Food Lorists

• 10 big peruvian corns on the cob
  
• 1/2 kg of chicken
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 50 g of toasted peanuts
• 230 g butter
  
• 12 Peruvian pitted black olives
• 1 big onion, chopped
• 4 dry mirasol chili paste
  
• 3 hard-boiled eggs
• 10 Banana leaves
• Salt and pepper

Grate the corn of the cob.

In a frying pan, put 30g of butter. Sweat off, the chopped onion, the garlic, salt, pepper, the mirasol paste and the chicken, cut in pieces.

When the chicken is browned, cover with water and allow to cook on a low heat.

Heat 200g of butter in a pot. Add the corn and stir constantly. Add the chicken mixture. Allow it to cook gently until the corn masa thickens.

Wash the banana leaves. Put a spoon of dough over two leaves; add a piece of chicken, 1/4 of a hard-boiled egg, a little of toasted peanuts and an olive. Cover with more dough and wrap as a gift. Tie with a strip of the same leaf.

When all the tamales are done, cook them in a big pot with a little of water for an hour.

Gluten free, not suitable for pregnant women.

• 500g chicken thighs
  
• 12 cl good Japanese soy sauce
• 12 cl sake
• 12 cl mirin*
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• salt and pepper
  

First of all, prick your chicken thighs with a fork. Season them well and roast them in a hot oven for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in thick bottom sauce pan bring the soy sauce, mirin and sake to the boil. Add the sugar and allow to reduce to a light glaze.
Take your chicken thighs out of the oven. Place them hot in clean bowl and pour the sauce over them. Coat them well with it and put them back in a medium hot oven to glaze for 20 minutes. Stir them from time to time.
Serve warm.

* Mirin is a kind of rice wine to sake, but with a lower alcohol 14% instead of 20%. There are three general types. The first is hon mirin (true mirin), which contains alcohol. The second is shio mirin, which contains alcohol as well as 1.5% salt to avoid alcohol tax. The third is shin mirinmirin-fu chomiryo (imitation mirin), which contains less than 1% alcohol yet retains the same flavour (new mirin).

Gluten free, lactose free, nut free, suitable to pregnant women.

• Les 4 mendiants (the 4 beggars):
  

• La pompe a huile (the olive oil pump):

• les 2 nougats

• Dattes (that could be stuffed with marzipan)
• Calisson d'aix en Provence
• Quince fruit paste (or jam)
• Fresh white grapes
• Christmas melon (called verdau), called green espiran in English due to its colour.
• Fresh oranges (sign of wealth)
• Candied melons
• Winter pear and apples
• Plums

In some place children are not allowed to start digging into them unless they named them all first.

As you can see it makes a healthy option in these times of reach, festive dinners.

My be a cause of allergies. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free (except the bread), suitable for pregnant women.

Along with a stuffed duck or turkey and some spiced biscuits, julegrot or almond rice pudding is served as part of a traditional Scandinavian Christmas dinner.

Recipe for 4 people:

• 125g pearl rice
• 1 litre milk
• 125g caster sugar
• 125g creme fraiche
• 50g butter
• 75g ground almonds
• some raspberry liqueur
• pinch cinnamon

Heat up the milk in a thick bottom sauce pan. Add the sugar and allow to simmer until all the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and add the rice, stir for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and allow to cook for about 1h. Take your pot off the heat and stir in the butter.
When the rice has completely cool down, stir in the creme fraiche. Transfer your rice pudding into a nice bowl and refrigerate for an hour.
Just before serving sprinkle the ground almond on the top of the rice and drizzle with the liqueur.
Serve chilled.

"The tradition wants that a whole almond is hidden into the pudding. The one who finds it win a present."

Gluten free, vegetarian, suitable for pregnant women.

In some North American household, Christmas eve dinner often starts by an oyster soup. It is said that this recipe was brought to the U.S by Irish immigrants.

Recipe for 4 people:

• 24 oysters
• 4 cups whole milk
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 50g butter
• salt and pepper

Open all the oysters and clear them from the water that is expulsed by the shellfish. Stack them flat on a tray and wait that the second water is produced. Collect it.
Then, put the milk to simmer into a sauce pan. Add the butter and the water collected from the oysters. Poach the oysters in this liquid for 6 minutes.
Season with salt, pepper and the cayenne pepper. Place six oysters per person in a soup bowl and pour the soup over them.

