Ripe

A cook in the orchard

NIGEL SLATER
Photographs by Jonathan Lovekin

TEN SPEED PRESS

Berkeley

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Chestnut, sausage, and marsala stuffing

Chestnuts

There is a moment, usually on Boxing Day, when I stand and eat a doorstop
sandwich. It is often the best sandwich of the year. Made with white bread,
layers of thinly sliced, generously salted roast turkey, crisp bacon, and thinly
sliced stuffing. Coarse-textured and thoroughly seasoned stuffing is essential
to what I regard as one of the glories of Christmas.

onions
butter a thick slice
thyme a large sprig or two
rosemary a large sprig
sausage meat ounces (g)
fresh breadcrumbs handfuls
cooked peeled chestnuts (boiled or roasted) about ounces (g),
coarsely chopped
Madeira or dry marsala a wineglass
Peel and cut up the onions just short of finely chopped (this is a coarsetextured stuffing, but you dont want the pieces so big that the mixture falls
apart). Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onions, and let them soften
and color lightly, stirring from time to time. While they are cooking, strip
the leaves from the thyme and stir them in. Remove the needles from the
rosemary twig and chop them finely. Stir them into the onions.
Preheat the oven to F (C). When the onions are soft enough
to crush between finger and thumb, add the sausage meat, breadcrumbs,
chestnuts, and the Madeira or marsala. Season generously with salt and
black pepper. Shape the stuffing into balls slightly larger than a golf ball and
set them in a buttered or foil-lined baking dish (they can remain here for a
day or so, refrigerated, until you need them). Bake for about thirty minutes,
until sizzling.

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Some of the recipes in this book include raw eggs. When eggs are consumed raw,
there is always the risk that baeria, which is killed by proper cooking, may be
present. For this reason, always buy certified salmonella-free eggs from a reliable
grocer, storing them in the refrigerator until they are served. Because of the health
risks associated with the consumption of baeria that can be present in raw
eggs, they should not be consumed by infants, small children, pregnant women,
the elderly, or any persons who may be immunocompromised. The author and
publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effes that may result
from the use or application of the recipes and information contained in this book.
Copyright 2010 by Nigel Slater
Photographs copyright 2010 by Jonathan Lovekin
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com
Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain as Tender, Volume II:
A Cooks Guide to the Fruit Garden by Fourth Estate, a division of HarperCollins
Publishers, London, in 2010
Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks
of Random House, Inc.
First Ten Speed Press edition, 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Slater, Nigel.
Ripe : a cook in the orchard / Nigel Slater ; photography by Jonathan Lovekin.
p. cm.
Includes index.
Summary: A comprehensive guide to growing and cooking with fruit,
featuring more than 300 recipes for sweet and savory dishesProvided by
publisher.
1. Cooking (Fruit) 2. Cookbooks. I. Title.
TX811.S58 2012
641.64dc23
2011043551
ISBN 978-1-60774-332-3
eISBN 978-1-60774-333-0
Printed in China
Cover design by Colleen Cain
Interior design by BLOK
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First United States Edition

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