CHRISTMAS RECIPES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14235, 4 December 1909, Page 6 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS RECIPES.

Mincemeat.— Jib of suet, Alb of raisins, Jib of sultanas, Jib of currants, Alb of apples. Jib of sugar, 2oz candied peel, a lemon, and a gill of brandy. Chop the suet finely, stone and chop the raisins, wash well and pick the currants, rub and pick the sultanas, peel. core., and chop the tipples, mince the candied peel : mix all the ingredients together with the sugar, juice, and grated rind of a lemon, and the brandy. Put into jars, and cover tightly. This should be made some days before required for use. Line patty pant* with some good puff paste, put in the mincemeat. heaping it well in, cover with paste, make a hole in the centre, bake for about 20 minutes in a hot oven.

Paste (or Mince Pies.—Take All) of flour, jib of butter, ii pinch of cream of tartar, a little water, mincemeat. Mix the cream of tartar with the flour, and crumble in 2oz of butter; mix with a little water, not. too much, or the paste will be tough; flour a pasteboard and roll out the paste; put 2oz of butter in small pieces on it, fold it over, and roll out, put on some more butter, and so on; line the patty pans with paste, fill with mincemeat, and bake.

Very Rich Christmas Oake. -One and aquarter pounds of fresh butter, the same quantity of flour, 10 eggs, 12oz of sugar, ■jo/, of -mixed spice, ]lb of blanched almonds (sweet), ljlb of currants, 6oz of mixed candied peel, Alb of sultanas, a claret glassful of good brandy, and a quarter of a teacupful of orange flower water. Beat the butter to a cream, add the powdered sugar, the yolks of the eggs well l)c<iten. then by degrees the Hour, spice, candied peel cut in small pieces-, the almonds, currants, and sultanas, then the orange flower water and brandy; beat for half an hour, then add the whites of the eggs, which must be whisked to a stiff troth: beat again for half-an-hour, pour into a buttered tin lined with several thicknesses of buttered paper, and bake for live hours. As <«(Hin as the outside of the cake is baked it is best to cover the top with two or three layers of paper. To try when the cake is baked enough, put a highlypolished knife into the centre, and if nothing adheres to it the cake is baked enough.

Christmas Pudding.—Mix together lib of each of the following:—Very finely chopped kidney suet, currant'-', Valencia raisins, and sultanas; Jib each of mixed peel. Demerara sugar, and breadcrumbs. Heat eight eggs thoroughly and add to the other ingredients, stirring well all the time : then add 6oz of chopped almonds, a little mixed spice, and 4oz of flour. A scraped carrot, a chopped apple, the juice of two lemons, and the rind of one, with the juice and rind of an orange, will be found a great improvement. Mix thoroughly (if too stiff add a very little drop of milk), and let the pudding stand for 24 hours. Butter sufficient moulds, till with the mixture, tie over with greaseproof paper, then cover with a floured cloth, and boil for six hour*. The pudding may be made and boiled a fortnight or more before it is •wanted, and it will need to be boiled three Lours again when it is to be served. The greaseproof paper should be thickly buttered, and the pudding will be a darker colour if boiled' in , a mould with a metal cover. When done turn on to a hot dish Mid serve with sweet sauce.

Chestnut Stuffing.— sufficient chestnuts to completely fill the, body 'of the bird. Gash .'. the outer skin of each nut, throw -them'lnto a saucepan of fast boiling water, :and let them boil until ; «'qhit© soft. Drain and dry then?, peel off 1 the skins, and Jbe careful thnt only sound -and sweet nuts are used. Fill the turkey's crop with Nome forcemeat, then fill the body with the boiled chestnuts and liver, sew up securely, roast according to the recipe already given, and bast- well. Send to table with good brown gravy and bread sauce.

Sago and Onion Stuffing.—Peel half a dozen or more onions, and put them in sufficient boiling water to cover them. Boil them ton minute*, 1 : then drain and cover litem with fresh boiling water. Let them boil gently until tender. Then take them out, and when cool chop them finejy, add •'■ 18 sage leaves, dried and powdered, and 12oz or 16oz of breadcrumbs. Mix all together, rub in a good lump of butter, season with pepper and salt, moisten with a well-beaten egg, ' and the stuffing is ready for use. ■--.■■;•' ,

Economical Christmas Cake.—Take Alb of butter,, lard, mixed peel, ljlb currants, lib. mgar, one nutmeg, half a t<>aspoonful of salt one penny packet of egg powder, one gill of best stout. x Cream the butter, "lard, ogcr powder, and stout together. Beat well, and then add the other ingredients, and sufficient flour to make a stiff batter. Bake three* and a-half Hours to four hours in a slow oven. Using the stout makes the cake look a rich dark colour.

