HOLIDAY MENUS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 December 1938, Page 8

HOLIDAY MENUS

SOME SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. Here are two after-Christmas menus: —

| MENU 1. I I 1 I Iced consomme I I Roast turkey and ham | | Beans. Roast potatoes I I Cranberry sauce. I j Frozen plum pudding | | Mince pies. Jelly trifle | I Fruit. Coffee. Nuts I I I

Iced Consomme. Take 141b' shin beef, 2 pints cold water, 1 stalk celery, 1 small carrot, turnip, 1 small brown onion, herbs, salt, a few crushed peppercorns. Cut up the meat, wash it, and put into a saucepan with the cold water. Add a level teaspoonful salt, a few crushed peppercorns (tied in a piece of muslin), and bring to the boil very slowly. Remove the scum from the broth, add the herbs, also the cleaned and prepared vegetables, but not cut up. Simmer gently for two to three hours. Then strain the soup through a clean, thick cloth into a basin. With careful simmering the soup ought to be quite clear. When cold remove the fat, re-heat the soup, pour into cups, and leave on the ice until required. Before serving sprinkle some very finely-chopped parsley into the soup. Serve -with Melba toast, and allow a good cupful for each guest.

Seasoning for Turkey. Take ;;lb breadcrumbs, 6oz grated suet, 2 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley, 1 grated lemon .rind, 2 eggs, a little milk if necessary, a little nutmeg, salt, cayenne pepper to taste, 4oz lean ham. Rub the breadcrumbs through a fine sieve, shred and mince the ham and suet finely, chop the parsley, and grate the lemon rind, taking care not to add any of the white pith. Mix all the ingredients with the breadcrumbs, add cayenne, salt, and a little grated nutmeg, according to taste, beat the eggs well, and mix into the dry ingredients, adding a little milk if necessary. Work all well together, and the seasoning is ready for use. Put the seasoning into the crop cavity of the bird. To Roast the Turkey.

Rub the bird all over with some good dripping or lard, then place a wellgreased paper over the breast. Stand it on a rack in a roasting tin, place in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. Then reduce heat and allow the bird to cook in. a lower temperature. Baste frequently. The time for roasting may be calculated at the rate of fifteen minutes to the pound and fifteen minutes over, but a turkey must never be served underdone. A short time before serving remove the paper from the breast, dredge it with flour, and return to the oven until it has a crisp and frothy appearance. Serve with cranberry sauce and a rich brown gravy. .

Cranberry Sauce. Procure a jar of prepared cranberry sauce and use according to directions. Frozen Plum Pudding.

Take J cupful currants, J cupful seeded raisins, J cupful finely-chopped citron peel, ,12 maraschino cherries, chopped, 3 tablespoonfuls shredded dates, 3 tablespoonfuls shredded figs, | cupful maraschino syrup, 3 tablespoonfuls blanched, chopped almonds, 1 quart chocolate ice cream. Wash currants, add raisins, and simmer in a small amount of water for five minutes or until plump. Drain and cool. Marinate all other fruits in maraschino syrup six hours; combine fruits and nuts and mix into ice cream. Turn into the freezing trays of refrigerator and freeze two to four hours, or until firm. I I | MENU 2. ' | ■' | Roast duck with orange sauce | j Green peas. Potatoes | j Iced asparagus | | Plum pudding , | | Hard brandy sauce 1 | | Fruit darioles | | Devilled almonds. Olives | | Coffee | I I

Roast Duck with Orange Sauce. Take 1 duck, 1 teaspoonful salt, dash of peppei', 1 medium-sized onion, sliced, 1 large carrot, sliced, 1 stalk celery, sliced, 3 cupfuls boiling water, 1 cupful orange juice, 1 teaspoonful lemon juice, 2 tablespoonfuls port wine jelly, 1 tablespoonful flour, 2 tablespoonfuls cold water, rind of 3 oranges, rind 1 lemon, 1 navel orange, sliced. Prepare duck for roasting, rub with salt and sprinkle with pepper. Place vegetables in roasting tin, lay duck on top and pour hot water in pan. Rub breast with olive oil and place in a hot oven for twenty minutes and reduce heat, allowing twenty minutes to the pound for cooking. When done remove duck on to a hot dish and keep hot; strain liquid in pan, skim off fat, add fruit juices, jelly, and flour mixed with cold water, and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Cut orange and lemon rinds in narrow strips and cook in boiling water for five minutes; strain, add rinds to sauce, and cook about five minutes. Arrange orange slices cut crosswise around duck .on the dish, garnish with parsley, and serve with sauce.

Iced Asparagus. Use either fresh or tinned asparagus for this dish. I<f fresh asparagus is used it must be prepared by scraping the ends, which have been cut to a uniform length. Wash in plenty of water, tie in small bundles, and cook in salted water gently for about 20 minutes or until the heads are quite tender. Remove from the pan, untie the bundles, and place in a serving dish. Leave until cold, then place in the refrigerator until required. Serve with iced mayonnaise. Hard Brandy Sauce. Take 6oz icing sugar, 3oz butter, nutmeg, brandy to taste. Sieve the sugar to remove any lumps. Beat butter and sugar to a cream, grate into it a little nutmeg, and add brandy to taste. Leave in refrigerator until required. Fruit Darioles

Take 1 pint packet raspberry jelly crystals, 1 gill fruit puree, 1 gill custard, 4 pint boiling water. Dissolve the crystals in the boiling water. Make a puree by rubbing tinned apricots, peaches, or other fruit •through a sieve. Add this puree to the jelly, together with the custard, and add sugar if required. Stir the mixture occasionally until it is beginning to set, then pour into dariole or small jelly moulds which have been rinsed out in cold water. Leave in a cool place until firm, and when required dip for a second in hot water,

shake them until loose, and turn on to a fancy dish; . Before serving decorate the top of each mould with a little sweetened, whipped cream and neatly-shaped pieces of the fruit used and leaves of angelica.

Devilled Almonds. Blanch and dry some sweet almonds. Put a piece of butter in a pan, and when melted stir in a little salt, but be careful not to overdo the salt. Put the almonds into this and keep stirring until they are all coated with the'salted butter .and have become a pale brown colour. They are then done. The cooking can be done either over a very gentle heat or in the oven. The frequent stirring is necessary in either case. Lift out on to tissue-paper to absorb the grease. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper to taste.