Stuart Muir and Paul Brennan recently opened their brand new city centre venue Dine.
Stuart is former executive chef of Forth Floor Restaurant, Bar & Brasserie at Harvey Nichols Edinburgh so he knows a thing or two about food. Anxious to help during the next day or two when you undertake the dinner of the year, he has prepared a few helpful hints to assist:
Top Tips for the Perfect Christmas Dinner
- If you want to add an unusual twist to a traditional Christmas meal, a great place to start is to surprise with the sides. Brussel sprouts are completely taken for granted and can be made more interesting with just a little love and imagination. Try gently roasting Brussels sprouts in sage and onion butter, sprinkled with garlic crisps for an extra kick and serve with your show-stopping turkey.
- For dessert, keep it mouth-wateringly simple with Pain perdu with cinnamon and turn Christmas pudding on its head with Christmas pudding ice cream served with whisky prunes.
- A Stromboli is a quick and easy way to make the most out of your leftovers, just pull the turkey meat, mix with Cajun spice and tuck in! Leftover sprouts also make the perfect bubble and squeak that just gets better and better.
- Home-made spiced cranberry chutney is a nice festive touch to the dinner table and equally makes a thoughtful and delicious gift. Enjoy it with a good goat’s cheese.
- Roast partridge is my personal favourite game to cook with during the festive season, and a part of our Festive menu at Dine. A tasty alternative to Christmas turkey, we recommend serving with home-made cranberry chutney, creamed sprouts, glazed carrots, baby leeks and, of course, goose fat roasted potatoes.
Dine presents a new benchmark in the city, introducing a fresh, relaxed brasserie-style dining and drinking venue, featuring a premier champagne and cocktail lounge in the heart of Edinburgh.
Bookings for Dine can be made by T 0131 218 1818, E restaurant@dine.scot or online at www.dine.scot/book-now.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
