Merry Christmas...or Cherry Mistmas?

The main Danish Christmas meal is Christmas Eve Dinner, whilst my family's Australian tradition was for the main meal to be for Christmas Day Lunch. And because I am an Aussie married to a Dane, we and our children have had two Christmases since we first met.
OUR now 'typical' Danish/Aussie Xmas Eve dinner menu goes like this -

ENTREE

Prawns in Mayonnaise
For each person -
Buttered Slice of white bread, lettuce leaf - top with cooked, peeled prawns folded into mayonnaise - garnished with twisted lemon slices & sprigs of parsley.
OR
Smoked Salmon, Egg and Lettuce
For each person -
Buttered slide of white bread, lettuce leaf, 50g. of finely sliced smoked salmon, topped with thick slices of cold scrambled eggs, garnished with dried green dill tips, twisted lemon slices, and parsley sprigs. (and optional - small amount of black caviar)
OR
Half slice of each for each person.

Traditional Danish style is to serve these on platters, and pass around the dinner table for each person to take their own.
And this style of serving continues for all the dishes that follow...so each individual can make their own choices...of content and quantity.
And everyone is encouraged to come back again...and again!

ROAST PORK (Flaeskesteg)
Is served sliced on a platter, garnished each end with peeled and lightly stewed apple quarters containing alternate pitted, plumped prunes, and Cranberry sauce dollops - with sprigs of parsley and the 'crackling' strips (Svaer).
Also: separate dish with Cranberry Sauce (Tranebaer Sovs)

ROAST DUCK (Andesteg)
has cavity filled with whole dried mixed fruits, plumped up in heated mix of juice, water and wine/brandy/sherry - whatever!
Joint duck and remove meat from carcass, cut into serving portions, arrange on platter.
Garnish: Orange slices with pitted plumped prunes in centres, parsley or mint sprigs, and serve fruit stuffing in separate bowl.

VEGETABLES (Groensager) (Directions follow)

Small Potatoes (Smaa Kartofler)
Sweet Brown Potatoes (Smaa Brune Kartofler)
Pickled Red Cabbage (Roedkaal)
Steamed Vegetables of choice

+ ACCOMPANIMENTS
2 types of pickled cucumber, Cranberry Sauce, Dried fruit stuffing, Pork 'crackling' strips, Gravy

Small Potatoes - half served after boiling in their skins, then peel and re-warm when ready,
'Sweet Brown Potatoes'(Brune Kartofler), other half prepared as follows:
- in frypan, warm 30g sugar until melted and golden brown, add 20g. butter, melt to toffee consistency, add peeled potatoes (rinsed in cold water before putting into pan - helps 'toffee' to stick) - keep turning potatoes until well-coated and golden brown all over.
Pickled Red Cabbage(Roedkaal)
(prepared beforehand and heat on day - keeps a month refrigerated in sealed container, or frozen for months in usable quantities)
1 whole fresh red cabbage, thinly sliced, add fluid in proportion of 2/3 vinegar to 1/3 water, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 45-60 mins - then add 1 cup sugar, stir well, cook further 30 mins. Taste and add more sugar if necessary, dissolve then cool.
Other Steamed Vegetables of choice - I like chunky mixed frozen vegetables (cauliflower/broccoli/carrots/peas/corn - makes colourful combination)

+ ACCOMPANIMENTS -
Pickled Cucumber (Agurkesalat)
(also prepared some days in advance and served cold)
Large burpless or continental cucumber - take off end, slice spirals (as long as possible) with vegetable peeler, using a 'twisting' wrist action. Soak slices in salt water solution for few hours, drain, rinse, squeeze out moisture REALLY well, pack in jar and cover with cooled mix of boiled vinegar, sugar (make quite sweet), and pepper to taste. (No more salt required).
**There is another traditional pickled cucumber salad (Asjer) - but too tricky to make without a Danish mother-in-law to supervise!! (or preferably, make for you!)

Cranberry Sauce, Dried fruit stuffing, Pork 'crackling' strips, Gravy (Sovs)

All of these are served in individual bowls and look really colourful and decorative on the festive table.

