Merry Christmas Food Ideas

Food ideas for any party is all about smart cooking and great presentation. Isn’t it? Nevertheless, whatever looks good tastes delish. Indulge yourself in the spirit of Christmas with yummy, quick and easy recipes. It is certain that you would like to spend maximum time with friends and families and not in the kitchen. I am going to disclose some swift fun food ideas right away!

Christmas Wreath (Ham-Veggie Crescent Wreath) - Grab some fresh bruschetta from the market, arrange on a plate in form of a wreath as shown. You can also use homemade garlic and cheese bread, if time permits. I prefer cheese and garlic bruschetta bread. Add on it, the topping of your choice. Spicy mayo and honey cream form a great topping. To it add diced ham and roasted veggies. Just bake the bread for 2 minutes before adding the topping. Get an eye-catching and sumptuous party appetizer. 

Snowy Deer Muffins (Chocolate/Vanilla Muffins) - Any party is incomplete without desserts, isn’t it? Make the muffins of your choice. They can be simple, raisins or berry muffins. The game here is only the way you present it. Prefer a smooth base and spread chocolate evenly. You can also add vanilla cookie on the top, as shown. Add pretzel to make horns of the deer. Decorate eyes with berries/small candies. Enjoy the cute treat with lots of goodies within.

X-Mas Tree pizza (Mini Veggie Pizza) - Prepare the pizza base beforehand. You can make variant of shape using special baking cutters eg. Christmas tree or Star-shape. Ah! kids are gonna love it. Just bake with your favorite cheese and veggies. The taste will be doubles seeing these mini cheesy pizza bites. Even a novice cook can master the art of preparing pizza. So let the fun begin with this veggie and cheesy treat.

Merry Christmas!

Spicy Christmas Mini Meat Pies

Hi pals! How are you doing? It's the Christmas month and we all crave to have goodies on the weekends. Isn’t it? So here I present before you, the cute yummy bites of flaky dough stuffed with spicy ground beef/turkey mixture. These are very filling and best to be served with tomato and chilli sauce. The best part here is that you can enjoy the meat of your choice. You can also use any kind of low fat cheese instead of cheddar cheese. The hotness quotient (usage of sauce) of this meat recipe can be made flexible. I have only combined the best of rich Christmas flavors to make a pie that both children and adults will adore. 

Ingredients

For Filling:-

1/2 cup Chilli sauce,

2 tablespoons Onion Soup Mix,

1 pound ground Turkey or Beef.

For Dough:-

3/4 cup Milk,

1 teaspoon Salt,

1 cup Shortening,

1 tablespoon Vinegar,

3 cups All-purpose Flour,

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese,

1 tablespoon Sesame seeds (Optional).

Preparation Method:-

1. Cook beef over medium heat until done. Stir in chili sauce and soup mix. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sesame seeds and salt. Add shortening and cheese until crumbly. Mix milk and vinegar. Slowly add it to the flour mixture. Knead the dough.

3. Divide the dough in 2 halves. Make 2 rolls out of the dough, which should be thick enough to hold the filling. Cut circles with the help of a mini meat pie cutter.

4. Top each with a tablespoonful of meat mixture. Cover with remaining circle (dough). Moisten edges with water. Press with a fork to seal. Cut a slit on top of each as shown.

5. Bake at 425 D. F for 15 minutes. Serve hot with tomato and chilli sauce!

Merry Christmas :D

Diabetic Friendly Pecan Ice Cream

X-Men series has always been my all time favorite. Halle Berry is known for her magnificent role in X-Mean, Catwoman, Die Another Day etc. I am a huge fan of her, especially after knowing about her battle with diabetes. She says regular exercise and healthy diet are good ways of tackling with Diabetes. The first step taken by her was to consume diet that's low in fat, not processed and low in carbohydrates as well as sugar. She cut down the desserts, processed or junk food and adopted a whole new way of eating. 

Halle Berry started with lots of fresh veggies, chicken, fish and pasta. She stopped intake of red meat and eliminated consuming various fruits because of the sugar content. She loves having grilled fish and garlic mashed potato plus vinegar and salt crisps. Though Halle prefers salty to sweet, butter pecan ice cream is something she loves. Christmas is here and I have something for everyone. Let’s start with Diabetic friendly Butter Pecan Ice Cream.

