Christmas recipes: easy, fast and delicious

Easy, fast, delicious Christmas recipes

If, like me, you’ve been tasked with the family Christmas lunch, you’ll probably have started thinking about how you are going to find the time to glaze a gammon, debone a turkey, whip up a trifle and somehow fit in Christmas shopping.

 

This year, I’ve decided that simple is the way to go, so the recipes below require minimal preparation. And while not strictly traditional, they certainly are festive.

Creamy mussel dip

One tub cream cheese
Two small tins smoked mussels
Juice of half a lemon
Tabasco (to taste)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped parsley to garnish

1. In a bowl mix the cream cheese and one tin of smoked mussels. Add the lemon juice, Tabasco, salt and pepper and stir through.
2. Add the final tin of mussels to the bowl, stirring gently now, to avoid breaking up the mussels.
3. Spoon into small dipping bowls and serve with crackers or grissini.

Wine pairing: Your wine choice will depend on how spicy you make your dip, but a Semillon would pair well here, or otherwise a trusty Sauvignon Blanc. For something different though, I’d try an aromatic Gewurztraminer such as the Paul Cluver 2009.

Grissini

This nibble is an adaption of Giorgio Locatelli’s grissini recipe. The addition of paprika gives it a lovely golden colour.

50g butter
200g milk
7g dry yeast
375g flour
a generous handful of grated cheddar (or parmesan)
pinch of salt
pinch of paprika

1. In a pot on the stove top, melt the butter. Add the milk and gently heat (do not boil). Whisk in the yeast and leave to cool.
2. Put the flour, cheese, salt and paprika into a bowl and mix.
3. Once the milk-butter mixture is cool, gradually add it to the flour and cheese, mixing it into a dough as you go. Mixing by hand works best. If the mixture is too dry or to runny, compensate with a little bit of flour or milk.
4. Once a dough has formed, tip it onto a floured service and knead well into a ball. (Locatelli pokes the dough with his fingers at upright angles to produce air pockets as he pulls and folds.) Leave to rest for 45 minutes beneath a damp cloth.
5. Roll out the dough on a floured service into a rectangular shape, rough 5mm thick.
6. Cut the dough horizontally into 1cm strips using a sharp knife.
7. Using your fingers, roll each strip of dough, stretching it as you go.
8. Place the grissini onto a baking tray into a preheated oven (180ºC) and bake for roughly 10 minutes until golden brown. Keep a careful eye on them so that they don’t burn!
9. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
10. Serve as is, or with a dip.

Wine pairing: Since grissini can work as a palate cleanser, any wine will pair well, so be adventurous and opt for something like Cederberg's Bukettraube 2010.

Rolled pork belly with roast potatoes and apple sauce
Serves four

1.5kg pork belly
Maldon salt
1 t dried sage
2 T thyme, chopped
6-8 onions, sliced into rings

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC
2. Place the thyme, sage and salt in a pestle and mortar and crush to a powder. Roll the pork in the mixture.
3. Tip the sliced onions into a roasting pan and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Place the pork on top of the onions, so that it sits nice and snug.
4. Roast the pork at 180ºC for an hour, then reduce the heat to 140ºC and cook it for a further three-and-a-half hours. Finally, turn the heat up to 230ºC and cook for 10 minutes, keeping a careful watch that the crackling doesn’t burn. It should blister all over and turn a beautiful golden brown.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for five minutes before serving slices of pork with roast potatoes and an apple sauce.

Apple sauce

4 apples, cored and cut into quarters
40g butter

Place the apples in a pot with a tablespoon or two of water. Cover with lid and steam for roughly 10 minutes or until soft.
Strain all the liquid from the apples. Add the butter to the apples and using a masher crush the apples to a pulp (the texture depends on your preference, but I like my apple sauce perfectly smooth, while others prefer it more chunky).
Serve in a small bowl as an accompaniment to your pork belly.

Wine pairing: Although a roast pork would normally pair well with a medium-bodied red, especially Pinot Noir, the apple sauce calls for a Rosé or Chardonnay. My choice is the Marklew Chardonnay 2009.

Strawberry Eaton mess

While Eaton mess is typically fruit, cream and meringue mixed and mashed, this version of an Eaton mess leaves the fruit and meringue in distinguishable slivers. Layered in a glass, it makes for an attractive, light and easy Christmas dessert.

250ml cream
1 t vanilla essence
250g strawberries, sliced
200g whole blackberries
4 meringue nests (make these yourself, or cheat and buy from Woolies!)

1. Add the vanilla essence to the cream and whisk into soft peaks.
2. Crush the meringue nests into pieces, about the size of R5 coins.
3. Starting with the meringue, then fruit, then cream, layer the ingredients in individual glass dessert bowls. End with a few pieces of fruit for garnish. Serve immediately.

Wine pairing: Since bubbly works best with berries, try the Pongracz Rosé NV or the Colmant Cap Classique Brut Reserve. Perfect for Christmas celebrations!