What to cook for Christmas 2020? TOP 7 original recipes with photos at home. Traditional dishes for the festive table. Video recipes.
On the night of January 6-7, Orthodox Christians celebrate the light religious holiday of the Nativity of Christ. For a family dinner, many housewives prepare in advance the menu for the Holy Evening on January 6, taking into account all the traditions. If you don't know what to cook, or want to diversify the table with new recipes, we offer a selection of original dishes for Christmas.
Traditional dishes
On January 6, after the first star appears in the sky, the whole family sits down at the table and begins their meal. Traditionally, 12 meatless dishes are prepared at Christmas, which corresponds to the number of the apostles. But these days simplicity is not to your liking, so the Christmas table is set like New Year's - generous, rich, nourishing and tasty.
The main ritual treats are kutia (sochivo) and uzvar (dried fruit compote). Also, baked turkey or stuffed duck should be attributed to the main indispensable dishes. The rest of the traditional dishes are suckling pig, aspic from fish, jelly, pancakes, homemade sausage, honey cakes … It is desirable to have wheat pastries, salads from vegetables and seafood, beans, beans, mushroom dishes, cheeses, cold and hot snacks on the Christmas table from poultry, etc.
Choosing drinks, except for the uzvar, preference is given to teas, fruit and berry fruit drinks, mulled wine, and wines. In this case, alcohol should not be abused, because The Church strongly recommends to spend the holiday reverently, without noisy fun and alcoholic beverages. Christmas pastries are especially popular, they always turn out delicious and bright. Traditionally, coins "for luck" are baked in Christmas sweets. Sweets are decorated very beautifully, with an abundance of glaze and chocolate.
In this article, we offer simple ideas for dishes for the Christmas table. They are not labor intensive, time consuming, and require little culinary experience.
Kutia
Traditionally, whole wheat or barley is used as the basis for kutya. But today I use other grains: rice, barley, lentils, etc. For lean kutya, it is flavored with honey and poppy seeds, which symbolizes a good life and good health. When preparing generous kutya, a variety of additives are added to the dish, of which the more, the better the year will pass. It can be nuts, candied fruits, dried fruits, chocolate, cognac, cream, milk, butter, seeds, sesame seeds, compote, etc.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 295 kcal.
- Servings - 500-700 ml
- Cooking time - 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Wheat - 1 tbsp.
- Raisins - 3 tablespoons
- Salt - a pinch
- Uzvar - 100-150 ml
- Water - 3 tbsp. for cooking
- Walnuts - 50 g
- Honey - 1-2 tablespoons
- Poppy - 3 tablespoons
Cooking kutya:
- Grind the whole wheat grain in a mortar with a little water to remove the outer shell. If the wheat is already processed and steamed, it is immediately ready for boiling. So, wash the wheat and soak in cold water overnight to swell.
- Place washed and swollen grains in a saucepan. Pour them with clean cold water, boil, remove the foam that has formed on the surface, salt and cook over low heat without a lid for 1 hour without interfering. If necessary, top up with boiling water (!), If you pour cold water, the grain will be solid inside.
- Steam poppy seeds and raisins separately with boiling water for 30 minutes. Then squeeze the raisins from the excess liquid, and beat the poppy seeds with sugar in a blender for 3-4 minutes.
- Peel and chop the nuts with a knife.
- Dissolve honey in an uzvar and season with boiled porridge. Leave it on for 5-10 minutes to absorb the liquid a little.
- Add poppy seeds with raisins and nuts to the kutya. Stir and you can serve the treat.
Salmon and spinach pie
Salmon with creamy spinach framed with puff pastry is a classic French dish (Salmon en croute), which is a bit like our kulebyaka. In the traditional version, salmon is baked under a spinach-mascarpon cap in puff pastry. The proposed option is slightly different, but no less impressive in taste and appearance.
Ingredients:
- Puff yeast-free dough - 500 g
- Fillet of salmon, salmon or trout - 1 kg
- Spinach - 500 g
- Butter - 20 g
- Sour cream - 2 tablespoons
- Ground nutmeg - pinch
- Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
- Spices for fish - to taste
- Eggs - 1 pc. for lubrication
- Flour - on the dust
- Salt to taste
Cooking Salmon Spinach Pie:
- Carefully remove the skin from the fish, remove all bones and cut into 2 parts.
- For the filling in a saucepan, combine the spinach, butter and nutmeg. Leave everything to simmer, covered over low heat, until the spinach softens for about 5 minutes. Leave the finished spinach to cool. Then squeeze it lightly with sheets of kitchen paper to remove excess liquid.
