Cooking and food lovers can’t dream of a better time of year than the holiday season. After all, they can finally enjoy a tasty Christmas dinner! We have listed a number of tasty Christmas classic dishes below, stay tuned.
Trifle – Dessert
Who doesn’t know the trifle? This typical English dessert, also known as a “sneeze”, is made up of several layers served in a glass or glass bowl. In fact, it primarily comes down to stacking. Just how simple do you want it to be! Following the recipe for the classic trifle, you start with pieces of cake drizzled with sherry.
Then you put a layer of fresh fruit, for example strawberries, raspberries or peaches. The top layer is formed by custard. Obviously, you can vary as much as you like. How about brownies or cookies instead of cake? Or maybe swap the custard for ice cream. Whatever you do, make sure you are aware of color and texture. The contrasts are what make a trifle a real eye-catcher.
Shrimp cocktail – Appetizer
In many parts of the world, people get excited by a shrimp cocktail as an appetizer. The cocktail is served in tall glasses decorated with chives and you could imagine yourself in a starred restaurant! Making it yourself is easy. Using shrimps as a basis, you can season them with a dressing of dill, mayonnaise and lemon.
We often like to pick up ready peeled shrimp at the store. Peeling shrimp yourself is, in fact, a rather time-consuming job. You also need to keep a close eye on hygiene. Do you want to peel the shrimp yourself? In that case, keep the following procedure in mind: hold the shrimp with its back towards you and push on the middle of its back with the thumb of your other hand until you hear a crack. You can then pull off the tail and clean the shrimp thoroughly.
Beef Wellington – Main course
The beef Wellington is a real treat for any meat lover! Many top chefs have given it their own twist and also name. The traditional recipe for this typical English dish is made of tenderloin, foie gras and duxelle (finely chopped mushrooms with herbs) wrapped in puff pastry. While the puff pastry was first intended to be purely functional – it allows the flavor of the duxelle to soak into the meat and keeps the moisture from leaking out of the package – children in particular find it the most tasty part of the dish.
The name for the dish derives from Arthur Wellesley, who was the first Duke of Wellington. He went down in the history books as a statesman, who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He also made his mark on the capital of New Zealand and even the English term for rubber boots.
Tomato soup – Starter
Who doesn’t like tomato soup with meatballs? Well, the meatballs are a must. In addition, you can also add the vegetables and herbs you like. No matter what taste you choose, you can always enjoy this soup. The next day, using pasta shells or potatoes, you can easily make a tasty soup from the leftovers. With or without Christmas starlets of puff pastry, people love to empty a plate of soup at Christmas dinner.
In most cases, soup is still consumed as a starter. This is probably because Christmas dinner for many people is simply a three-course meal. Apart from the classic tomato soup, more modern variants such as mushroom, spinach and pumpkin soup are becoming more popular in the kitchen.
Christmas ham – Main course
While the Swedes talk about ‘Julskinka’, the Finns of course mean ‘Joulukinkku’. In many other parts of the Europe, people simply call this piece of meat Christmas ham. In the Scandinavian countries, Christmas is a feast with Christmas ham as an eye-catcher on the table. It is traditionally eaten with small fried potatoes and rutabaga.
It is interesting to know that the Swedes boil their Christmas ham for at least four hours in plenty of water, and then they add bay leaf, grains of pepper and allspice, juniper berries and cloves, amongst other things. The seasoned ham then goes into the oven. Do you know how to make the Christmas ham extra shiny? Just add a beaten egg white to the mixture, with which the ham is rubbed before it goes into the oven.
Hasenpfeffer – Main course
The French use the term ‘civet de lièvre’, or civet for short, for hasenpfeffer. Hasenpfeffer or civet is a stew made from hare. By the way, wild boar, deer and other wild animals also go into a stew. Starting from hare stew, the hare legs are favored. This is where silver onions, gingerbread, cloves, bay leaf and juniper berries are usually added.
Naturally, red wine, in the stew and as an accompaniment during dinner, cannot be missed! The same goes for mashed potatoes, stewed pears and red cabbage. Hare stew, when prepared and served in this way, can rightfully be counted among the Christmas classics.
Pork tenderloin – Main course
Be smart and buy your pork tenderloin from the store weeks in advance. This is definitely worth it in terms of cost! In fact, pork tenderloin is very popular during the Christmas season. The price tag is adjusted accordingly. This popularity has probably to do with the fact that you can do everything with pork tenderloin.
This piece of meat – the tenderest muscle of the pig – is not only known for its nice bite, but its taste is also fairly neutral. Because there is no dominant flavor, this universal friend can be accompanied easily. The most traditional dish is pork loin, which is usually served with a cream sauce. Slicing the meat, you can stuff pork, wrap it in bacon or ham and cook it in the oven. A flavorful stuffing is the one that incorporates mushrooms and nuts.
Gourmet – Starter and main course
Gourmet cooking is very popular among small cooks. This means that everyone at the table cooks their own food in a pan or on a grill. It is similar to stone grilling or racletting. The only difference with the latter is that cheese plays the leading role. With gourmet cooking, the table mates primarily cook meat, fish and vegetables. Also pancakes and omelettes can be prepared in a small pan. This is complemented with salad, different sauces and, of course, bread with herb butter.
It is likely that gourmets came over from Asia. In any case, the Dutch are crazy about it. There’s something tasty on the table for everyone and the hostess can just stay put. The only thing that keeps you from making a monthly habit of it is the smell afterwards.
Puff pastry – Dessert
Looking for a real hit for the Christmas menu? In that case, serve your guests a “croquembouche”. It is made of a tall cone of puffs, which are filled with cream or cream mixed with caramel. The latter ingredient immediately explains the name; in French, ‘croque en bouche’ means, crackles in the mouth. It should be mentioned that ‘Croquembouches’ is also the title of a piece of music from 1926. It is a 12-movement piano work. Each movement depicts a dessert.
Puff pastry is often decorated with threads of caramel, chocolate and sugared almonds. If you put pretty Christmas ribbons around it and decorate the cake with silver sugar sprinkles, you can make an edible Christmas tree. Moreover, you can also make the filling savory, like puffs filled with pâté or fish. In that case you can serve this Christmas classic as an appetizer.
Stuffed turkey – Main course
Like the chicken – distant relative – the turkey is a member of the gallinaceous family. The turkey once accidentally made it onto the European menu; at the European discovery of America in the 16th century, it was mistaken for guinea fowl. Europeans still remembered this tasty bird from the East. Incidentally, Americans traditionally eat turkey on Thanksgiving day.
As stuffing for the “Thanksgiving turkey,” which tastes great also during Christmas, mushrooms, onion, garlic, bread, butter and spices are used, among other things. Also included on the ingredient list are egg, whipping cream, parsley and celery. The great thing about having turkey on the menu is that you don’t have to do much worrying about it during the evening itself. You can use the oven time for a drink!
So what’s on your Christmas menu this year? Let us know in the comments section.
