Christmas Menu 2010 - Easy Glazed Ham

Thought I'd repeat my glazed ham recipe again, because I was so pleased with the way it turned out this year

It looks luscious and it tasted good too!

Here's this years recipe...it's easy peasy. I bought a shoulder of ham, it was about 3 1/2 kilograms.

1 cup orange juice
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whisky
1/2 cup port
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon (or large dollop) grainy mustard
1 teaspoon hot English mustard

Preheat oven to around 150 Celsius and line a baking tray or roasting pan with baking paper.

Mix all glaze ingredients together in a saucepan and let it simmer on the stove until the sugar and honey have all melted together.

Remove the skin from the ham, making an incision in the rind then work your hand under the skin and ease it off, making sure to leave a good layer of fat. Also, leave a layer of rind near the end of the leg. It makes it easier to hold.

Make criss-cross shallow cuts in the fat with a sharp knife, place a clove in each diamond, then spoon or brush some of the glaze over the meat, making sure to cover it all. Let it sit for 15 minutes so it can soak in, then repeat.

Place in oven for 15 minutes, remove and spoon more glaze over the meat. Do this 3 more times and then it's done.

It's well worth investing an hour in this as the comments and compliments alone will be worth it

Enjoy!

Christmas Menu 2010 #3 - 3 Tier Brown Sugar Pavlova

I've never been a huge fan of pavlova, especially the bought variety. They're usually too hard, crunchy and dense like solid sugar... Not my cup of tea at all. But this is a different kettle of fish altogether. The meringue is soft and light and melts in the mouth. The finished pav is pretty easy on the eye as well.

This is a Valli Little recipe from the November 2010 edition of Delicious Magazine....and as usual, I altered it ever so slightly to suit my taste and oven.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour
6 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons white vinegar
500 grams mixed berries (frozen is OK as long as they're thawed)
300 ml thickened cream
200 ml sour cream

Method:

Preheat the oven to 120 Celsius
Grease and line the bottom of three 24cm cake pans and then grease again.
Place the brown sugar, cornflour and caster sugar in a bowl or food processor and whisk or whizz it so it's all combined and there are no lumps.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form then, while the motor's still running, gradually add the sugar and cornflour mixture, a spoonful at a time, mixing until stiff and glossy. It shouldn't take long.
Fold in the vanilla and vinegar, then divide the mix between the three cake pans and put in the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes. Then switch off the oven, open the door a little and let it cool completely.

For the berries: Place 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved and it's reduced a little. Once it's cooled down add the berries, swirl them around and then mash them a little with a potato masher or fork until some of their juice combines with the sugar syrup.

Whip the cream and sour cream together, then just before serving, place the first meringue on a cake stand or plate, spread some cream over it then pour some of the berry mix on top. Repeat with the next layer and the next. Place some fresh berries on top, pour the syrup mix over the top and there you have it.

Do not assemble this beauty until you're ready to serve it as it will become a rather large sloppy, soggy mess...that's how light the meringue is.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a Valli Little recipe from Delicious Magazine. But one day, when I couldn't find the mag to check on ingredients, I did an online search and found an identical recipe (three layer berry and brown sugar pavlova) with almost identical photograph at Epicurious.com. Not sure who developed it first, but hey, it's absolutely luscious no matter who it was.

ENJOY ! ! ! !

Christmas Menu 2010 #2 - Chicken thighs wrapped in prosiutto

I've been a big fan of Stacey over at Stacey Snacks for a long time. I always check out her recipes because, not only are they tasty, they are also very do-able.

When I saw her Chicken thighs wrapped in prosciutto I knew they were going to be on my Christmas menu because, apart from looking great, they were good for the kids because they could eat them with their hands if they wanted to.

All you do is place a thigh fillet on a slice of prosciutto. (I chopped mine in half to make it easy for the kids) Place a sprig of rosemary on the fillet. Then wrap it all up into a little parcel and place it in a baking tray, all ready for the oven

I baked mine at 180 Celsius for about 30 minutes, but you can also do them on the BBQ or the cook top, if you don't mind cleaning up the mess... Up to you really.

All that's left now is to eat them

If you'd like to see how good Stacey's look, check them out here

I didn't get a chance to photograph the finished product...they were straight onto the table and onto plates.

Thanks again Stacey.

