CHRISTMAS RECIPES FOR THE SCHOOL CHRISTMAS COOKING CONTEST-RECETAS NAVIDEÑAS PARA EL CONCURSO GASTRONÓMICO NAVIDEÑO DE LA EOI

CHRISTMAS CARROT PUDDING
Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated raw carrot
1 cup grated raw potato
1 cup dates or raisins
1 cup walnutsBrandy Sauce
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
6 tablespoons sweet cream
4 tablespoons brandy

RECIPE DIRECTIONS:
1.Mix and put in a greased baking dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake 2 to 3 hours at 325 degrees.
2.Serve with brandy sauce.
3.Brandy Sauce: Mix sugar and butter creamed together. Add sweet cream and heat gently and stir constantly. Then add brandy.


CHRISTMAS CRUNCH SALAD
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 18

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups fresh broccoli florets
4 cups fresh cauliflower
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halvedDressing
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
Pepper to taste

RECIPE DIRECTIONS:
1.In a large salad bowl, combine vegetables. Whisk the dressing ingredients until smooth; pour over vegetables and toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.


CHRISTMAS EVE COSCOUS
Difficulty: Hard
Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS:
2 ounces Oil
1 pound Onions, sliced
1 pound Carrots, sliced
1 1/2 pound Acorn squash peeled, seeded and diced
1 teaspoon Ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon Powdered cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1/4 teaspoon Ground white pepper, or more
1 1/2 pint Water or vegetable stock
1 pound Courgettes trimmed and sliced
1 pound Frozen broad beans
Salt
1 Squeeze lemon juice
1 dash Sugar
Chopped fresh corianderGrain
1 pound Couscous
1 teaspoon Salt
2 ounces ButterExtras
1 tablespoon Harissa sauce
15 ounces Canned chick peas, drained
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
6 ounces Raisins
4 ounces Pine nuts
8 ounces Soy yogurt
A dusting of paprika

RECIPE DIRECTIONS:
1.First make the stew. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes, then add the carrots, squash and spices. Cook for a further 10 minutes, with a lid on, stirring from time to time until all are buttery and spicy.
2.Add the water or stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are just becoming tender. Add the courgettes and broad beans, and cook for a further 5 minutes or so. Season with salt, lemon juice, and a little sugar if necessary. (This is best made in advance and reheated, as the flavors improve -- it is particularly good after freezing.)
3.Now make the grain. This is an unusual way to cook couscous, but I find it gives the best results. Put the couscous into a baking tin and add 1 pint of water; immediately drain this off and return the couscous to the tin. Leave it for 20 minutes, separating the grains with your fingers after 10 minutes, or more times if you're passing. Put the couscous into a sieve or steamer lined with a blue J-cloth. Set over a pan of simmering water (it doesn't have to be the stew) for 20 minutes.
4.Tip the couscous back into the baking tin and pour over 5 fl oz cold water with the salt dissolved in it. Sift the grains with your fingers and leave for 15 minutes, then put back into the lined steamer and heat as above for a further 20 minutes. Sift with your fingers into a serving bowl and stir in the butter. Set aside while you put together the extras.
5.To assemble and serve, take a ladleful of liquid from the stew and add it to the harissa to make a thick paste. Put this into a small bowl. Drain the chick peas.
6.In a small pan, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds, stirring for a moment or two, then add the chick peas and stir until heated through. Put into a second small bowl. Cover the raising with boiling water, leave for 10 minutes or longer to plump, then drain and put into a third small bowl. Put the pine nuts into a fourth bowl -- they can be lightly toasted if you like.
7.Finally, put the yogurt into a fifth bowl and dust the top with some paprika. To serve, ladle the stew over the couscous and garnish with chopped fresh coriander.


