Traditions of the Christmas table. Christmas cuisine of Europe Custard soufflé in Russian

Cook Christmas dinner with Jamie Oliver and your Christmas table will be rich in simple and unusual dishes. We combine all the prepared dishes into one large and quick preparation of the festive Christmas table.

Ingredients

liquid honey
olive oil
red wine vinegar
milk
sea salt

Number of servings - 8

Recipe

1. Remove the previously prepared sauce from the refrigerator or freezer. Place it in a medium saucepan and place the pan on the burner.

2. Remove your turkey from the refrigerator, transfer it to a large roasting pan, and cover the pan with foil. Let the turkey come to room temperature.

3. Remove all baking sheets from the oven to allow room for roasting the turkey. Preheat oven to high.

4. When the oven is hot, place the baking sheet with the foil-wrapped bird in the oven. Close the door and immediately reduce the temperature to 180 C.

5. To calculate the roasting time for turkey, keep in mind that each kilogram of bird should be baked for 35 - 40 minutes. Thus, 5 kg of turkey will cook in approximately 3-3.5 hours

6. Estimate the size of your oven, as well as the average roasting time for the bird. Turkey cooking times may vary slightly from above. Check the turkey for doneness while roasting.

7. After roasting the bird for 30 minutes, baste the turkey with any pan juices, lifting the foil slightly to help crisp the skin and keep the bird juicy.

8. Replace the foil after 30 minutes. Do this for the first 2.5 hours. There is no need to do anything during this period, so enjoy the aromas as they waft.

9. Now is a great time to set the table. Set out all the dishes, glasses, salt and pepper. Don't forget the bread and make sure you have enough drinks in the fridge.

10. When 2.5 hours have passed since the start of roasting the turkey, remove the foil, this will allow the skin to darken, acquire a golden color and become crispy. Continue watering it every 30 minutes until done.

11. Meanwhile, remove trays of potatoes and other vegetables from the refrigerator. You can also take out the bacon rolls, mince balls and a bowl of Brussels sprouts.

12. Test your turkey using a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast and deepest part of the thigh. When the internal temperature has reached approximately 72 C, the dish is ready.

13. When you remove the turkey from the oven, place the roasting pans in the oven to accommodate all the roasting pans. Set the oven temperature to 190 C.

14. Use a large fork and tongs, if necessary, to lift the turkey off the baking sheet. Tilt the turkey so that all the fat and juices fall into the pan.

15. Place the turkey on a large platter, cover it with a double layer of foil, then place 2 clean kitchen towels on top to keep it warm while it sits. Leave the pan with the fat and juice, you will use this a little later.

16. Lay out and sharpen the necessary poultry cutting tools so you can avoid searching for them at the last minute.

17. If you want to learn some tips about cutting your turkey, watch the video and you will understand how to cut it correctly. The photo shows how the turkey should be cut.

18. Now it's time to continue preparing the rest of Christmas dinner. The remaining dishes will take approximately an hour and a half to prepare, so manage your time wisely.

19. Remove the cling film from the tray with the potatoes and place them in the hot oven, cooking the potatoes for 30 minutes until half cooked and lightly golden.

20. Meanwhile, remove the bowl of rosemary leaves and garlic cloves from the refrigerator. Add a little olive oil and red wine vinegar to the bowl, then stir everything together and set aside.

21. Remove the cling film from the vegetable tray. Place the tray of vegetables in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, cooking until golden, crisp and delicious.

22. Remove the cling film from the bowl with the mince balls and place them on the baking sheet (you will add the bacon rolls and bake them later, making sure the meat balls are sufficiently baked in the oven).

23. Drizzle the mince balls with a little olive oil, then cover the baking sheet with foil and place them in the oven for 1 hour.

24. Remove the pan with the potatoes from the oven and gently press them with a potato masher to distribute them over the entire surface of the pan and make them crispy.

25. Spread the rosemary and garlic mixture over the entire surface of the potatoes and shake the pan well. Place the potatoes in the oven to bake them, like other vegetables, until crispy, beautiful and appetizing.

26. Meanwhile, turn on the burner on which the sauce pan is standing to begin to gradually heat it up. Add a little boiling water if necessary to thin it out.

27. After 40 minutes of baking the meatballs, remove the foil from the baking sheet and add the bacon rolls. Drizzle them with a little olive oil. Place them in the oven until golden brown.

28. The moment you open the oven, shake the baking sheet with roasted vegetables so that a crispy and golden crust forms on all sides.

29. Back to the sauce. Spread as much fat as possible away from the turkey roasting pan, then pour your warm pre-made gravy into the tray.

30. Place the pan with the turkey juices and fat over high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Use a wooden spoon to skim any browned bits of bird from the bottom of the pan.

31. Once the turkey fat and juices have simmered slightly, strain through a large sieve into a medium saucepan.

32. Place the saucepan on low heat to maintain its temperature until you serve it on the holiday table.

33. Fill and boil the kettle. Next, remove the zesty cranberry sauce you made earlier from the refrigerator and place it on your dinner table.

34. If you have a second oven, you can place plates in it, set the temperature to minimum and warm them up a little.

35. After 20 minutes of baking the bacon rolls and mince balls, remove the pan with them and shake the pan a little to turn them over. Place the pan with them in the oven to finish cooking the dish.

36. Place a large saucepan over high heat. Fill it with hot water from the kettle, add a pinch of salt and wait until the liquid boils again.

37. Place Brussels sprouts in boiling water and bring to a boil again. Then reduce the heat slightly and cook the cabbage for 7 - 8 minutes until it is completely cooked.

38. Once you've cooked the Brussels sprouts, remove your bread crumb sauce from the refrigerator. You can microwave it for 3 minutes (800 W) or heat it in a saucepan over medium heat for 5 minutes.

39. Now it’s time to put the cooked dishes on plates. Ask a family member to help you with this while you are busy cutting the turkey into portions.

