Edna Bucket

Piff Poff's excellent thread has got some Christmas food recipes on it. I thought it would be handy for some folks if they were separated out.

Hope you don't mind Piff Poff

Oakvillian could you post your pie recipe again?

Edna Bucket

Christmas chutney – Nigella Lawson


Quantity for 4 x 250ml (7fl oz) jars

700g (1lb 9oz) Granny Smith apples
250g (9oz) dried cranberries
1 onion, finely chopped
350ml (12fl oz) apple cider vinegar
200g (7oz) sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons coarse salt.

Peel and core the apples, then cut into small pieces (roughly ½ cm)

Put apple pieces and finely chopped onion into a saucepan with all the other ingredients and cook on a fast simmer for 45 minutes or until the mixture has thickened slightly and the fruit is soft.

Spoon into *sterilised jars and screw on the lids. Allow to cool before storing in a cool, dark place.

* Nigella suggests sterilising jars by placing them on a kitchen towel-lined oven tray and baking them in the oven for 10 minutes at 160C (320F). allow to cool slightly before filling with chutney.

Edna Bucket

Christmas chocolate fruit cake – Nigella Lawson

350g (12oz) dried soft prunes, chopped
250g (9oz) raisins
125g (4 ½ oz) currants
175g (6oz) soft unsalted butter
175g (6oz) dark muscovado sugar
175ml (6fl oz) honey
125ml (4fl oz) coffee or chocolate liqueur
Juice and zest of 2 oranges
1 teaspoon mixed spice
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 eggs, beaten
150g (5 ½ oz) flour
75g (2 ½ oz) ground almonds
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarb of soda

For decorating:
25g (1oz) chocolate covered coffee beans
Gold edible glitter
Gold edible mini-balls and stars
Gold and coloured ribbon to tie around

Use a loose-bottomed cake tin 20cm x 9cm (8in x 3 ½in) and line bottom and sides with baking parchment making it twice as high as the sides of the tin. It also helps to prevent the cake from catching if a strip of brown paper is tied around the outer edge of the tin.

Put fruit, butter, sugar, honey, liqueur, orange juice and zest, spice and cocoa into a large saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer mixture for 10 minutes then take off the heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes (or longer if wished).

Preheat oven to 150C (300F).

When mixture has cooled add the beaten eggs. flour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Pour mixture into prepared tin, place in centre of oven and bake for 2-2 ½ hours.

When cooked the cake will still have a shiny and sticky look. If you insert a cake tester into the middle of the cake it will seem slightly gooey. Cool the cake on a cooling rack (it takes several hours to cool) then remove from tin, and if not required immediately store it by wrapping in parchment and foil and placing in a tin.

To decorate tie a coloured ribbon around the outer edge, place the chocolate covered cocoa beans in the centre of the cake and arrange the edible glitter, stars and balls around them.

Piff Poff

Excellent idea Edna! I will post my xmas pud recipe later!

mkmurrays

Great idea......but it's making me soooo hungry. Must have a go at Christmas Chutney. I love chutney!

rwin

Fruit Cake Recipe

You'll need the following:

* a cup of water
* a cup of sugar
* four large brown eggs
* two cups of dried fruit
* a teaspoon of salt
* a cup of brown sugar
* lemon from your neighbor's tree
* nuts from last walnut grove on Piedmont Rd.
* a bottle of whiskey.

Sample the whiskey to check for quality.

Take a large bowl. Put it down somewhere.

Check the whiskey again.

To be sure it's the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Repeat.

Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in that large, fluffy bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar and beat again.

Make sure the whiskey is still okay.

Cry another tup.

Turn off the mixer! It's splattered dough everywhere!

Beat two leggs and add to the fluffy bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Mix on the tuner.

If the fired druit gets stuck in the beaterers, pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity... Whew is it hot in here ?

Okay.. Next, sift two cups of salt... or something.

Check the whiskey.

Now sift the lemon ... urp ... juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table ... spoon ... of sugar or something ... Who cares? Whatever the heck you can find.

Grease the oven.

Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Check the whishkey again.

Throw up in the bowl and go to bed.

mkmurrays

Great fruit cake recipe...is there the option to substitute a n other bottle of the hard stuff for whiskey if preferred?

rwin

The only way you'll know for sure is to try the recipe over and over with various types of the hard stuff.

mkmurrays

Okay, will raid the cupboard.
What'll it be half a bottle of rancid Calvados or three quarters of Tequilla...? Neither very seasonal but what the hell?

