Fish!

We hadn't eaten fish in a while and I was able to get some inexpensive Trevally from the market and found this recipe which everyone enjoyed.

BAKED TREVALLY PARMESAN
4 trevally fillets
Olive oil
Salt & fresh ground black pepper
4 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 bacon rashers
Juice of 1 lemon

Rub trevally with oil, salt & pepper. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan & parsley, rub all over fish. Place fish on top of bacon arranged in baking dish, add lemon juice. Bake until tender. Serve hot with juice pored over. Serves 4

Christmas Drinks

Sangria

Combine equal parts of chilled sparkling shiraz, red grapefruit juice and lemonade in a jug. Add plenty of ice and mint. You can also add one sliced apple and one sliced orange, if desired.

Yummy and refreshing!

Another sparkling cocktail

Place 4 drops of Angostura Aromatic Bitters into the base of 8 champagne flutes. Add 1/4 cup tropical fruit juice (or other juice) to each flute. Top flutes with chilled sparkling wine and 1 tsp passionfruit pulp. Enjoy!

Christmas Ham

A lot of my Christmas recipes this year came from the Safeway Fresh Magazine.

1 (3.5 - 5kg) Cooked Leg Ham on the Bone
500ml Muscat liqueur
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 lemons, rind finely grated, juiced
1 tbs oil
1 kg small onions, peeled trimmed
1 cup demerara sugar 1/4 cup malt vinegar
1/4 cup seeded mustard

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Carefully remove the rind from the ham. Use a sharp knife to score the fat in a diamond pattern, at least 5mm deep.
2. Pour the muscat into a large oven proof baking dish Add the brown sugar, lemon rind and lemon juice and stir to combine.
3. Place the ham, scored side down, in the baking dish and cook in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, basting occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the whole onions to the pan and cook for 3 minutes or until golden.
5. Add the demerara sugar, malt vinegar and mustard to the pan and simmer for 25 minutes or until the onion has caramelised.
6. Turn the ham and baste well. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes. Add any excess basting liquid to te onion mixture and simmer until liquid has reduced by half. Serve ham warm or cold with caramelised onions.


I used sherry instead of muscat, and Dijon mustard instead of seeded, as one guest does not like seeded mutsard. I did not have malt vinegar , so I used balsamic. Also I got a bit carried away with the reducing, so my onion mixute ended up a bit like toffee, but the flavour was amazing.

This BBQ Ham Salad was very yummy for using leftover ham.

Traditional Eggnog Recipe

Got this from this website, thanks to Google

12 eggs, separated
6 cups milk
2 cups heavy/ thickened cream
2 cups bourbon
1+ ½ cups sugar
¾ cup brandy
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

In a large bowl and using a mixer, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar for approx 10 minutes (you want the mixture to be firm and the colour of butter).
Very slowly, add in the bourbon and brandy - just a little at a time.
When bourbon and brandy have been added, allow the mixture to cool in the fridge (for up to 6 hours, depending on how long before your party you're making the eggnog).
30 minutes before your guests arrive, stir the milk into the chilled yolk mixture.
Stir in 1+ ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, beat the cream with a mixer on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks.
In yet another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
Gently fold the cream into the egg mixture.
After ladling into cups, garnish with the remainder of the ground nutmeg.

Serves: 8.

Made this for some friends. I divided the recipe in 3, so I used 4 eggs. There was enough for a glass and a bit for 4 of us. Delicious! I'll use this recipe for Christmas Eve.

Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes

Great finger food desserts!

Makes 16

16 sweet pastry cases

425g can raspberries, drained

250g block PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Grated rind of 1 lemon

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

icing sugar, to dust

1. BAKE the pastry cases at 200°C for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
2. SPOON the berries into each pastry case. Combine the remaining ingredients and mix well until smooth, then spoon evenly over the berries.
3. BAKE at 180°C for 20-25 minutes or until filling is set and pastry is golden. Allow to cool. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Suitable to freeze.