May be the cause of allergies. Gluten free, nut free, not suitable for pregnant women.

In Jamaica and other Carabbean island the festive season starts with the season of a type of hibiscus growing exculsively in this region of the world. This plant is by no means related to the French sorrel. The people of Jamaica and other island in the area are used to prepare a drink with hibiscus that they enjoy all along the holiday season.

Recipe for 1.5 litre of punch:

• 2 cups of dry sorrel (hibiscus flower)
• 1/4 cup crushed ginger
• 8 cups freshly boiled water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup dark Jamaican rum

Infuse the ginger and hibiscus flowers into the warm water for several hours.
Strain the solids out and pour into a jar. Add the sugar and the rum.
Serve chilled.


Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, lactose free.

• 2 tins of condensed milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 egg whites
• 1 Vanilla pod
• 1 liter of milk
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 6 rinds of lime
• 1 liter white rum

• 5 cups of water or milk
• 1/2 cup masa harina (corn meal)
• 1/4 cup piloncillo
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 vanilla pod, opened and scraped

In a thick bottom sauce pan, mix well the masa harina and water (or milk) until smooth. Put on a gentle fire and start heating up the mixture. Then, add the piloncillo, vanilla pod and cinnamon and cook for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the consistency that you want to reach. Make sure to stir at all time.
Serve hot.

Gluten free, lactose free (if made with water), vegetarian, vegan, nut free, suitable for pregnant women.

• 5 green bananas, peeled and chopped
• 1 plaintain
• 1 1/2 lb of taro (Yautia), peeled and chopped
• 1 starchy potato
• pinch of salt

• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 green pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed and finely chopped
• 2 lb of lean pork meat (shoulder or ham), cut in small dices
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 1/2 bunch fresh coriander
• 2 teaspoons fresh oregano
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and paper
• some vegetable oil
  

• 15 12 by 6 inches, banana leaves rectangles
  
• roasting string

The dough or masa is made by reducing all the ingredients for the dough into a very fine, thick pure with a food processor. Salt to taste.
Reduce all the ingredients for the filling into a food processor to a coarse mince. Then, in a thick bottom sauce pan cook it for a bout 20 minutes making sure to stir from time to time. Allow to cool down and set aside.
For the assembly, take a clean, dry piece of banana leaf, brush it with a little bit of oil, spread on it about 1/2 cup of the masa, then place 2-3 spoons of filling in the middle of the dough and fold the banana leaf into a neat parcel. Secure with a piece of roasting string. Repeat until all the banana leaves have been used. I have to admit it takes a while to get it wright when you've never done that before.
Cook your parcels in a large pot of simmering salted water for 1h30.

Gluten free, lactose free, nut free, suitable for pregnant women.

• 1 oz butter
• 6 oz honey
  
• 6 oz plum jam
  
• 1 egg
• 8 oz plain flour
• 2 oz icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp each cardomon, ginger, and cinnamon
• 1 tbs crushed blanched almonds
• 2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cream together butter and honey. Add the egg. Bind in the baking soda, spices and almonds. Then add the flour to make a soft ball of dough. Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven at 175 degrees Celsius (350 F).
Roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness. With different shape cutters, cut out the dough until it has been fully used.Spread some jam on one half of each biscuits and place them on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius (325 F) and bake them for another 10 minutes.
Cool them down on a pastry rack, then combine the lemon juice and icing sugar and drizzle some of it over them.

Vegetarian, lactose free, suitable for pregnant women.

• 7 g active dried yeast (1 package)
• 180 ml warm water
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 120 g soft butter
• 350 g strong flour
• 115 g chopped blanched almonds
• 60 g candied lemon peel, cut into small pieces
• 70 g candied orange peel, cut into small pieces
• 75 g raisins
• 15 ml lemon juice

• Pinch of sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast (7g)
  
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange or lemon
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups unbleached strong flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons brandy
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dried or glacéed cherries
• 1/3 dark raisins
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/3 cup in total of candied ginger, lemon and orange peel
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

• 2 large oranges
• 3 pints of water
• 8oz granulated sugar
• 2-3 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 vanilla pod
• 10 cloves
• 2 bottles of good red wine
• 3 tablespoons of honey
  
• 1 apple, sliced and cored
• 1 orange, deseeded and sliced
• a dash or two of Brandy

Place all the ingredients into a large pot and slowly bring them to a gentle simmer.

