Deck the halls – week three

Not sure about you but my calendar is getting pretty chockers, due to it being the festive season. Now I am not complaining as I love catching up with friends and family and cooking and celebrating and more cooking, but there are times when I look at my calendar and smile and cry at the same time. Because I think: how on earth will I fit everything in, how will I do this? I end up taking stock and realising I may not be able to do everything, but there is no harm in saying yes and seeing if I am up to it and if not, then that is o.k.

Usually this time of the year there will be loads of sweet recipes floating around to help you celebrate the festive season but I thought I would share with you a savoury recipe today.

I am sharing with you my festive Scarborough Fair stuffing, it is sublime and actually, you can have it anytime of the year. I love using this stuffing in a nice free range chicken but it is also lovely rolled up inside chicken breast ( Chicken Involtini or roulade ), in a turkey or in a turkey breast for Christmas.

The recipe below will usually be enough to stuff a #15 free range chicken. If you buy a bigger chicken or a turkey, just double the amount.

festive Scarborough Fair stuffing

Ingredients:

Half a loaf (about 5 or 6 slices) of bread. I use a good quality gluten free bread (Pure Bread) but you can use any bread you like.

100 grams salt reduced butter melted

½ bunch of chives chopped fine

1 or 2 grinds of Himalayan pink sea salt

Herbs- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme if fresh ¼ of a bunch of each. If dried ¼ of a teaspoon of each dried herb.

½ cup of dried cranberries (also called craison’s)

Zest from half an orange (finely zested)

1-2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice (use the orange you zested)

Chicken stock- approx- ¼- ½ a cup. You will need to add a little at a time but not too much as you don’t want your stuffing to be to soggy.

Method

Tear bread into pieces and place in a food processor or kitchen wiz and process until you have fresh breadcrumbs.

Place fresh breadcrumbs in to a large bowl (I use a large stainless steel bowl).

Place herbs and melted butter in bowl and mix well. If using fresh herbs make sure you remove the stalks and chop fine.

Now add orange juice and zest and cranberries, salt and pepper and mix well.

Add a little stock and mix in stuffing mixture and keep adding until mixture is moist but not sloppy. It should not be too wet but does need to be moist (like a very moist cake but slightly wetter).

Now when all ingredients are mixed well, start stuffing it into your chicken by adding spoonful’s at a time.

Or you can butterfly a chicken breast or turkey breast and press the stuffing over the meat and roll up, you may need to secure with toothpicks or cooking twine.

Note this recipe is gluten free but you can use any bread you like.

Cook your meat to your required taste and enjoy!

Deck the halls - week two

          

                                
Well as Christmas draws nearer I can’t stop thinking about the things I like to make and give as gifts to people. Last week I shared with you both of my shortbread recipes and this week I thought I would share my rocky road recipe. Rocky road makes a lovely delicious gift and I haven’t met anyone yet who doesn’t like it. Now my rocky road is not as traditional as it doesn’t have glace' cherries in it as I am not keen on them so I improvise with a few surprises, which work really well.

Remember to keep the rocky road in the fridge until your ready to gift it to someone and remember to tell them to keep it in the fridge as well (if there are any leftovers but I think there won’t be).

Christmas Rocky Road

Grease and line a slice tin

Ingredients:

400 grams dark chocolate (you can use milk but I like dark)

200 grams white and pink marshmallows chopped (I used gluten free)

¼ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup chopped pistachio nuts or chopped macadamia nuts (or half of each)

½ cup dried cranberries

Method:

Melt chocolate in a bain-marie or what I used which was a stainless steel bowl sitting over a pot of simmering water.

While chocolate is melting chop marshmallows in to medium chunks and also chop up nuts.

When chocolate has melted place all the chopped nuts, marshmallows and cranberries in to the stainless steel bowl and mix well.

Pour out on to greased and lined slice tin and spread out evenly and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours and when set cut up into chunks and if you are giving as a gift place in cellophane bags and tie with ribbon.

Enjoy.

Note: Allergen advice- this recipe does have nuts and coconut

© Lisa Maree van der Draay 2015. Except as provided by the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, communicated to the public without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Deck the halls part two -Feeling festive and in the giving mood? Here is an additional recipe to feed your brood

                 

Well here we are, the very next day and I am already posting another recipe. I was asked if the recipe I posted yesterday was my original shortbread recipe and I advised it wasn’t. The reader would have loved my original recipe as she enjoyed eating it (we worked together a few years ago).

