Five of our Christmas favourites
Christmas is a time for much merriment, and this includes eating and drinking. It’s probably one of the most wonderful times of the year for food with an eclectic mix of tastes and smells filling kitchens up and down the country. We’ve rounded up a few of our Christmas favourites to share with you – these all will make an appearance at Parties to Go towers over the festive period.
Mince Pies
The humble mince pie. Once a meat-filled morsel, this sweet pie has evolved over the years to become the delicious mincemeat filled pastry delight it is today. These little shortcrust treats form part of many of our Christmas menus and we do a mini version as well as full-size pies that we serve with coffee after the main meal. What we love about the mince pie is its versatility. You can keep them classic or spice them up by adding a variety of ingredients to the basics. Try topping them with toasted almonds, adding chopped dates or cranberries or even chocolate chips. And if you fancy a real twist on the classic, maybe give a recipe like Paul A Young’s brownie mince pies a go – some would say this was sacrilegious, others Christmas genius.
Pâté
Pâté is a really popular choice at Christmas, especially as a starter of choice for Christmas dinner. Again, it’s the versatility of pâté that makes it such as good choice for the festive dinner table, with so many recipes and choices available to suit all types of dietary requirements from pescatarians to vegans. It is also a great dish to be able to add some lovely Christmas flavour and spice to make it truly festive. We love our duck and orange pâté served with rustic bread or our smoked salmon pâté with a side of homemade olive bread. But for something a little different try adding a drop of port or even some pistachios like in this BBC food recipe.
Christmas ham
A Christmas ham is said to be a tradition dating back to Pagan times when the ritual of sacrificing a wild boar to the Norse god Freyr was popular. Since then, this has evolved and now a Yule ham is a popular addition to the Christmas menu. Over the years there has been much debate in the cookery world on how to cook the ham so as to ensure it is moist and delicious. Delia Smith is a fan of roasting hers whilst Nigella Lawson’s Coca-Cola version is also a massive favourite for many. We like to boil ours in dry cider before adding a honey and mustard glaze and finishing in the oven. Add cloves to decorate if you fancy or maple syrup instead of honey if you fancy a Canadian twist.
Pigs in blankets
Little sausages wrapped in bacon have to be one of the delights of Christmas dinner. Pigs in blankets are thought to have originated from Czechoslovakia or Germany but the term ‘pigs in blankets’ is relatively new and first appeared in print in 1957 in Betty Crocker’s Cooking for Kids cookbook. Don’t confuse them with their American cousins which are wrapped in dough (similar to our sausage rolls), these meat-on-meat parcels offer an entirely different taste and texture sensation. If you want to deviate from the norm try dipping your sausages in a honey and mustard mixture before wrapping them or for a real twist mango chutney and poppy seeds.
Brussel sprouts
Love them or hate them no Christmas dinner would be complete without that little green ball of goodness on your plate. We have learnt to love this vegetable over the years and enjoy finding delicious and tasty ways of serving them up. Cooked right a brussel sprout is delicious – cooked wrong and it can be a mushy and tasteless, and nobody wants that. It should be green, slightly al dente and never sulphurous. NEVER mark the bases of the sprout with a cross. Contrary to popular belief this serves no purpose and can make the sprout soggy. You can serve them as they are as they have a lovely nutty flavour. If you like to dress them up, you can in many ways from a simple drizzle of olive oil and cracked black pepper to adding bacon and toasted almonds. We have also stir-fried them with ginger for an extra zing and taste sensation.
