An old friend of a Christmas pork recipe, and deliciously fragile almond cookies dipped into chocolate

A good Christmas recipe is like an old friend: sound, reliable and to be trusted. You also know, and hope, that they will appear at least once over the festivities. In this house, there is a much-loved pork recipe, where the meat is flattened, then rolled with a stuffing of black pudding, onions and sausage meat, then slow roasted and served with its roasting juices and a puddle of apple sauce.

I choose a cut with plenty of fat, belly or shoulder, and spread the stuffing over it before rolling and tying it up with butcher’s string. Any left will appear cold, thinly sliced and with a red cabbage slaw. If there is any apple is sauce left, I’ll have that, too, thank you.