Also, how far is it from Kelowna to get to pick the walnuts? I like to follow recipes to the letter.

PS Gave me a laugh on a day when I need it. Thanks.

joelsa

kate white

Love it

Oakvillian

here it is:
Christmas Pie

ingredients
1 tablespoon oil for frying
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 slices smoked streaky bacon, chopped or, 50 g smoked lardons
500g pork sausagemeat or skinned pork sausages
1 lemon, zest of, grated
1 orange, zest of, grated
100g fresh breadcrumbs (I think the original recipe said brown but we used white yesterday as we happened to have a not-too-fresh loaf in the breadbin…)
75g ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
50g fresh cooked peeled chestnuts or canned chestnuts or vacuum-packed chestnuts, chopped (optional, but v good IMHO)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
100g fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries
500g boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
500g shortcrust pastry
beaten eggs, to glaze

method

1. Heat oven to 190C/375F/gas 5. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a frying pan, add the onion and the bacon (if using), then fry for about 5 mins until the onion is softened and the bacon browned. Allow to cool slightly.
2. Tip the sausagemeat, lemon and orange zest, breadcrumbs, apricots, chestnuts (if using) and thyme into a bowl.
3. Add the onion, bacon and cranberries, then mix everything together with your hands, adding plenty of pepper and a little salt to taste.
4. Cut each chicken breast into three or four fillets lengthwise and season all over with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan, and fry the chicken fillets quickly until browned, about 6-8 minutes.
5. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry to line a 20-23cm springform or deep loose-based tart tin. Press half of the sausage mix onto the pastry and spread to level. Then add the chicken pieces in one layer and cover with the rest of the sausage. Press down lightly.
6. Roll out the remaining pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg and cover with the pastry lid. Pinch the edges to seal, then trim.
7. Brush the top of the pie with egg, then roll out the trimmings to make holly leaf shapes and berries. Decorate the pie and brush again with egg.
8. Set the tin on a baking sheet and bake for 50-60 mins, then cool in the tin for 15 minutes. Remove the pie from the tin, and leave to cool slightly. Serve warm or cold with a winter salads, chutneys, relishes and pickles.

Purley

I have made Delia Smith's Spiced Damson Chutney several times. In fact I have some frozen prune plums in my freezer that I bought in August when I didn't feel like making chutney. Have to get at it.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/s...y,1652,RC.html

The recipe is there. She also has a recipe for Spiced Cranberry chutney.

You can't get damsons here so I substituted those hard prune plums. You could probably use any kind of plum. The chutney is like Branston pickle only better!

Member123

A Nice Change To Mincepies

Cranberry Pies

Temperature: 190 c/375F/gas mark 5

Pastry:
450g (1lb) plain flour
175g (6oz) icing sugar
350g (12oz)chilled butter
rind and juice of 1 orange



Filling:
225g (8oz) uncooked or frozen cranberries
75g (3oz) caster sugar
2 dessert apples, peeled and chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon


Make pastry and chill for 1/2 hour
Mix ingredients for filling (there is no need to chop the cranberries)
Make up as you would mince pies
Cook for 15-20 minutes at 180-200C depending on your oven
Leave to cool in tins and take care when lifting out at they break easily.

(Gorgeous and very moreish - probably not good for those on the "Exfats Weigh-in" thread!)

mandymoochops

The easiest and most dead cert way to win friends

Sherry Log

1 packet chocolate chip cookies
2 packets of dream topping (not sure if you can get this out here)
1 bottle sherry (Bristol Cream or such like tho port is good too)
3 Cadbury Flakes.


Beat the cream into a thick mixture and put in a bowl in the fridge for an hour.

Pour some sherry into a shallow dish.

Open the cookies and then dip a cookie each side in the sherry til full (but not soggy)

Get another cookie and do the same and stick them together using a big blob of cream.

Repeat until the whole packet of cookies is soaked in sherry and stuck together with cream.

Spread the remainder of the cream all over the cookie log and crumble loads of Cadbury Flake all over the top.

Put some holly or other festive adornment on it, put in the fridge for a bit, JOB DONE.


Trust me this has to be the tastiest and easiest desert i've ever done (i'm going to make one for o/h work lunch next friday)!!!