Christmas Recipes

[di30]

CHRISTMAS DAY MUFFINS
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Christmas Recipe Makes 12
calories per muffin: 175
preparation time: 15 minutes
cooking time: 20 minutes
Not suitable for freezing

Christmas recipe instructions:

• cranberries, fresh 175 g (6 oz)
• icing sugar, sifted 50 g (2 oz)
• flour, plain wholemeal 150 g (5 oz)
• flour, plain white 150 g( 5 oz)
• baking powder, 15 ml (1 tbsp)
• mixed spice, ground 5 ml (1 tsp)
• salt, 2.5 ml (half tsp)
• sugar, light brown 50 g (2 oz)
• egg, 1
• milk, 250 ml (8 fl oz)
• vegetable oil, 50 ml (2 fl oz)

Christmas recipe instructions:

1. Mix the icing sugar with halved cranberries.
2. Take a twelve cup muffin tin and grease with butter or use paper cases. In a bowl mix the brown sugar, salt, mixed spice, baking powder and both flours. Make a hole in the middle.
3. Add a mixture of beaten egg/milk/oil into the hole and just blend. Then add the cranberries and quickly stir. The end product should be a rough mixture with lumps and air pockets visible. [Note: Instead of the cranberries you can use mincemeat (225 g, 8 oz) to put in the hole.]
4. Take this mixture and fill the muffin cups to two thirds and bake at gas mark 4 (180 degfrees centigrade, 350 F) until they are golden brown and well risen. About 20 minutes.
5. Cool for a bit and serve warm.

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CHRISTMAS MORNING FRENCH TOAST
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Ingredients:
1/2 loaf of French bread, cut diagonally in 1 inch slices, or white sliced bread
4 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup half-and-half cream
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup (or golden syrup)


Directions:
Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish, and then arrange the slices of bread in the bottom.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over the bread slices, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
The following morning, preheat oven to 350F (180C, Gas Mark 4). In a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup (or golden syrup), and heat until bubbling. Pour over the bread and egg mixture. Bake in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
Delicious!

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GLAZED PORK WITH FIG STUFFING
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Christmas recipe serves: 6
calories per serving: 480
preparationj time: 30 minutes
cooking time: 2 hours
not suitable for freezing

Christmas recipe ingredients:

• loin of pork, boned with skin scored, 1.4 kg (3 lb)
• salt and pepper
• honey, clear 60 ml (4 tbsp)
• mustard powder, 10 ml (2 tsp)
• lemon, grated rind from 1
• garnish, sprigs of rosemary and a few figs

stuffing:

• shallots, 4
• garlic clove, 1
• figs, dried no-soak 225 g (8 oz)
• apple, eating 1
• rosemary, fresh sprigs 2
• butter, 50 g (2 oz)
• lemon, grated rind and juice from 1
• dry sherry, 45 ml (3 tbsp)

Christmas recipe instructions:

1. Stuffing preparation: Chopped rosemary, peeled/cored/chopped apple, choppee figs, peeled and crushed garlic, peeled and chopped shallots.
2. Cook the garlic and shallots in butter until golden brown. Add the sherry, lemon rind and juice, rosemary, apple and figs. Stir until softened and most of the liquid reduced.
3. Place the cooled stuffing from step 2 along the middle of the salt and pepper seasoned pork loin (skin side down). Roll the piece up and tie up with string at several locations. Cook for 1 hour at gas mark 5 (190 degrees centigrade, 375 F).
4. Near the end of this time, heat together the lemon rind, mustard and honey. After the hour is up, brush this onto the pork and continue the cooking for another 45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes.
5. Serve as carved slices (thick), garnished with rosemary sprigs and a few figs.

Heating and serving tips:

• Don't keep food hot for longer than an hour before serving
• Leave roast potatoes open to the atmosphere after cooking, to retain their crispness.
• Remember that it is harder to keep certain foods warm. e.g. root vegetable keep their heat well but spinach and cabbage don't.

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LAMB WITH CHESTNUT & TOMATO RELISH
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Christmas recipe serves: 6
calories per serving: 450
preparation time: 15 minutes
cooking time: 20 minutes
not suitable for freezing

Christmas recipe ingredients:

• chestnuts, peeled cooked, 175 g (6 oz)
• tomatoes, cherry 75 g (3 oz)
• bacon, rindless streaky, 175 g (6 oz)
• lamb, 3 racks trimmed, 900 g (2 lb)
• garlic, 3 cloves
• pepper
• olive oil, 100 ml (4 fl oz)
• parsley, finely chopped fresh, 60 ml (4 tbsp)
• caster sugar, 10 ml (2 tsp)
• balsamic vinegar, 30 ml (2 tbsp)
• garnish, flat leaf parsley

Christmas recipe instructions:

1. Rub the lamb with garlic and finely coat with pepper. Cut the tomatoes in half and the chestnuts into rough pieces.
2. Cook the lamb racks, having placed the bacon on top, at gas mark 9 (240 degrees centigrade, 475 F) for about 20 minutes or for about 30 minutes for well done.
3. For the relish; mix balsamic vinegar, sugar, parsley and the remaining garlic (peeled and crushed) with the olive oil. Then add the cherry tomatoes and chestnuts.
4. To complete the relish add the liquid from step 2 to the step 4 product.
5. Serve the lamb in six pieces wity the relish, garnished with parsley.

