Hope you all had a great day yesterday.
So we have eaten till we are full, but their is still food left.
What to do?
Make a meal from them,
Turkey Casserole
2 onions , finely chopped
1 eating apple , cored and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried sage , or 5 sage leaves, chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
300ml vegetable or chicken stock
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp runny honey
400g-500g leftover turkey , shredded
about 350g leftover roasted vegetables like roast potatoes, parsnips, celeriacs and carrots , chunkily diced
1.Fry the onion and apple in the oil until softened in a casserole or deep pan. Stir in the sage for 1 min, then stir in the flour. Gradually stir in the stock followed by the mustard and honey.
2.Bring up to a simmer and stir in the turkey and roast veg. Cover and gently simmer for 15 mins until turkey is piping hot. Season and eat with mash or jacket potatoes.
Bubble and Squeak
•4 tbsp butter
•½ cup onion, finely chopped
•Leftover mashed potato
•Any leftover vegetables, cabbage, swede, carrots, peas, Brussels Sprouts, finely chopped
•Salt and freshly ground black pepper
•Fried bacon pieces (optional)
•In a large frying pan melt the butter, add the chopped onion and fry gently for 3 mins or until soft.
•Turn the heat up slightly and add the mashed potato and vegetables. Fry for 10 mins turning over in the melted butter two or three times ensuring the potato and vegetables are thoroughly reheated plus you are aiming to brown the outside edges but not to burn the bubble and squeak.
•Press the potato mixture on to the base of the pan with a spatula and leave to cook for 1 min. Flip over and repeat.
•Serve.
lets not forget the leftover desserts
another Jamie Recipe
• 200g leftover Christmas pudding
• 6 tablespoons cranberry sauce
red wine or mulled wine
Optional: 2 teaspoons sugar, to taste
• 1 x 500ml tub good-quality vanilla ice cream
• a large handful of flaked almonds, toasted
• 1 x 100g bar good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
What I’m giving you here is really more of a suggestion because the amount of Christmas pudding you’ll have leftover will really depend on how greedy your guests were on Christmas day. But personally, I love Christmas pudding and I think it’s almost worth having another pudding stashed away so you can make this as an after-Christmas treat.
Put a pan over a medium heat and crumble in your Christmas pudding. Squash it down a bit with a wooden spoon to help it heat up and get a bit crispy. Fry for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every so often so it doesn’t catch. In another small pan on a low heat, add your cranberry sauce with a splash of red or mulled wine. Stir in and cook for a few minutes until warmed through. If your sauce is too tart for your liking, add a teaspoon or two of sugar. If you’ve made up a batch of my spiced sugar, then use that because it will be delicious with the cranberry.
Once your pudding is warm and slightly crispy and the sauce has heated up, divide half of your pudding between your four glasses or bowls. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the pudding, drizzle over your hot cranberry sauce, and a good sprinkling of toasted flaked almonds. Divide the remaining Christmas pud between your glasses and layer again with ice cream, cranberry sauce and flaked almonds. Finish the sundae off by grating over a bit of nice dark chocolate and dig in before the ice cream melts.
ENJOY!
Showing posts with label Drink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drink. Show all posts
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Christmas Traditions Around Europe
Christmas traditions vary greatly from country to country even within Europe. Even the way we say Merry Christmas is widely different. Here are a few examples:
Dutch: Zalig Kerstfeast, English: Merry Christmas, French: Joyeux Noel, German: Fröhliche Weihnachten Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie, Polish: Boze Narodzenie and Spanish: Feliz Navidad.
Denmark
An old Danish tradition is the Christmas plate. This was a tradition in the early days where rich Danes gave plates biscuits and fruit as presents to their servants. These plates were the nicest and best kind and were not used for everyday use; this is the reason why they became so collectable.
These days the Danish take great pride making their own decorations with bright paper, bits of wood and straw. The parents secretly decorate the tree, and children are not permitted to see the tree until dinner on Christmas Eve. The tree is then lit up and families gather around to sing carols and hymns.
In Denmark Christmas Eve is called Juleaften and is the biggest occasion of the year. Parties go on all night, with traditional prune-stuffed roast goose, red cabbage, fried pastries, and cinnamon-laced rice pudding called Grod.
