WITH the countdown to Christmas in full swing, Paul Napper, head chef at the Evesham Hotel shares his experiences of the perfect festive food and drink.
CHRISTMAS morning dawns and it’s traditional to kick start the day with a glass of Bucks Fizz whilst opening the presents.
This year why not try a Cranberry Smoothie for a healthy and non-alcoholic start to the day? Just take …
200ml cranberry juice
175g frozen raspberries, defrosted
100ml milk
200ml natural yogurt
1 tbsp caster sugar
Put it all in a blender and pulse until smooth.
In my experience the one element that can make or break your Christmas lunch isn’t the turkey, it’s the roasties.
So here’s my secret tip for perfect potatoes: beef fat. It gives a better flavour and colour than goose fat, just make sure to roughen the edges for that crispy texture everyone loves.
And for dessert instead of a normal Christmas pudding my impressive Mince Pie Baked Alaska is lighter on the digestive system and particularly easy to make, although you needn’t tell anyone else that!.
2 mince pies, shop bought is fine
100g sugar
2 egg whites
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
Icing sugar for dusting
1. Whisk together the egg whites and sugar to make the meringue
2. Slice the lids off the mince pies
3. Add a scoop of ice cream on top of the pie
4. Cover the ice cream with the meringue mixture making sure there are no gaps
5. Place under a grill to brown the meringue.
Boxing Day food can be even more staid than Christmas Day, cold turkey and bubble and squeak anyone?
As an alternative I give you my Turkey Singapore Noodles.
200g Rice noodles
2 tsp sesame oil
2 Eggs, beaten
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp curry powder
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Thumb size piece of ginger, grated
1 red chilli, chopped
2 red peppers, de-seeded and sliced
Any other leftover shredded veg
200g bean sprouts
250g leftover turkey meat, shredded
140g leftover ham, shredded
2 tblsp soy sauce plus a little extra to serve
2 tblsp of dry sherry
Sprinkling of sugar
1. Soak the noodles in boiling water until tender then drain and add 1 tsp of the sesame oil.
2. Beat the eggs with the rest of the sesame oil and add a pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Heat half of the vegetable oil in a wok and pour in the eggs to make an omelette, making sure it’s cooked on both sides and all the way through.
4. Transfer onto a plate and set aside
5. Re-heat the wok and add the remaining oil then fry the garlic, ginger and chilli for a minute.
6. Add all of the shredded vegetables and cook for minute and then add the turkey and the ham.
7. Tip the noodles into the pan and stir though then add the curry powder, soy sauce, sherry and sugar and cook for about 3 minutes.
8. Cut the omelette into small strips and add to the pan
And that’s it my friends, I’ll be back in 2015 with more recipes to tickle your taste buds.
May I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
