It’s Christmas time!
The house is ready for Christmas,
the gifts are wrapped,
the ugly sweaters ready to be worn
now I just need to figure out the menu….
Last year I have prepared a Christmas turkey for the very first time, and I mean the real deal not a pre stuffed Turkey, but home made filling. …what an experience, something I’ll try again this Christmas.
What will be in our stockings this year?
I have stuffed it my self and after some research online decided on a classical stuffing with grounded meat, truffles, mushrooms and nuts. I was having trouble deciding whether to prepare a typical American stuffing with cornbread, celery, pine nuts and sausages or the classic one we all know over here in brave little Belgium. Since it was the first time I opted for the ‘mainstream’ filling.
Invasion of the Christmas gifts
The most important thing if you prepare a whole turkey is that you drizzle if often. You really need to pour all the juices over your turkey every 20 minutes to get a nice and moist result. For more information on how to prepare a turkey check out this great site .
The part I found the most difficult was – after I filled the turkey- binding everything together and recreating the turkey. As you can see on the (terrible – I know and I am sorry for the lame quality but with all the Christmas dinner stress last year – I forgot to prepare for some nice pictures – this year I’ll try to do better!) See below for the recipe of the stuffing.
What else will you find on our menu this year?
Appetizers:
- pancakes with asparagus and parma
Remember these great pancakes -easy to prepare and quick to finish
- corn soup
- scallops with crab and avocado
Main:
- Stuffed Turkey – see recipe below
- Roasted vegetables with star anise and cinnamon
- Gratin dauphinois with cauliflower and dairy free cream
Dessert:
- Chocolate mousse
Yummie Chocomousse
- Lemon curd mousse
- chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies and cake with some coffee and tea
Cookie time
- 1 kg grounded veal
- 500 gr foie gras in small cubes
- 200 gr porcini mushrooms - soaked in water
- 200 gr wild mushrooms - cleaned and cut into pieces
- 100 gr pistachio's
- pepper and salt
- a portion of black truffle carpaccio with juice
- some dried thyme and rosemary
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp cognac (optional)
- a pinch of nutmeg
- Put all the ingredients into a big bowl and mix it together with your hands until all is well combined.
- You will need a nice and smooth mixture.
- Prepare your Turkey as described in the link and fill it with this mixture.
- Now you will need time and patience and afterwards enjoy with the whole family!
- We loved the leftovers the day after, nom nom!
- I served the turkey with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes and a home made cranberry sauce...delicious!