Hi, I was wondering if people were starting to think about their Christmas foods.
My other half came home with the most absolutely perfect delicious cinnamon and cranberry scones from the British cheese shop at the viaduct yesterday. They were fresh and he warmed them according to careful instructions by the cheese man, Mike, in the oven, and I was served breakfast in bed, with butter and it smelled and tasted heavenly...
We also had the most amazing yummy gloogg homemade by some norweigan friends last weekend. So good, we need the recipe!
I like to make a white and dark chocolate rocky road with cranberries and pistachio nuts and marshmallows.
What decadent things do you add to your Christmas menu?
Nothing decadent, just normal Christmas fare really. I’ve made my cranberry sauce and Xmas puddings, will make some mince pies next week. I’ve got the turkey and some bacon wrapped sausages to go with it.
Have picked up a few things like that are a bit different. Bacon wrapped dates on a skewer and a couple of interesting looking chutneys to have with cold meats, etc: Spiced Cranberry with Apples and Spiced Apple & Plum with Apricot and Onion. Think we got all that from Lidl. Also found some chestnut timbales that we’ll have in place of stuffing with Christmas turkey.
I’m beginning to make a menu of the meals we’ll be having over the holiday period. I’ll definitely be making my Christmas salad, a wonderful mix of cabbage, carrots, apples, celery, dates, raisins, walnuts, oranges and Stilton/blue cheese. I only cook one meal a day over Christmas, we “snack” for our evening meal on the salad, cold meats, cheeses, etc. As I’ll have some cabbage left over from the salad I’ll probably also do that with some sausages, an onion and some tinned tomatoes which is a quick and easy recipe and one of our favourites.
I make the most amazing mulled wine (if I do say so myself! My husband says so too though). It's based on a Jamie Oliver recipe but I add extra juice and ginger. I could drink it by the bucketload but I restrict myself to Christmas season.
I would love to know where you get the corn for the tamales, I used to get them at the american market. if you are interested I have a slight Peruvian variation of tamales into Humitas, smaller tamales that have a softer taste...recipe will follow once I find it
Mentioned it before- but I am very proud of my Swiss version of Christmas trifle- which is a real hit with all, Swiss, Brits and all.
Sponge at the bottom of dish- sprinkle with kirsch instead of sherry. Then take bottled black cherries, sieve the juice into a saucepan, and place cherries on top of sponge- reserve a few for decoration (dry on kitchen paper). Then reduce juice a bit on stove, add sugar to taste and thicken with a little cornflour (Maizena) and add more kirsch, cool and place on top of cherries. Make custard (I always add a bit of cream), cool and place on top of fruit, lightly whip cream and put a layer on top. Place reserved black cherries on top and grate the best quality dark chocolate over. To die for- can also make in individual glasses or ramekin dishes.
Serves 4 as a main course, 8 as an accompaniment to cold meats
175g Red or white cabbage
2 Large carrots peeled and grated
2 Dessert apples cored and chopped
2 Celery sticks, chopped
100g Dates, stoned and chopped
50g Sultanas
100g Shelled nuts of your choice, chopped if large
2 Tangerines or oranges, peeled, pith removed and divided into segments
100g Stilton cheese
150ml Dressing of your choice
Just mix together in a big bowl and enjoy. Keeps well in the fridge too.
I usually cheat on the oranges and buy a small tin of mandarins from Migros.
Some nice ideas from Nigel Slater here . I think I might try this one...
Orange and chocolate friands
Makes 12
crystalised orange peel 60g
dark chocolate 60g
butter 180g
plain flour 50g
icing sugar 180g
ground almonds 100g
orange zest 1 tsp
egg whites 5
Set the oven at 200C/Gas 5. Lightly butter 12 shallow bun tins.
Finely chop the crystalised orange peel and the chocolate and set aside. Put the butter in a small pan and melt over a moderate heat then watch it carefully until it becomes a dark, nutty gold. Take great care not to let it burn. Leave it to cool a little.
Sieve the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl then add the ground almonds. Grate in the orange zest, then add the chocolate and crystalised orange peel. Beat the egg whites to a soft, moist and sloppy foam – they shouldn't be able to stand up.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients then pour in the egg whites, together with the melted butter. Mix lightly but thoroughly, then pour into the buttered tins.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, remove from the oven, then leave to settle before carefully removing from the tins with a palette knife.
I do far too much Xmas baking and even after giving lots away, we're left with weeks of gluttony. I'm attempting to tone it down this year...a little.
I make a mix of stuff - both Swiss and North American. Heaps of gooey and chocolatey bars and slices and fudge, with things like peanut butter and caramel in them. I also do spiced cakes such as lebkuchen and biscotti. Then there are the various cheesecakes, usually with a festive flavored one. There are also cookies like florentines, spitzbuben, decorated sugar cookies and ginger snaps. I tweak some of my chocolate chip cookie recipes to make them more festive. So my chewy white ones I add dried cranberries, for instance. I always do heaps of truffles - dark, milk, white or a combo with various fillings, plus some years I do rum balls, based on a wonderful recipe from my mum. I usually do some chocolate bark and I make my own fruit and nut cluster treats using miniature muffin liners where I chill the chocolate and then remove it.
There are more but that's all I can think of right now. It's also critical to play crappy Xmas music during the baking process. It keeps everyone away from the kitchen so that you can sample and taste in peace as you bake.
you can get the masa at the same store. usually maseca but there is a mexican place not far that has another masa too but we had a neighbor that did rice in her tamales so there are ways around it. don't feel silly it was me- i thought you meant the wrapping!