Christmas Food: Planning For The Big Day

FINALLY – It’s all happening! planning has ended and the actuality has arrived.

10.00am Breakfast of croissants & jam and orange juice and coffee is organized (& not always by me) for however many family members are staying with us. We have a big family so there is usually lots of help on offer which is always most acceptable and appreciated.

Ideally this is followed by opening of gifts at about 11.30am and is accompanied by Champagne Cocktails &/or Frascati with White Christmas and homemade cheese biscuits ; medium heat salsa dip and corn chips (bought) and a platter of sliced of fresh fruit.

Frascati is a truly delicious strawberry sparkling wine – serve it with a small strawberry floating in the champagne glass; a personal favourite along with “Yellow” champagne/ sparkling wine (which my sons spoil me with!). Of course if you are not a lover of sweet then the Frascati maybe not for you but you may find Houghton’s Chardonnay Videlho to your taste which when served icy cold is totally delicious.

It is a really great idea to imbibe Champagne and particularly at Christmas so I present you with some thoughts from Madam Lilly Bollinger on when it is the proper time to drink it!

When To Drink Champagne

“I drink it when I am happy and when I am sad.

Sometimes I drink it when I am alone.

When I have company I consider it obligatory.

I trifle with it when I am not hungry, and drink it when I am.

Otherwise I never touch it – unless I am thirsty.”

Madam Lilly Bollinger (attrib.) Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany: Ben Schott. 2003.

So here we have the family Champagne Cocktail – a delicious drink quite favoured over many years in our family as the Christmas tipple of choice.

Method
Drop a cube of sugar into a champagne flute. Dash with Angostura bitters, top up with chilled champagne, and garnish with a curl of orange peel. Drink and enjoy. Not too much or dinner could be on hold indefinitely!

for more Christmas hubs please got to

http://hubpages.com/hub/HubMob-Weekly-Topic-A-Revolutionary-Christmas-In-Rhythm--Rhyme

http://hubpages.com/hub/HubMob-Weekly-Topic-Christmas-Countdown

http://hubpages.com/hub/Christmas-Day--Your-Food-Plan

http://hubpages.com/hub/Puddings-For-Christmas

Lunch Is Usually Served Around 3.00pm

GRACE BEFORE MEAT

Some hae meat , and canna eat,

And some would eat that want it,

But we hae meat, and we can eat,

And sae the Lord be thankit.

from Robert Burns “The Selkirk Grace”, c.1790

Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany: Ben Schott. 2003. page 17

Christmas Day Buffet Menu

Big fat cooked Prawns/Lime Mayonnaise

Glazed Ham/Room Temperature

Roasted Turkey Breast/With Cranberry Sauce/Hot

Rare Roasted Beef/With Hot English Mustard

Potato Bake /Hot

Russian Salad/Cold

Raspberry, Avocado & Watercress Salad/With Honey Dressing

Annie’s Tomato Tart

Green Salad

Dessert

Fruit Christmas Bombe Or

Plum Pudding with Brandy Custard.

Typsy Laird’s Cake

Fresh Tropical Fruit Salad

The beauty of serving this meal is that the Cook is off duty for the next couple of days as there are plenty of miracles happening in the fridge and cooking is off the menu!

Ham Recipe No. 1.

Decorate your ham usually with Pineapple rings and red glace cherries. To do this anchor fruit into place with tooth picks. Then pack on loads of brown sugar into the central holes of the pineapple, ensuring that you cover the glace cherries in the process.

Make a basting juice with pineapple juice laced with the tipple of your choice; brandy or sherry or port. I usually choose sherry.

For a 7kg Ham / bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 hour – reduce the temperature once the glaze becomes brown and bubbly – caramelizes. Place into oven then after about 15 minutes gently pour the basting juice over the ham (trying to miss the brown sugar). Turn oven down to about 125 degrees c. after caramelizing has occurred.

Baste every 15-20 minutes or so. Baste carefully as you do not want to wash away the caramelizing sugar. Please remember the ham is already cooked and you are just glazing and adding flavour. When slicing to serve cut on the cross so that each serving incorporates a little of the glazing.

PRAWNS

Buy the Prawns fresh the day before if able. Pre-order if you can and serve on ice on a very large platter. Cut lemons/limes into quarters and place onto platter.

LIME MAYONNAISE

Ingredients

4 eggs – room temperature

Olive oil – get the best

Lime juice

Salt and pepper

Take the 4 eggs (room temperature) separate and remove the whites. Whip the yolks vigorously, add a little olive oil, tiny drops a spot at a time, continue in this ay until the mixture has doubled & is quite thick. Keep adding olive oil until you can see that there is a good thickness. Finally, when your mayonnaise is beautifully thick and has reached the right consistency add a little salt and squeeze in a little juice from a lime. Taste and if required add pepper, more salt, more juice. Go carefully with the acidic qualities of the juice as it may cause the mayonnaise to “cut” or separate

Serve with prawns.

and some food for thought - on Mayonnaise - athick sauce of egg yolks, olive oil and seasoning- named after Minorcan port of Mahon, which in turn was named after the Carthaginian general Mago (d. 203BC), who fought during Hannibal’s Italian campaign:

Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany: Ben Schott. 2003. page 44

3 tips when preparing homemade mayonnaise

1. Always use a pristine glass or china bowl and a wooden spoon – again from the person (my mother-inlaw) who taught me how to make this egg mayonnaise. However over the years I have learned to live dangerously and now produce the mayonnaise in the china bowl but with hand held electric beaters. Works a treat.