The Christmas elves called Julenisse are appeased with rice pudding, and dishes of seeds are placed outdoors for wild birds.
France
Christmas in France has many different traditions. On Christmas Eve, children leave their shoes by the fireplace to be filled with gifts from Pere Noel. In the morning they also find that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have been hung on the tree. In cathedral squares, the story of Christ's birth is re-enacted by both players and puppets.
Nearly every French home at Christmas time displays a Nativity scene or crèche, which serves as the focus for the Christmas celebration. The crèche is often peopled with little clay figures called santons or "little saints."
Food is served in great abundance at the grand feast of the season, which is called le reveillon. Le reveillon is a very late supper held after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The menu for the meal varies according to regional culinary tradition, but can include goose, turkey with chestnuts, oysters, pate de foie gras, poultry, ham, salads, cake, fruit and wine.
In France it is a time for the whole family to come together at Christmas time to holiday and worship. On the eve of Christmas beautifully lit churches and cathedrals, ring out Christmas carols with the church bells. Once dinner is over and the family has retired to bed, they leave a fire burning and food and drink on the table in case the Virgin Mary calls in. Children leave their shoes or wooden clogs called sabots in the hearth for the Christ Child or Pere Noel to fill.
Germany
In Germany the Christmas preparations often begin on the eve of December 6th. People often set aside special evenings for baking spiced cakes and cookies, and making gifts and decorations. Little dolls of fruit are traditional Christmas toys. Germans also make beautiful gingerbread houses and cookies. The German Christmas tree pastry, Christbaumgeback, is a white dough that can be molded into shapes and baked for tree decorations.
In parts of Germany, people believe that the Christ Child sends a messenger in Christmas Eve. He appears as an angel in a white robe and crown, bearing gifts. The angel is called Christkind. There is also a Christmas Eve figure called Weihnachtsmann or Christmas Man, he looks like Santa Claus and also brings gifts.
Some homes in Germany have several Christmas trees, and in all towns across Germany, they can be seen glittering and glowing. They may also have advent wreaths of Holly with four red candles in the center. They light one candle each Sunday and last on Christmas Eve.
Italy
The Christmas season in Italy goes for three weeks, starting 8 days before Christmas known as the Novena. During this period, children go from house to house reciting Christmas poems and singing. They are given money to buy presents.
Children wait until Epiphany, January 6, for their presents. According to tradition, the presents are delivered by a kind ugly witch called Befana on a broomstick. It was said that she was told by the three kings that the baby Jesus was born, she was busy and delayed visiting the baby. She missed the Star lost her way and has been flying around ever since, leaving presents at every house with children in case he is there. She slides down chimneys, and fills stockings and shoes with good things for good children and it is said leaves coal for children who are not so good
Poland
Traditionally, Advent is an important season in the Polish year, with special church services, known as Roraty, being held every morning at 6am. The four Sundays of Advent are said to represent the 4,000 years of waiting for Christ.
Special tasks carried out during Advent are the baking of the Christmas piernik or honey cake, and the making of Christmas decorations. Pierniki are made in a great variety of shapes, including hearts, animals and St Nicholas figures. Traditional decorations include the pajaki, which are handmade mobiles, stars and decorated egg shells. Pajaki are traditional decorations, colorful paper chains and lots of electric lights.
Beautifully lit Christmas trees are placed in all public arenas, outside churches and in homes. Traditionally the trees are decorated with shiny apples, gift walnuts, beautifully wrapped chocolate shapes and many homemade decorations and candles. On the top of the tree is a star or a glittering top piece. In many homes, sparklers are hung on the branches of the trees giving it a magical air.
Christmas Eve, Wigilia, is an important part of the Polish Christmas. Oplatek is served on this day it is a piece of bread pressed with a holy picture on the surface. Oplatek is more symbolic than real food. People once carried these oplatek from house to house and wish their neighbors a Merry Christmas. Nowadays, the bread is mostly shared with members of the family and immediate neighbors. As each person shares the bread, they would have to do two things: forgive any hurts that have occurred over the past year and to wish the person all the happiness in the coming year.