CHRISTMAS CHEESE BALLS
Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 package (8 oz. size) cream cheese, softened
6 ounces blue cheese
6 ounces Cheez Whiz
4 ounces Velveeta, grated
1/8 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1 jar Old English Kraft Cheese, optional
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons grated onion
1 cup ground pecans
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

RECIPE DIRECTIONS:
1.Combine cheeses with onion, Worcestershire, and MSG. Beat until well blended. Stir in half the pecans and half the parsley.
2.Shape in a ball or several small balls for gift giving. Wrap in plastic wrap, then in foil; refrigerate overnight. 1 hour before serving, roll in remaining pecans and parsley. If freezing, omit parsley rolling. Freezes well.

Acadian Cranberry Pie
Ingredients:

2 cups of cranberries
1/4 cup of water
3/4 cup of water plus two tablespoons of sugar
1 egg, lightly beated
tablespoon of butter
pastry for 9" double crust lattice top pie
1 cup of heavy cream

Directions:

Cook cranberries, water and sugar about 25 minutes. Allow mixture to cook and add beaten egg and butter. Roll out pastry for bottom crust, place in pie pan and bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Fill crust with cranberry mixture. Top with lattice crust. Return pie to oven and bake for another 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with cream.

Lemon Pudding
Ingredients:

60 g butter
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk

Directions:

Beat softened butter and sugar until it is well mixed and then stir in sifted flour, lemon rind and juice.
Combine the 2 egg yolks with the milk, then gradually add to the mixture, beating well as you go. Beat the egg whites until there are soft peaks, and fold into the mixture.
Pour into a greased 4 cup oven-proof dish. Bake in moderate oven for 35 minutes.

Orange Almond Cake
Ingredients:

3 large oranges
500g white sugar
6 large eggs
500g almond meal

Directions:
Bring a pot of water to the boil, add the oranges, cover and simmer for one hour. Stain off the water. Cool the oranges. If you are in a hurry, I suggest you partly cool them. While they are cooling, food process the sugar with the eggs until the sugar is dissolved and pour into a bowl. Cut the oranges in half and de-seed them and put the oranges (with peel and pith) into a food processor and pulp until reasonably smooth. Pour the pulp into the sugar/egg mix and add the almond meal. Gently mix together. Pour mix into baking paper lined 24 - 26cm springform tin and bake for 50 - 60 minutes at 185°C. Serve with creme fraiche, whipped cream, or vanilla ice-cream.


TRIFLE

There are so many different recipes for trifle - but this one is easy to make and can be adapted to your own tastes.
Easy to make - yes. But please allow a day to prepare it. Some of the ingredients need to be allowed to cool before you can go on to the next step in the recipe.
I suggest that you make it the day before you need it then store it in the refrigerator until it is needed. (Keep the bowl covered with something like 'cling film' to prevent it drying our or absorbing the smell of anything else in the fridge).
This will make a trifle large enough for about 6 people.
Ingredients:
1 swiss roll or sponge cake
1 packet of fruit flavoured jelly (Jell-O)
1 tin fruit
custard
fruit/chocolate/decorations*
sherry**
* This is for decoration - try using bananas, grated chocolate, pistachio etc - but try to co-ordinate with the flavour of the jelly.
** Optional - use about 2 tablespoons maximum.
Method:
1. Cut the swiss roll into slices about ½ to ¾ inch thick.
2. Get a large glass serving dish or bowl. Line the bottom and sides with the swiss roll slices.
3. Sprinkle the sherry over the bottom (but do not use too much or you will destroy the trifle flavour) and pour the canned fruit (complete with its juice) into the bottom - do it carefully so as not to disturb the swiss roll slices. 
4. Prepare the fruit jelly (Jell-O) to the manufacturer's instructions. Put it in the fridge until ALMOST set.
5. Now spread the nearly set jelly over the swiss roll slices and the fruit. Leave to set.  (WARNING: If you pour the hot/warm jelly over the swiss roll it will be absorbed and there will be no 'jelly' layer).
6. Make the custard, but ensure it is thick (but not lumpy!). Leave it to cool.
7. When the custard is cool pour it over the jelly layer in the bowl. Make sure the custard is NOT hot - if it is it will melt the jelly and make a mess of the whole trifle.
8. Allow the whole to cool - preferable in the fridge.
9. Just before serving decorate the top layer of custard. You can drop on banana slices, grate chocolate, add cherries, cream - let your imagination run riot - but try to do something that will not 'clash' with the fruit in the trifle or the jelly.