Serve warm.

Gluten free, vegetarian, lactose free.

Lebkuchen is a German spiced pastry, baked for Christmas similar to gingerbread apart its soft texture. It is often used to make decorated slabs or decorated little houses.

Recipe for 10 to 20 lebkuchen:

• 420g plain flour, sifted
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 200g sugar
• 120ml honey
• 110g almonds, finely chopped
• 60g candied orange peel, finely chopped
• 60g candied lemon peel, finely chopped
  

For the Glaze:

• 65g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Sift together the flour, baking soda and spices into a bowl. Then, beat together the eggs and sugar in a separate bowl until it becomes thick and creamy. Carefully and gradually add the honey to the egg mixture. Then, add a quarter of the dry ingredients, mixing well with a wooden spoon, like you would do for a sponge base. Repeat 4 times until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated.

Now add the almonds and the candied peels and stir them into the batter then pour the mixture onto a well-greased baking tray (or spoon individual portions). Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool on a pastry rack when cooked.

Meanwhile, mix the glaze ingredients together. Then, when the lebkuchen have cool down entirely spread over the icing.

Suitable for vegetarian, pregnant women, lactose free.

• 3 litres of dry, German red wine
• 1/2 cup of lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of clove
• 10 Cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 cup of fruit alcohol (schnapps)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 3 oranges, sliced
  
• 3 lemons, sliced
  

In a large pot place the wine, lemon juice, spices and schnapps, bring to a gentle simmer. Then add the sugar and the sliced fruits.

Serve hot.


Vegan, vegetarian, nut free, lactose free, gluten free.

• 8 oz of jackfruit *
• 14 oz light coconut milk
  
• 8 tablespoons jaggery**
  
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamon

In a medium saucepan, gently heat up the coconut milk. Dice up the jackfruit. Add the Jackfruit and sugar to the coconut milk. Cook gently on low heat, stirring often until the jackfruit is tender (about 40 minutes). In the last five minutes of cooking, stir in the cardamon.

Serve warm or hot.

* Jackfruits are the fruit of a tree of the mulberry family, native of parts of Asia and South-East Asia. Each fruits are about 36kg and pretty much tasteless apart from the sweet yellow sheaths around the seeds that have a similar taste to pineapple.

** jaggery is a brown sugar mass made of both sugarcane and date palm tree, the shape of a truncated cone that is used in the whole of Asia.

Gluten free, lactose free, vegan and vegetarian, suitable for pregnant women.

• 300g "amandelspijs" (almond paste)*
• 300g puff pastry
  
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp apricot jam
• few red glace cherries
• few nibbed almonds

• 7.5 litres of water
• 1 lb tejocotes*
• 3 whole oranges
• 8 guavas
• 2 lbs sugar cane
• 1 lb pitted prunes
• 3 pears
• 1 Cup raisins
• 6 oz walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 3 cinnamon sticks
  
• 1/2 Cup of whole cloves
• 2 1/2 lb. piloncillo**
• 3 Cups of dark rum
  

In a medium saucepan, bring a litre of water to the boil. Add the tejocotes, lower the heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes until softened. Remove the fruit, peel them and trim the hard endings.

Peel the sugar cane and slice it into thin medallions. Remove the stems and core the pears and cut them into large chunks. Cut the guavas and prunes in half. Stud the oranges with the whole cloves. Cut the cone of piloncillo into large chunks.

In a very large pot, bring the remaining water to the boil. Add all the fruits and nuts to the simmering water and bring it back to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1h30, stirring gently from time to time. Add the piloncillo and cinnamon and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Pour some into cups, making sure each cups get some chunks of fruit and nuts. Add some rum into the cup if desired.

Enjoy it is really good!

* Tejocotes are the fruits of the hawthorn tree. They have the shape of the crab apple and have sweet and sour flavour. Their colour range from orange to yellow. They are plentifully around Christmas, in Mexico, as they rich the peak of their season there.

** Piloncillo is the name given, in Mexico, to small blocks, often shaped like truncated cones; of brown, unrefined sugar.