40. Appoint someone from your family who will be involved in the process of pouring drinks. Of course, don't forget about yourself. A glass of good wine will help you get into a festive mood.

41. 5 minutes before the vegetables are ready, remove your tray with them from the oven and pour 2 teaspoons of liquid honey over the baked parsnips. Place the vegetables in the hot oven and cook them for 5 minutes.

42. Check your bread crumb sauce, if it is thick enough, thin it by adding a little milk. Then mix it well and serve it to the table.

43. Once the Brussels sprouts are ready, place them on a holiday platter. Cut a few slices of the prepared spiced butter, add them to the bowl with the cabbage and mix everything well. Then serve for Christmas dinner.

44. Check the potatoes for doneness. If it is ready, then place it on a plate, in which you first need to put a paper towel to absorb excess fat. Leave the towel under the potatoes for a few minutes, then remove it and serve the potatoes on the Christmas table.

45. Check your turkey gravy; if any fat has risen, stir it gently. Then pour it into the prepared gravy boat and serve it.

46. Remove the mince balls and rolls from the oven. They were sufficiently browned and filled with aromas. If you wish, you can remove excess fat from them before serving.

47. Check the readiness of fried vegetables. When they are ready, remove them from the oven, shake the tray with the vegetables, then place the vegetables on a platter and you can set them on the table.

48. Serve all the prepared dishes on the table, Christmas dinner is ready! If you have prepared pudding and custard for dessert. Heat the dessert and the custard for it.

49. To reheat your pudding, remove a layer of foil from the top of the dessert and cover with another circle of parchment, place the bowl with the pudding in the microwave, set the power to 800 W, heat it for 4 minutes.

50. Meanwhile, remove your whiskey custard from the refrigerator. You can serve it either hot or cold. To reheat the custard, simply place it in a saucepan of hot water and place it over low heat for 5 minutes to warm the custard thoroughly.

51. Let the pudding sit for 4 minutes before decorating and serving.

52. To serve the pudding, remove from the mason jar and transfer to the prepared platter. Serve Jamie Oliver's pudding recipe with a delicious whiskey custard and a cup of cocoa or tea.

“Stacked on the floor in a huge pile resembling a throne were roasted turkeys, geese, chickens, game, pork hams, large pieces of beef, suckling pigs, garlands of sausages, fried pies, plumpuddings, barrels of oysters, hot chestnuts, ruddy apples, juicy oranges. , fragrant pears, huge liver pies and steaming bowls of punch, the fragrant vapors of which hung in the air like fog.”

I really wanted to publish this post two weeks ago - December 24-25, but, unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Well, we can’t wait until next year now, right? We'd better cook something else next time. One way or another, I would like to congratulate everyone on the holidays: Catholics - happy past Catholic Christmas, Orthodox Christians - happy Orthodox Christmas and everyone in general - happy New Year. Let it bring you more bright moments and turn out to be meaningful and tasty in every sense of the word.

In general, I must say that I am impressed by many “other people’s” holidays. I almost never celebrate them (especially according to all the rules), but I love to watch others do it and rejoice with them. So here it is: I’m not a Catholic, but I like to watch how the entire Catholic world plunges into pre-Christmas chaos. Of course, we have our own Christmas, but this is a completely different holiday, which, moreover, is not so widespread these days. The Catholic version, on the contrary, due to its widespread popularity, has partially lost its religious overtones.

By the way, in Dickens, Christmas also appears to be by no means a religious date: the spirits of Christmas are not some kind of angels, but creatures that are completely pagan in their essence. And this holiday does not teach the worship of any particular deity, but simple human virtues that do not depend on religion - kindness, philanthropy, responsiveness and compassion. This is why I like him. And that’s why I like Dickens’s version of Christmas.

The above quote, of course, describes an exaggerated picture, and for obvious reasons I do not undertake to construct such a thing :) (Although, by the way, in Russian literature descriptions of feasts in a similar style are quite common, and I still have no idea from which side to approach them.) Today we have a poor Christmas dinner ahead of us, but even that can leave only a completely fed-up person indifferent. Because there will be a goose, which the poor see almost once a year - on the occasion of a great holiday, Christmas pudding, which is not prepared on other occasions, as well as simple roasted chestnuts, which in themselves are not some kind of delicacy, but perfectly complement the overall picture.

“Gas lamps burned brightly in shop windows, casting a reddish glow on the pale faces of passers-by, and the sprigs and berries of holly that decorated the windows crackled in the heat. The green and chicken shops were decorated so elegantly and magnificently that they turned into something outlandish, fabulous, and it was impossible to believe that they had anything to do with such ordinary things as buying and selling.”

“The Lord Mayor, in his majestic residence, has already ordered five dozen cooks and butlers not to lose face so that he can celebrate the holiday as it should be...”

Sorry, I couldn't resist! Photo from the Internet.

“...and even the little tailor, whom he had fined the day before for appearing on the street drunk and having bloodthirsty intentions, was already stirring his holiday pudding in his attic, while his skinny wife and skinny son ran to buy beef.”

“The doors of the chicken shops were still half open, and the counters of the fruit shops shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. There were huge round baskets of chestnuts, like the vested bellies of jolly old gentlemen. They stood leaning against the ceiling, and sometimes even rolled out of the threshold, as if they were afraid to suffocate from plethora and satiety. There were also ruddy, dark-skinned, fat-bellied Spanish onions, smooth and shiny, like the fat-slick cheeks of Spanish monks. Slyly and impudently, they winked from the shelves at the girls running past, who with feigned shyness glanced furtively at the mistletoe sprig suspended from the ceiling. There were apples and pears stacked in tall, colorful pyramids. There were bunches of grapes, hung by the shop owner in the most prominent places, so that passers-by could, while admiring them, salivate for free. There were piles of nuts - brown, slightly fluffy - whose fresh aroma brought back memories of past walks through the forest, when it was so pleasant to wander, ankle-deep in fallen leaves, and hear them rustle under your feet. There were baked apples, plump, glossy brown, complementing the bright yellow of the lemons and oranges and with all their appetizing appearance persistently and passionately convincing you to take them home in a paper bag and eat them for dessert.

