28/12/2025

Matt Tebbutt serves up a host of Crimbo Limbo and New Year’s Eve inspirations with party nibbles, slow-cooked stews and desserts all on the menu. Getting the party started with a savoury take on a classic dessert is Yotam Ottolenghi with his blue cheesecake: creamy blue cheese on top of a parmesan biscuit base, finished with pickled beetroot and hazelnuts – perfect for using up leftover cheese.

Crystelle Pereira whips up two party treats with a twist as she makes hoisin duck sausage rolls and potato bhaji skins, before Freddy Bird warms us all up with comforting braised ox cheek and a creamy butter mash on the side.

Shaking and stirring us into 2026 and beyond, Carmen O’Neal has four party-pleasing cocktails, including a peanut butter old fashioned and a tiramisu martini.

Then Poppy O’Toole gives us another spin on a cheesecake, but this time it’s all sweet with her bakewell tart version. She layers up sweet pastry with frangipane, a creamy black cherry filling and, of course, a cherry on top.

And we round off the menu with Emilia Fox facing either her food heaven, leftover turkey risotto, or her food hell, a luxurious beef wellington. You’ll have to stay tuned to find out what she got…

And we take two trips into the BBC Food archive with the Greedy Italians and the Hairy Bikers. Gennaro and Antonio go camping in the Italian Alps, and Si and Dave celebrate an Ethiopian Christmas.