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Christmas menu - Day 1

Been running around so much today. First, I took the kids to the park, then I went off to get some groceries. Festive air hangs at the Cold Storage with so many expats shopping for foods. I bought one bottle of seafood sauce. But didn’t manage to take dinner ‘cos after getting back from the grocery shopping, I had to rush to choir practice. Phew…that leaves me totally zonked out and forgetting my lines. Hehehehe. Finally got home at past 10 at night. Chopped up some celerey, one apple, parsley and added a few slices of smoked salmon and a dash of black pepper. Then, I indulged in the seafood sauce with the salmon. Yumm…

The cost of foods is really expensive! I only buy vegetables and some cheese plus a bottle of spice and the seafood sauce. It costs a whopping RM120 eventhough I have only potatoes and carrots mostly!

Anyway, while driving and shopping around here’s what I finally decided to cook for Day 1. Hahaha, I don’t know how many days of eating.

Day 1 will be at my in-laws place. There will be endless streams of visitors but since I am not the host, I do not have to worry if food is sufficient. I am going to bring these along:

1) One carrot & walnut cake
2) One lemon, poppy seed and almond cake
3) Four lamb shanks, braised ala Jamie Oliver
4) One 5.6 kg turkey with some roasted vege and potatoes
5) Creamy fish pie, ala Jamie Oliver of course.

For the lamb shanks, I wanted fresh rosemary but couldn’t get the herb and had to settle for dried rosemary. I am going to braise the lamb shanks with some herbs, tomato purree, a touch of meat curry powder (try this, it is good) and leave it over night in the slowcooker. I will add whatever vegetables I can get hold of tomorrow. (I have a lamb shank recipe here, somewhere)

For the fish pie, I bought some Waitrose canned peas and may put some cauliflower with dory fish, hard boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, onion and cream. Then, I will cover the fish pie with mashed potatoes and sprinkle cheese and bake. (recipe available here, please use the Search button)

As for the turkey, I will make it without stuffing because I am afraid it will not cook thoroughly with stuffings.

Now, I have one question - Cranberries sauce. I bought a can for about RM5+. Am I supposed to serve it as it is or do I need to cook it with something else? Normally, when I eat turkeys from the hotel, they merely pour it on my turkey. So, I don’t have the faintest idea what to do with it.

Glad that I had written everything down ‘cos I am not sure if I can get all the above done in time . Never mind, stay tune and see what I ended up with.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Ding-dong! Have you thawed your turkey yet? Eggnog?

Let’s see…we have like five days to the Christmas feast.  You need at least two days to thaw the turkey in the lower compartment of the fridge and another two days to season it well.  So, it will be in good time to start taking that big bird out of the deep freezer and leave it in the lower compartment.

I am still undecided on what to prepare for the Christmas dinner and have no desire to plan yet.  I work best under pressure and dateline so I shall leave it to the last minute.

I called two caterers today but unfortunately, both of them are already booked.  Looks like I am going to need to weave some magic to get foods on the table.  Can you sense my lack of excitement towards cooking lately?  I don’t know why but hope to bounce back soon with a marvellous spread in time for Christmas.

Until then, anyone knows if we can make eggnog easily?  Exactly what is eggnog?  I have never taste one before.

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Christmas Stollen

We used to receive Christmas Stollen imported from Germany as gifts. It was far too sweet for our liking and each year, we really do not know what to do with it. So, when Lawrence of Cooking Island asked me if I like stollen, I straight away told him, Oh no! I don’t like it. Hehehe, I momentarily forget that he is partly a baker cum food ingredients supplier and blurted that out before thinking! LOL.

But anyway, I got this present from him and Erina. It came in a nice basket and a tiny note explaining what [tag]Christmas[/tag] stollen signifies. The note says it represent baby Jesus swathed in cloth and lying in a crib of hay. On it, there are three angels that heralds the birth of Christ.

To my surprise, the stollen from Cooking Island is so, so much nicer than those that I had eaten. It wasn’t sweet at all, except for the raisins and mixed peel.

The stollen has texture like bread and filled with lots of almonds and mixed fruits. Inside, there is marzipan which taste creamy and fragrant. My kids asked if the marzipan can be bought separately. (Erina?) We finished the stollen in two sittings. Nice to chew and munch with crunchy nuts. Not too sweet and no sticky dough that stuck to the mouth.

If you are interested to get yourself a stollen, do give Lawrence/Erina of Cooking Island a call.  I am not sure if it is for sale, though.

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Smoked salmon = How to serve?

**Please read the comment section for some fantastic suggestions on how to serve smoke salmon.

I finally find time to rush to the frozen food supplier and get the stuffs I am going to prepare for Christmas. I have been sooooo busy lately, I don’t have time to post much on this blog. However, I had been cooking and baking non-stop lately but doesn’t have time to sit down and blog about it.

Right now, sitting in my fridge are:

1) Turkey - About 6 kg

2) Boneless leg of lamb - about 2 kg

3) Four lamb shanks

4) Dory fillet - 2 kg

and I bought one smoked salmon which weighs 1.4kg. It is frozen and sliced. Certified halal too.

I am not sure what to do with it yet. Usually, I enjoy smoked salmon with crackers and bit of cream cheese. I am thinking of serving them to my in-laws who are not that familiar with Western foods. A good hors d’oeuvre, don’t you think? Elegant and expensive. Well, I bought it in bulk so it is not so expensive. Otherwise, 100 grams is about RM12.

We have separated them into smaller batches and am just waiting for Christmas! Any good ideas how to serve smoked salmon. I am not going to prepare any pasta with cream sauce and smoked salmon or any caesar salad because my in-laws won’t be able to acquaint themselves to creamy stuffs like these.

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Christmas dinner ideas appreciated

Postings have been very slow lately because I have been busy preparing for Christmas. I hardly have time to sit down to write or cook. Just a general idea - Yesterday I had prepared three chicken for curry kapitan for my choir group potluck plus some 100 wantans.

Today, I baked a nice, lemon poppy seeds and almond cake, a big batch of sausages and another 50 wantans for the youths in my church who are preparing for Christmas. Am going to do that again for Wednesday with some other snack foods. It is really fun when these teenagers wallloped all the foods in minutes.

My days are all going so busy with many commitments, I haven’t even plan when I am going to do my Christmas parties. My sisters-in-law came to my house yesterday to ask when are they going to eat my roast turkey again. *sweats* A nice, young man also asked me if I have any ideas for Christmas dinner.

So, folks, can I throw this question to you guys? What do you think will be a good idea for a small family dinner? None of those and fancy expensive foods. Just basic, Westernised theme dinner? Soup, main, dessert.

Meantime, I must also think hard and start preparing for my own Christmas dinner. If you are celebrating Christmas, what are you going to cook?

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