“And the grocers! Oh, the grocers only have one or two shutters, maybe they've taken them off the windows, but there's a lot to see when you look in! And not only did the scales jingle so merrily as they hit the counter, and the string unwound so quickly from the spool, and the tin boxes jumped so nimbly from shelf to counter, as if they were balls in the hands of the most experienced juggler, and the mixed aroma of coffee and tea it tickled the nostrils so pleasantly, and there were so many raisins and such rare varieties, and the almonds were so dazzlingly white, and the cinnamon sticks were so straight and long, and all the other spices smelled so delicious, and the candied fruits shone through so seductively through the sugar glaze that covered them, that even the most indifferent buyers began to feel a sick feeling in the pit of their stomachs! And not only were the figs so fleshy and juicy, and the dried plums blushed so bashfully and smiled so sweet and sour from their sumptuously decorated boxes, and everything, absolutely everything looked so tasty and so elegant in its Christmas decoration...”

But then they preached the gospel in the bell tower, calling all good people to the temple of God, and a cheerful, festively dressed crowd poured through the streets. And immediately, from all the alleys and nooks and crannies, a multitude of people began to flow: these were the poor people carrying their Christmas geese and ducks to the bakeries... At the appointed time, the ringing of the bells died down, and the doors of the bakeries closed, but on the sidewalks opposite the basement windows of the bakeries, thawed patches appeared in the snow, from which were steaming as if the stone slabs of the sidewalks were also boiling or steaming, and all this pleasantly indicated that Christmas dinners had already been put in the oven.

This was a common practice in Dickens's time: poor people's homes lacked the convenience of large ovens, so they took their "convenience foods" to bakeries, where they were cooked for a small fee. I must say that my current home also cannot boast of a spacious oven, and before going to the market to buy a goose, I even measured it just in case so that it would fit in there. And then, of course, there is a bakery directly in our house, but in modern times it is unlikely that you can count on the help of its employees in such a matter as preparing a private holiday dinner, and even from the products of clients :) Fortunately, I got the goose It’s small, and it even fits in the oven quite comfortably. I'll tell you in order how it happened.

Christmas goose

“Then two more Cratchits burst into the room with a squeal - the youngest son and youngest daughter - and, choking with delight, announced that there was a smell of roast goose near the bakery and they immediately sensed by the smell that it was their goose being roasted. And enchanted by the dazzling vision of a goose stuffed with onions and sage, they began to dance around the table, praising to the skies young Pete Cratchit, who meanwhile was so diligently fanning the fire in the hearth (he did not at all think too much of himself, despite the splendor of the collar that almost strangled him ) that the potatoes in the lazily gurgling pan suddenly began to jump up and knock on the lid from the inside, demanding that they be quickly released into the wild and the skins removed from them.”

Well, I think everyone can successfully cope with boiling potatoes for a side dish without any special instructions. Peter Cratchit then mashed it with special frenzy in order to serve it as a puree, but here everyone is free to do as they please. But we will try to take a closer look at baking a goose stuffed with onions and sage.

Firstly, we will need a goose, and, of course, not one that died a natural death, but an innocent one killed in the prime of life. We had few eaters, so the goose was small - only 2.5 kg. For a large family, of course, you need a larger bird.

Secondly, the filling. Here, in principle, it is quite possible not to complicate anything and get by with basic products: onions, sage and bread crumbs. I guess next time I’ll do without prunes: the devil got me into adding them, an apple would have been quite enough. It turned out well, but the taste of prunes noticeably dominated over the rest. In addition, it’s better to take fresh sage, of course, but I didn’t find that - I had to be content with dried. As a result, the composition of the filling was as follows:

300 g onion
130 g bread crumbs
150 g prunes
1 apple
75 ml Madeira
2 tbsp. l. with a large pile of dried sage
1 egg

But let's talk about everything in order.

1. Trim excess fat from the goose. Place the fat on the bottom of the baking tray in which the bird will be cooked.
2. Thoroughly rub the goose itself with salt and leave it to rest while we work on the filling.

3. Chop the onion, apple and prunes not too coarsely.
4. Sauté the onion in vegetable oil.
5. Add apples and prunes to it and cook until the apples soften a little.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, add bread crumbs and stir.
7. Add chopped sage and mix.
8. Pour in the Madeira, break the egg here, add salt and pepper, and then mix everything again. The filling is ready.

9. Stuff the goose with it and place it back down on a baking sheet.
10. We tie the goose’s legs tightly, picking up the tail to block all the escape routes for the minced meat.
11. Place the bird in the oven, preheated to 200 ºС. My goose took a total of about an hour and a half to cook. Somewhere I saw a recommendation to calculate the cooking time this way: 15 minutes for every 450 g, plus another 15 minutes on top. Basically, this is what happened to me. During the baking process, you need to occasionally baste the goose with fat or something else that accumulates in the pan. For me it was like this:
12. After the first 30 minutes, I took the goose out of the oven, coated it thoroughly with fat and sent it back.
13. After another 30 minutes, I took it out again and drained all the fat from the pan. The goose itself was poured this time with the same Madeira that was used for the filling, and sent to reach its final condition. For another half hour.

“Meanwhile, young Peter and the two ever-present younger Cratchits went after the goose, with which they soon returned in a solemn procession. The appearance of the goose created an unimaginable commotion. One might think that this poultry is a phenomenon in comparison with which the black swan is the most ordinary phenomenon. However, in this poor home the goose was truly a curiosity.”

So, after the last half hour, the goose was completely ready. And for the first experience it turned out to be more than good.

"Mrs. Cratchit heated the gravy (prepared in a small saucepan in advance) until it sizzled."

