A Few of My Favourite Christmas Recipes

My Favourite Christmas Eggnog
Ingredients:
6 Large eggs
3/4 c Sugar
1 1/2 c Brandy
1/2 c Rum
4 c Milk
4 c Cream
1/2 c Icing sugar Nutmeg to sprinkle
Directions:
Separate the eggs.
Beat the yolks gradually, adding the sugar while beating until they are pale and golden. Slowly beat in the brandy and rum, then beat in the milk and half the cream. Just before serving, whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the eggnog mixture. Whip the remaining cream and icing sugar until thick. Top each glass of eggnog with whipped cream and a shake of nutmeg.

Baby Marrows in Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:
12 medium sized baby marrows
30g butter
30ml flour
250ml milk
100g feta or cheddar cheese, grated
2 egg yolks
30ml creamsalt & freshly ground black pepper
15ml finely ground Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
Directions:
1. Cut the baby marrows in half lengthways and drop them in a pot of salted boiling water.
2. When the water has returned to the boil (about 5 minutes), remove the marrows and drain well.
3. Make a thick white sauce by melting the butter, stirring in the flour until smooth then gradually adding the milk, stirring all the time until the sauce is thick and smooth.
4. Stir in the feta or cheddar cheese.
5. Beat the egg yolks with the cream and add the sauce gradually to this mixture.
6. Add a grinding of pepper to the sauce, but add salt only if needed.
7. Place the baby marrows in an oiled oven-proof dish and pour over the cheese sauce.
8. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 - 35 minutes @ 180°C until golden

Christmas Turkey
Ingredients:
4kg turkey
75 ml butter, softened
7 ml mustard powder
7 ml flour
15 ml salt
5 ml milled black pepper

Apple Sauce, Sausage and Sage Stuffing:

250 g rind less streaky bacon, chopped
30 ml butter
2 onions, finely chopped
500 ml stale breadcrumbs
3 green apples, cooked and puréed
2 lemons, grated peel
500 g pork sausage meat
2 ml sage, thyme or marjoram leaves
1 egg salt and milled pepper

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 160 ºC. Remove the giblets from the turkey. Clean and wash the turkey, inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels.
2. Smooth 30 ml (2 tbsp) butter under the breast skin. Melt remaining butter and brush over entire turkey.
3. Mix the mustard, flour, salt and pepper and pat all over the turkey.
4. Stuffing:
Fry the bacon until crisp in heated butter and crumble into a bowl. Sauté onions in the same pan and stir in the breadcrumbs. Add to the bacon. Mix with remaining ingredients. Stuff the neck and stomach cavities loosely, to allow for expansion during cooking. (Self-basting turkeys are often already trussed. To add the stuffing, release the feet and parson's nose, wash the cavity, stuff and secure again.)
5. Close the cavities with small metal skewers and tie them together with string to prevent the stuffing from spilling out during cooking. Alternatively, you can place a piece of crumpled foil into the mouth of each cavity.
6. Truss the turkey by inserting small metal skewers through the legs and wings. Cut a long piece of string and place it under the parson's nose, loop it around the legs, draw up the string (leaving a fairly long tail end) and loop it around the leg skewers. Cross the string over the breast and loop it around the wing skewers. Tie the ends together firmly under the parson's nose. Brush wings thoroughly with melted butter before covering with foil to protect them during roasting.
7. Gravy:
Prepare the gravy in advance. Wash the giblets and set the liver aside. Fry the gizzard and neck in a little sunflower oil until golden brown. Drain and then place in a saucepan with 2 onions, 2 chopped carrots, 4 celery sprigs, 1 bay leaf and salt and milled pepper. Add 500 ml (2 cups) water and 125 ml (1/2 cup) white wine and bring to boil. Simmer, uncovered, until reduced by half, to make a flavoursome turkey stock. Strain. When the turkey has finished roasting and has been removed from the roasting pan, skim off any fat from the pan drippings, add the strained turkey stock to the pan and stir thoroughly. Melt 15 ml (1 tbsp) butter in a saucepan, blend in 10 ml (2 tsp) flour and slowly stir the mixture into the gravy over low heat until thickened. Sauté the turkey liver in 5-10 ml (1-2 tsp) sunflower oil for 2 to 3 minutes (it should still be pink inside). Season with salt and milled pepper, cool, and slice thinly. Add the liver to the gravy with a little medium cream sherry just before serving with the turkey.

Roast Potatoes
Ingredients:
8 medium sized potatoes
salted boiling water
½ cup (125 ml) oil
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Garlic and Herb Seasoning
white pepper
pinch of tumeric (for an attractive golden colour)

Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes in salted water and drain. Mix the oil, herbs, pepper and tumeric and place potatoes in this mixture to marinade for up to an hour before roasting. (It may even be done the day before). Roast for about an hour with the turkey or chicken until golden brown and crispy.