Is anyone trying any new recipe this Christmas? I need some inspiration

Hi IngridO,
Sorry to say we're probably rather dull as we have the same Christmas lunch every year - French roast chicken, loads of roast and steamed veggies, real gravy, homemade Christmas pud, trifle, tropical fruit salad. The pud, chicken and fruit salad are either only made at Christmas, or special occasions, so they're a treat for us. Over the years we've tried the seafood thing and the bbq thing and down the beach with cold meats and salads, and we just seem to prefer a traditional hot lunch. If it's a stinker over here we crank up the a/c lol.
Look forward to reading what new things other FL are doing.

Hi Heather:
How do you season your chicken to make it French?

No, sorry, I'll probably do pork belly again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2017 10:49PM by DK.

Hi IngridQ - it's a recipe I was given about 10 years ago. A bit of faffing but we all love it and my nephew said it took chicken 'to a whole new level' whatever that means lol. I can PM it to you, or put it up here. From memory it was an old Oz WW cookbook.

I will try tomorrow the new Christmas dish idea - I know about it from one of my Ukrainian friends - I will prepare cranberry kissel

Flora205 Warsaw/Poland
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I'm going to try the recipe for chocolate fruit cake in this month's Next mag. I think I'll put my own marzipan on it with a white chocolate ganach.

I am hunting for a new vegetarian main.... nothing takes my fancy yet! I do chuckle though at some of the suggestions for a special veggie main for christmas.

I don't know whether you serve it in NZ for Christmas, but in Poland one of our main courses for Christmas Eve supper are dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms.

Traditionally during this supper we do not eat any meat (fish does not count). Other courses (it should be 12 together) depending on the family are/might be:

mushroom soup or red borscht with small mushroom/cabbage dumplings
cabbage with mushrooms
cabbage with pea
herrings (different style - with onion, with cream, with mustard etc)
fish - different style - fried (carp, zander), cold in jelly (aspic?)
vegetable salad
noodles with poppyseed
compote with dried fruit
kutia (traditional Christmas Eve Slavic dish with the wheat, poppy seed, honey, nuts and dried fruit)
poppyseed cake, cheesecake or gingerbread


I wonder what you serve traditionally on this day in NZ?

Flora205 Warsaw/Poland
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I'm going to make the chocolate fruit cake from this month's Next magazine, it's got black cherries in it, and looks like it'll be moist and chocolatey, I'm hoping I might persuade my boy to try a piece. I always struggle with vege sides, but this year have vowed to keep it simple, we'll be having an evening meal as I'm working a full shift on Christmas day and also on Christmas eve so I'll have limited time for prep.

Heather F - If you get a chance to share the recipe, I would definately be interested. Thanks

Hi IngridO - here it is. I only have in a PDF format and don't know how to change it:
This is from an old Australian Womens Weekly cookbook but I'm not sure which one.

French Roast Chicken

1.25kg whole chicken ( I use free range)
90g softened butter
2 tbl finely chopped parsley
2 tbl finely chopped shallots
1 tsp French mustard
1/2 tsp tarragon (dried)
salt & pepper
1 c dry white wine
1/2 c water
30g butter, extra
1 chicken stock cube
1/2 c cream
1 tbl cornflour

Stuffing

2 1/2 c fresh white breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tbl chopped parsley
60g butter
2 rashers bacon, chopped finely
1 small onion chopped finely

Take a teaspoon, rounded side up, and gently ease down and over chicken breast separating skin from meat - be careful not to break the skin.
Place 1st measure of butter in a bowl, beat until soft and creamy, add parsley, shallots, mustard, tarragon, salt and pepper and mix well.
Carefully spread mixture over whole breast under skin.
Stuff chicken with prepared stuffing and close cavity.
Put chicken into baking dish, add wine, water, crumbled stock cube and extra butter.
Bake uncovered at 150C F/F for 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is tender, basting frequently with pan juices.
remove chicken from pan. Place pan on stove top and bring liquid to boil. Boil uncovered for 2 mins. Remove from heat and add combined cornflour and cream. Stir until combined. Return to heat, stir until sauce boils and thickens; add salt and pepper to taste. Serve sauce with chicken.

To Make Stuffing

Heat butter in pan, add onion and bacon, saute gently until onion is tender. Combine breadcrumbs, egg, thyme, parsley, onion mixture and salt and pepper. Mix well.

My tweaks are:
I don't use the cream and cornflour; I either make a regular gravy from the pan juices, or just reduce the juices and serve that.
I don't use the stock cube, I use liquid stock instead, either bought salt-reduced, or homemade.
I find stuffing the chicken prior to spreading the butter under the skin works better for me.
I use fresh tarragon and thyme, and taste the butter mix to make sure it tastes 'right'. (fresh tarragon can be quite strong, so if you're not used to it, try a few leaves finely chopped, mix it in well and then taste to see if you're happy with it)
Every oven is different so yours make take more or less time, and I find with mine I need to cover the chook towards the end of the time to stop it browning too much.

