My Christmas Dinners

Due to being a hostess over the Christmas period I have not had time to blog, sorry!
Put here are some pictures from my Christmas dinners listing all the festive treats.

Scandinavian Christmas Dinner

What’s on the table?

   

• Swedish Christmas Ham (Cured, Boiled then covered in mustard and cloves and bakes in the oven)
• Fish Pudding (Savory Rice pudding mixed with poached white fish and a sprinkle of nutmeg, bakes in the oven)
• Fish Gratin (Same recipe as Gratin but you layer the dish with Anchovies and and mix the cream and the Anchovies oil)
• Pork Joint roast (recipe to be found on the blog)
• Pickled Cucumber (recipe to be found on the blog)
• White/Red Cabbage (recipe to be found on the blog)
• Meat patties (Beef mince, 1 egg, nutmeg, salt, pepper, flour, baking powder, grated onion)
• Meatballs
• Sausages
• Pickled Fish
• Boiled Potatoes
• Christmas Bread (recipe to be found on the blog)
• Kransekake (recipe to be found on the blog)
• Gravy ((recipe to be found on the blog in the same post as the roast)

This is a mix of Norwegian and Swedish Christmas Dinner, if you want the recipe for any of the above email me or just comment below.

English Christmas Dinner

  

What’s on the table?

• Roast Turkey (Roast for 20 min/kg + 70 min, I roasted mine in a roasting bag with onions, sage and a cinnamon stick)
• Roasted Potatoes (Roasted with Goose fat, salt and pepper)
• Yorkshire puddings
• Gravy (recipe to be found on the blog)
• Pickled Cucumbers (recipe to be found on the blog)
• Roasted Parsnips and Carrots (Roasted with olive oil, pinch of all spice and golden syrup)
• Pigs in blankets
• Brussels sprouts (cut a cross in the bottom and boil until super green then take them off the heat)
• Yule Log (recipe to be found on the blog)
• Custard (recipe to be found on the blog)

As my family came over from Sweden I wanted to treat them to a traditional Christmas dinner, if you want the recipe for any of the above just email me or comment below.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2014 x

Christmas Roast

If you, like I, are hosting Christmas this year, make all the preparations so you can enjoy the day.
I’m celebrating Christmas on the 24th so this evening I made the roast which will be used for cold-cuts on Tuesday.

This is what you need;

4.5 kg pork shoulder joint
2tbsp white pepper
2tsbp sea salt
1tbsp cracked black pepper
500g unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 180 fan or gas mark 4.
If the crackling isn’t already scored do so then put the joint in a roasting tray and put all the dry spices on  then 1/3rd of the butter on top (this will be the base for your gravy) of the pork joint. You will need to roast this in the oven for 1 hour/kg, every 15 min oven the oven and with a spoon pour the melted butter then after 1 hour add the 2/3rd of the butter and so one until you have used all the butter and you have a hard crackling. Once done transfer to a cooling rack and when the pork has cooled a bit wrap it in foil and store in i a cool place, but not the fridge as it dries out.

Once this is done you will have loads of meat juice/bits and butter in your tray, pour all of this into a big saucepan, then add water into the tray and boil so you get all the flavor out and add to the saucepan. Then add twice the amount of water and bring to a boil, in a mug mix 2 tbsp of normal flour and 1/5 cup of water and mix so you don’t have any lumps, if you do it’s fine as you have to strain the gravy later anyway.
Mix little by little of the paste in and whisk until the gravy until it’s as thick as you want it season to taste and put into a container, you can put it in the freezer or in the fridge until you need to heat it up again.

Enjoy x

Christmas Cabbage

What is a Christmas dinner without cabbage, nicer some might say, here are two traditional Norwegian cabbage recipes. These can be made vegetarian, just substitute the beef stock with vegetable stock.

Makes 2 1l tubs

This is what you need;

• Red Cabbage

1 large red cabbage
250 ml beef stock (or just water and you can boil the cabbage with oxtail or cow, moose or Venice bone)
2 cooking apples
2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

• White Cabbage (Norwegian take on Sauerkraut)

1 large white cabbage
250 ml beef stock (or just water and you can boil the cabbage with oxtail or cow, moose or Venice bone)
2 cooking apples
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cracked black pepper

Let’s get started,

Thinly slice the cabbage and roughly chop the apples, put the red cabbage in one saucepan and white in another.
Then add all the other ingredients bring to a boil and then let it simmer for 45 min.

Let it cool and transfer to a plastic container, this will last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks so you can truly prepare for your Christmas dinner, when you are ready to use just heat up and serve.

Enjoy x