Economical Mincemeat.—One pound rai wins (stoned), 4d; lib currants, 4d ; lib Demerara sugar, ifyd ; Jib apple*, id : Jib suet (chopped), 2d; the rind and juice of two lemons, lJ|d — 2Jd. Put raisins and apples through a mincer, then mix ingredients thoroughly together. Recipe tested for 50 years. ,',•'

Boast Duck.Parboil four or five goodsi.'ed onions, then chop them up with a teaepoonful powdered page, a tablespoonfnl breadcrumbs, and a little pepper-and salt wipe the inside of the duck out with a cloth dipped in hot water, carefully pick the*'stumps from the skin, truss it, and put the stuffing inside; rub the breast with a little butter and cover with a buttered paper, to that the flesh of breast may I'et.'p moist : cook in a good oven for about threequarters of an hour or longer, according to the size of the duck ; when cooked, put the duck on a hot dish, pour the top fat oil the gravy: add a little more than half-a-teacupful water, and a teaspoonf'jl flour; stir well together, put into the oven to boil tip, then strain through a gravystrainer into a boat ; add half a teaspor nful of some good beef essence, and serve.

Roast Goose.—To choose a nice goose /Make sure that it if plump, ha« a clean, ' white skin, and yellow feet. Stuff with sage and onions, according' to the recipe given below, fasten tire bird firmly at both ends, and roast in front of a brisk, clear lire; or, if preferred, it may be baked in Hit- 'oven. In either case it must bo basted frequently with dripping. Serve on a very hot dish, with good brown gravy, and send to table with apple sauce.

Roast Turkey.— Take a turkey of convenient size, pluck, draw, singe, and trues like a fowl. Fasten a buttered paper over the breast, and hang the bird before a

bright, clear lire, basting frequently wh !«• it roasts. About a quarter' of an hour iefore taking it down remove the paper, dredge a little Hour over the breast, and basto it well with butter. This makes the froth much nicer and stronger than if 1" t dripping is used. When nicely brown dish at once, and serve very hot, garnished with forcemeat balls. The turkey may bo either stuffed with chestnuts or (he more usual sage and onions. Both ways arc delicious, the chestnuts especially so.

Christmas Pudding Fit for the King.— one and Chop one pound of best raisins, wash and dry one pound of currants, cut six ounces of citron peel small, one pound of sultanas, one pound of moist sugar, two pounds of breadcrumbs, one nutmeg finely grated, half a teaspoon of mixed spice, two ounces of almonds, blanched and shredded. To these ingredients add threequarters of a pound of beef suet, chopped fine and free from skin. Heat three-quarters of a poind of fresh butter to a cream, and add eight well-beaten fresh eggs. Stir these into the pudding. Add two wineglassfuls of old brandy, and if the pudding is not eufficiontly. moist, pour in a small bottle of beer. When well mixed, turn Into a well-buttered mould. Wring out a rvu.'lding-cloth in boiling water, <-Wit it with "butter, and lightly sprinkle with flour. Tic over pudding, and boil for 12 hours.

THIS IS THE TIME TO START THE CHRISTMAS COOKERY. CUT OUT THESE RECIPES AND KEEP THEM.

2. Stalk and clean all fruit carefully. 3. Dry, warm, and sieve the flour.

Old Christmas Plum Pudding.— one pound of Valencia raisins, rub one pound of currants in a clean damp cloth, chop one pound of beef suet finely, slice huh a pound of candied citron, add three-quarters of a pound of brown sugar. Mix ail together with a tenspoonful of salt and a tableepoonful of mixed —ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon. Add one pound of flour; mix well; then.beat up the yolks and whites of coven eggs separately; mix again, and add a tumbler of cooking brandy. 0..1 now and then. Let it rest in a bowl for a day before boiling, then place in a buttered and sugared mould, tie over with a rloured cloth previously wrung out of boiling water; boil fix hours. Serve with brandy sauce.

A Good Family Christmas Pudding.— Material?— One cupful and it-half of Hour, half a cupful of breadcrumbs, one pound of line .sugar, one pound of sultana raisins, one pound and a-half of currants, half a pound of candied peel, half a pound of suet, two nutmegs, pinch of cinnamon, one small carrot, pinch of baking powder, four egge, and half a pint of milk, Method —Chop the suet very finely and mix with the flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, raisins, currants, candied pe?l (finely sliced), and baking powder. Then chop carrot very fine, grate the nutmegs into the whole, and mix thoroughly. Beat the eggs and milk well in a separate basin, then pour into the centre of the other ingredients, and stir until all is well mixed. Grease a pudding-cloth, and pour the whole mixture into it. Tie this up firmly and put into a pan of boiling water, having already a plate in the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking, and boil steadily for six hours.

A Simple Plum Pudding.— Take jib of fine breadcrumbs. Alb of white sugar, 60/. of Hour. 607. of finelychopped suet. 6oz of well-cleaned currants, 6oz of raisins chopped, 3oz of finely-chopped mixed peel, one teaspoonful of mixed spice, half of a nutmeg grated, six grated bitter almonds, half a teaspoonful of baking powder, quarter teaspoonful of salt. Mix all these dry ingredients, and mix to the right pudding consistency with three wellbeaten eggs, half a teacupful of milk, and two tablespooniu; of treacle. Boil or steam f«r not less than four hours, and set aside. Then boil again for one hour when the pudding is to be served.