Everyone is free to make the gravy to their own taste: Dickens does not have any specifications regarding its composition. You can, for example, use goose giblets in its preparation, which are usually included with store-bought geese (not to mention domestic ones). And for me it was something like this:

4 tbsp. l. goose fat
3 tbsp. l. flour
200 ml broth (I used chicken)
200 ml milk or cream
A couple of sprigs of fresh thyme

1. Heat the fat in a frying pan (or saucepan) and fry the flour in it until golden brown.
2. Pour in the hot broth, stir thoroughly so that there are no lumps, throw in the thyme and cook, stirring, until thickened.
3. Add milk or cream, mix and heat. Finally, remove the thyme sprigs.

Oh, applesauce is just a song! I can eat it as an independent dish, separately from anything else.

500 g sour apples (I weighed peeled and cut ones)
200 g water
50 g sugar
Lemon zest

1. Peel the apples, remove the core and cut into large cubes.
2. Place in a saucepan, fill with water and add sugar. We also add some lemon zest here.
3. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for about 20-25 minutes. During this time, the apples will become completely soft and practically boil into puree.
4. Rub the apples through a sieve (removing the lemon zest at the same time) and cool.

“Martha wiped down the hot plates. Bob sat Tiny Tim in the corner next to him, and the younger Cratchits arranged chairs for everyone, not forgetting themselves, and stood guard at the table, clogging their mouths with spoons so as not to ask for a piece of the goose before it came to them turn".

“But the table is set. Read the prayer. There is a painful pause. Everyone held their breath, and Mrs. Cratchit, looking searchingly at the blade of the roast knife, prepared to plunge it into the bird's chest. When the knife pierced, and the juice splashed, and the long-awaited mince was revealed to the eye, a unanimous sigh of delight swept over the table, and even Tiny Tim, incited by the younger Cratchits, tapped the table with the handle of the knife and faintly squeaked:

No, there has never been such a goose in the world! Bob emphatically declared that he would never believe that another such wonderful stuffed goose could be found anywhere! Everyone vied with each other to admire its juiciness and aroma, as well as its size and cheapness. With the addition of applesauce and mashed potatoes, it was enough for dinner for the whole family. Yes, in fact, they couldn’t even finish it off, as Mrs. Cratchit remarked admiringly when she discovered a microscopic bone remaining on the dish. However, everyone was full, and the younger Cratchits not only ate to their fill, but were smeared with onion stuffing up to their eyebrows.”

What a wonderful goose it turned out to be! But the festive evening does not end there.

Christmas pudding

“...The Younger Cratchits took possession of Tiny Tim and dragged him into the kitchen to listen to the water bubbling in the cauldron in which the pudding wrapped in a napkin was being cooked.”

Yes, yes, we are talking about the famous English Christmas pudding. Perhaps I have not approached the preparation of any dish for a long time with such reverence with which I began to implement this recipe. From the outside, the whole multi-hour process seemed to me akin to either some kind of pagan ritual, or just another alchemical experiment. But in reality it turned out that everything is quite simple - at least if you strictly follow the instructions. True, I still did not dare to cook the pudding in the traditional way - in a napkin, but used a more modern technique, distributing the dough into suitable sized containers. This allowed me to at least be sure that the final product will have a clear shape :)

I made a Christmas pudding recipe juliamaxi : You can read the original. In principle, I changed practically nothing, only I immediately halved the amount of all ingredients, and also converted some of them into units of measurement that were more convenient for me. In the end, there was enough dough to fill (not to the very top) one liter and one half-liter mold. And the composition, in fact, is this:

168 g lard, grated (aka internal fat, perinephric beef fat, etc.) - I thought that this would be the most problematic ingredient, but I found it at the market closest to my home
113 g flour
1/3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. mixtures of sweet spices: cinnamon, coriander, ginger, cloves, nutmeg (I ended up with a little more than intended, as you can see from the photo, but it didn’t harm the pudding at all)
168 g fresh bread crumbs (I chopped a peeled, sliced loaf in a food processor - not the whole thing, of course)
225 g brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
225 g seedless raisins
225 g raisins
225 g small black raisins (in the original - raisins of the korinka variety, but I couldn’t find them on sale, so in the end I just replaced them with dark raisins, and quite large ones, so it didn’t turn out quite authentic)
1 medium apple
30 g chopped almonds (I took ready-made, cut into slices)
60g candied citrus peels (orange and lemon), finely chopped
Juice and zest of ½ orange
75 ml ale (can be replaced with dark beer or milk)
45 ml whiskey (I rounded up to 50 without a twinge of conscience)
3 eggs

Yes, regarding rounding. Excuse me for wonderful numbers like “168” - we all understand that it is difficult to do without any error at all, and reasonable rounding will not cause much harm (the key word is “reasonable”).

To avoid confusion, I have listed the ingredients in the order in which they are added to the pudding mixture. In her post, Julia gives a useful recommendation to write them down on a piece of paper and cross them out as you add them, so as not to confuse anything. I did just that, and also prepared and measured all the products in advance and put them together on a separate table, which not only made the cooking process more visual, but also significantly speeded it up.

1. Place chopped lard in a large container, sift flour with spices and baking powder into it, add bread crumbs and mix thoroughly.
2. Add sugar and salt and mix.
3. Add all three types of raisins and grated apple (I peeled it first). Mix.
4. Add nuts and mix.
5. Add finely chopped citrus peels and mix.
6. Add orange juice and zest.
7. Pour in ale and whiskey, stir.
8. Beat the eggs until foamy, add to the pudding mixture and mix it thoroughly again.

