turkey – Colette's Food Blog

Merry Christmas to you, loyal followers of my blog posts.

Have you ever thought how Christmas was celebrated a few decades ago? What was a traditional Christmas dinner like? On the spur of the moment, I thought I’d have a quick look at Christmas in Malta, not so long ago.

At the time, Malta being a devoutly Catholic country, Christmas centred around ecclesiastical celebrations. In the run up to Christmas, young children participated (some still do, today) in a procession around the village (il-purcissjoni tal-bambin), carrying a figure of the baby Jesus and singing Christmas carols along the way.

The Christmas crib and baby Jesus were typical decorations of every household with midnight mass, on Christmas eve, being the highlight of Christmas celebrations. During this mass, a young boy was chosen to deliver a heart-felt Christmas sermon. Another tradition that’s still around, to this day.

A tradition which seems to have died over the years is the traditional Maltese Christmas meal. Turkey was not always on the Christmas menu. In most families, the Christmas menu consisted of a fattened capon (ħasi) accompanied with baked potatoes (patata l-forn) and a selection of seasonal vegetables. Very often, the big bird and potatoes were cooked – kind-of baked but not exactly roasted – in a very large, tailor-made dish. On Christmas day, in the morning, housewives and husbands alike would take their dishes to the local bakery – home ovens were not large enough to cook the traditional Christmas meal. Crusty, local bread was typically served with the meal to mop up the juices from the bird and potatoes. Usually, vegetables were cooked at home.

The main course was followed by a pastry ring stuffed with black treacle. Nowadays, these traditional sweets, known as treacle rings (qagħaq tal-għasel), are found at local confectioneries, but they do not necessarily form part of the Christmas meal. They’re more likely to be served at tea time.

As if that wasn’t enough, the traditional Christmas meal would end with a thick, warm drink of stewed chestnuts and cocoa (imbuljuta tal-qastan). The warm, thick, chocolaty beverage was also the go to drink after midnight mass and throughout the cold, winter months.

I remember my mother cooking a traditional Maltese Christmas lunch. What was Christmas lunch like, when you were younger?

My thanks go to

Azure.com – Top 5 Christmas Customs in Malta
A Maltese Mouthful
Ilovefood.com.mt
196flavors.com

Image: Introduzzjoni ghall-ikel u nbid ta’ Malta – Puligraf Publishing

Are you cooking the typical turkey dinner this Christmas? Most people do. But for those of us who eat fish, I would like to share a simple recipe I came across years ago. It’s so quick and easy to make and … it never fails! It certainly is a crowd pleaser!

Holiday Side of Salmon

This recipe is taken from a Christmas cookbook supplement which came as a freebie with Essentials magazine many moons ago. I remember picking up this magazine from the newsagent’s at Heathrow airport thinking it would make a good read.

Doesn’t it look spectacular? But it really couldn’t be simpler to cook.

Ingredients

* one whole side of salmon (approx. 1.6kg – 2kg)
* juice and zest of 2 limes, plus extra to serve
* 100ml dark rum
* 50g dark brown sugar
* 2tbsp honey
* 2tbsp soy sauce
* 1tsp ginger, peeled and grated
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 1tsp allspice

Serves 8-10

How to prepare your salmon

Put all the ingredients (except salmon) in food container large enough to take your fish. Mix well. Put in the salmon and coat all over. Close the container and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours.
Heat oven to gas mark 7 / 220 degrees Celsius. Remove the salmon from the marinade and put in a lined roasting dish. Bake for 15 minutes.
Boil the marinade in a pan for 5 minutes until thickened. Drizzle over the salmon and bake for a further 5 minutes.

Rest the fish in a warm place for a couple of minutes before serving.

Ideas for sides

My favourite side dishes to go with salmon are spinach and lentils. I think they go so well together.

This is my latest warm spinach salad

* rinse spinach leaves and put in pot with a tight fitting lid
* steam gently for a few minutes until the leaves are just beginning to wilt – drain any excess water
* warm one tablespoon of olive oil and saute two cloves of crushed garlic and two spring onions, finely chopped
* remove from the heat and pour over spinach – top with toasted flaked almonds.

My puy lentil salad is just as quick and easy to make. Rinse the lentils and boil in vegetable stock for 15-20 minutes (do not overcook) – drain. In the meantime finely chop an onion, courgette, two celery sticks and one large carrot. Saute in a tablespoon of olive oil for ten minutes. Remove from the heat – add boiled lentils, chopped parsley and 75g of dried cranberries.

Make dressing by putting two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, one tablespoon balsamic vinegar, one crushed garlic clove, salt and pepper in a screw top jar, mix well and drizzle over lentils.

And for the final touch, you can add some potato wedges.

Try it … I guarantee your guests will be impressed.

My thanks go to Essential Magazine https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=essentialsmagazine for this lovely salmon recipe.

Tag: turkey

What does your traditional Christmas dinner consist of?