What to cook? What to cook?

It’s December! Only 3½ more weeks to Christmas… the Christmas lights are twinkling along Orchard Road, and all the shopping malls and supermarkets are playing Christmas carols ad nauseam… but I still haven’t planned the Christmas menu for all the family and friends gatherings that will be happening. Sigh! I’m out of inspiration. What to cook? What to cook?

I’m not keen on turkey. Actually, I’ve never been keen on turkey. No matter what method is used – brining, roasting, deep frying, tandoori baking etc – I’ve yet to taste a piece of truly moist, juicy, succulent turkey. Have you? In previous years, we’ve done roasted capon, which is near turkey-sized (a small turkey that is) but way tastier (in my opinion). Served it with an Asian/Chinese stuffing of glutinous rice with Yunnan ham, Chinese sausage, Chinese mushrooms, chestnuts etc. Our family’s favorite stuffing. We’ve also done braised duck with this stuffing. Very yummylicious!

We’ve somehow always had a sort of “East meets West” food theme in our family Christmas dinners. Not intentionally. We’ve always just cooked whatever we enjoyed eating, and incorporated “Christmas elements” into the dishes – or tried, at least. So, I’m thinking… how about a braised or simmered leg of lamb rather than the traditional roast leg of lamb. And the gravy from the braised lamb would go rather well, I think, with biscuits (thanks for the inspiration, Deb) – Southern or otherwise. I’ve never baked biscuits before – English scones, yes, but not biscuits. But the ones Deb made looked really good. Or, maybe serve the lamb with candied sweet potatoes?

I’m also thinking… let’s just skip the bird altogether this year. And have a German-style crispy pork trotter, to go with the lamb. The idea of serving ham seems rather stale. When I raised the suggestions of the lamb and pork trotters earlier this evening, the slightly aghast reaction was: what’s the preoccupation with the extremities of animals?! Ha ha ha… I didn’t see it like that until it was pointed out to me! How’s that for a theme for Christmas dinner! LoL!

I’m really curious, what does everyone have for their Christmas dinners?

I'm thinking of skipping the Christmas pudding as dessert. The store- or hotel-bought ones are so tooth-droppingly sweet, it’s not even funny. And I’m not inclined to make my own. Hmmm… I came across a recipe for a cranberry jello-kind of dessert on MSN the other day. But didn’t think to save or print it. And now I can’t find it again. I think that would make a nice, refreshing change for dessert.

Ooh… just thought of something… s’mores for dessert. Ok, we’re in the tropics, so we can’t exactly roast marshmallows at the fireplace. But how about dipping marshmallows into warm melted bittersweet chocolate (sort of fondue style I guess) to get slightly melted, chocolate covered marshmallows, and then sandwiching them between graham crackers like the traditional s’mores. Sounds good! Would it work?

And then there’s the Christmas baking to think about… I really have to start my Christmas baking this week. The fruit cake will need at least 2-3 weeks of “feeding” before it can be eaten. My parents have made a special request for a “not sweet” fruitcake, with just raisins/sultanas, no candied cherries but LOTS of brandy! “None of the cloyingly sweet ready-made ones, please” was the request. My mum even passed me an aunt’s recipe that she had tasted last year and liked. So, I’ll be trying that out.

Don’t think I’ll be making mince pies… will just settle for the ones from Marks and Spencer. They’re actually pretty good – only the classic ones though, which are less sweet. The other versions such as the Deluxe etc are really very sweet – too sweet. I wish the Marks and Spencer in Singapore would carry the full range of Christmas goodies as in the UK, but the range is fairly decent I guess. Where else in Singapore can I get good mince pies? I love mince pies!

Christmas means family, friends, food… joy, love, warmth, happiness! Christmas is coming indeed!

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