THE CHRISTMAS TABLE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 16, 16 December 1932, Page 7

THE CHRISTMAS TABLE

SOME SIMPLE RECIPES. Housewives who are arranging a Christmas dinner for a fairly large party need not he afraid that in ordering a good-sized turkey they are being extravagant. A turkey cuts up well—if a really fine turkey is properly carved, thirty slices can be obtained from the breast —it provides giblets for soup, gravy, or giblet pie, and the “left-over” pieces of turkey can bo thrned to good account. For a small family a large fowl may be more economical. Geese and ducks may bo cheaper to buy than turkeys and fowls—prices, of course, vary in different districts-—but they canont be cut up in such an economical way. Roast rabbit is cheap and tasty, and roast beef has been for so long a chief dish at Christmas dinners that no apology is needed for its inclusion. Roast pork is an excellent substitute for goose, and veal and mutton cun be rolled, boned, stuffed with force-meat and served with the usual sauces, vegetables and gravy that accompany poultry. Whatever is bought, whether it be a joint of moat or a bird, ingredients for mincemeat or plum pudding, remember that it is false .economy to buy inferior articles. The “cheap and nasty” must he avoided and the best that can be afforded should be purchased. MOCK TURKEY. Bone a breast of mutton and bread it with an inch layer of stuffing. This is made with two cupfuls of breadcrumbs, two tablospoonsful of finely chopped parsley, one tablespoonful of finely chopped thyme. .Season tins with pepper and salt and bind with one well oeaten egg. Roll the breast around the stuffing, tie firmly, secure the ends with skewers, bake in a hot oven, and baste occasionally. Serve with mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts. ROAST PORK. Skin and bone a small leg of pork, and make a plain crust with flour and dripping, roll it out very thin, and fold the pork up in it. Bake it in a moderate oven, allowing twenty-five minutes to each pound of pork. When it is properly cooked, remove the crust, and you will find the pork white and tender. Serve the pork with brown gravy, forcemeat balls, and bread or apple sauce. AN ECONOMICAL RECIPE. There are numerous recipes for plum puddings, some elaborate, some simple, and often the inexpensive pudding tastos as nice as the richer variety. The avoidance of waste is an important point when economy has to be studied, and the utmost value should bo extracted from the ingredients. See, therefore, that all fruit is thoroughly washed and dried before use; that butter and eggs are perfectly fresh and the latter well beaten. Required: Jib each currants, sultanas, mixed peel, breadcrumbs, beef suet, and brown sugar, Jib flour, ill) stoned raisins, half a nutmeg, one teaspoonful of mixed spice, the rinds and juice of an orange and lemon, four eggs, a saltspoonful of salt, and a little milk. Wash and dry the currants, sultanas, and raisings. Chop the peel finely, and sieve the breadcrumbs. Chop the suet very finely. Put the flour in a basin, rub the suet in it, then add breadcrumbs, sugar, mixed peel. nutmeg, grated rinds of lemon, orange and then the fruit. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly, and. moisten with the strained juice of the orange and lemon, then the eggs, well beaten an<l mixed with about a quarter-pint of milk, or enough to make the pudding of the right consistency. Mix well, cover with a cloth, and leave till next day, when it should be again well stirred. Grease the basins, pour in the mixture, cover with greased paper, before tying down in the usual way, and boil for eight hours. The above will make three small puddings.

AN EGOLESS PLUM PUDDING. A quarter of a pound each of beef suet, flour and breadcrumbs, six ounces of currants, six ounces of stoned raisins, one pound of brown sugar, a quarter of a pound each of grated carrots and potatoes, one ounce of chopped peel, one ounce of freshly-grated lemon peel, one pound of treacle, and a pinch of salt. Shred the suet finely, grate the carrots and potatoes, and mix them with the other dry ingredients. Lastly, stir in the treacle, mix well, cover with a cloth, and leave until next day. Then pour into a well greased basin. Boil for four or five hours. CHRISTMAS CAIvE. Christmas Cake.—Beat Jib of butter for about half an hour, until it is very light and creamy, then beat in Jib of sugar. Have seven eggs well-beaten, and add them gradually to the creamed butter and sugar. Then add Jib of flour, sifted with a teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt, then add 21b of sultanas and lib of currants that have been prepared and cleaned. Jib of mixed peel, and Jib of almonds (blanched and chopped), and another Jib of flour sifted. Stir well from the bottom of the dish until all the ingredients are thoroughly well mixed, then add half a gill earn of sherry and brandy and a little caramel or burnt , sugar to colour. Bake in round or . square tins, first lined with two layers ' of brown and white paper greased, to come about 2in above the rim of the tin. Place in a hot oven, and after ten minutes gradually decrease the heat and leave in the oven for three hours, or until done. FRUIT WHIPS. Plum puddings, even the plainest kind, and mince pies aro too rich for young children, but naturally on Christmas Day they require something festive in appearance. They will be pleased with fruit whips, which are simple, nourishing and attractive. Put a piece of sponge cake into a small glass, cover it with stewed fruit, or soak it with orange juice and cover with sliced bananas and orange quarters. Put a thick layer of good custard on top and decorate with glace cherries.

MINCE PIE. Required: 2 diced apples, 2 tablespoons sugar, i lemon peel, 2 tablespocftis currants and sultanas, rind and juice of lemon, 1 teaspoon mixed spice. Mix all ingredients together. Cover a tart plate with paste, fill with mixture, put in two or three small pieces of butter on top, cover with paste, glaze and bake 30 to 40 minutes. For a baked mince roll, use pa.yte and mixture as above. Roll paste out. Spread witli mixture, roll as a Swiss roll, folding ends in firmly. Glaze and bake 30

minutes. TASTY TRIFLE. Banana Trifle.—Skin eight good-sized bananas. Cut them in two lengthwise and lay them close together in a glass dish. Pour over them a glass of sherry or brandy, and leave an hour to soak. Spread over a thin layer of straw terry jam, then make a good custard, leaving out the whites of two eggs'. Flavour the custard with vanilla, and when it is quite cold pour over the fruit. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth with half a teaspoonful of castor sugar and pile in rocky lumps on the custard. Leave for three hours before serving. TOOTHSOME ICES. Strawberry Ices.—One pint of milk, 2-pint of cream, 2-pint of strawberry pulp rubbed through a sieve, 12oz sugar, the juice of one lemon, the white of an egg. Put the milk and sugar into a stewpan, bring to the boil, and cool. Pass the fruit through a fine sieve,

add the lemon juice and milk to the pulp thus formed, and stir in iigktly the stiffly-whipped cream. When the mixture is partially frozen add the well-whisked white of egg, and continue tho freezing. MADEIRA APRICOTS. . For Madeira apricots get some bread into dice and fry a golden brown in deep fat. Drain well and pile in a silver dish. Stew some apricots in a little water until tender, rub through a sieve and reheat. Pour over the bread. Boil together a breakfastoupful of castor sugar and half a breakfastcupful ot Madeira for ten minutes and pour over the apricote just before serving hot. BRANDY SAUCE. Required: 1 cup sugar i.r>nn r water 2 teaspoonsfuls ton mf ce f cup of brandy Cook the sugar n water t.ll dark. Add lemon juice, brandy 7 n d rnd r iight r . PUddmg JUst befor ® -WE