So without further ado, here is my original shortbread recipe. Remember: this recipe uses regular plain flour so it does have gluten but you can substitute the plain flour for gluten free plain flour and it works just as well.

Lisa’s original buttery shortbread

Pre heat oven to 150oC

Grease and line either a slice tin or baking tray depending on what shape you want your shortbread.

Ingredients:

2 cups of plain flour-sifted

½ cup rice flour-sifted

250 grams of butter (I use salt reduced) soft/ room temp

1/3 cup castor sugar

Method:

In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until mixed well together (almost creamed but not quite).

Add both flours a little at a time (2-3 spoonful’s) to butter sugar mixture, beat/mix in-between adding the flours until all the flour is mixed in well.

Gently knead dough on a floured surface for about a minute and then gently press into greased and lined slice tin (if you want little squares or fingers). If you want a round shortbread flatten out and shape with your hands and place on a greased and lined baking tray. With a knife I lightly make straight lines (across and lengthways) and then prick lightly with a fork as I like the look of this on the finished product.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, check and if they are not cooked enough then cook for an additional 5 mins. I like my shortbread to have a little colour, not a lot and they should be firm but not rock hard when they come out of the oven.

Let them cool for 10 minutes and then cut in to fingers or triangles. I find the knife slides easily while still hot/warm.

Cool on wire rack

Enjoy

Deck the halls with boughs of holly Tra la la la la la la la la la - Week 1

Well it’s that time of the year again when the shops start to sparkle with tinsel and baubles and stars start magically appearing in shop windows. Yes, it is the lead up to Christmas; my favourite time of the year. I love celebrating Christmas for so many reasons (spending time with my little family, cooking, cooking and more cooking, catching up with friends, and carols at church ). But of course the main reason is celebrating the birth of our saviour Jesus. It is a joy to celebrate the day my Lord was born and it is so incredibly humbling knowing that God gave us the most precious gift that day.

Come December 1, we will be decorating and putting the Christmas tree up and playing carols. I had discovered a few years ago there is a station called Elf radio and it is non-stop Christmas carols 24/7 and I love it. I always have it on and love listening to it when I start my Christmas baking. There is nothing better than the smells of Christmas baking filling the home along with Christmas carols, I am smiling now, thinking about it.

This year, I will be making my first ever Christmas pudding and I am so excited. I will also make as usual my delicious dark Christmas cake, buttery shortbread and also will be making my own cranberry sauce and apple sauce, as there really is nothing better than homemade.

As promised, I will be posting Christmas recipes in the lead up to Christmas so I hope you all enjoy making them and hope it helps you get in the spirit.

Also spare a thought and say a prayer for those amongst our community who may be doing it a little tougher than others.

Lisa’s buttery citrusy shortbread-Gluten free

Ingredients:

250 grams of low salt butter (soft- room temperature)

4 teaspoons of fine grated orange rind*

½ cup castor sugar

1/3 cup rice flour

1 ¾ cups gluten free plain flour

1 teaspoon of juice from the orange *

Method:

Pre heat oven to 150oC for a regular oven and 130oC for fan forced oven.

Grease and line a regular slice tin or baking/biscuit tray depending on the shape you want.

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl and add rind and juice and mix until light and fluffy with electric mixer.

Stir through the flours and make sure they are mixed well.

When mixed well divide dough in to two sections and place on floured surface. Knead lightly on floured bench/table and then you can decide how you want your shortbread to look for baking. I press mine in to a slice tin and make sure it is level and smooth all over. With a knife I lightly mark straight lines up and down and across resembling a quilted look, make sure you do not cut through as this will not be good for the shortbread. I then use a fork and lightly prick each square once or twice with the fork as I like the look of this when it is cooked. Alternatively you can do the round traditional shape and you just shape this with your hands and place on a lined and greased baking/biscuit tray.

If you decide to make rounds you may like to pinch the edges together and then prick with a fork.

Bake in the oven for around 40 mins (check after 30 mins and if still to light and soft keep in for additional time checking every 5 minutes)

When cooked let stand in the tin/tray for 5-10 minutes and cut in to fingers (slice tin) or triangles (rounds)

Note: *You can also substitute with lemon rind. If making with lemon rind try adding ½ cup of chopped dried cranberries as these go beautifully with lemon. If you have substituted for lemon rind please use the juice from a lemon.

 Enjoy