Best Christmas Recipes

Hello there! Long time - no see. And already Christmas. The time flies with the speed of light. And since we all have to be ready and fit for Christmas I prepared a Special Edition ""Best Christmas Recipes".

As you know my priorities when cooking are time and health. Therefore the recipes are made of good ingredients, less sugar, more love, less fat, more harmony. All in all a perfect choice for you if you DO CARE :)

Here they are, my TOP RECIPES for your 3-course Christmas menu:

Starter

I find it very convenient to make an exact menu for the evening so that you do not get lost with all the different dishes on the table and the most important - so that you do not overeat as this is the worst we can do for our bodies. Therefore I propose to prepare a very easy, fresh and tasty appetizer.
For example, one of these:
 Fresh Figs with Roguefort and Balsamic Sauce

King Prawns with Mango-Avocado Salsa on a Carrot Pillow  

Main Course
 
 For the lovers of tender lean rabbit mean I have a special recipe from Paris - Rabbit under Creamy Wine Sauce with Rosemary

 

For those who want a real Christmas atmosphere with seasonal products on the table, here is the best venison recipe - Bacon Rolled Venison Tenderloin under Wine-Cranberry Sauce on an Arugula Pillow

And if you like duck I have something for you  - Baked Duck Breast with Fresh Salad 

Dessert 

 In our family the number one cake is always my  Chocolate Naked Cake with Mascarpone Cream and Fresh Berries .

However, you are always welcome to have a cozy  tea time with typical Christmas treats like ginger cookies. I have a wide range of recipes here. For example, Easy Ginger Bread Christmas cookies  or Hand Made Ginger Cookies that you can by the way also use as Christmas tree decorations. Or for sweet marzipan lovers - Marzipan Hearts in Dark Chocolate .
Mmmm , Yummy!!!!!

 

 And the next day you finally have time to prepare a complete breakfast like one of those in Breakfast Section here

My Breakfast Special is Wholewheat Banana Date Bread .

Wish you a lot of fun, merry Christmas and do not forget: everything is good in moderation!!!!

Easy Ginger Bread Christmas cookies

Ho - Ho - Ho ! ! ! Merry Christmas, my dear gourmets! Wishing you to open new tastes, flavors, people, cities and places every day. Because this brings us new emotions and encourages us to explore further.

We are closer to new year than ever and this has its own charm. Only four days left to enter new chapter of our lives. According to Ukrainian tradition Santa brings us presents on the 21st of December every year. So in comparison to all Germans who have already packed and granted the presents, in Ukraine it is all to come. Therefore I believe a good ginger bread cookies recipe will make only a magic addition to all the presents you are gonna pack. Or at least fulfil your house with an irresistible scent of upcoming party.

 Ingredients:

150 g white flour

120 g whole wheat flour of your choice

100 g butter (for vegan version may be replaced by coconut oil)

70 g brown sugar (or 100 g rice syrup)

4 tbsp honey

1 egg

1 tbsp Christmas spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, anise)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Take butter out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to bake so that it is room temperature. 

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Mix butter with sugar (or rice syrup) and honey. Add an egg and mix well. In another bowl combine all the dry ingredients: flours, spices, salt. Then add dry ingredients into butter-egg-mix. Roll the dough to 2-3 mm thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut it with cookie cutter of your preferred form. I used stars and hearts this time. 

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Cool completely (about 30 minutes).

I packed them into small bags. They can be a nice present or just delicious addition to your tea time:)

Have a wonderful start of the year and enjoy the holidays!!!!!

Christmas recipe: Baked Duck Breast with Fresh Salad

Again a little break in writing... I had a good reason for it: holidays time :) I have to admit that visiting my parents and friends in Ukraine was a full "Turn Off" for me. The feeling of time got lost somewhere between cozy evenings with my family and fun while going out with my friends. We were quite surprised to come back to Hamburg with +15C outside. Back in Ukraine it was freezing already, temperatures between -2C ... +2C. Now back to normal life I can again come back to my lovely blog and full of ideas am ready to color your everyday lives. 

As Christmas mood is all over I find it quite up to date to share a tasty Christmas recipe with you. Because we all want to make it special. Yet, having a bullet proof recipe. Which I guarantee :)

Duck breast is in today's menu for you, my dear. Get ready to rock this Christmas.

