MORE CHRISTMAS FARE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 183, 24 December 1942, Page 15

MORE CHRISTMAS FARE

good, but economical, Christmas Cakes and Puddings, suitable for war-time. Now for the rest of the Christmas Fare, ] AST week I gave you recipes for Ham A great stand-by at holiday time. So useful to serve cold, with salad-eked out, if necessary, with cold roast or corned beef, or tongue-or for picnic sandwiches. Left-over bits make tasty fritters for breakfast or a late supper, or "Ham-sticks,’ which are practically the same as Cheese-Straws, but minced ham is substituted for grated cheese, or even just minced and mixed with a little butter if no ham fat is left, the smallest and dryest bits can be used up. For a small family, buy half a ham. TO BOIL (1.) Put into large pot with plenty of cold water, adding a little vinegar, a few cloves, and a little sugar. Bring slowly to the boil, and simmer gently till cooked — approximately 4 hours for about a 12-pound ham. Leave in the pot until nearly cold. Then skin, and stick a few cloves into the fat, before covering thickly with crisply-baked bread crumbs. (2) For those who have a wash-house copper, fill it with cold water, put in ham, and bring to the boil. The lid must be put on, and a couple of sacks laid on top, to keep in the steam. Boil for half an hour, then let the fire die out, and leave till cold. This uses very little fuel, can be started at night, and left to cook while you sleep. Only a wash-house copper will do, because it keeps hot so long. TO BAKE. Wrap the ham in 2 or 3 thicknesses of grease-proof paper, or make a paste of flour and water, and cover the ham thickly with it, or get the baker to give you some bread dough, and wrap the ham up in that. This keeps in the juices and flavour. Put into baking tin with a little hot water, to keep from burning. Bake slowly, allaqwing about 20 minutes to the pound. Leave in oven till cool, after turning off the heat. Then skin and cover with baked breadcrumbs as usual, Tongue Cook like ham. Put in large pot with plenty of cold water, adding 2 or 3 tablespoons vinegar, a large onion, 12 allspice, a few cloves, 6 peppercorns. Cook until tender, leave in water till cool enough to skin, Roll it round, tie it with string, and press into a large basin. Cover with a plate, put a weight on, and leave till cold. Mince Pies . What are we to do for mincemeat if we cannot get apples? Gooseberry Mincemeat One cup each of chopped or minced currants, raisins, sultanas, gooseberries and suet, juice and grated rind of a lemon, a little chopped candied peel, a cup of sugar (brown if possible), nutmeg to taste, and 1 teaspoon each of rum and brandy flavouring essence.| Put into a basin or the inside part of a

double-boiler, cover, and cook for 20. minutes, Will keep for a few weeks in | screw top jars. Lemon Mincemeat Half a pound each of raisins, currants and sultanas, 3 lemons (juice and grated rinds), 1lb. sugar, %4lb. mixed candied peel, %4Ib. finely-chopped beef suet, 1 tablespoon orange marmalade, 2. teaspoons brandy flavouring essence. | Mix and cook in double boiler. Will keep in air-tight jars for a few weeks.