Note: You can replace the chestnuts with frozen or canned variety.

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MINCEMEAT & MAZIPAN TART
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Christmas recipe serves: 8
calories per serving: 780
preparation time: 1 hour and chilling
cooking time: 45 minutes
suitable for freezing after step 4

Christmas recipe ingredients:

• salt, a pinch
• orange, grated rind and juice from a quarter
• butter, 150 g (5 oz)
• eggs, 2
• marzipan, white almond 250 g (9 oz)
• caster sugar
• double cream, 300 ml (10 fl oz)

Fruity Mincemeat:

• lemon, grated rind and juice from 1
• raisins/sultanas, 125 g (4 oz) of each
• currants & dried peaches (or apricots, pears),125 g (4 oz) of each
• mixed spice, 1.25 ml (quarter tsp)
• sugar, light brown 100 g (3.5 oz)
• brandy, 100 ml (4 fl oz)
• eating apples, 200 g (7 oz)
• white grapes, seedless 125 g (4 oz)

Christmas recipe instructions:

1. Mincemeat: Combine the brandy, brown sugar, mixed spice, dried fruit, and lemon rind with juice. Add cubed apple and halved grapes. Mix and keep at about 5 degrees centigrade for a minimum of a day.
2. Tart: Use a food processor to mix the flour and salt for a few seconds. Throw in the butter and orange rind and produce a granular mixture. Add a mixture of beaten eggs (30 ml, 2 tbsp) and orange juice (30 ml, 2 tbsp) and process under a consitent mixture has formed. Remove and knead on a floured surface before colling for half an hour.
3. Line a 9 inch tart tin with rolled pastry and heat (having line with greaseproof paper and baking beans) at gas mark 6 (200 degrees centigrade, 400 F) for quarter of an hour. Remove the paper and baking beans, heat for another 5 minutes, brush with beaten egg, heat for another 2 minutes.
4. Remove and keep the liquid from the mincemeat, add diced marzipan (50 g, 2 oz) and place in the pastry case. Add criss-cross strips of rolled marzipan on top, brush with beaten egg and coat with sugar. Cook until the marzipan is golden brown (abut 20 minutes). Leave for 10 minutes then cool.
5. To serve: Whip the kept mincemeat juice with the cream and serve with the warm tart.

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CHRISTMAS SWISS ROLL
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Christmas recipe makes 8 slices
Calories per serving: 720 cals
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Not suitable for freezing

Christmas recipe ingredients:

• oil for greasing
• caster sugar, 125 g (4 oz)
• flour, plain 75 g (3 oz)
• eggs, 3
• cocoa powder, 30 ml (2 tbsp)
• chestnut paste, can of sweetened 440 g (15.5 oz)
• icing sugar
• decoration, holly sprigs

Christmas recipe instructions:

1. Prepare a swissroll cake tin, about 13 x 9 inch, inserting greaseproof paper into the greased tin and then greasing the paper itself. Shake a small amount of caster sugar around the tin, then do the same with some flour, finally shaking out the extra.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl placed over steam from water at just at boiling point. Be careful not to over heat the mixture. It should be just thick enough to make strands as you lift the whisk out of the ingredients.
3. Take thr mixture away from the heat and continue whisking as it cools, (about 5 minutes). Blend in the cocoa powder and flour followed by hot water (15 ml, 1 tbsp).
4. Take the tin from step one and pour in the mixture. Bake at gas mark 6 (200 degrees centigrade, 400 F) until the cake has come away from the sides of the tin a bit (about 10 minutes).
5. Remove the cake from the tin and place on greaseproof paper, previously coated then shaken with caster sugar. Trim the hard edges off the cake, then bake the rolled up cake (with paper inside) for an additional 20 minutes.
6. Melt the chocolate with water (15 ml, 1 tbsp) in a bowl placed over water just at boiling point. Mix icing sugar into some softened butter and then add the melted chocolate.
7. Take the cold swiss roll, unroll it and add the chestnut paste, spreading over the complete surface. Remove the paper, roll up again and put on a plate.
8. Attach a slice of the roll to the side of the log with butter cream. Preferably a diagonal slice.
9. Complete the presentation by using a piping bag with star shaped nozzle to run lines of butter cream along the swiss roll log. Finally, sprinkle with icing sugar and decorate with sprigs of holly.

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Come on folks post up some ideas for Christmas Recipes.