Now we examine the cupboard for containers suitable for cooking pudding. I found an Ikea salad bowl and a couple of mugs of broth. They seemed to me to be the most suitable in shape: the puddings ended up being hemispheres. I did not have one hundred percent confidence in the heat resistance of these forms, so I, out of harm’s way, placed a piece of cotton fabric folded several times under them at the bottom of the pans in which the puddings were cooked. This not only insulated the dishes from direct contact with the hot bottom, but also provided the right atmosphere in the kitchen - read: the smell of boiled laundry - as if the pudding was actually boiling in a napkin :)

“It smelled like laundry! This is from a wet napkin. Now it smells like being near a tavern, when there is a pastry shop nearby, and a laundress lives in the next house!”

9. Grease the molds with oil and place the dough in them. The pudding will rise a little during cooking, so don't fill the molds to the brim, just leave some room.
10. Cover the mold with a piece of parchment paper and a piece of foil and tie this “lid” tightly with a thick thread - so that water does not accidentally get inside the mold during the boiling process.
11. From the same thread we make a loop or something like that, with which you can pull the form out of the boiling water.
12. Place each mold in its own pan of boiling water. My water reached about half the height of the molds. We close the pots with lids and leave each one to boil for the specified time, adding hot water from the kettle as necessary. A liter pudding needs to be cooked for about 8 hours; for a half-liter pudding, 5 hours is enough.

“But Miss Belinda changed the plates, and Mrs. Cratchit left the room all alone to take the pudding out of the cauldron. She was so worried that she wanted to do it without witnesses.

Well, the pudding didn’t arrive! Oh, how it will fall apart when they take it out of the mold! Well, how they stole it while they were having fun and devouring the goose! Some intruder could climb over the fence, get into the yard and steal the pudding from the back door! Such assumptions made the younger Cratchits freeze with fear. In a word, what kind of horrors came to mind here!”

By the way, ideally, the pudding is not eaten immediately, but is left to mature for at least a month. In this case, before serving directly, it must be immersed in boiling water again and boiled for two hours.

But, as we understand, it was difficult for the poor to organize the preparation of such a complex dish in advance, and besides, it is not easy to fight temptation for a whole month and protect it from small, unspoiled children. So Mrs. Cratchit made her pudding on Christmas Day, and we, like her fine family, ate ours on the same day that it was made. And since we had nothing to compare with, we were quite inspired by such a quick result. But next year, of course, you will need to worry about cooking the pudding in November.

“And then Mrs. Cratchit appears - flushed, out of breath, but with a proud smile on her face and with a pudding on a dish - so unusually hard and strong that it most closely resembles a pockmarked cannonball. The pudding is engulfed in flames from burning rum on all sides and decorated with a Christmas sprig of holly stuck into the very top.”

The pudding is divinely good on its own, but ideally it should be served with some kind of sauce. The traditional version is prepared using butter and brandy - you can see its recipe in Julia's LiveJournal, following the same link as the pudding recipe. Regular whipped cream will work just fine. And we ate pudding with cream anglaise.

English cream

3 egg yolks
30 g powdered sugar
300 ml milk
A piece of vanilla bean

1. Without beating, mix the yolks with sugar.
2. Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise, remove the seeds from it into the milk, and throw the pod itself in there. Mine was completely mummified (I couldn’t save it) - I had to first warm it up a little in milk, and then extract the seeds.
3. Bring the milk almost to a boil and pour into the yolks (the remains of the pod at this stage need to be removed from it). Pour in a thin stream, actively stirring the yolks so that they do not curdle.
4. Pour this mixture back into the milk saucepan, place it over medium heat and heat, stirring very vigorously, until it thickens. Under no circumstances should the mixture boil, otherwise it will become inhomogeneous. Tested by sad experience: the result, of course, will be edible, but it will no longer be a crème anglaise. So don't be distracted from the saucepan!

“Oh wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchit said that in all the time of their marriage Mrs. Cratchit had never been able to achieve such perfection in anything, and Mrs. Cratchit said that her heart was now lighter and she could admit how gnawing at her was the worry that there would be enough flour . Everyone had something to say in praise of the pudding, but it never occurred to anyone not only to say, but even to think that it was a very small pudding for such a large family. That would be simply blasphemy. Yes, each of the Cratchit would burn with shame if he allowed himself such a hint.”

Roasted chestnuts

“But dinner was over, the tablecloth was removed from the table, the fireplace was swept, and the fire was lit. We tasted the contents of the jug and found it excellent. Apples and oranges appeared on the table, and a full scoop of chestnuts was poured onto the coals.”

I also roasted chestnuts for the first time, but it turned out to be completely elementary. In the absence of a fireplace, a modern kitchen stove would do.

1. On the shell of each chestnut we make an incision in an arbitrary place. Traditionally, it is cross-shaped, but this is not very important for the result; one long cut across or diagonally will do.
2. Place the chestnuts in a dry frying pan (preferably cut side up), cover with a lid and place on low heat for about 20 minutes (the exact time depends on how large the chestnuts are).
3. Pour the finished chestnuts into some more convenient container and immediately pass it through your hands. Chestnuts can only be peeled while they are hot, so for a small crowd you shouldn't roast too many at once. Or you need to immediately involve all your sympathizers in peeling them before they cool down.

Hot gin drink

“Bob, turning up the cuffs (the poor fellow probably thought that something could still harm them!), poured water into the jug, added gin and a few slices of lemon and began to carefully stir it all up, and then set it to warm over low heat.” .

As I understand it, this is a kind of “mulled wine for the poor” - this is happening in England, after all. Moreover, in the description of the richer celebration, real mulled wine is mentioned. In general, if you, unlike the Cratchits, can afford it, it’s better to cook it. According to our realities, it turns out to be just cheaper! But to be completely consistent with the book, it doesn’t cost anything to follow Dickens’s description. If you want, like the heroes, to crown the evening with this drink, then you should, of course, start preparing it not before serving the goose, as Bob did, but at the same time as roasting the chestnuts. Well, provided that your home does not have a natural hearth, but a modern stove.

