Copying Disney snacks – Dolewhip (Christmas holiday kids activity)

This is a recipe I tried in the summer as we were majorly missing our Disney parks fix for the year. I did however think it would a fun one to do with kids over the Christmas break to eat/drink with a Disney movie or a vlog of one of the parks. It contains fruit at least to cut through lots of the rich Christmas food.

Ingredients:

2 cups of frozen pineapple (you can buy the tinned stuff; drain and freeze)

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon lemon or a dash

Method:

1. Allow the pineapple to defrost a little (20 minutes)

2. Blend everything together

We had some straws leftover from our last visit to really make you feel at Disney home. There are some similar ones online though (https://amzn.to/3SRMe1E).

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Jalapeño bottle tops (copycat recipe)

I first had these in the states at a Hooters. We had spent the day in the Florida heat and stopped for an ice cold beer and some wings. I noticed these on the menu and thought we’d try them. They were ridiculously good. If you want a new year snack I’d highly recommend. Serve with sour cream or even ranch dressing.

Ingredients:

Fresh mini jalapeño peppers

100ml buttermilk or 2 eggs beaten if you can’t get hold of it

Bowl of flour with a teaspoon of garlic salt: salt, pepper, paprika and onion powcer

Method:

1. Slice your peppers into 1/2cm slices

2. Drench the slices in the buttermilk or eggs

3. Drop the slices into the flour and spices mixture

4. Fry until golden brown in a shallow pan with some cooking oil

Easy but dirty Mac and cheese

I have always loved the American classic Mac and cheese. I tend to buy the box stuff and make up but this thanksgiving I decided to try a slightly more complex version. It’s still super easy and tasty though.

Ingredients:

Pasta (macaroni classic but use what you have)

Flour tablespoon and splash of milk 100ml

50g butter

Cheddar 200g grated (don’t buy the pre-grated stuff as it’s covered in flour). Keep a little aside to sprinkle on top

50ml evaporated milk (https://amzn.to/3Tn1Km3)

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cool your pasta as normal in salted boiling water until just cooked

2. Heat your oven to 200 degrees c

3. To a saucepan add the butter and melt. Add a little flour and constantly stirring cook out the flour for a few minutes. Add a little milk at a time to make a roux sauce. Add the rest of the milk

4. Season with salt and pepper

5. Add the cheese and evaporated milk and simmer for about 3 minutes

6. Drain the pasta and put in an oven dish. Pour the sauce over the pasta

7. Sprinkle with some leftover grated cheese and season

8. Cook for 15 minutes until cheese has browned but check constantly

Leftover turkey pie recipe

So. It’s Boxing Day or a day or so later abs you’ve made turkey sandwiches. Now what do you do with the rest of the leftover turkey?

I personally love a good pie. Turkey and even the leftover vegetables can be a great pie filling. You can always make short crust but I’m guessing after Christmas you want an easier time.

Ingredients:

4 potatoes (cut into cubes) – these can be leftover roast potatoes

Chunks of turkey (dark and light meat mix the best)

1 onion

1 splash olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

Pinch of sage or a fresh leaf chopped

Any leftover stuffing chopped up

Any leftover Christmas vegetables cut up

1 pack frozen puff or short crust pastry

1 egg whisked or 1 tbsp milk to glaze the pastry

Method

1. Boil potatoes for 10-20 minutes dependant on their size until they are soft (or chop up if leftovers£
2. Fry onions in olive oil until softened
3. Add turkey; vegetables and seasoning
4. Add to a baking tin and cover with pastry
5. Glaze with egg or milk
6. Sprinkle with sea salt
7. Bake for 25 minutes at 200 degree c
8. Serve

Christmas leftovers – Bubble & Squeek

I’ve never tried making bubble and squeek before but as we had tonnes of leftovers from Christmas Day I figured I had to do something with the turkey and the vegetables. I imagine quite a lot of people this year sadly had too much food due to the COVID restrictions on family sizes.

Apparently the squeek comes from the veggies frying and releasing water and I definitely saw the sprouts do this.

Ingredients:

Leftover chopped up mash; veggies and even pigs in blanket and a little turkey

Egg for frying

Seasoning and a little oul

Method:

1. Simply chop it all and fry off in a pan until brown and cooked through. Season well

2. In parallel fry off an egg

3. I served with beans and it went well but I also felt it needed a texture like toast or fried bread for next time

Tip: A lot of steam comes off so open a window and next time I’m going to do in mini patties to let the steam escape and allow them to crisp up sooner

Enjoy!

