Christmas Recipes from across the Pond

When we lived in the US no one we knew ate turkey at Christmas, rather they ate it at Thanksgiving.

The best day to buy a frozen turkey for Christmas was black Friday - which just proves you can take a girl out of Yorkshire, but you can’t take Yorkshire out of the girl! So these two recipes would be served in November, but they are delicious at any time and both freeze well.

VICTORIA

Creamy Bread & Onion Sauce

2 pints full fat milk 2oz butter 8 shallots peeled and left whole 2 garlic clove peeled and left whole 2 bay leaves each pierced with 2 cloves Grating of nutmeg 12oz white bread crumbs 142ml double cream

Put the milk, butter, shallots, garlic, bay leaves and nutmeg into a pan. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat. Leave to simmer uncovered for half an hour.

Remove the studded bay leave, checking you have all the cloves!

Pour the milk into a food processor and add the breadcrumbs, cream and seasoning. Whizz until smooth, if you are going to freeze it, do so at this stage. Tip back into the pan and cook until it is of a consistency that is both spoonable and pourable. If you have frozen it, you may need to add a little more milk.

Editor’s note: After I wrote this piece Anne proof read it and told me these aren’t traditional North American recipes at all and that they do eat turkey on Christmas day! Both these recipes were given to me by American friends whilst we lived there and Chinese was the most popular menu choice for Christmas Day where we lived. Two very different experiences of living in the US; which just goes to show we cannot make generalisations about anything! Whether they are actually traditional Northern American recipes or not, I hope you enjoy them.

Apple Bacon and Leek Stuffing

9 slices of bacon ¼ cup of butter 2 cups of sliced button mushrooms 4-5 chopped leaks 3 chopped celery stalks 2 large granny smith apples, cored, peeled, chopped 6 cloves of garlic – chopped ½ cup whipping cream 12 cups of bread – cubed and dried (cut it into small cubes and then leave in the oven at a low temperature to dry out for a couple of hours) 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh sage, or 1 tsp crushed dried sage 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1 tsp crushed dried thyme ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 ¼ - 1 ¾ cup chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Grease a large oven proof dish. Cook the bacon until crisp, place to drain. Add the butter to the fat in the pan add the mushrooms, leeks and celery. Cook for 7-10 mins until vegetables are tender. Add the apples and garlic. When apples begin to soften stir in the cream. In an extra-large bowl combine the apple mixture with the bacon, bread cubes, herbs and pepper. Stir in the broth, mixture should be moist but not wet.

Spoon into the prepared dish and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is a light golden brown. If you like to be prepared in advance, the dish can be frozen. If you are going to do this freeze before baking, and then just bake on the day.