An excerpt from the poem 'TANGMALANGALOO' by P.J. Hartigan (best known for 'We'll All Be Rooned - Said Hanrahan')

"Come, tell me, boy," his lordship said in crushing tones severe,
"Come, tell me why is Christmas Day the greatest of the year?
"How is it that around the world we celebrate that day
"And send a name upon a card to those who're far away?
"Why is it wandering ones return with smiles and greetings, too?"
A squall of knowledge hit the lad from Tangmalangaloo.

He gave a lurch which set a-shake the vases on the shelf,
He knocked the benches all askew, up-ending of himself.
And so, how pleased his lordship was, and how he smiled to say,
"That's good, my boy. Come, tell me now; and what is Christmas Day?"
The ready answer bared a fact no bishop ever knew-
"It's the day before the races - out at Tang-malan-galoo".

In DANISH tradition,dessert is -

RICE CREAM (or Ris A La Mand)

Cook rice in milk until tender, add vanilla, sugar, Brandy (why not??) to taste, cool and then chill in refrigerator. Add whipped cream and few tablespoons of chopped blanched almonds.
**Very important** - Fold in One Whole Blanched Almond and hide well - then pour mix into serving bowl.
Serve with whole stewed, sweetened cherries - and strawberries - (slightly thickened - with arrowroot - to custard-type consistency) also in serving dishes, to spoon over rice cream helpings.

And WHY is it special?
Well, each person is hoping to get the Whole Almond - and much careful selection of each individual's serving of the dessert is required, to maybe find the 'lucky' spoonful. (No digging around or feeling with the spoon is allowed - 'clean' dips only!)
And now it gets even trickier - because you must take the greatest care NOT to chew up the Whole Almond.
And everyone who doesn't have it must pretend they MIGHT have it - and the lucky one who DOES have it, must pretend too, either way...just to confuse everyone.
The important thing is not to reveal who's won the 'Almond Prize' until every last spoonful of the Ricecream dessert has been finished. (Children under 12 get their bowl of dessert served - WITH a Whole Almond, of course, so they get a prize, too - but after that age, they must take their chances with the adults).
And finally - we have a WINNER - and this person gets the 'Almond Prize'.
( In earlier times, this was a Marzipan Pig - a symbol of Good Luck and a Prosperous year ahead. Reputedly coming from German villages, where a good year promised if the family could eat Pork for Christmas dinner.)
But these days it can be almost anything - from a box of chocolates, to a special tin of biscuits, or a small ornament or book...that is up to the hostess.

My Australian family followed the English tradition of Christmas Pudding, with coins cooked into it. Again, in earlier days, there were small silver 'charms' that were used from year to year.
In my growing up years, the coins used were silver, and caused no problems in the cooking, but the year after we were married, decimal currency was introduced in Australia, and the coins were now nickel, and no longer safe for cooking.
However, they ARE safe to sterilise in boiling water, and poke into the hot, cooked pudding with a knife, carefully smoothing over the point of entry.
Our children became too 'eagle-eyed' - carefully looking for this evidence, and so I began pouring a layer of custard over the pudding in its serving dish, to disguise my 'surgery'.
And so, another fun tradition took place...WHO would be the richest?? (At 5 or 10 cents a 'find' - RICH is only a possibility for very small children! Once again, no 'digging' around allowed - in fact, I think I cut and served everyone's portions, to ensure 'fair practice'.

Danish Shortbread Biscuits
Danish Vanilla Rings
Spicy Brown Biscuits (Brunkager)
Klejner (I can't translate this very traditional biscuit - but the name is pronounced like 'liner')

These are 'easy when you know how' type recipes - too difficult for me to just reproduce without 'being there' - Sorry - but maybe some could be purchased?

And just a few 'Sweeties' to nibble on!

Large Dark Chocolate Buttons with ball of Marzipan sandwiched between.
Fresh Cherries
Mixed whole nuts (in shells) (& don't forget the nutcracker!)
Licorice allsorts and small foil-wrapped chocolates (e.g. Little Father Xmases, Xmas balls)
Pitted Prunes with marzipan filling
Red and White striped Candy Canes (hung on Christmas Tree to collect and eat)
And traditionally, handmade plaited paper heart 'baskets' hung on the Christmas Tree, filled with small lollies.