1. Mix gin with water, choosing the proportion to your taste. But don't overdo it! Still, gin has a rather pungent taste and smell, which can be felt even at low concentrations. And in any case, I think there should be more water.
2. Add a few slices of lemon (about one per serving).
3. Shake it thoroughly (I shook it heartily in a shaker, fortunately we have a big one... but not authentic).
4. Pour into a fireproof container and set to warm over low heat. Heat to maximum temperature, but make sure that it does not boil under any circumstances.

“Then the whole family gathered around the fireplace “in a circle,” as Bob Cratchit put it, meaning, I suppose, a semi-circle. On Bob's right hand was lined up the entire collection of family crystal: two glasses and a mug with a broken handle. These vessels, however, could hold hot liquid no worse than any golden goblets, and when Bob filled them from the jug, his face shone, and the chestnuts on the fire hissed and burst with a cheerful crack.”

“These are joyful days - days of mercy, kindness, forgiveness. These are the only days in the entire calendar when people, as if by tacit agreement, freely open their hearts to each other and see in their neighbors, even the poor and disadvantaged, the same people as themselves, wandering the same road to the grave with them, and not some beings of a different breed who should take a different path.”

Christmas is a very important, bright and joyful Christian holiday. On Christmas, it is customary for the whole family to gather for a festive table. The Roman Catholic Church follows the Gregorian calendar and therefore celebrates Christmas on December 25th. The Russian Church, which uses the Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7th.

Christmas Eve is the evening before Christmas. At this time, it is customary for Orthodox believers to organize a festive dinner for the whole family. Also, traditionally, Christmas dinner is held on the evening of January 7th. Straw must be placed under a white tablecloth made of natural material, which symbolizes the manger in which the baby Jesus was born. Christmas dinner, especially on January 7 (because on Christmas Eve you still have to follow the rules of fasting) should be presented with different dishes. But the main place on the holiday table must be occupied by a goose or duck, chicken, fish or turkey, baked whole. This is not only a delicious hot dish, but also a symbol of family unity.

Christmas Dinner: Recipes

Kutya

A traditional Christmas dish with which the meal should begin. To prepare kutya, take 200 grams of peeled wheat, 150 grams of poppy seeds, 50 grams of peeled walnuts and raisins, vanilla sugar, honey. Wheat, which symbolizes fertility and success, must be washed and filled with water. Cook the porridge until done. The poppy seed needs to be soaked in hot water for several hours. Then drain the water and rub the poppy seeds together with sugar. Can be passed through a meat grinder. Combine poppy seeds with wheat, add chopped nuts, raisins and honey, vanilla sugar. Serve chilled. This is a ritual dish that is also made to honor the spirits at Christmas. It is believed that when a person eats something sweet at Christmas, his ancestors also feel sweet and happy.

It is customary to serve jellied meat as an appetizer on the Christmas table. To prepare jellied meat according to this recipe, you need to take a kilogram of pork legs, five liters of water, one carrot and onion, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and a bay leaf. Disassemble the legs at the joints and get rid of large bones. Place them in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Cook the legs for five hours, until the tendons are easily separated from the bones. Remove foam. To improve the taste of the broth, add onions, carrots, and bay leaves. When the broth is ready, you need to separate the meat from the bone and chop it finely, add the meat to the broth, and add chopped garlic. Now pour the jellied meat into deep plates and place in the refrigerator until completely frozen.

A delicious Christmas dinner should bring all family members and friends together around the table. Traditionally, poultry or fish was prepared for these purposes and baked whole. We offer a classic goose recipe that every guest will definitely like and will be right in line with the main Christmas traditions and customs. The goose carcass must be washed, salt and pepper outside and inside, and rubbed with garlic. Prepare minced meat consisting of a sour apple cut into slices with nuts, prunes and chopped orange slices. Stuff the carcass with the resulting filling and plug the hole with toothpicks. Now, to get a crispy crust, the carcass must be greased on all sides with vegetable oil. Place the goose on a baking sheet, around it there are green apples cut into four parts and several onions cut into two parts. Cover the baking sheet with foil and cook the bird for three hours. Then remove the foil and pour the fat it has released onto the duck. Now fry the bird for another twenty minutes.

Fish is a must for Christmas dinner. Therefore, you can prepare it using this simple recipe. You need to take half a kilogram of potatoes, a kilogram of hake fillet, three eggs and onions, 300 grams of mushrooms, 200 grams of sour cream and cheese. Place potatoes, cut into slices and pre-fried, around the edges of a frying pan greased with oil. Place pieces of fried hake in the center, fried onions, slices of boiled eggs and boiled mushrooms on top. Pour sauce with sour cream and cheese over everything. Bake the dish in the oven for half an hour.

Of course, dessert should complete the Christmas dinner. This is a very simple and incredibly tasty baking option. Take two glasses of flour, a glass of milk (or water) and a pinch of salt. Knead the dough and let it sit for thirty minutes, covering it with a napkin. Roll out the dough into a rope and cut into equal parts. Roll into balls and give them a round shape. For the filling, use a glass of any berries, two tablespoons of sugar. Place the filling in the center of the cake and fold the edges. Bake for 30 minutes at 220 degrees. Grease the finished carols with melted butter.

This is interesting! The filling for carols can be not only sweet. As filling you can use potatoes and carrots, cottage cheese, cheese, mushrooms and various cereals.

Gingerbread cookies have always occupied a special place on the Orthodox Christmas table. If you don’t want to cook any more dessert, then gingerbread may be the only and very relevant representative of the sweet world. To prepare you will need 225 grams of orange jam, 100 grams of honey and sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of cardamom and coriander, two eggs, 200 grams of flour, three teaspoons of baking powder, 200 grams of ground almonds. For decoration, use 110 grams of confiture and 25 grams of candied fruits.

Heat orange jam, honey, sugar, cinnamon and spices in a water bath until a liquid mass is obtained. Then cool the mixture and add eggs, flour mixed with baking powder and almonds. Place the dough on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for an hour. Then remove the gingerbread and cut into strips. Heat the confiture and rub it through a sieve. Cut the strips into squares, spread with confiture and garnish with candied fruits.