In Scandinavia Christmas dinner, almost, always includes smoked or marinated fish dishes. The most known marinated dish of this region of the world as to be the gavalax.

There is a simple and original recipe for gravalax. Serve 10-12 people:

• 1 side of salmon, skin on, pin boned and excess fat trimmed

• juice and zest of half a grape fruit
• juice and zest of 1 lime
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp white peppercorns, crushed
• 1 shot glass of akvavit (Scandinavian vodka)
  
• 4 tbsp dill, roughly chopped
• grey seasalt

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 6 tbsp dill, finely chopped
• 6 tbsp mint leaves, finely chopped

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together. Place the salmon in a plastic container , flesh side down. Cover the fish with the marinade. Cover your container with a lid or some cling film and place it in the fridge, at least, for 24 hours.
Remove the salmon from the fridge and carefully wash off the marinade. Dry it slightly with some kitchen paper.
Place the salmon on a carving board, flesh side up and brush it with the Dijon mustard. Then, coat the salmon with the finely chopped dill and mint. Cover the salmon with cling film and place carving board on the top of it and apply some weight on the salmon, eg. a couple of tins. Place the salmon in the refrigerator for another 24 hours.
Slice the salmon very thinly with a long sharp carving knife. Arrange the slices on your serving plates so that they overlap a little bit.
Drizzle some of the marinade around the plate. Serve the salmon gravalax with lemon wedges, buttered brown bread and a glass of akvavit.


Nut free, lactose free, gluten free, not suitable for pregnant women.

• 800g of fresh tuna, marlin or swordfish
• 1/2 cucumber, finely sliced
• 2 tomatoes, finely sliced
• 1 pepper, finely sliced
• 2 spring onions, washed and finely sliced
• the juice of 4 limes
• 4 table spoons of fresh coconut milk
• salt and pepper
  

• 2kg of pork fillet
  
• 2 tablespoons of honey, dissolved with a little water

• 1 tablespoon demerara sugar
• 1 tablespoon yellow bean sauce
• 2 tablespoons light Chinese soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dark Chinese soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

For the marinade, place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix them well together until the sugar has fully dissolved.

Cut the pork into strips about 4 cm thick and 18 - 20cm long, and marinate them, covered, for at least 24 hours, turning them occasionally.

The next day, start your oven at 220 degrees Celsius (450 Fahrenheit/Gas mark 7), and place a roasting or baking tray filled with about 1 pint (600 ml) boiling water at the bottom. Take the pork strips out of the marinade, drain them well and keep the marinade, you'll need it later. Put the tip of an S-shaped hook through one end of each strip, then hang the strips on the top rack in the oven, making sure they dangle freely.

Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, then reduce the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F/Gas 4) and start glazing your strips of pork by basting them regularly with the marinade for 20 minutes. Remove the meat from the oven, let it cool down for 2 to 3 minutes, then carefully brush the strips with the honey "syrup", and lightly brown them under a medium hot grill for 4 to 5 minutes, turning them, from time to time.

When serving, cut the meat across the grain into thin slices, and make a sauce by reducing the marinade, the water and drippings from the baking tray together for a few minutes, then strain into a nice Chinese sauce dish.


*Picture thank to masak-masak.blogspot.com


Gluten free, lactose free, suitable for pregnant women.

• 2 boudins blancs (of your choice of flavour)
• 2 Grannysmith apples, peeped, cored and quatered
  
• 1 table spoon of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of water

On the Island of La Guadeloupe and la Martinique in the French Caribbean Christmas the main dish is accompanied by a "gratin de Christophines" or Chayote in gratin. Chayote is a fruit of the cucurbitaceae's family which is known to have a positive effect on blood cholesterol and have some anti-inflamatory properties. So, this is how it is prepared:

Recipe for 4 people:

• 3 chayotes
• 2 table spoons of vegetable oil
• 50g smoked pork belly
  
• 4 spring onions
• 1 onion
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 100g fresh bread crumb+4 table spoons of dried crumb
  
• 5cl milk
• 100g gruyere cheese, gratted
• salt and pepper
  

Peel and stone the chayote. Cut them into big cubes and cook them in salted water for 30 minutes. Strain them and reduce them into a pure.
Mince the smoked pork belly. Mix the fresh bread crumb with milk. then, wash and finely slice the spring onion and the onion.
In a thick bottom sauce pan sweat of the spring onion and the onion for 5 minutes. Add the minced pork and the thyme and cook for another 5minutes. Add the pureed chayote and mix it well with the rest of the ingredients. Add the soaked bread crumb and allow the mixture to cook for 10 minutes.
Put your mixture in an oven dish, sprinkle with the dry bread crumb and the gruyere cheese and bake for 10 minutes in a hot oven.