Sprout crisps (leftover Christmas) Keto

This recipe is one I’ve been meaning to try for ages and could be a really good use of your leftover sprouts after Christmas or if you are trying to eat a little better as they are super low carb.

I have bought a large bag of sprouts so thought I’d give it a go in advance

Ingredients:

Sprouts

Salt and pepper

Oil

Cumin

Chill powder

Paprika

Method: Very simply cut off the bottom of the sprout and separate the leaves. Place on a lightly spray oiled baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with the spices and seasonings. Bake for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees c but keep an eye on them as they suddenly crisp up.

Merry Christmas from our family xxx

Perfect roast potatoes (Nigella style)

Perfect Roast Potatoes

These roast potatoes are partially taken from a Nigella Lawson cookbook. I was used to cooking my roasties in as much fat as I could as that’s what I’d been given as a kid but I’d never coated them in semolina before. The semolina makes them crunchy and sweet but not in a sickly way. If you cook them slowly and allow them to really brown they are literally the best potatoes in the world and trust me I’ve had a lot of compliments.

As it’s Christmas tomorrow I’d recommend a one off addition of goose fat instead of cooking oil for a Christmas treat.

Ingredients

2.5kg Maris Piper potatoes

2-3 tbsps semolina

Sunflower oil; butter or goose fat (at Christmas)

Pinch of salt and pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees
2. Cut the potatoes into ⅓ pieces and boil in salted water for about 10 minutes
3. Drain the potatoes and shake them around in the colander to make rough edges
4. In a roasting tin and the fat and put in the oven for a few minutes before you add the potatoes. You can also heat in on the hob but be careful with hot fat as it splits
5. Drop the potatoes into the roasting tin and sprinkle over semolina and salt/pepper
6. Shake the potatoes around so they get covered in the fat
7. Roast for about 40 minutes shaking the tin occasionally until they are golden brown and crunchy

Buy goose fat at https://amzn.to/3RWtWuI

Turkey brining (quick and easy)

This post is from attempt at an American thanksgiving meal and doing some researching into brining. Brining your turkey basically gives it more flavour and helps keep it moist so I figured it was worth a try. There are wet and dry brines. Nigella Lawson has an excellent recipe of soaking her turkey in a big tub with lots of lovely liquid and spices. As there’s only two of us for Christmas Day (the baby doesn’t count yet as he can’t eat it) it was a simple version.

There’s a great set of vlogs from Bon Appetit on YouTube where they make the perfect thanksgiving and this is inspired by all their hard work.

Quite simply you fry off your bird with paper towels and sprinkle liberally in a dry mix of salt (kosher/sea) and brown sugar. Leave uncovered in a cold place such as your fridge overnight. That’s it!

Christmas Chutney (for cheese & crackers)

Wandering around the local national trust market we picked up a lot of new cheeses to try at Christmas. Imagine cheddar with chilli or lime; honey soft cheeses and various hard cheeses with fruits like cranberry and apricots. As we were going to the one off effort of the cheeses I figured the least I could do is make some fruity chutney to go with it. I also had a load of Christmassy mixed fruits and spices leftover from making mincepies (https://modernmrsbeeton.blog/?s=mince+) and my pudding recipe.

Serve up with a lovely mulled wine!

https://modernmrsbeeton.blog/2018/10/01/cheats-mulled-wine-recipe/

Ingredients:

• 1kg dried fruit (I had sultanas; raisins and cranberries)
• 450g white onions
• 1 pint cider vinegar
• 1 heaped spoon ginger
• 50g sea salt
• 1 pinch all spice (and any other Christmassy spices you have)
• 450g brown sugar
• 1 litre jar

Obviously tailor the quantities up and down to how much you want to make. This makes just over a 1 litre but I’m planning on keeping it until next year to see if ages well (or not).

Method:

1. Chop everything into small pieces.
2. Put all in a big pan or slow cooker if you don’t have one big enough.
3. Cook on low for 1.5 hours.
4. Test the jam on a cold plate to see if it firms up to a good consistency.
5. Seal in the sterilised (dishwasher or boiling water) jar.

Mince

If you prefer something more sweet and fruity go for my pear jam to have on your Christmas crumpets.

https://modernmrsbeeton.blog/2018/06/05/pear-jam/

Serve with lots of cheese; crackers, pate and butter.

If you want similar jars to mine to store it in you can find them at:

https://amzn.to/3S49XL2