If you prepare these dishes, you will have a great Christmas dinner. Prepare every dish with love. Let your home always be nourishing and warm!

Christmas Eve is an evening worth spending with your family. If you have not yet decided what to please your family, we have made a selection of delicious recipes for a festive dinner. Of course, we couldn’t do without baked spicy chicken and juicy roast beef, but there are also some wonderful recipes for vegetarians.

Baked beets with herbs

For this recipe, choose beets of the Bordeaux, Bravo and Valenta varieties - this will make the dish sweet and juicy.

Ingredients

Beetroot 5 pcs.
Arugula 1 bunch
Salad (frisse) 1 bunch
Lettuce (corn) 1 bunch
Butter (butter) 20 g
Oil (olive) 2 tbsp. l.
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
Cut the beets into small pieces. Remove the tops.
Place the beets on a baking sheet, add butter, a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for an hour until the beets are tender.
Heat a frying pan and add olive oil. Tear the lettuce leaves and fry them for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. If the beets are young, lettuce leaves can be replaced with beet tops.
Place the lightly fried lettuce and roasted beets in a large dish and toss to coat.

Salad with couscous, dried cherries and curry

Ingredients:

Couscous 350 g
Water 3-3.5 glasses
Cherries (dried) ¾ cup
Nuts (walnuts) ¾ cup
Onion (green) 3-4 feathers
Orange (juice) ½ pcs.
Lemon (juice) ½ pcs.
Parsley (chopped) 2 tbsp. l.
Oil (olive) 2 tbsp. l.
Curry 1 tbsp. l.
Pepper (ground black) to taste
Salt to taste

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, combine couscous, curry, dried cherries, salt and pepper. Pour in 3-3.5 glasses of water. Bring to a boil and cook until done according to instructions.
Add orange juice and mix well. Cover with a lid and let stand for 5 minutes.
Stir the couscous with a fork and add lemon juice, olive oil, finely chopped green onions, parsley and nuts. Stir.
To give the dish a richer taste, let it soak for a couple of hours.

Quinoa pilaf with pomegranate

A dish with pomegranate on the holiday table is considered a symbol of good luck in many countries. Let this be on your table too - our quinoa pilaf.

Ingredients

Quinoa 1 cup
Broth (chicken) 2 cups
Pomegranate (seeds) ½ cup
Almonds (roasted) ½ cup
Onion (green chopped) ½ cup
Onion (onion) ½ pc.
Lemon (juice) ½ pcs.
Parsley 1 tbsp. l.
Oil (olive) 2 tbsp. l.
Lemon (zest) 1 tsp.
Sugar 1 tsp.
Pepper (ground black) to taste
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a deep frying pan. Add finely chopped onions and cook until they become translucent and fragrant.
Add quinoa and chicken broth. Stir.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes until the quinoa has absorbed all the liquid.
In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, pomegranate seeds, chopped green onions and parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, quinoa, salt and pepper. Mix everything well.
Before serving, sprinkle toasted almonds on top.

Meat gratin

Gratin is a universal hot dish. It contains both meat (minced beef) and a side dish (potatoes). And it’s not very difficult to prepare.

Ingredients

Beef (minced meat) 500 g
Potatoes (medium) 5-6 pcs.
Milk 2.5 cups
Eggs 3 pcs.
Onion (onion) 1 pc.
Garlic 2 cloves
Oil (olive) 2 tbsp. l.
Pepper (paprika) 3 tsp.
Pepper (ground black) to taste
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Pour olive oil, add thinly sliced onion and chopped garlic. Fry until the vegetables are soft.
Add minced meat and paprika. Fry until the meat is done.
Place the finished minced meat with vegetables into a baking dish.
Spread thinly sliced potatoes evenly on top. Season with salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl, mix milk and eggs.
Pour the egg mixture over the dish, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. The potatoes should become soft.
Remove the foil and leave to bake for another 25-30 until golden brown.
Let the dish cool slightly and serve.

Chicken baked with herbs and lemon

This aromatic, spicy chicken will be the centerpiece of your Christmas table.

Ingredients

Chicken (whole) 1 pc.
Radish 1 bunch
Onion (onion) 1 pc.
Garlic 2 cloves
Butter (butter) 4 tbsp. l.
Lemon (zest) 2 tsp.
Thyme (fresh) 1 tsp.
Water ¼ cup
Pepper (ground black) to taste
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix grated lemon zest, chopped garlic and thyme, 2 tbsp until smooth. l. butter, salt and pepper.
Coat the chicken with the resulting oil on top, under the skin and inside.
Place the chicken, thinly sliced onion and radish quarters on a baking sheet and pour in the remaining butter (you can melt it in a water bath first). Season with salt and pepper.
Add water to the baking sheet and place the chicken in the oven for 50 minutes.
Increase the temperature to 220 degrees and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Make sure there is water in the pan. Add another ¼ cup if necessary.

Roast beef with rosemary and garlic

Another signature dish on your holiday table. Our advice is to choose only fresh and high-quality meat for roast beef. Under no circumstances should it be ice cream.

Ingredients

Beef (ribeye) 1.5 kg
Mushrooms (chopped champignons) 4 cups
Broth 1 glass
Rosemary (fresh chopped) ¼ cup
Garlic (chopped) ¼ cup
Oil (olive) 4 tbsp. l.
Butter (butter) 4 tbsp. l.
Pepper (ground black) to taste
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Season the meat well with salt and pepper on all sides.
Using a blender, puree rosemary and garlic with 2 tbsp. l. olive oil.
Heat a cast iron skillet well. Pour in olive oil and reduce heat. Place the meat in the pan and brown well on all sides.
Remove the pan from the heat and baste the meat with the rosemary-garlic oil.
Place the meat in the oven to bake for 1-1.5 hours.
At this time, heat the frying pan and add thinly sliced mushrooms, 2 tbsp. l. butter, salt and pepper. Fry for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove the meat from the oven and transfer to a plate.
Add broth to the juices and pieces of meat remaining in the cast iron skillet. Turn heat to medium and deglaze.
Add fried mushrooms and 2 tbsp. l. butter. You should now have a sauce.
Transfer the meat back to the pan. Pour the prepared sauce on top and sprinkle with rosemary if desired.
Serve the roast beef hot with a fresh vegetable salad.