Serve piping hot.

Suitable for pregnant women.

Oysters take a big part in the Breton Christmas celebrations. Often part of the Christmas eve dinner in Brittany oysters are served "au naturel" accompanied by some lemon wedges, freshly ground pepper, some sauce mignonette and some rye bread (not to mention some salted butter!).

This is a very simple dish as most of the work is to open the oysters:

• 2 finely chopped shallots
• 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
• 20 cl of good red wine vinegar

May be a cause of allergies, suitable for coeliacs, lactose intolerant people. Not suitable for pregnant women.

Another dish that is found on Goan tables on Christmas day is the bebinca : a sweet coconut based, baked, layered "custard". It is a bit time consuming to prepare, but it is worth it.

Recipe for

• 600ml coconut milk, that you will extract from a large coconut
• 400g sugar
• 9 egg yolks
• 150 g flour, sifted
  
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg powder
• 100g butter or pure ghee
• A pinch of salt

Back home in Brittany, Christmas will traditionally see a seafood platter (plateau de fruits de mer) throne at the center of the table on Christmas day. It will generally consist of brown crab, Dublin bay prawns, oysters, periwinkles, mussels, cockles, shrimp, velvet crab and some time a lobster or a crawfish. The seafood platter will be accompanied by some mayonnaise, lemon wedges and sauce mignonette (red wine vinegar with shallots and cracked pepper).

This what you will need for a seafood platter for 6 people:

• 36 oysters, opened
  
• 3 brown cabs, cooked and broken in pieces
• 36 medium size Dublin bay prawns, cooked in the shell
  
• 60 bouquet shrimps, cooked in the shell
• 36 cooked mussels, traditionally they are eaten raw
  
• 36 cooked cockles or clams, they are traditionally eaten raw
• 6 large velvet crabs, cooked
  
• 1kg of cooked periwinkles
• optional : 3 lobsters or 3 crawfishs, cooked and cracked
  
• 6 lemons
• 1/2 litre of mayonnaise
• 2 shallots
• 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
• 2 cups good red wine vinegar
  

As the vast majority of the people leaving in the Maghreb are of Muslim faith, Christmas is not a traditional day of celebration. But, the "Al-mawlid al-nabaoui al-sharif" is the celebration of the day of the birth the prophet. That particular day is served the assida. So, this is why this recipe has made it to my list.

• 1kg pine nuts or zgougous Aleppo (pine nuts from the allep tree)
  
• 500 grams of sugar
• 2 liters of water
• 750 grams sifted flour

• 1 Greek style yogurt
• 2 teaspoons rose blossom water
• 1 table spoon of honey
• 125 ml creme fraiche

Sort pine nuts carefully to remove all the stones, herbs, etc. Place the pine nuts in a large container and wash with water carefully to eliminate any further dirt.

Grind the gables with a chopping knife.

Mix the batter in the 2 litres of water.

Pass the mixture through a very fine sieve. Press hard on the dough to get the maximum amount of juice. It must remain a dry dough that you can discard.

Mix the sifted flour with the liquid black that you recovered previously.
On low heat, continue to stir well to prevent the formation of lumps.
Keep stirring constantly. The Assida will thicken gradually.
As soon as you feel your Assida thicken, add the sugar while continuing to stir so that your cream stays homogeneous.
As soon as it is quite thick, pour the mixture into small bowls.

Mix the yogurt, the honey, rose blossom water and creme fraiche together and serve this cream with the assida.


Vegetarian, vegan (except the cream), suitable for pregnant women.

There is a traditional Goan Christmas recipe the fish xacuti (Goan curry). So, this is how it goes:

• 1 kg white fish with a firm flesh (trust me it works very well with monkfish!)
  
