 1 onion
• 5 cloves
• 5 peppercorns
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp of wrack
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 100g of white breadcrumbs
• 5tbsp of double cream
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Seaweed salt and white pepper to taste

Method

1. Place a large saucepan on a gentle heat and add the milk, butter, onion, wrack, cloves, peppercorns, garlic, thyme and bay.
2. Simmer very gently for around 30 mins.
3. Strain and return the flavoured milk to the pan. Add the breadcrumbs and simmer for around 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the cream, nutmeg and season to taste