Christmas Dishes – Page 5 – recipes2live4's Blog (2024)

Christmas Royals

These cute little Christmas Royals look like teeny-tiny Christmas puddings and they are the perfect take-along party plate for busy Mums. You can get these made in ten minutes.

Ingredients
2x 200g Arnott’s Royals Biscuits, dark chocolate
200g white chocolate melts
1 x 180g Nestle Smarties
1 x resealable bag
mint leaves

Method
Step 1 . Gather all ingredients.
Lay out Royals on a serving platter.
Melt white chocolate and place in a resealable bag. Snip off the corner of the bag.
Pipe chocolate onto the Royals, allowing a little to run down the side. Top with one red Smartie on each Royal. Scatter mint leaves around plate.

Boiled fruit cake

This is a simple and easy Christmas cake to make. Boiling the fruit makes it plump and juicy. The end result is a brandied moist fruit cake that makes a great gift. It also looks wonderful as a centrepiece on your Christmas table.

Ingredients
250g butter
1kg mixed dried fruit
200g glace cherries
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
4 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup brandy
200g walnuts, chopped

Method
In a large pot, melt the butter on a low heat and add the mixed fruit, cherries, brown sugar and milk. Bring to the boil and add the bicarbonate soda. Simmer on low until the fruit is plump and juicy (about 5 minutes). Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Take a round springform cake tin and grease with butter. Line with 3 layers of brown paper. Extend the paper above the lip by 4cm.
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and add in the flour and brandy. Pour the mixed fruit and walnuts into the bowl and mix until fully combined.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 2 hours. At the 40 minute mark check the top of the cake. If it is lightly browned, cover it with a 4 layer disk of tin foil to protect the top from burning – keep checking the top every half an hour and cover when browned. This cake cannot go the full 2 hours without being covered as the top will burn.
Check with a skewer at the 1 hour 30 min mark. If the skewer comes out clean remove from oven. If not, return to the oven for 10 minutes more and check again.
Pour half a cup of brandy over the top of the hot cake and replace the foil disk. Wrap the cake in about 15 layers of newspapers and secure for 24 hours. Wrap in foil to keep.

3 Ingredient Fruit Cake

This 3 ingredient fruit cake recipe just seems impossible until you see the result come out of the oven and can enjoy a delicious moist fruit cake.

Ingredients
1 kg mixed dried fruit
2 1/2 cups (625ml) fruit juice
2 cups self-raising flour

Method
Place mixed dried fruit in a medium saucepan and pour over 2 cups of fruit juice. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to cool for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 150°C fan-forced or 170°C conventional. Line a 20cm round spring form tin with baking paper and set aside.
Sift the self-raising flour over the soaked fruit and stir well until completely combined. Use the remaining half cup of juice if needed to make a moist mixture.
Pour into cake tin and bake for 2 hours on the lowest shelf.
Remove from oven and leave cake to cool entirely in the tin.
Wrap in foil and keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days before slicing.
By Kidspot

BEEF POT ROAST

Recipe serves 4-6 Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 75 minutes

Facets: English 60-90 Minutes Beef Roast Dinners Family Favourites Special Occasions

INGREDIENTS
30ml sunflower oil
1.3kg beef aitchbone roast,
2 onions, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
250ml red wine
1 Beef Stock Pot
5ml Thyme
250ml water
12 baby potatoes
15ml corn flour

METHOD
Season the roast beef well with salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Heat sunflower oil in a large, heavy based pot and brown the beef roast on all sides turning it over and moving it around to ensure the edges are well browned
Remove the beef pot roast from the pot and set aside
Add the onions and carrots to the pot and fry to soften then add the red wine and the Beef Stock Pot and allow to simmer gently for 5 minutes to reduce the red wine
Return the beef roast to the pot add the thyme, water and baby potatoes and allow to simmer covered for 45 minutes to one hour or until the beef is just slightly pink inside
Remove the beef and potatoes from the pot and allow the beef to rest for a few minutes before carving
While the beef is resting mix the corn flour with a little water to make a smooth paste and stir it into the pot and allow to simmer for 5 minutes to thicken to make the gravy
Serve with rice and steamed greens