Ingredients:

(serves 2) 

2 duck breast halves with skin

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

salt, pepper

1 cup fresh arugula

1 fresh mushroom

6 cherry tomatoes

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar with honey (I used Mazzetti Bio Condimento - Honey)

Using a sharp knife, score the duck skin with diagonal parallel slashes. The pattern should remind diamond. Just be careful not to pierce through to the flesh. Salt the breast halves from both sides. As pepper burns while frying I add it before serving.

Preheat the oven to 160 C. Heat a non-stick pan. I took one that I can use in the oven afterwards for better convenience. No oil needed as duck fat will melt from heat. Put duck, turning with fat side down and fry until the skin turns crispy, about 5 minutes.

Then turn the duck breasts over and fry for about another 5 minutes. Place the pan into the oven and set the timer to 15 minutes. Mix honey and balsamic vinegar and spread this mixture over the duck skin every 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on the duck breasts so that they don't burn. It all depends on the size. Normally I use middle-sized duck breasts and they are ready within 15 minutes in the oven.

When you take them out from the oven they should already look very crispy and golden-brown. Pepper them before serving.

For the salad wash arugula, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Mix olive oil and white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Cut mushrooms into thin slices, tomatoes into halves or quarters. Mix well and season with oil-vinegar dressing.

Remember: duck should be served immediately. It has the best taste then. 

Enjoy your meal and have a wonderful Christmas time.

Hand-made tasty present from Santa - ginger cookies

The decorations are ready, everyone is crazy shopping and preparing. New Year is so close.
Unfortunately, we sometimes face a problem when looking for presents. Wrong color, size not available, too expensive, too simple... One big headache. And I can cure it. Well, maybe not truly me, but tasty home-made cookies - definitely!

No special ingredients, you will probably have all of them ready-to-go:

100 g butter
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp sugar (*optional)
1 egg
1 cup white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

In a saucepan heat first three ingredients; butter, honey and sugar.

Tip!
I would say that the amount of sugar can be reduced as honey adds the sweetness. Especially use this advice if you want to cover the cookies with chocolate glaze afterwards.

Stir the mixture all the time and make sure that the mixture doesn't boil. Put aside to cool for a while. Meanwhile in a bowl whisk together both types of flour, spices and baking powder. Add a half of dry ingredient mixture into warm sweet honey-butter composition. Mix thoroughly, then add in second half and an egg.

Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 190° C. Prepare the cookies-forms. Take dough out of the fridge, roll it so that it is less than 0.5 cm thick. Cut different shapes of the cookies.
Bake them for 7-9 minutes, or until cookies get golden-brown edges.

Let them coll down and cover with sugar powder.

Bacon rolled venison tenderloin under wine-cranberry sauce on a arugula pillow

Last days turned to be so windy in Hamburg that you sometimes feel yourself being literally blown away. But its just typically here, no reason to wonder. Hamburg is beautiful at any weather. At the other hand, last weeks were very special for food-lovers. Firstly, you can find a wide range of meat on the shelves of supermarkets: venison, wild boar, rabbit, goose, duck etc. Secondly, the Christmas markets are already opened. Everywhere!  A smell of freshly baked maroons mixed with sweet flavors of Stollen - a typical Christmas bread originally from Dresden, and the spicy aroma of a hot wine - Glühwein in German. Do you already feel Christmas knocking on your door?! Yeap, holidays are coming. Almost a week left. Let us go wild!

I was surprised and confused when my husband brought venison from the supermarket. I have never tried one, so I wondered: What would it taste like? What should be the best combination? Is it tastier with a sweet note or better salty? The next couple of hours I found myself at the laptop searching for the information, nutritional facts and the best combinations. I watched videos from the famous chefs, read articles and now I’m ready to share the “wild” facts and the best recipe choice with you.

And don’t be afraid. No special requirements from you. Just a strong desire and a little bit of your precious time.

By the way, deer meat is high in nutritional value. It contains iron, which is good for those, who have a lack of it, as well as vitamin B2 that will speed the metabolism. If you think that venison as wild meat has gamey smell I assure you – not at all. The taste is very juicy with a tender sour-sweet note if you cook it the way I advise.

Tip!

I’ve used a shoulder part of venison. If you are lucky to buy venison tenderloin, that is even better. The deer meat has a dark color, and that is explained with the following: deer are very active and the oxygen goes through their muscles in big amounts. Therefore they become darker. That explains why chicken meat (especially from those raised by big suppliers) is very bright.