- Chop the cooked spinach, combine with sour cream and lemon juice. Season with salt, pepper and season to taste.
- Collect the cake. To do this, dust the work surface with flour, roll out the dough into a 30x50 cm rectangle and divide the rectangle in half lengthwise.
- Place the first piece of dough on a baking sheet, place one half of the salmon on top of it and cover with a layer of spinach.
- Place the second piece of salmon on top, brush the edges of the dough around the salmon with a beaten egg and place the second piece of dough on top. Press down on the edges of the dough to seal the inside of the filling and brush the top with a beaten egg.
- Place the baking sheet in a preheated oven to 200 degrees for half an hour. Bake the cake until golden brown.
Wellington Beef Pie
Juicy and tender tenderloin, lightly fried until golden brown, covered with a thin layer of mustard with mushroom pate and wrapped in a thin layer of Parma ham. Finally, a crispy puff pastry shell with a golden brown crust. The recipe is easy to make and highly recommended for your Christmas feast!
Ingredients:
- Yeast-free puff pastry - 250 g
- Beef tenderloin - 850 g
- Champignons - 500 g
- French mustard - 30 g
- Parma ham (slices) - 140 g (can be substituted with bacon),
- Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
- Yolk - 1 pc.
- Thyme - a few twigs
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
- Ground black pepper - a pinch
Cooking Wellington Beef Pie:
- The beef tenderloin represents an elongated drop. On the one hand, the thickened end is not too flat and more sinewy, and on the other hand it is thinner. For the recipe, you need a thick slice from the middle of the tenderloin: even, smooth and neat. So, clean the meat from visible films and veins.
- Heat a grill pan with olive oil and quickly fry the tenderloin on all sides until light crust, season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the meat from the pan and brush the mustard evenly over the entire surface.
- Wash the champignons, chop into small crumbs in a food processor, season with salt and pepper and add the garlic passed through a press.
- Put the mushroom mass in a preheated frying pan without oil and fry until minced mushroom is obtained. Add thyme leaves, stir and remove from heat.
- On a piece of cling film, place the slices of Parma ham in one row with an overlap of 1-1.5 cm. Then put the second row of ham on top.
- Put the cooled minced mushroom in an even layer on the ham, and place the chilled tenderloin in its center.
- Lift the edge of the film and rotate the ham over the whole piece of tenderloin. Roll up a tight roll and remove the film.
- Roll out the puff pastry and place the tenderloin in the bacon. Roll it up like a loaf and close the seam with the ends tightly.
- Place the beef in the batter on a baking sheet and brush the yolk evenly over the entire surface. Send it to bake in a heated oven to 200 degrees for 35 minutes.
Stuffed turkey with apples
Oven-baked turkey stuffed with apples and pineapple cheese is a traditional American main dish for the Christmas holidays. If you don't find a turkey, replace it with an Indo-Duck or Plain Duck. However, keep in mind that turkey has more tender, less fatty, and dietary meats.
Ingredients:
- Turkey - 1 pc. (about 8 kg)
- Garlic - 3 heads
- Olive oil - 30 g
- Spices - to taste (Provencal herbs, rosemary, basil, thyme, sage, peppermint, savory, oregano, marjoram, nutmeg)
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Apples - 4 pcs.
- Canned or fresh pineapples - 300 g
- Hard cheese - 100 g
- Lemon - 0.5 pcs.
Cooking Stuffed Turkey with Apples:
- For the marinade, pass two heads of garlic through a press, cover it with olive oil, add spices, salt, pepper and stir. Let the marinade sit for 20 minutes.
- Wash the turkey and pat dry with a towel. Rub the marinade inside and outside the carcass with your hands, wrap in a bag and leave to marinate overnight.
- For the filling, cut the pineapple and apples into cubes. Peel and chop the garlic. Cut the cheese into thick slices. Squeeze the juice out of the lemon. Combine all products, add salt, pepper, any spices and mix.
- Remove the pickled turkey from the bag and stuff it tightly with the prepared filling. Tie the legs together and place on a baking sheet lined with a large piece of foil.
- Wrap the turkey in foil and place in a preheated oven at 250 degrees for half an hour. Then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and bake the carcass at the rate of 50-60 minutes per 1 kg of its weight. When the turkey is pierced, clear juice will ooze out of the finished turkey.
Quail with oranges in the oven
Little hazel grouses for Christmas meal - delicious and aromatic quail combined with sweet notes of cinnamon, sour orange and hot pepper. Quails can be baked on their own or stuffed with rice, buckwheat or arc groats. It will turn out satisfying, and there is no need to additionally prepare a side dish.
Ingredients:
- Quails - 4-6 pcs.