SPICY LAMB AND APRICOT SOSATIES

Recipe serves 4-6 Preparation time 40 + 2 hours marinading minutes Cooking time 30 minutes

Facets: 15-30 Minutes 30-45 Minutes South African Lamb Christmas For the Braai Spring Summer

INGREDIENTS
1,5 kg leg of lamb, cubed
1 large onion, quartered
250g dried apricots, soaked overnight
250 g streaky bacon, cut into squares
30 ml sunflower oil
2 large onions, thickly sliced
30 ml Mild and Spicy Curry Powder
5 ml Turmeric
2 cloves crushed garlic
250 ml smooth apricot jam
500 ml Brown vinegar
1 lemon, zest and juice
125 ml brown sugar
30 ml Brown Onion Soup

METHOD
Thread the lamb cubes onto the skewers with the quartered onion, soaked apricots and bacon pieces
Lay the sosaties in a shallow dish
Fry the sliced onion in the oil until transparent but not too soft. Add the curry powder, turmeric, garlic, jam, vinegar, lemon juice and zest and sugar
Cook the marinade for 5 minutes then remove from the heat and allow to cool
Pour the marinade over the sosaties and marinate for a minimum of 2 hours in the refrigerator
Place sosaties into an oven tray and grill in a preheated oven at 180C until done or cook on the braai
Drain the sauce into a saucepan, add the Brown Onion Soup, mix and cook the sauce until thickened
Remove the sosaties from the oven, arrange onto a serving platter and serve with the sauce

Christmas tiramisu

Ingredients
500 ml strong black coffee, cooled
62,5 ml rum
4 eggs, separated
62,5 ml caster sugar
500 g mascarpone
250 ml cream, whipped
1 sponge cake, cut into fingers
250 ml glacé cherries, halved
250 ml roast almonds
250 ml preserved green figs, chopped into cubes
10 ml cocoa

Directions
Combine the coffee and rum in a bowl. Whip the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the mascarpone and whisk until just combined. Fold in the whipped cream. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold them carefully into the mascarpone mixture. Dip the sponge fingers one by one into the coffee mixture.

Put them into a bowl of about 20 x 25 cm, 6 cm deep. Spread half the mascarpone mixture over the first layer and sprinkle half the fruit and almonds on top. Then add a second layer of dunked sponge fingers. Spread over the rest of the mascarpone mixture and dust with cocoa. Decorate with the rest of the fruit and nuts. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

South African Christmas recipe: Crayfish and beef fillet

If you love the tradition of a roast for your Christmas meal, but also like to mix it up in the kitchen a little, consider trying a festive surf and turf variation of beef and crayfish fillet. It can be done on the braai or in the oven, and is delicious both hot and cold. My pops came up with this recipe, and I definitely consider it one of his best.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1kg thick beef fillet
2 small crayfish tails
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons of Ina Paarman’s lemon and black pepper seasoning
100ml olive oil
100g butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
toothpicks

Directions
Steam or parboil crayfish tails for three minutes, until half cooked. De-shell them by cracking hard carapace down the middle with a heavy knife. Cut tails in half and de-vein (remove black ‘worm’ in centre). Butterfly (slice through the middle) fillet.

Melt butter and mix with olive oil and seasoning. Mix in crushed garlic. Add tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste.

Place crayfish halves along centre of butterflied fillet, and baste generously with butter and olive oil mixture. Fold fillet over crayfish, and seal with toothpicks.

Put fillet on braai over high heat to seal outside. Turn frequently. Stoke coals and cook over slightly lower heat for a further 20 minutes or so, until medium rare.

For extra opulence, serve with carpetbagger sauce, which is made with oysters.

Rum and Raisin Chocolate Truffles

Makes about 35 truffles

Ingredients
1/2 cup (125 ml) raisins or currants
4 Tbsp (60 ml) dark rum
350 g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids)
1/2 cup (125 ml) cream
3/4 cup (180 ml) icing sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) cocoa powder, sifted, for coating

Directions
Put the raisins in a bowl, pour over the rum and set aside to soak for at least an hour, preferably two. Place the chocolate, broken into pieces, in a glass bowl and melt in a microwave oven or over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth, then beat in the cream, the soaked raisins and any rum left in the bowl. Sift the icing sugar into the chocolate and mix until smooth. Press a piece of clingfilm onto the surface of the mixture and place it in the fridge for about an hour, or until firm enough to handle.