Ingredients:-

3/4 cup Pecans,

3 large Egg Yolks,

½ cup low-fat Milk,

2 cups low-fat Cream,

1/8 teaspoon Sea salt,

¾ cup Sugar Free Syrup,

1/3 cup Artificial Sweetener,

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract,

1 ½ tablespoons low-fat Butter.

Preparation Method:-

1. Chop pecans. In a skillet, melt butter over moderate heat, until foam subsides. Toast pecans in butter, stir occasionally, until golden and fragrant for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste.
2. Cool pecans and chill in a plastic bag. Buttered pecans may be made 3-4 days ahead and chilled.

3. In a heavy saucepan mix cream, artificial sweetener, milk, sugar free syrup, and salt. Bring just to a boil, stir occasionally.
4. In a bowl beat yolks until smooth. Add hot cream mixture to yolks in a slow stream, whisking, and pour into pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly at 170 D. F.
5. Pour custard through a sieve into a clean bowl and cool. Stir in extract. Chill custard, its surface covered with plastic wrap, at least 3 hours, or until cold, and up to 1 day.
6. Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer ice cream to a bowl and fold in chilled pecans. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead. 
   
   
   

Tangy Turkey Treat for Thanksgiving

Plan your ultimate holiday feast with sumptuous recipes of turkey. Hope you enjoyed my post, Food ideas for Thanksgiving. As we all know that Thanksgiving is incomplete without a roasted turkey, that would serve as the main dish on the  huge dinner table, I decided to prepare something different. This is Tangy Turkey with Asian herbs. I promise that all the herbs are readily available in your nearest stores and the recipe is gonna be super delish. 

I’ve used in Thai basil. It has a different flavor unlike other traditional basil. The aroma is stronger. It has a sweeter, peppery flavor, reminding me of the star anise. It comes with hearty purple stems. Besides this, I juz love the rich, creamy and delicious mayo. Garlic is my all time favorite. If you are not a huge fan of garlic, you can use garlic salt keeping in mind the quantity of the normal salt you use while cooking. The mild flavor is equally enticing. You can use extra spicy chilli sauce to increase the hotness quotient of the recipe. :P

Ingredients:

1 bunch Scallions,

1 bunch Thai Basil,

2 cups Mayonnaise,

1/3 cup Chilli sauce,

4 stalks Lemongrass,

Salt and Pepper to taste,

2 tablespoons Lemon juice,

50 grams sliced fresh Ginger,

2 tablespoons ground Ginger,

2 tablespoons Garlic powder,

1 12-14 lb. Turkey, thawed and brined.

Preparation Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 D. F and lower the rack to the lowest position. Dry the turkey thoroughly with paper towels. Stuff the turkey with basil, lemongrass, scallions and ginger slices in the main cavity and smaller neck cavity.

2. Close the neck cavity with a toothpick. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Mix the mayonnaise, chilli sauce (your favorite), ginger powder and garlic powder in a bowl. Brush over the turkey, leaving 2 tablespoons of mayo mix for later. Then salt and pepper.

3. Place the turkey, breast side down, in a roasting pan on a rack. Pour two cups of water in the pan and place in the oven. Roast for 1 hour. Using paper towels, carefully flip the bird, breast side up.

4. Brush the remaining mayo mixture over the top. Add additional water to the pan if needed, and roast another 60 minutes. The internal temperature of the bird must be 165 D. F. If the turkey starts getting too dark on top, cover it loosely with foil.

5. Brush lemon juice on its surface. Allow the turkey to rest at least 20 minutes before slicing. Serve with roasted veggies.

The ‘Turk Turk’ Day is Here :)

Relish Turkey in Red Wine on Thanksgiving Day

The 'Turk Turk' Turkey Day will be welcomed by classic, fast and ethnic turkey recipes ranging from roasts to appetizers. Hope you like my blog, “Food Ideas for Thanksgiving”, coz it has lot of fun with food plus taste involved to celebrate the auspicious day. I’m sure you know, anything that combines wine as an ingredient, has got to be the ace. I thought of using my favorite pomegranate juice, coconut water with aristocratic red wine to make the dinner luxurious and luscious. I personally love pairing this turkey with vegetable fried rice. Without any waste of time, lemme start with the irresistible recipe that is definitely going to be served in my Thanksgiving dinner table.