Rich Christmas budding.Prepare Ub of finely-chopped beef suet, Jib breadcrumbs, 2ob of almonds blanched, ! peeled, and thinly diced, Jib of muscatel i raisins, stoned. Jib of cleaned currants, Jib I of chopped dried figs, {lb of picked sultanas, ' 2oz of thinly-sliced candied peels, and the | rind of half a large lemon. To these in-' I gradients add Jib of moist sugar, half a ! teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful each j of grated nutmeg and mixed spices, 607. cf ! • sifted Hour, the juice of one orange and of half a lemon, one wineghussful of branlv, j half a pint of milk, and six well-beaten | eitgs. Thoroughly mix. awl put into suitable pudding basins. Boil or steam for hve to six hours.

WHEN MAKING THE CHRISTMAS CAKE, REMEMBER—

1. Buy the best ingredients; they are cheapest in the end.

4. Beat the eggs well before adding them.

5. Well butter the tin, and line it with two or three layers of. buttered paper, which should come two inches above the top of the tin. '*, \.

6. Place the cake-tin on a baking-sheet of-tin containing a thick layer of sand or salt. This prevents the cake from burning underneath. »■ '■

7. Put all cakes in a very hot oven for the first tea minutes, then move them to a cooler part or slacken the heat.

8. The bigger the cake, the more slowly must it be cooked, or the outside will be burnt before the middle is done.

9. As soon as the cake is the desired shade on top lay a sheet of thickJsh paper on top of the tin.

10. To ascertain if the cake is done, stick a clean ekewer into the centre. If it comes out quite bright and clean the cake is done; if.it is dull and sticky the Cake must bo baked a little longer. CHRISTMAS ICES. Bohemian Ice Cream.— As many varieties as convenient of small, ripe, red fruit passed through a sieve. To a pint of this juice add ljo/. of isinglass dissolved in half a pint 01 water, sweeten according to taste, and add the juiee of a lemon. Mix with this quantity a pint of sweetened whipped cream and Ireeze. When raspberries onlyare used in this cream the isinglass may be omitted. The proportions are a pound of fruit to a pint of whipped cream. .

Iced Egg Whey.— Beat up a new-laid egg with a tablespoonful ot castor sugar ami the .juice of half a lemon. Strain through muslin into a glass containing chipped ice. Fill up with soda water, and serve. *'"

Ice Cream Surprise.—Take the block of well-frozen ice cream and place in a large square of sponge cake. Have ready a thick meringue made of beaten white ot egg and sugar, cover the cake and ice with this, heaping it on thick. The cake should be placed on the dish in which it is to be served, and put in a hot oven until it is brown. 11 can also be browned with a fire shovel.

Strawberry Cream Ice.—This is perhaps the most popular of all, and if the fresh fruit is unobtainable, you can use insteai a pound pot of strawberry jam. but in that case very little sugar will be needed. Required—One pound of strawberries, -Jib of castor sugar, half a pint of cream, a few drops of cochineal, a little lemon. juice. .Stalk the fruit, then rub it through a hair sieve, all other ingredients, stir, and freeze.

Chocolate Ice Cream.— Dissolve £lb of French chocolate in a - cupful of boiling water. Add one and a-half pints of cream and Jib of sugar boiled to a syrup. Strain and freeze. When almost congealed add a cupful of double cream. Stir until well mixed and freeze again.

Iced Fruit Cup.— two slices of pineapple, and cut the pulp into dice-shaped pieces. Remove the stalks from a pound of strawberries, and cut these in halves. -Make a syrup of a-quarter of a pound of loaf sugar and water, and when cold pour this syrup over the fruit, adding the contents of a bottle of claret, and one syphon or two bottles of seltzer or soda water. Stir together, add three leaves of green mint and a few lumps of ice. Stand on ice for half an hour, remove the mint leaves, and serve.

Rule 3to Remember.— (l) Use good ingredients; (2) use rough ice (chipped small) and common salt, allowing one pound of salt to revert pounds of ice; (3) put the ice and salt in.layers in the freezer; (4) if the freezer is of tin, do not keep the ice longer in it than is necessary, as it is apt to lose its delicate flavour, and sometimes becomes discoloured; (5) avoid using copper utensils; (6) if the mixture is oversweetened, it will not freeze firmly; while the other extreme causes it to freeze too hard; (7) do not put the mixture to be frozen into the freezer while it is still warm; wait until it is cold, so as not to waste the freezing mixture; (8) scrape the ice mixture from the sides of the pot frequently, and beat it in smoothly; otherwise, the ice will be rough and" unevenly frozen; (9) stop up any loose lid or likely leakage in the vessel containing the mixture to be frozen with lard; if this is not done, the salt will penetrate through and ruin it; (10) for the same reason carefully wipe round the lid and edges when opening the vessels. Roughly speaking, there arc tluee varieties of ices, those having for their foundation: (1) Cream ; (2) custard; (3) water or syrup. By using different flavourings you can vary them to a.most any extent.