ODDS and ENDS of the sb Christmas Fare

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 300, 20 December 1935, Page 5

ODDS and ENDS of the sb Christmas Fare

Bajced Ham* , Prepare, soak, scrape, and wipe ham as for boiling. Make a paste bv adding enough cold water to about lib. flour. 801 l put, wrap round ham, covering well. Place ham in roasting dish with about 4 tablespoons dripping/ Bake in a slow heat, basting frequently with •heated dripping. Allow 20 minutes to each pound and 20 minutes . extra, or from 3to 4 hours accord- ■ ing to size and thickness of ham. "When cooked, remove crust and skm arid finish ham as previously described. Hof Christmas Menu Olives Madras Wellington Cream Soup .. Whiting Chesterfield Tartars Sauce :j£v„ Veal Cutlets and Tomato Sauce^ %oast Duck Sage Seasoning Apple Sauce or Roast Chicken Bread Sauce Ham potatoes Green Peas Marrow and Sauce Asparagus an Beurre Christmas Pudding Wine Sauce Mince Pies ,"-V Cheese Creams Devilled Almonds '■ Dessert Huts Muscatels Coffee . Boiled Ham (2 Methods) First Method.—Soak ham in cold water from 10 to 24 hours, according to i saltness. Change water once or twice. Scrape, wipe, and :;v put ham into boiler. Cover with ‘ cold water. Bring very slowly to - boiling point, removing any scum as it rises. Simmer gently for half an hour. Then remove heat (if a Sr is Used, remove fire from ■ copper, or turn gas off,). Cover copper or boiler with straw ‘ or layers of newspaper, and sacks " T" ' to retain heat. Leave for several ■" hours, till water is cold, before removing ham; Remove skin, and coat ham with crumbs. Second Method.—Soak, scrape, . and slowly bring ham to boiling point as previously described. Add 3 cloves, 3 peppercorns, 1 blade mace, 2 bay leaves, 1 sprig of thyme, and parsley, and 1 teaspoon brown sugar for flavoring, and keep it -i iu gently simmering (not boiling) till ham is tender. When cooked, the ham will turn over in the water. Remove.from heat, and when water cools slightly, remove ham. Skin and coat ham. with crumbs.

Mince Pies

Ingredients: Vilb. either puff, rough puff, flaky or short pastry, mince meat (previously prepared). Icing sugar. Method: Make and roll out pastry. Cut rounds for pie tops; then larger rounds for underneath. Line patty pans with larger circles; fill with prepared mincemeat, mois- • ten pastry edges; cover with tops, ;> and press edges together. Glaze, and make hole in centre with £• skewer. Bake in .a hot oven for 15 to '2O minutes, reducing heat when pastry browns. Sprinkle with icing sugar before: serving. -* Mincemeat v; Ingredients: tilb,’ seeded raisins, >/ 2 tea- . -spoon, ground nutmeg, >/ 2 lb. currants, ,- ,141 b. sultanks, Vi teaspoon mixed spice, Valb. apples (peeled, cored and - chopped before weighing), V 2 lb. sugar, . •ib .shredded suet, 2oz. mixed candied pi-cl. 2oz. ground sweet almonds of blanched chopped almonds, grated ’ rind and Juice 1 lemon, 1 dessertspoon orange marmalade. 3 tablespoons brandy. Method: Mix clean, dry fruit with V, ~, other prepared ingredients in a

large basin. Cover; leave for 24 hours, and mix thoroughly again, before packing in dry jars. Cover and make air-tight. Store in a dry, cool place for at least two weeks before using. .... . . Tills mincemeat will keen foi several months. If with keeping it should become dry, moisten with a little more brandy.

Devilled Almonds Ingredients: lib. Jordan almonds, * butter or 1 gill sweet oil, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 level teaspoon cayenne. Method: Put almonds in saucepan; cover with boiling water; bring to fcbiling point. Drain, skin ana dry almonds in a cloth, or slowly in oven. Heat 'butter or oil in frying pan; add prepared almonds, turn, and stir them until lightly and evenly browned. Drain on paper,

Sprinkle salt and cayenne lightly on fresh piece of paper. Shake drained almonds in it until well coated. Serve

in small dishes.

