Martin Wishart: a Parkinson’s-friendly Christmas meal

Scottish Michelin star chef Martin Wishart is currently sailing 3,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to raise £40,000 for Parkinson’s research – and celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the opening of his Edinburgh restaurant.

To mark the occasion, Martin – whose mother lives with Parkinson’s – shares a luxury three-course Christmas recipe which is bursting with nutrition and easy-to-chew

First course – Scallop mousse with leek and chervil butter sauce (serves 6)

Scallop mousse

Ingredients

200g scallop meat

Squeeze of lemon juice

1 egg

A pinch of cayenne pepper

A pinch of salt

200ml double cream

Method

• Put the scallop meat in a food processor and blend for one minute.
• Add the egg, lemon, cayenne and blend for a further 30 seconds until completely smooth.
• Transfer the contents from the blender into a large metal bowl, clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.

Chervil butter sauce

Ingredients

40ml dry white wine

1 tbsp of white wine vinegar

1 shallot (finely chopped)

5 crushed white peppercorns

50ml of double cream

125g of diced, cold, unsalted butter

A few drops of lemon juice

A pinch of salt

1 tsp of chopped fresh chervil

Method

• Bring the white wine, vinegar, shallot and white pepper corns to the boil and reduce by ½.
• Add the double cream and boil for one minute. Lower the heat, gradually whisk in the cold diced butter and add a squeeze of lemon juice.
• Pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Gently warm but do not boil as this will separate the sauce. Add the chives and store at room temperature until ready to serve.

Braised leeks

Ingredients

1 washed and trimmed leek

150 chicken or vegetable stock

1 clove garlic, peeled and halved

50g unsalted butter

1 small bunch of fresh chervil

Method

• Cut the leek into 1 cm dice, discarding any of the dark green.
• Wash and drain the cut leeks.
• Place the leek into a wide based pan with the stock add a pinch of salt and the garlic.
• Cook the leeks very rapidly until the stock is well reduced and the leeks are just cooked (around 3-4 minutes boiling).
• Next add the butter and stir it into the leeks when emulsified remove the pan from the heat.
• Finish by adding the chopped chervil.

To serve

• Brush the inside of each ramekin with the soft butter, and then place them in the fridge for 10 minutes to set the butter.
• Transfer the scallop mousse into a clean piping bag that’s fitted with a plain nozzle.
• Fill each of the ramekins with the mousse to just below the rim. Cover each one with a small square of tinfoil making sure you have it tightly wrapped around the top of each ramekin.
• Place the ramekins in a hot steamer and cook for 10 minutes so they become firm. Remove and allow them to rest for 5 minutes.
• Warm the leeks and place a spoonful in the centre of a warm plate.
• Take the scallop mousse from the ramekin and place on top of the leek.
• Warm the sauce and finish with a few spoonfuls over the scallop mousse.   

Main – Roast partridge with braised cabbage, celeriac puree and sauce Albert (serves 6)

Braised savoy cabbage

Ingredients

1 whole savoy cabbage                                 

2 medium sized carrots

1 onion, peeled and finely sliced                                

150g quality smoked bacon

50g duck fat or lard                            

2 springs fresh thyme

2 cloves garlic                        

150ml dry white wine

250ml fresh chicken stock

Good pinch of salt

Method

• Remove the tough outside cabbage leaves.
• Cut the cabbage into 4, discard the core and roughly shred the leaves.
• Cut the carrots into long batons about 5mm thick.
• Cut the bacon into lardon strips.
• In a heavy based pan melt the duck fat and cook the bacon for 3 minutes.
• Add the carrots and onions to the pan and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
• Add the cabbage with a good pinch of salt and mix into the pan.
• Pour in the white wine and reduce, then add the chicken stock, thyme and garlic and bring it to the boil.
• Cover the cabbage with greaseproof paper lid and cook in the oven at 200˚C for 15-20 minutes.

Celeriac purée

Ingredients

1 medium sized celeriac

150ml double cream              

50g unsalted butter

Method

• Trim outside of celeriac and cut into large even sized pieces.
• Cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and steam off any excess moisture, add the double cream and simmer until reduced by half.
• Purée in a liquidiser and add the butter.

Sauce Albert

Ingredients

60g fresh breadcrumbs

300ml milk

1 bay leaf                                           

1 small onion studded with 3 cloves

30g unsalted butter

1 tsp English mustard

1 tsp creamed horseradish

1 tbsp of double cream

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Method

• Pour the milk into a pan and add the onion and bay leaf and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the breadcrumbs, add the butter and cream. Stir on a low heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper.
• Stir in the teaspoon of English mustard and creamed horseradish and remove the studded onion before serving the sauce.

The partridge

Ingredients

6 fresh partridges, drawn (insides removed)

6 sprigs of thyme

6 cloves garlic, peeled

Vegetable oil for frying

Salt

Method

• Heat a little oil in a casserole pan. 
• Season the partridge with salt including the inside of the cavity and stuff it with the thyme and garlic.
• Fry the partridge lightly in the oil until evenly coloured on all sides. 
• Place the partridge on a tray and cook in the oven at 210°C for 6-8 minutes. 
• When cooked, remove the birds from the oven and rest them for 8 minutes in a warm place before removing from the bone and serving.

Dessert – Steamed ginger pudding with lemon anglaise

Ginger pudding

50g plain flour

50g shredded suet

50g fresh breadcrumbs

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

65g stem ginger, peeled and sliced

140ml milk

1 small egg

Golden syrup

Method

• Grease two pudding moulds with softened butter and coat lightly with flour, tipping out the excess.
• Pour about 1 tbsp of golden syrup into each mould.
• Place the stem ginger and the milk into a saucepan and bring it to the boil then remove it from the heat.
• Allow it to cool and then strain it through a fine sieve.
• Sift all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix well.
• Mix in the cooled milk well and then beat in the eggs until well combined.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared moulds ¾ full and cover each mould with foil.
• Place the puddings into a deep oven tray. Fill the tray with hot water halfway up the pudding moulds.
• Put the tray into a pre-heated oven at 180˚c for 35-45 minutes until they are firm to touch and cooked through (alternatively test with a skewer, it should come out clean).
• Remove the puddings from the moulds while hot and serve immediately.

Lemon anglaise

Ingredients

250ml double cream

250ml milk

5 egg yolks

100g caster sugar

Zest of 2 lemons

• Put the cream, milk and lemon zest into a heavy based saucepan and bring it to the boil.
• Place the egg yolks and sugar into a large mixing bowl and whisk together well.
• Whisk in the hot milk and cream and then return to the pan.
• Place the pan back onto the heat and cook on a medium heat stirring continuously.
• Cook the mixture until it coats the back of the spoon (around 92˚c) and then transfer into a container to cool.

Read more:

Fergus Henderson: a Michelin star recipe for Parkinson’s

Four-course festive meal that’s great for people with Parkinson’s