Christmas is celebrated with at least 12 different vegetarian dishes like: mushroom soup, carp, cabbage with pea, stuffed dumplings, and shells macaroni with poppy "makielki". In some homes some hay is put under the tablecloth to symbolise Christ's manger.
Spain
Christmas is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. In Spain it is a very festive time at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, as the stars come out, tiny oil lamps are lit in every house, and after Midnight Mass and Christmas Dinner, streets fill with dancers and onlookers. There is a special Christmas dance called the Jota and the words and music have been handed down for hundreds of years. They dance to the sound of guitars and castanets. Most homes have a manger; these are complete with carved figures. Children think of the Three Wise Man as the gift bearers. Tradition has it that they arrive on January 6th, the date the Wise Men gave gifts to Jesus. The Spanish especially honour the cow at Christmas because it is thought that when Mary gave birth to Jesus the cow in the stable breathed on the Baby Jesus to keep him warm. Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena or "the Good Night." It is a time for family members to gather together to rejoice and feast around the Nativity scenes that are present in nearly every home. A traditional Christmas treat is turron, a kind of almond candy. Christmas Eve is the most important part of Christmas in Spain and dinner that day is the biggest meal of the year, people eat 'well' lobster is very common, and a roast of some sort is essential (usually lamb or suckling pig). In addition to all this, most families will also have soup (usually fish), and an abundance of other seafood, cheeses, hams and pates. Dinner starts late, at about 10pm and will go on for a couple of hours. Shoes are filled with straw or barley for the tired camels that must carry their riders through the busy night. By morning the camel food is gone and in place of the straw or barley are presents. Shoes also may be placed on balconies on the night of the 6th January in the hope that the Wise Men will fill them with gifts.
Dutch: Zalig Kerstfeast, English: Merry Christmas, French: Joyeux Noel, German: Fröhliche Weihnachten Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie, Polish: Boze Narodzenie and Spanish: Feliz Navidad.
Denmark
An old Danish tradition is the Christmas plate. This was a tradition in the early days where rich Danes gave plates biscuits and fruit as presents to their servants. These plates were the nicest and best kind and were not used for everyday use; this is the reason why they became so collectable.
These days the Danish take great pride making their own decorations with bright paper, bits of wood and straw. The parents secretly decorate the tree, and children are not permitted to see the tree until dinner on Christmas Eve. The tree is then lit up and families gather around to sing carols and hymns.
In Denmark Christmas Eve is called Juleaften and is the biggest occasion of the year. Parties go on all night, with traditional prune-stuffed roast goose, red cabbage, fried pastries, and cinnamon-laced rice pudding called Grod.
The Christmas elves called Julenisse are appeased with rice pudding, and dishes of seeds are placed outdoors for wild birds.
Christmas in France has many different traditions. On Christmas Eve, children leave their shoes by the fireplace to be filled with gifts from Pere Noel. In the morning they also find that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have been hung on the tree. In cathedral squares, the story of Christ's birth is re-enacted by both players and puppets.
Nearly every French home at Christmas time displays a Nativity scene or crèche, which serves as the focus for the Christmas celebration. The crèche is often peopled with little clay figures called santons or "little saints."
Food is served in great abundance at the grand feast of the season, which is called le reveillon. Le reveillon is a very late supper held after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The menu for the meal varies according to regional culinary tradition, but can include goose, turkey with chestnuts, oysters, pate de foie gras, poultry, ham, salads, cake, fruit and wine.
In France it is a time for the whole family to come together at Christmas time to holiday and worship. On the eve of Christmas beautifully lit churches and cathedrals, ring out Christmas carols with the church bells. Once dinner is over and the family has retired to bed, they leave a fire burning and food and drink on the table in case the Virgin Mary calls in. Children leave their shoes or wooden clogs called sabots in the hearth for the Christ Child or Pere Noel to fill.
In Germany the Christmas preparations often begin on the eve of December 6th. People often set aside special evenings for baking spiced cakes and cookies, and making gifts and decorations. Little dolls of fruit are traditional Christmas toys. Germans also make beautiful gingerbread houses and cookies. The German Christmas tree pastry, Christbaumgeback, is a white dough that can be molded into shapes and baked for tree decorations.