• 8-10 peppercorns
• 1" stick of cinnamon
• 6 cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
• 4 pods cardamom split and seeds removed
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 4 onions
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp dessicated coconut
• 3 tbsps sunflower oil
• Salt to taste
• some chopped coriander leaves

First of all, dry roast all the whole spices in a hot frying pan and grind into a powder. Set aside. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions and sweat them off for 5-6 minutes.

Add the ginger and garlic pastes and cook for another minute. Add all the spice powder made earlier, the turmeric, cumin, nutmeg and coriander powders, coconut, vinegar and salt to taste and cook this masala till it begins to separate from the oil. Add 2 cups of fish stock to this sauce and stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pan fry, on hot pan, your pieces of fish until golden blond and add them to the sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Sprinkle your xacuti with freshly chopped coriander when serving.


Suitable for coeliacs and pregnant women. Lactose free.

• 1 coconut
• 1 chili
• 80cl chicken bouillon
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 bundle of fresh parsley
• 10cl creme fraiche
• salt and pepper

The pirojki are little pie from the Russian or Polish cuisine that are traditionaly part of the zatsouski and accompaniment of the bortsch. They are made using various dough such as puff pastry, choux pastry or leavened dough such as brioche. Their fillings are made from mince meat : game, beef, poultry, fish : eel, sturgeon or salmon, crumbed cheese, minced vegetables , rice or potatoes.

For the Dough

• 125ml of lukewarm water
• 1 package active dry yeast ( 7g)
• 470g all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 125ml milk
• 1 egg + 1 egg white (reserve the yolk for glazing)
• 125g vegetable oil
  

Fillings

Potato filling:

• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 medium potatoes, boiled and peeled
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander, parsley and dill
• salt and pepper
  

Meat filling:

• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 375g of minced beef (minced turkey or minced lamb can also be used)
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180˚C ( 350˚F)

Brush each pockets with egg yolk and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.

Vegetarian (potatoes filled ones), nut free

• caviar and smoked fish eggs dressed on buttered brown bread,
• crispy slices of rye bread stuffed with sauerkraut,
• pirojki of various filling,
• smoked and marinated fish : eel, sturgeon, salmon,
• meat bowls,
• herring paté,
• stuffed eggs,
• salads made of fish or chicken with potatoes or beetroot and mixed herbs,
  
• large pickled gherkins,
• marinated plums, mushrooms and beetroots,
• some rye bread sented with cumin (caraway), onion or poppy seeds.

• 4 to 5 large potatoes, boiled or steamed (I personally prefer when the potatoes are baked with some rock sea salt and rosemary) and coarsely mashed
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 large cooking apples (barmeley apple will do great), diced up
  
• 1 table spoon of fresh sage
  
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
  
• salt and pepper

• 1kg strong flour
• the fat of the cooking of the meat (after it as been let to set)
• 10cl white aniseed liqueur
• 15g baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 2 whole eggs
• 4 egg yolks
  
• 200g sugar

• 500g lean pork meat
• 250g lard
• 2 tea spoons curcuma
• salt and pepper
• 1 sprig of thyme

First of all cook the diced pork along with the curcuma, thyme, salt and pepper and the lard. When this is done remove meat from your pot and let the fat set

Then make the dough by binding all the dry ingredients with the eggs, the fat from the cooking of the meat, and the liqueur. When it has all come together, into an homogeneous bowl let to rest for an hour.

Roll down the dough, cut two large discs into the dough (one slightly bigger that the other one) and place the meat at the center of the larger disc. Egg wash its border. and cover the second disc that you have previously cut. Close tightly your "pie". Brush the top of it with some egg wash and bake for an hour, 1h30 at 150 degrees Celsius, 300F.
Enjoy warm.


Suitable for pregnant women.

• 400g of sliced Irish smoked salmon
• 2 tablespoons of capers in vinegar
• 1 red onion, very finely sliced
  
• 2 tablespoons of sour cream
• 4 slices of Irish soda bread
• some salad leaves and 4 lemon wedges for garnish.

All what has to be done in this recipe is to gather all your ingredients and nicely dispose them on four plates. Let your imagination make the rest.

Where to find excellent quality Irish Smoked salmon:

- Burren Smokehouse delivers worldwide.
- Kerryfish delivers worldwide.
- Ummera smoked products delivers worldwide.


