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Xmas Recipes

This week's chef is Jeanne Quigley

Christmas in Fuerte

Unfortunately, I am back in cold, wet Dublin for Christmas and New Year. Last year, we had Christmas in the sun, swimming on El Cotillo beach and dinner in Music Square. And we ate fish, not turkey. But if you want turkey, it’s on the menu in many of the Irish and English pubs and restaurants on Christmas Day. And of course, there’ll be the full Yuletide do – crackers and carols round the tree.

Where did the turkey come from?

The turkey is native to Mexico. No one really knows how it got to Europe although food historians agree that the bird was most likely introduced in the early sixteenth century by Spanish or Portuguese explorers.

It’s recorded that by1511 the king of Spain was ordering every ship returning to Spain from the New World to bring back ten turkeys, five males and five females. It made a good alternative to the tough, stringy peacock as a spectacular dish for banquets.

According to the Oxford Companion to Food, (Oxford University Press) the turkey would have been seen as similar to the domestic poultry familiar in Europe since ancient times, particularly guinea-fowl. In medieval times people ate all sorts of fowl, wild and tame, large and small.

In England, turkeys were being made into pies during the reign of Elizabeth I, and soon afterwards Gervase Markham (1615) recommended that they be “roast, and served with a sauce of onions, flavoured with claret, orange juice, and lemon peel.”

Before its appearance in Ireland in the seventeenth century, goose, spiced beef and spiced ox tongue were eaten at Christmas, as was prime beef. Roast goose with potato stuffing was the dish of the day, with leftovers used for goose soup, giblet soup and gravy. In her book A Little History of Irish Food, Regina Sexton says “like all exotic new food imports, it [turkey] took some time to reach the tables of the non-aristocratic class.” By the 18^th century, everyone was eating it and three centuries later, it’s still the most popular Christmas meat.

What’s the alternative?

According to butchers, fillet of beef is one of the most asked-for Christmas alternatives followed closely by sirloin of beef, goose and duck. Interestingly this year there is a lot of interest in duck breasts. You could serve it with buttered green beans and creamy mashed potato.

Duck breast with black cherry and wine sauce

Ingredients:

4 duck breasts

400g can pitted black cherries

5fl oz dry red wine

25g brown sugar

drop of sunflower oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200ºC/400ºF.

Put a tiny drop of sunflower oil in a frying pan and heat. Place the breasts in the pan, skin side down and fry for 2-3 minutes until the skin starts to brown. Then turn the breast and fry on the skinless side. After frying, place the duck breasts in an oven-proof dish on a roasting tray that will allow the fat to drain off. Put the duck in the oven for 20-30 minutes until each breast is solid when pressed with the back of a teaspoon.

When you have removed the duck from the oven, place on a warmed dish and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Sauce:

Place the entire contents of the tin of black cherries in a saucepan. Check through with a fork to make sure there are no remaining stones. Using the fork, crush the cherries roughly, add the wine and bring to the boil. Simmer until the sauce reduces to half its original volume. If it’s slightly bitter, add a small amount of brown sugar, stir and continue to cook. Place the sauce on serving plates and arrange the duck breasts on top.

Fillet of beef

Try this flavoured mayonnaise with roast sirloin or fillet of beef.  Add a tablespoon of freshly grated horseradish and a dash of cayenne pepper to mayonnaise. If you want regular gravy, pour off the fat, add beef stock and sherry. Reduce slightly but the gravy should be thin.  Or try the classic Béarnaise sauce. Instead of plain roast potatoes, add some sliced onion to the roasting dish and when the potatoes are nearly cooked, add a few chopped, skinned tomatoes and fresh basil.

Twinkling seafood

Treat yourself to some scallops, turbot or brill. Poach it in champagne for a few minutes until cooked. Take out the fish and add some lightly whipped cream to the liquid. Simmer for a few minutes and then pour over the fish. Drink the rest of the bubbly!

And for afters

A Christmas pudding alternative that’s still in keeping with the season is ice-cream pudding. Just let some good quality ice-cream soften slightly and add in homemade mincemeat. Mix together, put into a plastic pudding bowl and refreeze. Take out of the freezer shortly before turning out onto a plate. Decorate with sprigs of holly.

Maura Laverty’s Full and Plenty (published in 1960 but still a treasure) has a very simple dessert called Christmas toast. Simply toast squares of bread on one side. Spread the untoasted side with butter. Add a layer of mincemeat and place under the grill until thoroughly hot – about 3 minutes.

For Jamie Oliver’s Clementine chocolate salad, peel the fruit and slice thinly. Arrange on plates and sprinkle with a handful of flaked almonds and some fresh mint leaves. Put 4 tablespoons of water in a saucepan, add 6 tablespoons of caster sugar and the seeds from a vanilla pod. Simmer until it becomes a light syrup. Drizzle over the clementines and top with shavings of best-quality cooking chocolate.

You can make a quick cheesecake by shaping the usual base mix of crushed biscuits and sugar into individual circles on serving plates. Mix cream cheese and mascarpone and add some sugar. Place this on top of the biscuit. Decorate the top with fresh raspberries and white chocolate shavings.

Apple and Irish whiskey tart
Use vegetarian margarine to make shortcrust pastry.
Ingredients
250g shortcrust pastry
50g ground almonds
4 large Bramley apples, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons sugar
250ml cream
3 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
dash of Irish whiskey

Method
Preheat the oven to 200ºC (fan oven 180º) gas mark 6. Line 4 individual tart tins with the pastry. Sprinkle some ground almonds on the base of each one. Then add the apple and enough sugar to sweeten. Heat the cream. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together. Stir in the cream and a dash of whiskey. Spoon a little of the cream mixture into each tart. Keep remaining cream mixture. Bake the tarts for 25-35 minutes.
Pour the remaining cream mixture into a bowl and place over simmering water. Stirring constantly, continue to cook until the custard thickens. Set aside and keep warm.
To serve: Serve the tarts, dusted with icing sugar, with the warm custard. Vanilla icecream, pastry disc, raspberries and so on are optional.

Variation: use mincemeat instead of apple and ground almonds
 

Festive griddle cakes

These are delicious on St Stephen’s Day as part of a brunch. Serve with a dollop of brandy butter on top.

110g/4oz butter

110g/4oz brown sugar

3 medium eggs, beaten

225g/8oz plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

grated rind and juice of ½ lemon

110g/4oz dried apricots, chopped

Cream the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs. Sieve the flour and baking powder and add to the mixture with the lemon rind and juice. Add the apricots and mix. The mixture will have the consistency of a thick batter. Heat a heavy frying pan until very hot. Place tablespoons of the mixture on the pan and cook until bubbles rise and break on the surface. Turn over carefully and cook until lightly browned on the second side. Keep them warm in a dry tea towel while you cook the rest. Makes about 18-20.