Hope you enjoy it - it is an absolute fave here!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2017 05:08PM by Heather F.

Thanks Heather that sounds Wonderful.

Very happy to share Lyn V! Just don't make it after work as I did the first time - we had dinner about 8.30 or so lol!

Hi Karen - what about this for a Christmas veggie main - looks delish, as long as you eat eggs and cheese:

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Karen, I thought this looked rather interesting, although maybe a bit heavy if this heat keeps up!

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Thanks Heather and Griz. Griz that looks amazing! And possibly not too eggy tasting! We fo serve lots of salads with dinner so could balance it out. Would have to make at least a couple though as everyone would want a taste!

Heather - that sounds divine - Thank you so much for sharing

You're welcome IngridO! And I've just find out that there's 2 more for lunch Christmas Day so I'll be doing 3 chooks all up.

ON THE CHRISTMAS TABLE - CHRISTMAS EVE CRANBERRY KISSEL
One of my friends from Ukraine told me about her traditional Christmas dishes. Except for stuffed cabbage with potatoes (which I have made already) I was surprised about cranberry kissel. I searched the Internet and I saw that in many Polish homes Christmas Eve supper ends with cranberry kissel. In my home we always drink compote with dried fruit, but maybe this year we will try a new dish on our Christmas menu.

I wonder why cranberries are on the Christmas table. I didn't find any particular information about it (except the fact it is tradition). I think that a few years ago cranberries were treated as a natural cure which aids digestion, and this could be quite useful after a hefty Christmas meal!

At my Ukrainian friends' home Christmas kissel is runny like a drink, but you can prepare it like a dessert with a more dense texture. I made the drink version, but you should choose which is better for you.

Ingredients:
500g of cranberries
a piece of cinnamon and a couple of cloves
6-8 tablespoons of sugar
2-3 tablespoons of potato flour

for interested the complete recipe is here



Flora205 Warsaw/Poland
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ON THE CHRISTMAS TABLE - LAZANKI - NOODLES WITH CABBAGE AND MUSHROOMS

Traditionally, during the Polish Christmas Eve supper we don't eat any meat. Instead we have twelve dishes with fish, mushrooms, vegetables and cabbage. In my home everybody waits for their favourite meal: my husband and daughter for the herring dishes and vegetable salad, my son for the fried fish, while I wait for dumplings and jellied carp.

One of the traditional dishes in many Polish homes is lazanki with cabbage and mushrooms. Lazanki are small, square noodles. The best dish is made with noble porcini mushrooms. I sometimes mix these forest mushrooms with sliced champignons, which look beautiful among the noodles. Lazanki are a Christmas Eve dish, but sometimes when my children ask me I prepare it during the rest of the year too.

Ingredients:
500g of sauerkraut
1 onion
60g of dried porcini
6-7 champignons
1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of butter
300g of lazanki
salt and pepper

for interested the complete recipe is here



Flora205 Warsaw/Poland
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Karen,

I am searching Terrines and have seen some great veggie ones. I have never made one, but have the perfect dish for making one.
Ages ago, on one of the baking programmes someone made a ham hock terrine. It looked delicious.
They carve nicely, look nice on the table and would be light on a very hot day.

Cheers, Beverley

I`d like to try something like shrimp scampi or jorkshire pudding Never tried those so far, anybody has some experience?

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Im keen to make a delicious POKE instead of the salad Im down to bring.

I plan to shred and chop lots of different vegetables and make a delicious asian inspired dressing. Ill leave out the protein/fish/meat as I know we are having lots of that but thought it would look amazing and something a bit different.

I plan to serve it on a huge deep platter so people can pick and choose what they want.

I know not a traditional poke or even a traditional Christmas dish but its where my inspiration is coming from.

Vanessa

Griz, thanks for that, it looks amazing. I'm vegetarian and also don't much like eggs so can't have anything that tastes of eggs (though I don't worry if there is some in baking and I cannot taste it). Will be googling to see where I can get chestnuts! Thanks so much for that link.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2017 04:29AM by Jacki1.

Hi Heather F -
I am going to give your chicken recipe a try for our earlyish Christmas dinner here this week - but just wondering if I can substitute some gluten free bread into the stuffing mix?? I imagine it will be a heavier texture but am keen to hear ideas.
Many thanks, Lyn

Hi Lyn - I can't see why not. I've been told by a gluten-free friend that some GF breads are great and some are not, so it might be an idea to find out which is the best to use.
So glad you're going to give it a go - I love this recipe - it's almost my 'last supper' request lol.

Was looking through my ancient AWW Best Ever Recipes (no publication date in it but RRP of $4.98 gives an indication of how ancient) for another recipe I make occasionally (Spinach Pie) and Heather's French Chicken is in there as French Herbed Chicken. Exactly as Heather has provided.
Lynne2

Ah thanks for that Lynne2 - I've had the recipe for such a long time (copied from a former colleague's book), I couldn't recall what book.

Thanks Heather, tomorrow is the D-Day (experiment) day with GF breadcrumbs,