2. If you have a large number of people wishing to partake of your “homemade” mayonnaise but do not want to use 3 dozen eggs what you do is follow the above mentioned steps using about 8 eggs then you buy the “SW Whole Egg Mayonnaise” and add it to the mixture to bulk it out. Because you don’t wish to loose the rich egg colour or to make the mayo too thin just add a little at a time. I have found that using the SW does not affect the lovely eggy flavour.

3. I was told by father in law that if the mayonnaise should cut or separate add a teaspoon of water and all will be corrected. Now I cannot vouch for this as I have never had to travel this path.

How do you know Santa has to be a man?

Because no woman is going to wear the same outfit year after year.  

And a curious question -Why does rain drop, but snow fall?  

Good King Wenceslas phoned for a pizza. The salesgirl asked him, 'Do you want your usual? Deep pan, crisp and even?

Denominations: Maria went to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards.'What denomination?' asked the clerk ‘Oh? Good heavens! Have we come to this?' said Maria, 'Well give me 50 Methodist and 50 Church of England ones please.'

Christmas Shepherd:  One Christmas, Joe and Peter built a skating rink in the middle of a lake . A shepherd leading his flock decided to take a shortcut across the rink. The sheep, however, were afraid of the ice and wouldn't cross it. Desperate, the shepherd began tugging them to the other side. 'Look at that, 'remarked Peter to Joe, 'That guy is trying to pull the wool over our ice!

 

 

 

 

Maria went to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards.'

What denomination?' asked the clerk ‘Oh? Good heavens! Have we come to this?' said Maria, 'Well give me 50 Methodist and 50 Church of England ones please.'

 

 

Christmas Shepherd

 

Raspberry, Avocado & Watercress Salad With Honey Dressing

Serves 6.

Ingredients

2 firm ripe avocados

250grm (8oz) raspberries

1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar

1 tablespoon walnut oil

2 tablespoons extra light olive oil

½ teaspoon sea salt

Good grinding of black pepper

1 teaspoon liquid honey

4 cups lightly packed tender watercress sprigs

Method

Quarter the avocados lengthways, remove skin and cut the flesh across into slices, drop them into a bowl. Tumble the raspberries over the avocado.

Honey Dressing

Whisk the vinegar, walnut oil olive oil, salt, pepper, and honey together until thick and spoon over fruit. Toss very gently – both avocados and raspberries crush easily. Line a platter with the watercress and pile the fruit on top.

from: Charmaine Solomon’s Complete Vegetarian Cookbook Page 176

RUSSIAN SALAD

A firm family favourite – from my Mother-In-Law

 

Ingredients

8 large Potatoes - peeled

4 Carrots

1 packet of “surprise” Peas

6 Hard boiled eggs

250 grams Ham

1 ½ kilos peeled and cooked Prawns

A Good quantity of home made mayonnaise

Method

Peel and cube the potatoes and carrots. Cook peas. Hard boil the eggs.

Cool the vegetables and combine on a bowl. Add cooled and cut hard boiled eggs to mix.

Dice ham and add.

Prepare good quantity of the home made mayonnaise or use the commercially prepared “SW Whole Egg Mayonnaise” if you wish and mix through the salad.

Mound the salad onto a platter and then cover with the Prawns. This is a salad I often get asked to make!!

 

 SUSAN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS

 This recipe is from my Sister, Susan

Ingredients

3/4 cup sultanas

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup of quartered red and green glace cherries

1 cup powdered milk

2 cups Kellogg’s Rice Bubbles

1 cup of soft icing sugar

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla essence (Queens is best)

8oz. (250gms) Copha

Method

Melt the Copha. Add vanilla.

Place all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Add melted Copha (hot, but do not allow to boil) and mix till well combined.

Press into a shallow tin and allow to set in refrigerator.

Cut into squares.

Merry Christmas

 

Parmesan Cheese and Rosemary Biscuits

This recipe is from my good friend Jenny Scott Bohanna

(Makes approximately 48 biscuits)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup plain flour

2 tablespoons self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

125g butter cut into cubes

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon lemon juice.

METHOD

Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix until a ball of soft dough

develops. This step can be done by hand, as if making scones.

Turn onto a board and shape into a long roll. Wrap in plastic wrap and

refrigerate for 2 hours (can be frozen at this stage). Cut into thin slices and

place on greased oven trays. Bake in 180 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until

golden. Cool on wire rack and store in airtight container.

Enjoy!