Chocolate mini-cakes with cranberries

These mini cakes are made with rice flour - a great option for those on a gluten-free diet. To reduce the calorie content of the dish, replace sugar with stevia, honey or coconut sugar. Milk can also be replaced with rice or almond milk.

Ingredients

Flour (rice) 200 g
Cranberries 1 cup
Milk 160 ml
Chocolate 100 g
Eggs 1 pc.
Oil (olive) 60 ml
Sugar (or sweetener) 30 g
Sour cream 20 g
Juice (orange) ¼ cup
Cocoa 15 g
Orange (zest) 1 tbsp. l.
Syrup (maple or honey) 1 tbsp. l.
Seeds (chia) 1 tbsp. l.
Soda 5 g
Cinnamon ½ tsp.

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Sift flour into a large bowl, add cinnamon, cocoa, soda and sugar. Mix well.
Separately mix 100 ml of milk, sour cream, eggs and butter.
Gently combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix well.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix cranberries, chia seeds, orange juice and zest. You should have a smooth jam. Place it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Melt the chocolate and 60 ml of milk in a water bath until smooth.
Remove the cake base from the oven and let cool. Using a glass or mold, cut out circles from the dough. You should have an even number - 12 pieces.

Preparation:

Combine sugar, corn syrup, water and butter in a saucepan. Place over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
Bring to a boil and cook until a food thermometer registers 120 degrees.
Remove from heat. Add salt and vanilla. Stir.
Place the popcorn in a large bowl, pour the prepared syrup over it and stir gently.
Add colored sprinkles and candies and stir again.
Wet your hands and form the popcorn into stars. If the mixture becomes too hard, melt it slightly in the oven or microwave.

2 years ago

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Christmas is considered one of the greatest Orthodox holidays throughout the world. In Russia, Christmas is celebrated on January 7, this day ends the forty-day fast. The day before, on Christmas Eve, it is customary for the whole family to gather around a table set with twelve Lenten dishes. This meal is called a rich supper; every dish on the Christmas table has a sacred meaning. So, traditions of the Christmas table.

Traditional dishes for Christmas

Christmas Eve

The festive family dinner on January 6 includes 12 Lenten dishes - the same number of apostles who took part in the Last Supper. On Christmas Eve, it is customary to prepare dishes from vegetables and fruits to bring good luck and prosperity into the house for the whole year.

The main dishes of the table on the Holy Evening before Christmas are: Kutya and Uzvar .

Kutie called porridge, cooked from whole grains, with the addition of honey, crushed nuts, raisins, and crushed poppy seeds. Christmas kutia can be made from wheat, barley, rice or pearl barley. It is with the tasting of kutya that the Christmas Eve meal begins.

Each component of kutya has a symbolic meaning. Grain is a symbol of renewal of life, honey symbolizes health and well-being in the home, poppy and nuts symbolize prosperity and success in business. According to folk traditions, tasty and “rich” kutia ensures a good harvest and becomes a talisman for the family home throughout the year.

Traditional drink on Christmas Eve - uzvar This is the name for compote made from a mixture of dried fruits - apples, cherries, pears, plums and others. It is customary to add honey, dried rose hips or rowan berries, and aromatic herbs (mint, lemon balm, rose petals) to the Christmas dinner. This drink is rich in vitamins and minerals, has tonic properties and strengthens the immune system.

The first course on Holy Evening is Lenten borscht or thick soup with millet and fresh or sauerkraut. In different regions, boiled beans, dried mushrooms or abalone (dough products with a lean filling, similar to small dumplings) are added to lean borscht.

On Christmas Eve, cabbage, mushrooms, stewed cabbage, lean or mushrooms, or millet porridge, or with fruit fillings are served as a mandatory dish on the table. A mandatory attribute of Christmas dinner is boiled peas, beans or broad beans with fried onions in vegetable oil. Also served on the table are fried fish and homemade pickles - sauerkraut, pickled tomatoes and cucumbers, peppers, pickled apples.

Dinner on Christmas Eve begins after the first star appears in the sky - until this time, only children were allowed to eat. After the prayer, all participants try kutya, then borscht and other hot dishes are served. The meal traditionally lasts 3-4 hours; this evening carolers go from house to house, sing songs and wish the owners well-being. They are presented with sweets and pastries and invited to the table. In many families, on the evening of Christmas Eve, children bring kutya to their godparents or grandparents.

What to cook for Christmas

The fast ends on January 7th , meat and poultry dishes appear on the table - boiled pork, goose or duck with apples, and more. The Christmas menu also included dairy dishes - porridge with milk - or milk noodles.

Table setting for Christmas

In the process of preparing for the Christmas holidays, it is important not only to prepare treats, but also to pay attention to table setting. Most often in decor there is a combination of white with red or green.

Lay out an elegant tablecloth with a pattern and complement the decoration of the festive table with paper or textile napkins in a contrasting color.

For decorative elements, you can use figured candles and figurines of angels.

A traditional decoration for the festive Christmas table is the didukh - a talisman woven from ears of corn or straw.

Multi-colored garlands and an elegantly decorated Christmas tree will help create a festive atmosphere in the room.

Treats prepared with love and a beautiful setting of the Christmas table are the key to a rich harvest, prosperity and well-being in the home. May 2017 bring health, love and prosperity to every home!

On my website you will find recipes for treating friends and family at Christmas. Share your family's traditional Christmas treats in the comments.