Whether you're stuck for ideas, or are looking to try out something new this Christmas, we have put together a selection of festive recipes for you to try - including favourites from our staff and residents.
Read on to discover recipes for Christmas dinner stuffing and veggies, to delicious desserts; and even a tasty dish to use up your leftover turkey.
Ross’ Perfect Roasters
Ross, husband of our Sales Manager June, has been a publican for 30 years and has served many a roast potato. However in the last few weeks he has been experimenting with several ideas, and for his family, this is the ‘perfect roaster’!
Serves: 4
Suitable for vegetarians
Ingredients
1kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and quartered
Rapeseed oil
Tablespoon of floor or semolina
Teaspoon of turmeric
Sprinkle of sea salt
Method
1. Wash potatoes to remove excess starch
2. Place in cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Drain and shake in the colander until rough round the edges (this is very important to help crisp the potatoes).
4. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of flour or semolina.
5. Place in an oven tray and toss with a mix of rapeseed and the secret ingredient – a teaspoon of turmeric (which creates the most amazing colour) - and grind of sea salt.
6. Cook the potatoes in the oven at 200C fan for 15 minutes before taking them out to toss. Return to the oven to cook for another 30-40 minutes until golden and crispy.
Christmas Chantenay Carrots
Serves: 4
Suitable for vegetarians when using a butter substitute, such as olive oil
Ingredients
7 cups chantenay carrots
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon honey
1 orange (juice only)
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons
Parsley
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Put the carrots in a pan, add the salt and just cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender, but still with a bit of 'bite'. Drain the carrots and set aside.
2. Heat the honey, orange juice and butter in the pan over a low heat until melted. Add the carrots, cover the pan and shake the pan over a low heat until the carrots are coated with the mixture and heated through.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and scatter with parsley, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Stuffing Balls
A recipe from June's (our Sales Manager) 83 year old mum, who is a keen cook and baker.
Servings: 12 stuffing balls
Ingredients
1/2lb of pork stuffing meat
Half a box of sage stuffing meat (60 grams)
2 tablespoons of cold water
Any left over black pudding or haggis
6 dried apricots
Method
1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Wet hands and mould the mixture into 12 evenly sized balls.
3. Place on a greased tray and cook in the oven at 180C fan for 15 minutes. Rotate them and then cook for a further 15 minutes before they are done.
Hazelnut Meringue Gateau
Another tasty recipe from June's mum who has used this sweet treat as a Christmas dessert many times.
Serves: 6
Ingredients
For the meringue
4 egg whites
9oz caster sugar
40z ground hazelnuts
For the filling
1/2 pint of double cream, whipped
Fresh raspberries
Method
For the meringue
1. Place all meringue ingredients in a cool bowl, adding the sugar slowly. Whip until stiff peaks form (if you can hold the bowl upside down above your head and you haven't been covered in the white mixture, you are done!)
2. Divide the mixture into two 8'' tins lined with greaseproof paper and cook for 30-40 minutes in the oven at 190C/170C fan until the meringue is crispy on the outside and sticky on the inside.
For the filling
1. First fill the meringue with the cream filling and raspberries.
2. Place the other meringue on top and dust with icing sugar. Decorate with additional toppings if you would like.
Tips from June's mum: "You can make the meringue in advance and keep them in an air tight tin. Don't assemble the gateaux any more than two hours before serving or the cream and fruit will make the meringue soggy."
Turkey Cacciatore
A delicious recipe for using up leftover turkey from our resident, Diaana, taken from Good Housekeeping circa 1960s/1970s.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic, skinned and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
Small 220 gram can of tomato juice (passata) or chopped tomatoes
Olive or rape seed oil
Salt & pepper
Approx. 230 grams (or about half a pound) of cooked turkey, cut into cubes
1 level tablespoon of plain flour
½ teaspoon each of basil and allspice, mixed
½ wineglass red wine
Small packet of frozen peas
Method
1. Cook onion, garlic, carrot and bay leaf in 2 tablespoons of oil for about 10 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, then simmer for 20 minutes before removing the bay leaf.
3. Coat the cubed turkey with flour, basil and allspice. *Fry gently in separate pan with a bit of oil.
4. Add the turkey to the tomato mix along with the red wine and peas. Simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes.
5. Serve with cooked pasta of choice.
*(You can miss that stage out along with the flour coating, particularly if you want to freeze some).
Diaana says: “This is an adaptable recipe as you can add other bits of veg, other than peas, and more turkey if it needs using up. Likewise, you can add more red wine. The end product should be a not too thick sauce. I find this tastes better after being frozen - it gives the flavours time to mingle!”
We hope you enjoy trying these recipes over the festive season.
You can find more of our blogs here or browse our Pinterest page for more recipes.
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