Ingredients:-

1 cup Cream,

1/2 cup Red Wine,

1 Kg Turkey pieces,

2 cup Vegetable stock,

2/3 cup dried Cherries,

330 ml Coconut Water,

1 cup Pomegranate juice,

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning,

Salt and Black Pepper to taste.

Preparation Method:

1. Remove the neck and giblets from the bird. Saute and sear it. Add 1/2 cup stock to deglaze. Set aside. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, heat the pomegranate juice, coconut water, red wine and vegetable stock.

2. Add in turkey pieces. Turn down the heat and allow the fluids to reduce to 1/3 of the original fluid volume. Add in the cherries and cream and allow to reduce by 1/2.

3. Add seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with rice, fried or steamed.

 

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Food Ideas on Thanksgiving

Hey friends, hope you all had a yummilicious weekend with my recipe Healthy Turkey Mushroom Burgers. Here are s’more food ideas to enjoy the party to the fullest.

Turkey Muffins (Chocolate Candy Muffins) - One of the most loved dessert on any occasion is muffins. Simply prepare chocolate muffins and top it with chocolate cream. For the beak, you can use candy corn wings. Candy eyes are readily available in the market. If incase you don’t wanna use candied eyes, make eyes using vanilla cone and set a dot of chocolate, that gives the impression of the eyes. These muffins are my all time favorite. The muffins plate will be finished in no time, that’s a promise.  

Turk Turk Sandwiches (Turkey Sandwiches) - The simplest and quickest of all the breakfast to be prepared on Thanksgiving is the turkey sandwich as shown. The sandwich filling can be placed with turkey/chicken slice if you are a non-vegetarian, cheese if you are vegetarian and tofu if you are a vegan. All you need to do is show your creativity this way. Place in sliced almonds for the first sandwich and colorful capsicum for the second and third one. You can use black olives or boiled peas to denote eyes. Cashew nuts may also denote beak of the turkey.

Fruity Turkey Wings with Dip (Fruits with Yogurt Honey Dip) - The heavenly blend of yogurt, honey and cinnamon is gonna drive you crazy. Though you can pair any kinda meat (beef or pork) with this dip, I thought of introducing something extra lite for the fitness freaks. For this, I chose granny smith apples and gala apples. You'll really go gala with the red gala apples. Pretzels sticks denote feet of the turkey. Cutting thin slices of apples and placing in a dish as shown here is a creative idea and a lite appetizers for the people who are really health conscious. 

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Enjoy Thanksgiving with Healthy Turkey Mushroom Burgers

The turk turk festival is here, yes Thanksgiving with grand Thanksgiving recipes. I would love to spend minimum time in the kitchen on that auspicious occasion. My sister and her hubby will be here along with the kids. So I thought of preparing a quick and easy recipe, that is healthy too. Kids are gonna love it. This is called Healthy Turkey Mushroom Burgers. The best part is that you can include the veggies of your choice and low fat cheese if you are a fitness freak.

I love the recipes that are tasty as well as healthy. Low-sodium cheese will help you in finding among healthier cheese and that is what I opt for. Turkey breast is a good choice for a healthy diet. It is an excellent low fat and high protein food. This white and lean meat also helps in reducing cholesterol levels. It also boosts up the immune system. And as far as the taste is concerned,  Worcestershire sauce adds flavor to the recipe along with the garlicky touch of garlic salt. So here we go with the servings for 2.

Ingredients:-

A pinch Garlic salt,

4 slices Swiss Cheese,

1/2 tablespoon Olive oil,

2 split Hamburger Buns,

1/4 teaspoon Onion Salt,

1 cups sliced Mushrooms,

A handful chopped fresh Parsley,

1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce,

1/2 pound lean spiced Turkey breast (2 slices).

Preparation Method:-

1. Stir fry in olive oil, mushrooms, parsley, worcestershire sauce, and onion salt. Pan-fry the spiced lean turkey breasts.

2. Place the base of burgers. Add cheese slice, turkey slice, again a cheese slice and mushrooms. You can add on greens if you want to.

3. Enjoy with French fries and roasted veggies. Yummzz..

Happy Thanksgiving!