Christmas Menu 2010 #1 - Cheesecake

This is a white chocolate and berry cheesecake that featured in the June 2008 Edition of Super Food Ideas....It's also on Taste.com.au. It's a simple recipe that delivers in taste and presentation.

In other words:  looks good, tastes yum!.

Ingredients:
12 cottage Cookies with macadamia
300 gr frozen mixed berries
2 tablespoons boiling water
3 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatine
180 gr white chocolate, chopped
500 gr cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
185 ml can evaporated milk

Line the base of a 22cm round springform pan with baking paper and arrange the biscuits in a single layer over the base of the pan. Top with half the berries and let sit. Place the boiling water in a small heatproof jug and sprinkle the gelatine over the top then whisk with a fork until it's dissolved

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or jug and microwave on high for a minute or two, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth, then set aside.
Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth, gradually beat in the evaporated milk, chocolate and gelatine, then pour the mixture on top of the biscuit base.

Scatter the rest of the berries on top, cover and refrigerate overnight.

That's it ! All that's left to do is eat and enjoy!!

Terrine With Pistachios & Cranberries

I always thought terrine's would be difficult to make. I was wrong!

This is a very simple one I made for our family Christmas bash and everyone said it was terrific, so I guess I'll be making it again. And again

I got this recipe from Delicious Magazine (Dec 08) and yes, I actually followed the recipe because I didn't want to "blow it". I did find though that the quantities given were too much for just one terrine, so we ended up with two.

Let's go...

Put in a large mixing bowl:

800 grams each of pork and chicken mince

2 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs like parsley and thyme

3 eggs

1/2 cup brandy

3 cloves garlic, crushed

3 teaspoons salt

plenty of freshly ground black pepper

about 30 slices of pancetta (I accidentally bought prosciutto) but it worked OK

1/2 cup pistachio kernels

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Lightly grease a 1 litre loaf pan and then line the pan with the pancetta so it overlaps a little and there's plenty overhanging the edges to cover the top.

Place all of the other ingredients into a large bowl and mix with your hands. I always wear disposable gloves when I'm mixing stuff like this.


Pack the mix into the pan and press down. Cover with the overhanging pancetta then cover the top with baking paper and seal well with foil.

Place it in a baking dish and fill the dish with boiling water till it comes about halfway up the loaf pan. Bake for 90 minutes then remove it from the roasting pan and allow it to cool.

I then cut a piece of cardboard to fit the top of the terrine and placed a couple of cans of tomatoes on top to weigh it down so it compresses in the tin. Then I put it in the fridge for a few hours until it was cold

...and this is what I ended up with....and it was absolutely delicious!

It really was worth the effort.

You can also access this recipe at taste.com.au and search for simple terrine

Christmas Menu - Glazed Ham

Last Christmas I thought I'd be adventurous and serve a glazed, baked ham....and I'm so glad I did because it not only looks good, it tasted fantastic! ...and this year, I'm doing it again

This recipe is thanks to Donna Hay, Maggie Beer, Stephanie Alexander, taste.com.au and ...me.

First off, you need a ham with a good layer of fat beneath the skin.

Image - Taste.com.au

Make a slit in the skin with a sharp knife and peel it off gently, easing your hand under it to lift it off without removing any of the fat. The fat's important. Trust me. Leave a little skin around the knuckle though

Preheat oven to 180ºC

In a small saucepan, combine:

A large dollop mustard
100 ml port
50 ml brandy
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 cup orange juice

Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for a couple of minutes until the glaze thickens a little.

You'll also need about 1/4 cup whole cloves.

Now, make a criss-cross pattern through the fat and place a clove in each diamond. Place the ham into a baking dish lined with baking paper. Cover the knuckle with a piece of baking paper and tie it with string (so it won't burn)

Brush some of the glaze over the ham and let sit for a minute, then repeat the process. Place the ham in the oven and bake for 1 hour, removing every 15 minutes or so to brush more glaze over the ham

That's it. It's done!

All there's left to do now is place it in the middle of the table, and let everyone ooh and ahhh over it, because it does look fantastic. What's the saying? Something about return on investment? Well, this is certainly worth investing some time on.

This year I'm going to buy an organic/free range leg of ham. I was reading today that you can even order them online. I'll be heading to one of the markets here in Melbourne to select mine.