In parts of Germany, people believe that the Christ Child sends a messenger in Christmas Eve. He appears as an angel in a white robe and crown, bearing gifts. The angel is called Christkind. There is also a Christmas Eve figure called Weihnachtsmann or Christmas Man, he looks like Santa Claus and also brings gifts.
Some homes in Germany have several Christmas trees, and in all towns across Germany, they can be seen glittering and glowing. They may also have advent wreaths of Holly with four red candles in the center. They light one candle each Sunday and last on Christmas Eve.
The Christmas season in Italy goes for three weeks, starting 8 days before Christmas known as the Novena. During this period, children go from house to house reciting Christmas poems and singing. They are given money to buy presents.
Children wait until Epiphany, January 6, for their presents. According to tradition, the presents are delivered by a kind ugly witch called Befana on a broomstick. It was said that she was told by the three kings that the baby Jesus was born, she was busy and delayed visiting the baby. She missed the Star lost her way and has been flying around ever since, leaving presents at every house with children in case he is there. She slides down chimneys, and fills stockings and shoes with good things for good children and it is said leaves coal for children who are not so good
Traditionally, Advent is an important season in the Polish year, with special church services, known as Roraty, being held every morning at 6am. The four Sundays of Advent are said to represent the 4,000 years of waiting for Christ.
Special tasks carried out during Advent are the baking of the Christmas piernik or honey cake, and the making of Christmas decorations. Pierniki are made in a great variety of shapes, including hearts, animals and St Nicholas figures. Traditional decorations include the pajaki, which are handmade mobiles, stars and decorated egg shells. Pajaki are traditional decorations, colorful paper chains and lots of electric lights.
Beautifully lit Christmas trees are placed in all public arenas, outside churches and in homes. Traditionally the trees are decorated with shiny apples, gift walnuts, beautifully wrapped chocolate shapes and many homemade decorations and candles. On the top of the tree is a star or a glittering top piece. In many homes, sparklers are hung on the branches of the trees giving it a magical air.
Christmas Eve, Wigilia, is an important part of the Polish Christmas. Oplatek is served on this day it is a piece of bread pressed with a holy picture on the surface. Oplatek is more symbolic than real food. People once carried these oplatek from house to house and wish their neighbors a Merry Christmas. Nowadays, the bread is mostly shared with members of the family and immediate neighbors. As each person shares the bread, they would have to do two things: forgive any hurts that have occurred over the past year and to wish the person all the happiness in the coming year.
Christmas is celebrated with at least 12 different vegetarian dishes like: mushroom soup, carp, cabbage with pea, stuffed dumplings, and shells macaroni with poppy "makielki". In some homes some hay is put under the tablecloth to symbolise Christ's manger.
Christmas is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. In Spain it is a very festive time at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, as the stars come out, tiny oil lamps are lit in every house, and after Midnight Mass and Christmas Dinner, streets fill with dancers and onlookers. There is a special Christmas dance called the Jota and the words and music have been handed down for hundreds of years. They dance to the sound of guitars and castanets. Most homes have a manger; these are complete with carved figures. Children think of the Three Wise Man as the gift bearers. Tradition has it that they arrive on January 6th, the date the Wise Men gave gifts to Jesus. The Spanish especially honour the cow at Christmas because it is thought that when Mary gave birth to Jesus the cow in the stable breathed on the Baby Jesus to keep him warm. Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena or "the Good Night." It is a time for family members to gather together to rejoice and feast around the Nativity scenes that are present in nearly every home. A traditional Christmas treat is turron, a kind of almond candy. Christmas Eve is the most important part of Christmas in Spain and dinner that day is the biggest meal of the year, people eat 'well' lobster is very common, and a roast of some sort is essential (usually lamb or suckling pig). In addition to all this, most families will also have soup (usually fish), and an abundance of other seafood, cheeses, hams and pates. Dinner starts late, at about 10pm and will go on for a couple of hours. Shoes are filled with straw or barley for the tired camels that must carry their riders through the busy night. By morning the camel food is gone and in place of the straw or barley are presents. Shoes also may be placed on balconies on the night of the 6th January in the hope that the Wise Men will fill them with gifts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
