Some Christmas baking can be on the heavy side. These are light as air, with a crumbly meringue outside and a soft marshmallowy centre. Everyone went nuts for these. So give them a try, they’re fairy quick and easy to make. Thanks to @roamingtaste for a great recipe.
They have only 5 ingredients, most of which you’ll already have in your cupboard.
Add some to a cute bag for nice gift when dropping into visit family and friends over Christmas.
Makes 24
4 Egg whites
170 Grams Sugar
130 Grams Dark chocolate (either chocolate chips or finely chopped)
70 Grams Cornflakes
1 Tbsp Vanilla extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 150 degree(Celsius). Line 2-3 baking trays with baking parchment
In a stand mixer or using an electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until the double in size. Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites until the mix reaches the soft peak stage
Add the other ingredients to the bowl and gently fold into the meringue with a large spoon until all the ingredients are combined
Using ether an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, soon the mix into the baking sheets leaving a space of 2-3cm between each cookie as the will spread
Bake for 20 minutes, and allow to cook on the baking sheet (they’re very soft coming straight from then oven and will set a little as they cool down.
Enjoy with some going coffee in front of a Christmas tree or roaring fire
Budapest was one of the jewels of the Austro-Hungarian empire. You can still find grand boulevards and impressive architecture. But unlike some other Eastern European cities it hasn’t enjoyed the same amount of investment. It’s original glory may have faded a little but it’s beautiful city with something for everyone.
Central synagogue
We went with a view to enjoying the Christmas markets, and I was left a little underwhelmed, as they tended to sell the same overpriced tourist tat as other Christmas markets that are franchised out to most major cities. However, I was really impressed by the great market hall. You can rub shoulders with the locals doing food shopping, and pick up gifts and handicrafts much more cheaply than in many of the over priced tourist shops.
The upper floor sells proper stick to your ribs tradional Hungarian food (although there is very little in the way of seating, you’ll probably end up eating at one of the counters that surround it)
Budapest is quite spread out and split in two by the river, one side being Buda and the other Pest. I opted for one of the hop on hop off buses as the most efficient way to see the city. A one day ticket with a Danube cruise included was €32. This was good way to learn more about the city and get warmed up in between stops (wrap up warm it gets really cold). The river cruise at night was also one of my highlights. You should also consider downloading the Bolt app (similar to Uber) if public transport isn’t your thing.
If you’re looking for night life the south of the city is where it’s at. Prices are cheaper than other western European cities. Like anywhere you’ll pay a bit more if you’re in a touristy area
The food was excellent, paprika is widely used, and brilliant bread and pastries are easy to find. Vegetarians might struggle as most of the dishes we found were meat heavy to say the least (but delicious).
You only have to mention potatoes and cream and you have my attention. Add a buttery breadcrumb topping and its on like Donkey Kong.
An American friend of a friend from the Midwest told me about this dish. His heritage is Scandinavian and apparently no Christmas eve is complete without this.
I used Nigella Lawson’s recipe, and she recommended using proper Swedish pickled sprats, (my friend told me they used anchovies, so I’m going with him). The dish shouldn’t be especially fishy, the anchovies are more to add a salty umami savoury flavour (some people add the extra oil in the tin, but I wasn’t sure if this would be too much and I’m glad I left it out). If you are vegetarian or hate fish you could replace the anchovies with some grated parmasan cheese which would also be yummy.
Layer the potatoes with fried onions and anchovies
Ingredients
1.2 Kg Potatoes (cut into very thin French fry like sticks)
2 large Onions (cut in half and sliced into half moons)
50 Grams Butter (plus extra for greasing your oven dish)
300 ml milk
300 ml cream
2-3 Handfuls of breadcrumbs
1/2 Small Tin of anchovies (finely chopped)
Black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
Add half the butter to a pan a fry the onions for 10-15 minutes over a low to medium heat. They should be soft but not have browned.
Grease an oven proof dish, and line with one third of the chopped potatoes. Sprinkle half the onions and anchovies over the top, add a couple grinds of black pepper
Top with another third of the potato chips, and sprinkle the remaining onions and anchovies, and a couple grinds of black pepper again. Top with the remaining potatoes
Stir the milk and cream together and pour over evenly over the potato mix
Sprinkle the dish evenly with breadcrumbs and dot with the remaining butter
Bake for around 1 hour (test with a fork to check that the potato are fully cooked) before removing from the oven.
El Bulli was one of the most famous 3 Michelin star restaurants in the world. I don’t claim this was what they served their customers, but apparently they would provide a 3 course meal for staff each day, and this is one of those dishes.
Anyone who’s ever worked in fancy restaurants will you the traditional staff meal can often be a bit ropey to say the least (I worked in a place once that only ever fed us cheap and nasty chicken nuggets). A cook book based around El Bulli’s staff meals has actually been published called The Family Meal (dropping hints ahead of Christmas, just in case Santa is reading this)
It’s good to see El Bulli fed their staff well, and while it isn’t an extravagant dish, it’s delicious. The thing that takes it to another level is the Picada (a Catalan version of pesto, made with hazelnuts and parsley).
Do yourself a favour and try to buy ready blanched hazelnuts, it will save a lot of time and effort.
Ingredients
For the soup
1 Onion (finely chopped)
1 Tbsp Oil
1 Clove garlic (finely chopped)
2 x 400 Gram Tins of cannellini beans
1 Litre Vegetable Stock (I used a 2 x stock cubes)
400 Mil Carton of Passata
1 Tsp Rosemary (Finely chopped)
1 Sprig of Thyme (or 1/2 Tsp of dried Thyme)
Salt and Pepper to taste
For the Picada
1 x Large punch of parsley or couple of handfuls (roughly chopped)
1-2 Cloves of garlic
75 Grams Hazelnuts (try to buy the pre-blanched one, as removing the skins is a pain in the a*se)
50-75 Mil Olive oil, (or more if you want the Picada to be looser)
1/2 Tsp Salt
Serves 4
Method
For the soup, heat the oil in a large pot, and add the onion and cook over a medium heat until it becomes translucent, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding the rest of the soup ingredients to the pot. Simmer for over a low heat for 20 minutes.
While the soup is cooking you can make the picada. If you haven’t been able to find ready blanched hazelnuts, heat the nuts in a frying pan until they smell nutty (I know this sounds weird but when you can smell the nut smell it means they are ready), Transfer the toasted nuts onto the centre of a clean tea towel, bring the edges together and roll the nuts within the towel until the papery outer layer comes away
If you have more sense than I did and have bought hazelnuts without skins, add these to a food processer and pulse a couple of times until the nuts have broken up. Add the rest of the picada ingredients to the food processer and blitz until you have a bright green paste. I like mine quite chunky and rustic, but you can whizz it up until you get a super smooth paste if that’s your thing.
Transfer the picada to a bowl and wipe the food processer, and you will be ready to transfer half the soup to the food processer and whizz until smooth before returning to the pot and stirring well. This helps to thicken the soup
Add half the picada to the soup and stir well, before serving in large bowls. Spoon a dollop of the picada in the centre of each bowl, serve crusty bread for a simple but delicious meal.
Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen 