We are already at the doors of the holidays and the moments to share, get together and also eat, eat and eat are approaching. And here is the big headache of all celebrations: what do we prepare that everyone likes, that does not force us to waste or be in the kitchen all day, and that does not make our digestion bitter.
Is something like this possible? Yes, and we are not talking about prepared cuisine, which is usually expensive and we are also determined to escape from the processed. Let’s move on from the famous capon stuffed just to heat and see that we can celebrate an extraordinary festive lunch or dinner with simple dishes cooked at home.
To prepare an easy, not so expensive and healthier menu, there is nothing better than drawing on family memory and traditional recipes, and resorting to the usual dishes that are usually seasonal and cheaper products. Based on old recipes and a little imagination, we can design a complete and tasty menu.
We propose ten attractive dishes without frills that can be used for any party, from the appetizer to the dessert.
Tomato and mozzarella tarte tatin
If you haven’t become a pastry chef, don’t worry, we don’t intend to either. This tomato tarte Tatin that can make you look great at any lunch or dinner is quite easy since prepared doughs exist.
You need a puff pastry dough, preferably butter, cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, garlic, olive oil and fresh or dried basil.
- Confit the washed tomatoes in olive oil with the garlic over low heat with salt and pepper.
- Place them on the bottom of a round pan or mold not too high that could go in the oven.
- Place the puff pastry on top and prick it with a fork.
- Bake at 200°C, heat up and down, for about 20 minutes or until golden.
- To unmold it, turn it over onto a plate, distribute the well-drained mozzarella into pieces, add some pepper and basil or even oregano.
Baked mushrooms
It is a basic recipe but it allows several versions. Of course, we need some whole mushrooms that are a good size.
- The first thing is to clean them without submerging them in water and remove the stems.
- Turn the oven on to 190°C.
- And now you can choose to chop garlic, parsley, and breadcrumbs. You put a small pile in the center of each mushroom, drizzle it with olive oil and bake it. Another stronger option is to add ham to this mixture. And for meat lovers, you can sauté chopped onion, white sausage meat, garlic and herbs to taste.
- Leave them for about 20 minutes and that’s it.
Mussels with herb butter
In the absence of other seafood products that are sky-high, Galician mussels maintain a better price and are delicious. This recipe puts a slightly more refined touch for a holiday and is not difficult at all.
- Boil the mussels in a large pot, removing them as soon as they open.
- We remove a shell from them and leave them on a baking tray.
- We are preheating the oven to 190°C.
- We mix enough butter that is at room temperature, finely chopped garlic and parsley.
- We put a portion of the mixture on each mussel, put it in the oven for a couple of minutes to melt the butter and we are ready to eat.
Artichoke cream with clams or cockles (and with a vegan option)
Artichokes combine very well with all mollusks and prawns. An artichoke cream is original, light, healthy and easy, especially if we start with frozen artichokes that we don’t even have to clean and they maintain the price.
- We make them like any cream, with a sauce of onion or onion and leek.
- Add the artichokes and sauté them until they defrost.
- Add vegetable broth (you can also add some cooking cream) and salt. It is better to keep it short of liquid and if we need it, we add it again later.
- We let everything cook together for half an hour over low heat.
- We crush it and strain it.
When we are going to serve it, we steam open two clams or cockles per diner and once opened, we put them with their shell in the center of the plate, sprinkle fresh chives and we have a festive first course.
If you prefer an all-vegetable option, instead of the mollusks, fry a filleted artichoke in olive oil and serve it over the soup.
spicy lombard
Is there anything more typical for Christmas than Lombardy? It is popular especially in central Spain, but in how many houses is this tradition preserved? It is a tasty vegetable that gives color to the table and is delicious.
This recipe is easy and uses seasonal produce. We only need a small red cabbage, a couple of cloves of garlic, a handful of pine nuts and another of raisins, olive oil, salt, pepper, cloves and cinnamon.
- While we boil the red cabbage cut into thin strips, sauté the garlic cloves in olive oil in the pan, take them out and set them aside in the mortar.
- In the same oil we add the pine nuts, toast them, add the drained red cabbage and sauté everything. Then we add the raisins.
- We crushed the garlic that we had reserved with some pepper balls and a clove or two, we added it along with a little water from the cooking of the red cabbage, we sprinkled cinnamon and tested the salt level.
- We let it cook for five minutes and we have the festive red cabbage.
Salmon in short broth with finely tuned mayonnaise
This is really easy. Salmon is a fish that is usually liked and found without difficulty on all surfaces. Short broth is a technique that is rarely used, but it is easy and effective. It just consists of making a short broth in advance, that is, sautéing coarsely chopped carrots, onions and garlic in oil, adding the same amount of water as wine and aromatic herbs to your taste, as well as salt.
- Let it boil for a couple of hours so that it takes on flavor.
- You let it cool before putting the salmon loins inside, putting it on low heat and covering it.
- It has to boil just, very gently, until you see that it is to your liking. It is better to leave something juicy.
- At the same time, cook some potatoes as a garnish to complete the dish.
You can accompany it with an industrial mayonnaise if you tune it up a little by mixing it with pickles, green olives, chives and chopped capers, lighten it with some lemon and a touch of mustard and add a tartar sauce.
Old-fashioned pickled turkey or pularda
This is a traditional recipe that Karlos Arguiñano collected in his famous book 1,069 cooking recipesNot only is it simple, but it can be done the day before. The normal thing is to make it with turkey, preferably turkey that is smaller and more tender, but it can also be made with pularda or even with a free-range chicken. Of course, you need a large casserole to fit the bird.
- Season the turkey with salt and pepper and put it in a saucepan with a whole head of garlic, chopped onion, bay leaves and balls of black pepper. You can add other herbs to your liking.
- Add twice as much oil as vinegar until almost covered, that is, if you add a liter of olive oil, add half of white wine or apple vinegar, which is softer, and add salt.
- Cook it over low heat, tightly closed, until it is tender. If it is turkey it can take around two hours. To see if it is done, prick the breast and check that it is tender.
Autumn Fruit Garnish
The best thing to accompany the pickle is a contrasting sauce, in this case dried fruits work wonderfully.
- Take assorted dried fruits (peaches and apricots, black plums, raisins…), you can also add some walnuts, and boil everything with half water and half white wine and a little sugar.
- Cook over low heat for a quarter of an hour, until the sauce is slightly caramelized but liquid.
Watercress and radish salad
It is essential to have a salad on hand to accompany excess protein at festive meals. This is healthy, tasty and with ingredients within everyone’s reach. You need a bunch of watercress or lamb’s lettuce, radishes and baby celery.
- Wash the vegetables well, cut the radishes and celery and mix everything.
- Dress with a vinaigrette with olive oil, vinegar, a tablespoon of soy sauce and plenty of black pepper. Without salt because the soy sauce already has it.
Fruit salad with citrus syrup
A fruit dessert. So that the fruit salads are not a mixture of anything, I recommend that you make a syrup first.
- Cook three tablespoons of sugar in a saucepan with another three tablespoons of water and add lemon, lime or orange peel. Once dissolved and cold it will be used to sweeten our salad.
- Mix fruits that do not oxidize so that they keep their good appearance, mix colors and incorporate some herbs or spices. For example, orange, raspberries, mango cubes and mint leaves. Also pears, blueberries, tangerine, cinnamon powder and ground pink pepper.
- Choose the fruits you like the most and you now have a healthy, refreshing and light dessert.
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