Dairy free (if not using sour cream)

Recipe for 20 Puto Bumbong:

• 5kg of glutinous rice

• 1 cup of long grain rice

• 1 table spoon of lilac food coloring

• 1 kg of freshly grated matured coconut

• Margarine

• Sugar

Mix the glutinous rice, long grain rice with the food colouring. Soak in water for four hours. Slowly grind using a stone grinder or manual grinder. Be sure not to add too much water while grinding, this will delay drying of the milled ingredients. Too much water will cause the mixture to be sticky. Put your milled ingredients into a muslin cloth. Tie each corners of the cloth and let it drip. for a while. When the mixture is almost dried, press it using a heavy object to remove excess water. Let stand overnight.

Remove the milled ingredients from the cloth. Place it into a muslin cloth. Mix and crush the milled ingredients using your hand until the finest particles pass through the cotton and fall into a container. Collect the particles.

Boil water using the steamer. Cover it with a custom-made-cover with nozzles big enough to fit bamboo tubes or metal cylinders. Cover the nozzles with a kitchen cloth.

Grease the cylinders with some margarine then fill the cylinders half way with the milled ingredients. Cover the other end of the cylinder with a kitchen cloth. Fit the opposite end into the nozzle. Steam will come out of the cylinder when cooking. Before removing your Puto Bumbong from the cylinder, turn it over to ensure proper cooking.

To remove your Puto bumbong from the cylinder, hold it in a vertical position and gently tap it out over a plate.

Sprinkle some sugar and grated coconut on the top of the puto bumbong to finish your dessert. It is traditionally served with a hot with ginger tea.

Vegetarian, vegan, lactose free, suitable for pregnant women.

• 3 large potatoes, grated
• 1 small onion, grated
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 2 tablespoons of strongflour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of pepper
• vegetable oil
  

To makes latkes, mix the grated potatoes and onions with the eggs, flour and seasonings. Then heat a large frying pan along with a spoon of vegetable oil. Spoon some of the pancake batter onto the hot frying pan and cook until golden brown. Flip the pancakes and cook the other side. Serve the pancakes with apple sauce and sour cream.

Vegetarian, lactose free, nut free

This is a traditional Christmas cookies recipe from the Bohemia region which spread over the Czech Republic, the South of Germany and some of Moravia.

• Yolks of 2 hard-cooked eggs,
  
• 1/3 cup butter or butter substitutes,
  
• 1/3 cup sugar,
  
• yolk of 1 egg,
• 1 tablespoon milk,
  
• 150g of plain flour and some sifted flour for rolling,
  
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped blanched almonds.

Put the hard-cooked egg yolks through a sieve with the butter or butter substitute into a food processor blitz until the mixture takes a creamy consistency. Add the sugar and work the dough for another 2 to 3 minutes. Then stir in the uncooked egg-yolk, the milk, and sifted flour. The dough should be stiff enough to roll. Roll it down. Cut into small round shapes with a round cutter, brush your cookies with a beaten egg-white and sprinkle with finely chopped almonds. Bake in a slow oven 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees F.).


Vegetarian, suitable for pregnant women.

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 tbsp sugar
• Various fruits (strawberries, peaches, cherries, what ever fills your imagination)

Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Place the bowl over warm water in another large bowl and whisk further. Add sugar little by little. When the egg mixture becomes light yellow, sift the flour and add to the egg mixture. Mix the flour lightly by lifting the mixture at the bottom of the bowl to the top of it then turn the bowl a little bit clockwise and repeat until all the flour has been incorporated. Mix butter in warm milk. Add this mixture into the batter and stir gently.
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius, 350F. Line the inside of a 18cm/ 7inches sponge mould with some parchment (greaseproof paper). Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-35 min. Remove the cake from the pan and cool it on a rack.
Cut the cake in half horizontally. Whip the heavy cream and sugar in a bowl. Take half of the whipped cream and mix with the chopped fruits. Spread some of the cream on top each slices of cake. Then, put some of the fruit-cream mixture in between each slice of cake. Reconstitute the sponge and spread the rest of the whipped cream on top and around the cake.
Decorate the cake with colorful fruits and Christmas decorations.


Vegetarian, nut free, suitable for pregnant women.