Christmas Day Feast - Part One - Breakfasts and Buffets

My stomach still hurts from yesterdays over indulgence. Of course this hasn't stopped me from having chocolates, mixed nuts and sweeties for breakfast! Yes Mum, I am hanging my head in shame. Lunch and dinner for the next few days are taken care of in the shape of many leftovers. Half our guests were unable to attend 'the feast' because of the snow ... snow and broken ankles aren't the perfect combination for transport ... so we have quite a bit extra in the leftover department. I love leftovers ;0)

And even though the last thing I really want to be doing right now is thinking about all the food I managed to scoff yesterday, I know that if I don't write the recipes down somewhere right now then come next Christmas I'll have forgotten what we did have and what did or didn't work. Hold on to your stomachs ...

The Breakfast

Christmas morning breakfast is always the same in our house. Croissants warmed in the oven, split open and smeared with mascarpone and loads of sliced strawberries piled on top. Its a tradition that my Mum started about 6 or 7 years before I left for the UK. The strawberries don't taste as nice at this time of year and I know I should be buying seasonal produce but tradition is tradition! Last year I did sway from this ritual out of guilt (blast those strawberries!) and I made Nigella's Apple and Blackberry Kutchen. It was very nice, we really enjoyed it, but it just wasn't Christmas so I decided to live with the guilt of paying over the odds for tasteless imported Strawberries and went back to old faithful this year! And it always gets washed down with Buck's Fizz.

The Buffet

Hubby's Mum is diabetic and I find trying to plan a three course meal around blood sugar readings and injections a bit tricky. This year I thought it might be easier to have a buffet for a starter rather than a proper sit down course, that way if the need arose, food was ready at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately Mum-In-Law was one of the stranded party who never managed to make it through, good thing there are still some extras sitting int he fridge for when we all do manage to get together.

Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Rolls (ended up being Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Pate) - far left
2 tbsp hot horseradish sauce
350g mascarpone or creme fraiche (I used half and half)
2 tbsp finely snipped chives
Sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
250g smoked salmon, best quality
Extra snipped chives for serving

Beat the horseradish, chives, salt and pepper into the mascarpone and refrigerate until needed.

Cut the salmon into strips about 15cm long bu 5cm wide. Place a small spoonful of the cream on one end, and roll up. It doesn't matter if the edges are a bit ragged. Sit each roll on its end, and scatter extra chives on the exposed cream at the top. (You can do this an hour or two beforehand and refrigerate until required). Serve with drinks or as a first course on a bed of green leaves.

Serves 4 to 6
Jill Dupleix recipe (I finally tracked it down here)

Try as I may, the smoked salmon just didn't want to bend to my will this time round! I ended up having to make it into a pate instead as I just couldn't get decent enough strips to turn into rolls. These look really stunning when the salmon does behave itself and is well worth the effort. The horseradish cream and smoked salmon work so well together that I could easily eat the whole lot to myself no problem at all!

Mum's Mushroom Pate (Middle)
8 slices white bread
75g butter, melted
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
375g small button mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp dry sherry
2 tsp cornflour
75ml sour cream
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp finely chopped thyme
25g freshly grated Parmesan
Sprigs of basil to garnish

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with foil. Cut the crusts from the bread. Brush both sides with melted butter. Cut each slice in half vertically, then cut each half into 3 horizontally. Place the bread croutes on the prepared tray and bake for 5 to 10 mins, or until they are golden and crisp.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring constantly, over a low heat, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook over a medium heat for 5 mins, or until tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour in the sherry. Mix the cornflour and sour cream to a smooth paste, add to the mushroom mixture and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley and thyme. Set aside to cool.

Spread the mushroom mixture on to each croute. Top with grated Parmesan. Place on baking tray and return croutes to the oven. Bake for 5 mins, or until croutes are heated through. Transfer to a warm serving dish, garnish with sprigs of basil and serve immediately.

* Storage time; make the bread croutes up to 4 days in advance and store in an airtight container. Make the mushroom topping and assemble just before serving.
* Variation; Puree the mushroom mixture, spoon into small dishes and chill. Serve as a pate with the bread croutes.

This is a recipe my Mum recommended to me so i made it with her variation of pureeing the mixture. It didn't look very attractive but it was very tasty. Next time I think I'll make it the way the recipe suggests for aesthetic reasons only ;0)

Hot Smoked Trout Pate (Right)
300g hot smoked trout (or mackerel or salmon) fillet, skinned
2 tsp English mustard
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1/2 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh dill or chives
1/2 tsp paprika, optional

Put half the smoked fish into a food processor or blender with the mustard, creme fraiche, sugar and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.

Break the remaining fish into flakes and stir it into the blended mixture with the black pepper and dill or chives. Taste and add more lemon juice, if necessary. Ideally, leave to rest in a cool place for an hour or two before serving.

Serve the pate with a dusting of paprika, if you like, and with buttered bread or toast. A scaled down version of this, on small pieces of toast, makes a lovely canape.

Serves 4 as a starter
Delicious Magazine - Dec 09

This recipe is by Hugh Fernly Whittingstall. Hubby's Dad quite liked it but I have to admit that the smoked salmon won me over. It will forever be known as 'Trate' in our family as I never seem to quite be able to get my tongue around the full name.



Ruby Red Pomegranate, Blue Cheese, Parsley and Shallot Crostini


20 thin slices of French Stick
100g blue cheese (I used blue stilton)
100g pomegranate seeds
Small bunch of picked flat leaf parsley
2 shallots, finely sliced
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and cracked black pepper



Preheat the oven to 180C. Arrange the sliced french stick slices on a baking tray. With a teaspoon, drizzle over one tablespoon of olive oil, transfer the bread to the oven, and bake until golden brown (about 5 mins).



Once toasted, allow the crostini to cool for a couple of mins. Then, using a small knife or the back of a spoon, spread the blue cheese over the top of the crostini.



In a small bowl, combine the pomegranate seeds, parsley, shallots and olive oil, seasoning the mixture well.



Place a teaspoon of the pomegranate mixture on top of each crostini and serve on a platter.



Makes 20 crostini
Cook Vegetarian Christmas Mag - Dec 09



This one was delish - shall most definitely be making again! I searched high and low for shallots in the lead up to Christmas and even though they are normally in plentiful supply I just couldn't find them anywhere. I replaced the shallots with half a small red onion which ended up working really well as a replacement.


Running out of room here - second post on its way with Christmas lunch in all its infamous glory!