To keep you inspired and ease the stress in the kitchen this Christmas we have put together a blog of some of our favourite Christmas recipes. If fruit Christmas trees, Marmalade ginger glazed ham, fancy chocolate dipped strawberries, feta and basil skewers, or mulled pears & blue cheese salad sound like scroll on down.
The recipes are festive, delicious and healthy so should keep the whole family happy!
Fruit Christmas trees
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
¼ watermelon, peeled
½ honeydew melon, peeled
½ rock melon, peeled
Method:
Cut melon in 1.5-2cm thick slices. Discard skin and seeds.
Cut star shapes from fruit with cutters. Thread three graded stars from the different fruits onto each skewers, going from the largest to the smallest.
Stand the stars on a serving plate. Secure with toothpick.
Recipe source: https://www.healthyfood.co.nz/healthy-recipes/fruit-christmas-trees
Leg Ham with Marmalade Ginger Glaze
Serves 12 (with plenty of leftovers for Boxing Day)
Ingredients
1 x 7kg leg ham
Cloves, to decorate
500g jar orange or ginger marmalade
1 tbsp grated ginger
½ cup whisky or brandy
2 tbsp grainy mustard
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Cut around the shank of the ham, then gently using your fingers, remove skin from ham, leaving fat layer. Score into diamonds to decorate, not cutting all way through.
Decorate with cloves, by placing into centre of each diamond. Heat marmalade, ginger, whisky and mustard in small saucepan, simmer
5 minutes, until thickened.Place ham onto a roasting pan with a rack, cover shank with foil. Pour 1 cup of water into pan. Brush 1⁄3 marinade on ham. Cook ham for 20 minutes, then brush with another 1⁄3 of the marinade, cook a further 20 minutes. Brush with remaining marinade and cook for 20 minutes or until golden, glazed and sticky. Place on large platter, remove foil and slice to serve.
TIP: If a whole leg is too much, use a half leg of ham, or a small shoulder of ham. Simply halve the glaze ingredients, but cook in the same way.
Recipe source: https://www.mindfood.com/au/recipe/leg-ham-with-marmalade-ginger-glaze/
Choc-Dipped Strawberries
Ingredients:
1 punnet of fresh strawberries
75g 85% dark chocolate
A selection of toppings e.g. desiccated coconut, sunflower/pumpkin seeds, chopped peanuts…
Method:
Line a tray or plate with baking paper. Pour each topping onto own small plates or bowls. If toppings are in large pieces, like nuts, pour into the blender and blitz until chunky meal has formed.
Break chocolate into chunks into a bowl. Melt until smooth using bain-marie method or microwave.
Dip each strawberry about 3/4 of the way in the dark chocolate, and then hold strawberry above the bowl of melted chocolate to let any excess drip off. Dunk each strawberry into the toppings, until each side is evenly coated.
Place onto the baking tray. Once you have a tray full, place tray in the fridge for strawberries to harden.
Recipe source: https://healthyalways.co.nz/blog/2016/12/12/fancy-chocolate-dipped-strawberries
Watermelon, Feta and Basil Skewers
Ingredients:
1/2 watermelon
1 block of feta cheese
Fresh basil leaves
1 lemon
Method:
Cut watermelon into small cubes (around 3cmx3cm). Squeeze a little lemon juice over each cube.
Cut feta into small cubes, around 2cmx2cm.
Peirce each piece of cubed watermelon with a cube of feta and a single basil leaf using a toothpick.
Recipe from: https://healthyalways.co.nz/blog/2016/4/17/watermelon-feta-and-basil-skewers
Mulled Pears & Blue Cheese Salad
Serves 8
Ingredients:
750ml (3 cups) red wine
1 cup brown sugar
3 star anise
2 whole cinnamon quills
4 cloves
3 pieces lemon peel
8 small firm pears, peeled
120g green salad leaf
100g blue cheese, crumbled
¼ cup roasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped, toasted
Ready-made vinaigrette dressing
Method:
Place wine, sugar, star anise, cinnamon, cloves and lemon peel into a large saucepan, stirring over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
Place pears into pot, adding extra water to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover pears with a circle of baking paper to cover, and cook for 40 minutes or until tender.
Remove pears from liquid. Increase heat to medium, reduce for 20 minutes or until reduced to quarter and looks a little syrupy.
Place salad leaves on platter. Top with halved pears, crumble over blue cheese and hazelnuts. Drizzle with dressing.
Recipe: https://www.mindfood.com/recipe/mulled-pears-blue-cheese-salad/
We hope you enjoy these Christmas recipes!
This blog was especially created for our friends at southern cross while we help them out on there health journey.
Happy Christmas from the Feel Fresh Team!