- Oranges - 1 pc.
- Honey - 1 tsp
- Olive oil - 1 tsp
- Hot peppers - 1 pc.
- Bay leaf - 4 pcs.
- Cinnamon - 1 stick
- Ground coriander - a pinch
- Salt - a pinch
Cooking quail with oranges in the oven:
- For the marinade, combine orange juice, olive oil, honey, spices, chopped peppers and salt.
- Wash the quail, dry it and rub the marinade inside and out.
- Place them back down on a baking sheet and top with the remaining marinade. You can tie the legs so that the sauce does not spill out.
- Heat the oven to 180 degrees and send the quails to bake for half an hour until golden brown.
German cupcake Stollen
Shtolen is a classic German Christmas pastry. This is a rich, aromatic and moderately tender yeast cake with cinnamon. Dried fruits soaked in rum, lemon and orange peel, viscous and sweet almond paste, and crunchy pieces of nuts in the middle.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 400 g
- Milk - 150 ml
- Eggs - 1 pc.
- Sugar - 50 g per dough, 110 for almond paste
- Butter - 50 g
- Fresh yeast - 21 g
- Salt - 0.5 tsp
- Ground cinnamon - 0.5 tsp
- Cognac - 50 ml
- Dried fruits (any) - 200 g
- Nuts - 50 g
- Candied fruits - 50 g
- Lemon zest - with 3 fruits
- Orange zest - with 3 fruits
- Peeled almonds - 110 g
- Liqueur - 0.5 tsp
- Egg white - 1 pc.
Making a stollen cupcake:
- For the filling, chop the nuts coarsely. Grate dried fruits and candied fruits on a fine grater. Wash the lemons and oranges, dry and remove the zest with a vegetable cutter, which cuts into thin noodles. Combine foods other than nuts and soak in rum under a lid for a day.
- For almond paste, chop the almonds with a chopper and combine with sugar, liquor and protein. Grind the products with a blender to a homogeneous structureless paste so that it sticks well like plasticine and does not stick to your hands.
- For the dough, sift the flour and mash it with the yeast. Add salt, cinnamon, sugar and warm milk with eggs and butter. Knead the dough, shape it into a ball and leave it under the plastic wrap in a warm place for 1 hour until it expands 2.5 times.
- Knead the matched dough and combine with nuts and dried fruits. Since dried fruits are moist, the dough will become sticky after adding them, but do not add flour.
- Place the dough on a clean floured surface and roll it into an oval layer.
- Roll the almond paste into a long sausage and place it on the dough.
- Roll the dough so that the almond filling is inside and close the ends of the dough.
- Flatten the stollen, put on a baking sheet, cover with a towel and leave to proof for 40 minutes until it is increased by 1.5 times.
- Send the stollen to bake in a heated oven to 180 degrees for half an hour, covered with foil in the middle of cooking. Put the finished baked goods on a wire rack and brush with melted butter after 10 minutes.
Gingerbread Man Cookies
Gingerbread Men are a spicy, crispy Christmas cookie. It is not only tasty, but also festively beautiful. And if you pierce holes in the cookies with a boiler tube before baking, then you can thread ribbons into the finished product and decorate the New Year tree. You can also put cookies in a beautiful themed box and present to your friends. It is a special pleasure to decorate the gingerbread men, where all fantasies can be realized.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 400 g
- Butter - 100 g
- Sugar - 100 g for the dough, 50 g for the glaze
- Honey - 100 g
- Eggs - 2 pcs. for dough, 1 pc. for glaze
- Ground ginger - 1 tsp
- Ground cinnamon - 1 tsp
- Baking powder - 2 tsp
- Eggs - 1 pc.
- Lemon juice - a few drops
Cooking Gingerbread Man Cookies:
- Mash soft butter with sugar, add melted (but not brought to a boil) honey and stir.
- While stirring continuously, add the pre-beaten eggs, ginger and cinnamon to the butter. Stir, add flour combined with baking powder and knead the dough.
- Roll out the dough into a thin layer about 5-7 mm and place on a parchment sheet. If the dough is rolled out thicker, the cookies will be softer, thinner - crisp.
- Cut out the figures with special molds or using a stencil, remove the scraps and transfer the little men to a baking sheet directly with parchment.
- Heat the oven to 180 degrees and send the baking sheet to bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes.
- For the icing, beat the egg white, sugar and lemon juice. Melted chocolate, pastry topping, coconut flakes, natural dyes made from carrot juice, boiled beets, parsley, blueberries or food dyes, etc. can be added to this base.
- Cool the finished cookies, decorate with icing and leave until it hardens.