**And my husband, Kanute, makes his own Marzipan - and if I talk nicely to him, I think he will share his recipe (otherwise I'll just check out if he wants to see next year...or even tomorrow!) GOOD NEWS! - He chose to share!

HOMEMADE MARZIPAN
Mix 200g Almond Meal, 3/4 cup Icing sugar (or confectioner's sugar?) (NB: NOT Icing Mixture)
Add 1 egg white, 1 Tablespoon Brandy, 10 drops Almond essence, 1/2 bottle RUF Bitter Almond essence. Stir well until paste formed. Form into long sausage roll shape in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Slice thinly, and sandwich marzipan 'disks' between two large Chocolate Buttons...and Enjoy!!

(This Homemade Marzipan can also be used in any recipe requiring commercial Marzipan - SO much cheaper, SO much tastier than bought product...and SO easy to make once you have the ingredients)
- It can also be tinted with food colouring, rolled into tiny 'egg' shapes, and stuffed into pitted prunes or dates
- Or cut into familiar shapes (like stars and hearts and diamonds) with tiny biscuit cutters
- It's limited only by your imagination! Go for it!

The RUF Bitter Almond Essence comes from Germany, and is avaliable in our supermarkets.
The website link is - RUF Bitter Almond essence
(then look under 'Baking Ingredients' - and then - Bitter Almond Aroma (comes in packs of 4 small bottles & you use 1/2 bottle in Marzipan recipe)

350g glace cherries, 250g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated, 175g raisins, 125g currants, 125g. sultanas, 100g Walnuts chopped, 100g butter, 375g brown sugar 5ml mixed spice, 400ml rum (dark)

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well together, cover and leave for two days. Stir well And put into jars. Secure tightly and stand at least two weeks.

Great for filling for mince pies - OR - serve with Brandy Sauce as dessert.

And it occurs to me that you could buy a jar of ready made Fruit Mince, and then go to work on 'dosing' it up!!

Whatever 'floats your boat - or taste buds - or warms your heart and soul'!

CHERRY Liqueur Money Biscuits,

1 packet plain sweet biscuits, 100g (4-5 tablespoons) Neufchatel (or cream cheese), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon Cherry Brandy liqueur, 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped liqueured cherries

Crush biscuits in food processor or with rolling pin. Beat cream cheese until smooth, add sugar and egg. Beat well. Add biscuit crumbs, cherry liqueur and chopped cherries, mix well. Refrigerate for 15 mins. Form mixture into roll about 5cm in diameter, in foil or plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight.
To serve, cut the roll into 1 cm slices. Exquisitely rich. (YUM!)

And desserts - like Liqueured CHERRY Bombe Alaska, and Liqueured CHERRY Ice-cream, and Kirsch Souffle


Sound like a 'CHERRY MISTMAS' to me. How about you?
(Some sober folk may have difficulties with the pronunciation - &/or understanding of the humour of this...ah well...can't win 'em all!)

1 cup butter 1 tbspn. Lemon juice
1 tspn. baking soda 1 cup dried fruit
1 cup sugar 1 bottle Whisky
1 cup brown sugar 1 tbspn. nuts
4 large eggs

Sample Whisky to check for quality.
Take a large bowl. Check Whisky again.
To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat.
Turn on electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one spoon tea of sugar and beat again.
Make sure Whisky is still OK. Cry another tup.
Turn off the mixer.
Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.
Mix on the turner. If the fruit gets stuck in the beaters, pry it loose with a screwdriver.
Sample the Whisky again to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something. Who cares?
Check the Whisky.
Now sift the lemon juice and strain the flour and nuts.
Add one ballespoon of brown sugar, or whatever colour you can find.
Wix mell.
Grease oven.
Turn the cake pan to 350 degrees.
Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Throw the bowl out the window, check the Whisky again, and go to bed -
UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!!

(Now here is a prime example of the need for a name update - to 'Cherry Mistmas Cake' - don't you agree?)

Read All About It In My Ezine article

'A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to Christmas'