Tip the cocoa powder onto a plate. Dig out spoonsful (each about the sized of a large marble) of chocolate paste and roll quickly between your palms to form rough balls resembling real truffles. Place the balls on the plate of cocoa powder and roll them about so that they are well coated. When you’ve made all the balls, place them in a sieve or colander and shake gently to remove any excess cocoa powder. Cover and place in the fridge for two hours, or until firm. These freeze very well

Kettle braai turkey with cashew nut stuffing recipe

This recipe serves 12.

Ingredients
5 kg turkey
Liver and heart of a turkey
500 g pork sausage meat
4 slices of bacon
1 small tub of chicken livers
2 onions
2 eggs
2 to 4 thick slices of brown bread for crumbs
Butter and olive oil
600 g cashew nuts
1 sweet potato
Salt and black pepper, lemon juice, chopped parsley
Brandy (optional)

Directions
Crumb the bread and place in mixing bowl. Fry onions, bacon, liver, turkey heart, 400 g of cashews and sausage meat in butter and a dash of olive oil. Bake sweet potatoes and remove skin. Add the sweet potatoes to the mix, mince and add the juices from the frying pan. Keep some of the cashews for later.

Combine the mixture and bread crumbs and add two dessertspoons of parsley, salt and pepper to taste, a few drops of fresh lemon juice and the whole cashews. Add two glugs of brandy. Bind the mixture with two eggs and stuff the neck-end of the turkey. Sew the neck skin closed (use cotton or unwaxed dental floss, or skewers). Stuff the rest of the mixture into the abdominal cavity.

Rub the turkey with olive oil and place four to six slices of bacon on the breast side. Wrap in tinfoil. Make an indirect fire in your kettle braai and place the turkey breast-side up over a drip tray. Cooking time varies with the size of the bird – roast for 20 minutes per half-kilo.

Open foil for the last 30 minutes so that the bird browns nicely. When the bird’s juices run clear (stick a fork into the thigh to test), it’s done.

Roast Christmas duck with honey-spice glaze

Ingredients
1 defrosted Pekin duck (mine weighed 1.9 kilograms)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Method
1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius.
2. Take out the giblets, rinse duck under cold water, and pat it dry with paper towel (inside and out). If you’re known to be a bit of a pansy, get someone else to do this bit for you because it’s not pretty.
3. Trim off excess fat, and pull out any leftover quills with tweezers.
4. Now we must deal with your duck’s fatty jacket. You want as much of the fat to render as possible, which means (a) nice crispy skin and (b) the tastiest roast potatoes later. Score the skin, just cutting through the fat without touching the meat. If this seems like too much co-ordination, just poke it all over with a skewer.
4. Truss it, by poking the tail up into the cavity and tying the legs together with a piece of butcher’s twine.
5. Put it on a rack over a roasting tray, and put it in the oven for an hour, breast-side up.
6. Pour yourself a glass of wine.
7. Once the hour’s up, take it out and poke it all over with a sharp knife to let out more of the glorious golden fat. Turn it over (breast-side down), then set a timer for another hour. (You can pour out some of the fat now too, if you want to get started on those potatoes.)
8. Make the glaze by melting the remaining ingredients together in a saucepan – you may need to add a tablespoonful of water to thin it out.
9. Once the second hour is up, take duck out and brush it generously with the glaze. Turn it over, and brush the breast-side too, not neglecting the drumsticks, and put it back into the oven.
10. Turn your oven up to 180 degrees celcius, and watch that duck like a hawk. It shouldn’t take more than five minutes for the glaze to go crisp and deep golden-brown – but it’s very susceptible to burning, so be careful.
11. Remove. Let it sit for 10 minutes before carving (this is coincidentally the absolute maximum time you can spend admiring it before being overwhelmed by the need to eat it with your bare hands.)