Seasons Greetings, I pray everyone is well on their way with preparations for Christmas.
Today I’ve decided to tell you about my starter and main. We will have two starters; Pumpkin Soup alongside Pigs in Blankets.
Ingredients required for the soup are:
- One medium sized pumpkin (halved)
- One onion
- Two medium sized potatoes
- Two garlic cloves
- Two pints of vegetable stock
- Freshly milled black pepper
- Pinch dried chilli
I will prepare the soup on Christmas day, when we get home from church. All the vegetables will be chopped into equal sized pieces and placed in the stock to simmer for half an hour or until vegetables are tender. Once vegetables are tender, I will leave the vegetables to cool for ten minutes before hand blending.
When we are ready to eat, I will bring the soup back to the boil and serve in warm bowls. The soup will be sprinkled with red Leicester cheese, served with freshly baked bread. Oh my taste buds are tingling just thinking about it!
The turkey breast that I have left to marinate today, will be cooked on Christmas Eve. I will layer the bottom of a large pot with chopped onions, sliced carrots, sea salt, bay leaves, garlic puree and a bottle of dry white wine. The marinated turkey breast will be placed on top of the layered ingredients and everything left to simmer on a low flame for two hours, turning the breast half way through. Once the breast is cooked, I will leave it to sit overnight.
The gravy will be made from the drained meat juices, thickened with cornflour. I will serve the turkey with cranberry sauce (with burgundy, obtained from Costco).
I will also prepare my roast potatoes on Christmas Eve, these will be peeled and half boiled, drained and placed in a baking tin with goose fat. I will roast the potatoes just prior to eating on Christmas Day.
If you like cornbread, try this recipe, my husband and children love it!
- Three cups of coarse cornmeal
- One and half cups of self raising flour
- Half a teaspoon of salt
- Three tablespoons of sugar
- Freshly ground nutmeg
- Two eggs
- Four ounces of melted butter
Mix everything except the eggs and butter together. Make a well in the centre of the mix and add the eggs and butter. Pour in half a tin of evaporated milk and mix to medium consistency. Place the mix into a loaf tin (or muffin tray) and let it stand for an hour, before baking for forty minutes at 160 degrees.
Writing this is making me so hungry and I know I’m not really hungry, but I will have to leave you now and continue tomorrow! I am so excited about Christmas, having my family and friends around me, enjoying good food and just remembering ‘the reason for the season’.
Yours in Christ
Yvonne Brooks
the change 