Consomme Imperial Iced

Ingredients: 6 cups rich stock, 1 cube loaf sugar, 1 egg white, few drops caramel to-color, shells of 2 eSgS - „ t fV, For Custards: I egg white with 3 tablespoons milk, 2 egg yolks with 3 tablespoons milk, salt, cayenne, cochineal, apple blossom, green . coloring. Method.—Remove fat from stock. Put into saucepan with washed, crushed shells and egg white. Whisk over gentle heat till boiling. Simmer without stirring for three minutes. Remove from heat and stand for five minutes to form a crust. Strain through jelly cloth into basin. The liquid will not be cleared as the niter will not have settled in cloth. Slowly filter liquid again; add a few drops caramel if necessary to improve color, and a cube of sugar to give sparkling appearance. Chill Beat egg white, add 2 tablespoons milk, season with salt and cayenne; and add few drops apple blossom green coloring. Pour into greased dish and steam till set. Beat egg yolks, add milk, salt and cayenne, and color pale pink with a few drops cochineal. Pour into greased dish and steam till set. Cool and cut each custard into small fancy shapes. Chill and add to consomme.

Cold Christmas Menu Oysters in Shell Consomme Imperial (iced) Lobster or Crab Mayonnaise Veal and Ham Mould (Indlvid.utu) Cold Turkey Veal Forcemeat Baked Ham Salads or Fowl Duchessc Salads _ Iced Asparagus vinaigrette Sauce Creme de Mentha Sorbet Iced Plum Pudding with, Marshmallow Cream , _ Mince Patties and Whipped Cream Cheese Straws Vanilla Ices Muscatels Nuts Dessert Devilled Almonds Coffee

Fresh Asparagus (To Prepare and Cook)

Choose stalks of uniform age and size. Clean thoroughly; lightly scrape the white part from tips downwards with a knife. Tir In bundles (tips all oh® way). Wash and drain Btand P bundles upright with heads upwards, in a deep saucepan or asparagus cooker. Add sufficient boiling salted water to submerge lower half of bundle, so that the tips, which require less

cooking, will become tender without breaking. Add a few drops of lemon Juice or vinegar and Vs teaspoon sugar. Simmer from 25 to 45 minutes, or till tender (according to age and size). Drain well, remove ties from bundle, and serve in asnftragus dish or on folded serviette. Serve hot with hollandaise sauce or melted butter served separately.

Iced Asparagus After cooking, draining, and arranging neatly on asparagus dish, sprinkle with few drops of tarragon or whito wine vinegar, and place in refrigerator or ice-chest to chill. Serve mousseline, hollandalse or vinaigrette sauce separately.

Vinaigrette Sauce Ingredients: 4 tablespoons oil, 2 table-

spoons vinegar, Vs teaspoon mixed mustard, 1 teaspoon of each chopped eschalot, capers, gherkins, and parsley, salt end cayenne to taste. Method: Stir the oil into the vinegar, adding a few drops at a time. Add the mixed mustard, chopped seasonings, salt and cayenne according to taste. Mix well and serve with asparagus (iced). Fowl Duchess© (.Served Cold) Ingredients: 1 young fowl. Sauce: 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon flour, X pint milk, salt and cayenne 2 tablespoons cream, aspic jelly (or Vs teaspoon gelatine dissolved in Vi cup water), chopped parsley. Filling: 2 pork sausages, Vs teaspoon grated lemon rind, 1 aoz-

en oysters, 1 teaspoon butter. 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs, salt and cayenne. Method: Turn dressed fowl, breast downwards. Cut through sldn down the back. Work flesh from bone on each side, and remove backbone. Mix filling ingredients together; fill bird, and sew into as natural a shape as possible. Cover with greased paper, and steam till fowl is tender. While cooling prepare sauce. Melt butter, add flour, blend smoothly, add milk, stir till it bolls and thUkens. Simmer tor few minutes. Season with salt, cayenne, add cream, and about 2 tablespoons liquid aspic (or gelatine dissolved over hot water). Wipe fowl with a cloth dipped In boiling water, and then with clean dry cloth to remove any fat. Mask cold fowl with several layers of sauce, setting each layer firmly before covering with another. Sprinkle the final masking when set with very finely chopped parsley. Serve fowl perfectly cold on a bed of finely chopped aspic Jelly.