Homemade Pumpkin Cheesecake

You've drooled over Pumpkin cheesecake at restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory, now you can make your own, and even better! You can use fresh the best possible flavor or canned pumpkin to save time! All I can say about this recipe is WOW! It is
incredibly good! And if you use fat free cream cheese and egg beaters, so the recipe is almost no-fat and low sugar! If you make it with Splenda, it is an actual HEALTHY dessert that tastes sinfully good!
This makes 1 springform pan or 2 nine-inch deep dish pies
Ingredients and Equipment
2 cups of fresh cooked pumpkin (see this page to make your own from a fresh pumpkin) OR one can of commercial canned pumpkin (about 12 ounces total)
3 package (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
2 cup sugar (or 2 cups Splenda; or 1  A graham cracker pie crust in a springform cheesecake pan (10 inch diameter, 3 inches deep) or in two 9-inch deep-dish pie plates, unbaked (make your own crust, easy and much better than storebought - click here for directions!)
dash salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
http://www.Pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/pumpkincheesecake.php

7 eggs or Egg Beaters
2 cups evaporated milk (I use fatfree)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg* (or substitute 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice for these spices)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
2. Make a graham cracker crust in one springform cheesecake pan OR in two 9 inch deep pie dishes (see this page for instructions - or use a purchased deep dish graham cracker crust)
Cream Cheese Layer:
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the 3 packages of cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract - mix well! (I used the fat free cream cheese and it tasted GREAT, even my junk-food junkie friends raved about it)
4. Beat in 4 eggs; (either beat them separately, or directly with the other ingredients). Again, I used Egg Beaters and they worked great and tasted great!
5. Pour the mixture in the pie crust.
Pumpkin Layer:
6. In a large bowl, mix the pumpkin, 1 cup of sugar, a dash of salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or, instead of these spices, separately; just 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice).
7. Lightly beat 3 eggs (or use egg substitutes, like Egg Beaters or Better ’N Eggs) and blend them in.
8. Mix in the 2 cups of evaporated milk.
9. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the cream cheese layer that is already in the pie crust. Don’t stir it in, nor worry about floating it on top. Just gently pour it in. As it cooks, it will settle out just right!
10. Bake the pumpkin pie in the oven at 350° for about 70 minutes; possibly another 10 minutes (until it has firmed up). The cream cheese layer will bubble up to the surface some; that's fine; it gives it the characteristic appearance.
11.Cool the pumpkin pie and refrigerate it! It won't really firm up unless you refrigerate it (it IS a cheesecake!) . It will take a while – overnight is best,
but a least a few hours.
It's great with a little whipped cream or topping. Let me know whether you agree
(or disagree) that this is the best pumpkin cheesecake ever!

Roast Smoked Loin of Pork with Herb Mash, Buttered Cabbage and Whiskey JusThis is an awarding winning pork dish from John Howard.
 
Serves 4 
1½ kg (3 lbs) smoked loin of pork (Kassler)
250ml (½ pt) cider
Sprig of thyme
1kg (2 lbs) creamy mashed potatoes, kept warm
2 tablesp. chives and parsley
4-6 tablesp. very finely chopped cabbage, cooked in a small amount of water, salt and butter
8-12 roast shallots
Butter
To Cook 
Set oven Gas Mark 6, 200°C (400°F). Roast the kassler for approx. ½-1 hour. Halfway through cooking add in the cider and thyme. When the meat is cooked, wrap and keep warm. Boil up the juices in the pan. Set aside. Mix the creamy potatoes with the chives and parsley.
To Serve
Pipe or spoon the potatoes onto the plate. Carve the meat and lay on the bed of potato. Spoon the cabbage onto the plate plus the roast shallots. Finally boil up the juices again with a knob of butter. Taste for seasoning and spoon around the meat. 