My favorite recipe combines medium rare bacon rolled lean meat under the wine-cranberry sauce on the arugula pillow.

Get some patience and prepare the following ingredients:

300 g venison loin or shoulder
4 thin stripes of lean bacon
100 ml dry red wine
100 g dried cranberries
1 tsp sour cherry jam or wind berries jam* (optional)
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
handful of arugula
salt, pepper

Let us prepare everything step by step:

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Wash the meat and cut the needed piece so that you can roll it into the bacon stripes afterwards (see picture below).

Salt and pepper the piece of venison from all sides. Roll it as shown on the picture. The bacon dress protects the lean meat and keeps it juicy and tender.

*I cooked one piece of venison. The other is just for comparison. 

Step 2

Put olive oil and butter into a frying pan. The best choice is a pan that can be put into the oven afterwards. Otherwise prepare a baking form or a piece of foil. Heat the pan and fry the rolled piece from all sides for about 10 minutes in total. The sign of perfection is the crispy golden-brown bacon crust.

Step 3

Put the meat into the oven for 7 minutes sharp. And now ATTENTION, please!
Take venison out of the oven and put it aside. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes. It enables the juices to get back from the center, where they concentrated because of the heat, all over the piece. As a result you get a perfect juicy and tender, yet medium rare venison with a bacon crust full of flavors.

Step 4

Meanwhile we can prepare a wine-cranberry sauce that will complement the taste of the meat with some sour-sweet notes. So, finely chop the onion. Fry it in a saucepan with some olive oil mixed with butter (1 tsp of each). Add a pinch of salt. When the onion is brown add cranberries and jam*.  In a minute pour 100 ml of wine and let it boil for a while. Wine should evaporate so that the sauce gets a bit thicker. Afterwards blend the sauce using a stick mixer.

Serve sliced venison on a arugula pillow with a sauce topping.

Let you enjoy the fullness of the taste. Every single piece brings a magic combination of smoky flavor, sour and sweet notes of the sauce, as well as a tender juicy meat.

All in all, enjoy.

Because good food is always a good idea. Especially, when it is "wild" :)

Christmas Carrot Pie

Holidays are coming. And the smell of hot wine is in the air. Ginger cookies, Stollen - traditional Christmas Pie in Germany, baked maroons, a wide range of cute little sweet-Christmas-stuff is out there in the nearest bakery round the corner. But what can be better than a home-made pie?! Especially, when the main ingredient seems to be not so typical for bakery.

Carrots! Yes, carrot pie with a sweet note of Christmas flavors. Healthy, easy and soooo tasty.

Don't be scared when you see the list of ingredients. The instructions are very simple. If you have children, do not hesitate to bake a pie in cooperation with them. They will help you with pleasure.

Ingredients:

5 middle-sized carrots
5 eggs
2 tbsp ground peanuts
4 tbsp whole grain flour
2 tbsp wheat bran
1 banana
3/4 cup raisins
150 ml milk
Winter ground spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, cloves, ginger - 1/2 tsp each.
Water to plump up the raisins

Firstly, preheat the oven to 180°C.
Secondly, boil the water. We should plump up the raisins so that they are soft, juicy and plump. Put your raisins in a small bowl, and cover with boiling water. Let them steep for about 10-15 minutes and then drain them thoroughly.

Meanwhile to take a big bowl. Wash the carrots, peel them and grate them all into a bowl. Add one mashed banana for sweetness, ground peanuts for nutty smell and taste. I added 2 tbsp of wheat bran, but if you don't have any, you can add 1 extra tbsp of whole wheat flour instead. I prefer to add some bran into my dishes in order to increase fiber intake. It has a lot of benefits for our health as well. But, anyway, this ingredient is optional. Add other ingredients: 4 tbsp of whole grain flour, spices, 150 ml of milk and drained raisins. Finally it's eggs' turn. Mix it all very thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a previously buttered form. You can bake muffins from this mixture as well. It's up to you;)

Cover the form with a sheet of foil. Bake this delicious pie 15 minutes at 180°C, then reduce the heat to 150°C and bake 40 minutes. Take of the foil and let the pie get nice brown color for another 10 minutes. Your house will smell like Christmas and you will hardly keep patience when you take the pie out of the oven.

I used some pistachios and white yogurt to serve.
Have a nice Christmas time and enjoy the company of good friends sharing your tasty results :)