Popular English Christmas Dishes

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Christmas in England has its own traditions. The children enjoy the Christmas lights, carefully decorate the Christmas trees in their homes and look forward to their Christmas presents. Their socks are hung before every Christmas - so that when Santa comes, he can put their presents in them. As a token of gratitude, the children leave a glass of sherry and a piece of meat by the fireplace for the good old man to eat.

In England, the main dish - stuffed turkey and dessert - Christmas pudding must be placed on the Christmas table. The turkey is very popular and often cooked in the UK, but serving it during the Christmas holidays is part of the tradition. Here is a recipe for stuffed turkey:

Turkey with chestnuts

Necessary products: 1 turkey, bacon, turkey liver, butter, 1 onion, 250 g mushrooms, 250 g chestnut puree, 2 slices of bread, celery 4 tablespoons cream, salt, pepper

Method of preparation: First you have to wash the turkey thoroughly and grease it with oil, then cover it with pieces of bacon. In a separate bowl, stew the filling. Heat oil and add onion, waiting for it to soften slightly and acquire a golden color. The next ingredient you add to the onion is the chopped turkey liver, then add the mushrooms. Allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes and remove from the heat. Once it is off, add the remaining products and stir.

Then you start stuffing the turkey. You need the bread to break it and add it to the filling, you can only use the middle of the slice. Finally, to prevent the filling from leaking, sew with a large needle and thick thread and put in the oven. It is baked depending on its weight. For one kilogram of meat about 40-45 minutes. If the skin starts to turn brown, wrap the tray with foil so that it does not burn. Remove it about 20-30 minutes before turning off the turkey.

You can serve with a garnish of baked or stewed potatoes. And in case you don't have a turkey, you can try stuffing chicken - you just need to reduce the ingredients of the filling.

Let's pay attention to the dessert that they like to prepare in England during Christmas - Christmas pudding. The recipes for traditional Christmas pudding have been passed down through the generations, and part of the tradition has been for each member of the family to mix it once and wish something for the new year. Here's what you need to make it at home:

Christmas English pudding

Necessary products: 200 g blueberries, 125 g dried cherries, 200 g raisins, 200 g black currants, 1 tsp milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 6 eggs, 125 g flour, 250 g breadcrumbs, 125 g sugar, 60 g whole almonds (peeled), 60 g crushed almonds, 500 g butter, 4 tablespoons brandy, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon ginger, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, 2 tablespoons peel grapefruit, 2 tablespoons lemon peel, 4 tablespoons orange peel

Method of preparation: Beat the eggs, milk and lard. In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients, and in a third bowl the fruits and peels - blackcurrants, raisins, cherries, almonds, lemon peel, orange and grapefruit, blueberries, add there and spoons of brandy. Then mix the fruit and peel together with the flour and other dry products and mix. Gradually add the fat, eggs and milk.

After you have mixed all the ingredients well, pour the resulting mixture into cheesecloth, which you tie at the top. Put a piece of butter on the cheesecloth and wrap the mixture once more - this time with parchment.

Put it in a saucepan in which you put water - the water should cover the mixture to half. Cover with a lid and simmer on very low heat for about 6 hours. If the water evaporates - add more. After the hours have passed, take out the pudding and wait for it to cool.

Then remove the parchment and cheesecloth and wrap in aluminum foil, put it somewhere cool, but not in the refrigerator. The pudding should stand for at least 3 weeks to fully mature. When it's time for the holiday, heat it up and if you wish, you can fill it with oil made as follows:

You need 250 g butter, 250 g powdered sugar and 50 ml brandy or cognac. Beat the butter together with the powdered sugar and finally add the brandy or cognac.