Steak & Guinness pie
1 kg of steak
1 tablespoon cream flour
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon raisins
5x onions
300ml Guinness
8 slices Donnelly's bacon
3 oz lard  

Make the pastry before you begin to make the casserole.
Now cut steak into bite sized cubes,
Put the steak into the flour and make sure it is all covered.
In a pan gently melt the lard,
Add the steak, bacon and cook until it starts to brown.
Peel and chop the onion and add to the pan.
Place steak, bacon and onion in a casserole dish.
Add the raisins and brown sugar,
Pour in the Guinness.
Cover tightly and simmer over a low heat or in a very moderate oven (325-350F) for 2 1/2 hours.
Stir occasionally.
Add more Guinness or water if the rich brown gravy gets too thick.
Line a deep pie dish with half the pie crust (bake it blind).
Then add the Guinness and steak mixture.
Cover with a layer of pie crust
bake until finished about another 10 minutes.

Barbecued Irish sausages with tomato relish

4 Jumbo Sausages
Simmer the sausages for 2- 3 mins in boiling water, well in advance of the barbecue, this will get rid of excess fat and reduce flare-ups.
Tomato relish
1 can tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped 
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablesp. ginger, chopped
1 tablesp. brown sugar
1 tablesp. wine vinegar
1 chilli, chopped
1 tablesp. fish /soy sauce
Simmer all the ingredients over a low heat for 20 - 30 mins., stirring every now and then. Taste for seasoning. This is a really useful relish to keep in the fridge. 
To barbecue:
Cook the sausages for 5 - 6 mins each side and serve with the relish.

Chocolate Christmas Yule Log
An Easy, But Delicious Recipe for a Chocolate Christmas Yule Log!
Unlike most Yule log recipes, this recipe is easy to follow yet produces an
absolutely delicious chocolate Yule log, that looks as great as it tastes. Most yule log recipes are timeconsuming,messing and difficult because they require finicky ingredients or expensive or hard to find ingredients.
A little chocolate Yule Log history and variations
A Chocolate Christmas Yule Log or a traditional Bûche de Noël ("Yule log") is a
dessert served during the Christmas holidays in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium,
Quebec, Lebanon and several other Christian-populated countries, with ever-growing
popularity in the United State. The cake is made to resemble a log ready for the fire.
The traditional Yule Log is made from a sponge cake (Génoise, also called a Swiss Roll in the U.K.) generally baked in a large, shallow baking pan, frosted with 1/4 inch to 1/2 of either a chocolate or whipped cream filling (or in some cases a chocolate buttercream filling), then rolled again to form a cylinder, and iced on the outside with a chocolate icing (frosting). There are many variations on the traditional recipe,including chocolate cakes, ganache, Nutella filling, mocha and espresso or other frostings and fillings. Yule logs are often served with a portion of one end of the cake cut off and set on top of the cake to resemble a chopped off branch, and barklike texture is often produced in the buttercream or with chocolate flakes, for further realism. These cakes are often decorated with powdered sugar to resemble snow, tree branches, fresh berries, and mushrooms made of marzipan or meringue.
http://pickyourownchristmastree.org/yulelog.php
The recipe below produces an awesome light, fluffy and very chocolately, Yule log
with a light chocolate sponge cake rolled with an equally light egg-white and cocoabased filling, then frosted with a chocolate icing! The photos accompanying each step should help make it even easier! I've included some suggestions if you'd rather have a white or other filling.
Ingredients
Cake
5 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
1 cup sugar, divided into two 1/2 cup amounts
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa (powdered cocoa, 70% or greater cocoa, no added sugar is best, two brands are shown in the photos at right)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Filling
4 egg whites
2 cups Confectioners' sugar (also called powdered sugar and in the UK, icing sugar)
1/4 cup baking cocoa (powdered cocoa)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract