Christmas Recipes

Here are some great ideas for what to make for Christmas lunch or dinner.

Rosemary-Garlic Roast Turkey

Ingredients

  • 8 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 tbsp./30 mL dried)
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. (15 mL) coarse salt
  • 1 tsp. (5 mL) black pepper
  • 12 to 15 lb. (5.5 to 7 kg) whole turkey, fully defrosted if frozen

Cooking Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
  2. In a small bowl or food processor, mash together garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper so that it forms a thick paste.
  3. By hand, gently pull the skin away from the turkey breast at the front of the breast (near the neck opening) to form a sort of pocket. Rub some of the rosemary garlic paste onto the breast meat under the skin, reaching in as far as you can without tearing the skin. Rub the remaining rosemary garlic paste all over the skin of the turkey and in the cavity. Add the stuffing, if you’re using it, and place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and tie the legs together with kitchen string.
  4. Place the turkey into the preheated oven. Do not cover the pan. Roast, basting every 15 to 20 minutes with the pan juices, until a meat thermometer inserted into the inner thigh reaches 170 degrees F (77 degrees C) and the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked with a skewer. This will take anywhere from 3 to 4-1/4 hours (depending on the size of the turkey and whether it is stuffed or not). The only definite way to know if the turkey is cooked is by using a meat thermometer. Remove roasting pan from the oven and let the turkey rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes before carving.
  5. Serve turkey with pan juices or use the juices to make gravy (recipe follows).

Rosemary-Garlic Gravy:

  1. 1/4 cup (50 mL) fat from the roasting pan
  2. 1/4 cup (50 mL) flour
  3. 2 cups (500 mL) defatted turkey pan juices, turkey broth, water, or a combination
  4. In a saucepan, combine the fat from the roasting pan and flour. Cook, stirring to eliminate any lumps, for just a minute or two. Whisk in turkey juices, broth or whatever liquid you’re using and cook, stirring constantly, until the gravy thickens. Let simmer over low heat, whisking occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes. Serve hot.

Honey and Orange Glazed Ham

Ingredients

  • 10 lb (5 kg) fully (or partially) cooked bone-in smoked ham
  • whole cloves, if desired
  • 1 cup (250 mL) brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup (150 mL) orange juice
  • 1/3 cup (75 mL) honey
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) Dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp (10 mL) grated orange zest

Cooking Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
  2. If the ham has thick skin, slice off the top layer, leaving about 1/4-inch (.5 cm) of fat on the meat. Place, fat-side-up on a rack in a roasting pan. With a sharp knife, score the fat in a criss-cross pattern and poke a whole clove into each square, if desired. Pour water into the roasting pan to 1/4-inch (.5 cm) deep. (The water should not touch the ham — if the rack is too low, just add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.) Place in the oven and roast, uncovered, for 20 minutes per pound or approximately 3-1/2 hours.
  3. While the ham is roasting, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, stir together the brown sugar, orange juice, honey, mustard and orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
  4. About 45 minutes before the ham is finished roasting, brush with some of the glaze. Continue to baste with the glaze every 10 minutes until the ham is done. (A meat thermometer should read 135 degrees F or 57 degrees C when poked into the thickest part of the ham.) Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Crown Pork Roast with Apple-Cranberry Stuffing and Port Sauce

Ingredients

Stuffing:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 onions, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 14- to16-ounce package of cornbread stuffing mix
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • 3 apples (such as braeburn), cored, not peeled and chopped
  • 1/2-cup fresh cranberries, chopped

Crown Roast:

  • 1 12 to16 rib crown pork roast
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Sauce:

  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4-cup port
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Cooking Instructions

Stuffing:

  1. In large skillet over medium heat heat oil until shimmers. Add onions and cook about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until translucent. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon, pepper, and allspice to combine.
  2. In large bowl combine onions, stuffing mix pecans, apples, and cranberries.

Pork Roast:

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle roast inside and out with salt and pepper. Add stuffing to inside cavity; do not pack it.
  2. Cook for about 2 hours 20 minutes, or until a thermometer in the thickest part of the meat registers 155 degrees. Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil. Let rest at least 15 minutes.

Sauce:

Place roasting pan over medium heat; add broth and port. Bring mixture to a boil, scraping up bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce liquid by about half. Add butter and swirl to combine.

Holiday Trifle

Ingredients

  • 1 recipe Golden Yellow Cake (or purchased pound cake or sponge cake)
  • 6 cups (1.5 L) strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas or any combination (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) sugar
  • 1 packet vanilla pudding mix, prepared
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) sherry or liqueur (any kind you like)
  • 1 cup (250 mL) raspberry or apricot jam
  • 2 cups (500 mL) whipping cream
  • additional whole berries or fruit for decorating

Cooking Instructions

  1. Cut the cake into slices (uneven or ragged is fine). Prepare whatever fruit you’re using and cut into 1/2-inch (1-cm) pieces, if necessary. Place in a bowl and toss fruit with the sugar. Prepare the vanilla pudding. You’ll need an attractive glass bowl, about 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. Arrange about half of the cake pieces to cover the bottom of the bowl and sprinkle with about half of the sherry or liqueur. Spread cake pieces with half of the jam, then top with half of the fruit.
  2. Cover the fruit with half of the vanilla pudding, followed by half of the whipped cream. Repeat the layers: the remaining cake, sherry, jam, fruit and pudding.
  3. Finally, cover the top completely with the remaining whipped cream. Decorate with additional whole berries or fruit pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight before serving.

Apple Cranberry Crumble

Ingredients

Fruit mixture:

  • 4 cups (1 L) apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch (1-cm) chunks
  • 2 cups (500 mL) fresh cranberries, halved
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) dried cranberries
  • 3/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp. (45 mL) corn starch

Crumble topping:

  • 1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. (2 mL) cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter

Cooking Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease an 8- or 9-inch (20- or 23-cm) square baking dish (or any baking dish of a similar size).
  2. First, prepare the fruit mixture. In a bowl, toss together apples, fresh cranberries and dried cranberries. Add sugar and corn starch and toss to mix everything well. Transfer to prepared baking dish.
  3. Next, make the crumble topping. In another large bowl (or in a food processor), combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon, then cut butter into the mixture until it has a slightly sticky crumbly texture. Sprinkle over the apple cranberry mixture in the baking dish. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the fruit juices are bubbling and the topping is browned and crisp.
  4. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Pistachio-Cranberry Biscotti

Ingredients

  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ? teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup of shelled pistachios
  • ½ cup of dried cranberries

Cooking Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. In large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium until smooth. Add 6 tablespoons of the sugar. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extracts until combined.
  2. Add flour and salt. Beat until combined, scraping down side of bowl occasionally.
  3. In a miniature food processor chop the pistachios and cranberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until about half the size of miniature chocolate chips, small pieces, but not finely chopped.
  4. Add the pistachio mixture and mix until well combined. On an ungreased baking sheet form into a log 12-inches long and flattened to 3-inches across. Chill in the refrigerator 15 minutes.
  5. Bake 30 minutes until lightly brown around the bottom. Remove pan to cooling rack and let cool 10 minutes. With a sharp chef’s knife cut log on a slight diagonal into cookies about ½-inch thick by bringing the knife down in one motion through the cookie. Place back on cookie sheet standing up on bottom of cookie. Return to oven and bake 30 minutes or until lightly toasted.
  6. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes. Remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

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