We know that the current socio-economic situation is complicated, but this does not have to negatively affect Christmas. Do you want to eat good, nice and cheap? We start with two drinks with which you are sure to succeed!
SPICY MUST
Ingredients :
- 2 liters of grape must
- Half a liter of water
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 3-star anise berries or 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 2 cloves
- The skin of an orange
Preparation :
- Lightly heat the spices in a saucepan to increase their flavor. Add the must, the orange peel, and leave the fire until it boils. Then take it off the heat and let it infuse for at least half an hour.
- Before serving, pass it through a strainer. You can make it in advance, but then strain it after a few hours, keep the wort refrigerated, and simmer it when you go to serve it. You can put it in a punch bowl or a deep salad bowl. To make it perfect, add cinnamon, orange peel, or apple slices as a presentation.
VEGETABLE CREAM WITH DRIED FRUITS
Ingredients :
- 200 gr. of onion
- 1 kg. pumpkin
- 250 gr. turnips
- 1 stalk of celery
- The outer leaves of lettuce for a salad
- 100 ml. of wine
- Salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon Provencal herbs
- Olive oil
- 40 gr. hazelnut
Elaboration :
- Cut the vegetables into small cubes. Next, put a large pot with a bottom of oil on the fire and sauté them for a few minutes.
- Add the wine, cook for a minute, and cover the vegetables with water, salt, and pepper and add the Provencal herbs. Once all this is done, cook over medium heat until the vegetables are very soft.
- Blend it all and keep it warm until served. You can do it in advance, in that case, store it in the refrigerator and heat it shortly before serving. When it is ready, it only remains to add the nuts over the cream.
Ingredients :
- 1 lettuce or escarole
- 2 apples
For the vinaigrette:
- 3 tablespoons vinegar
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
Elaboration :
- Wash the apples and cut them into medium dice. Put a pan on the fire and sauté them. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.
- Add the vinegar to the pan and collect the juices from sautéing the apples. Add the salt and oil to this and you have the warm vinaigrette.
- Remove the outer leaves from the lettuce and use them to add to the vegetable cream. Wash, centrifuge, and chop the rest of the leaves. Once this is done, mix the lettuce with the apples and the vinaigrette and you can serve it.
SALTED FISH CAKE
Ingredients :
- 250 gr. made of shortcrust pastry
- 1 kg. sea bream or other fish
- 400 gr. zucchini
- Half kg. of mussels
- 4 eggs
- Olive oil
For the broth:
- The bones of the fish
- 100 ml. white wine
- A pinch of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Provencal herbs
- Salt and pepper
Elaboration :
- Cover the 10-inch diameter, 4-cm high mold-release cake tin with the shortcrust pastry. Once this is done, trim the excess edges of the dough, join them and stretch them with the rolling pin. Cut six pieces with a star-shaped pasta cutter and reserve the mold and the star pieces in the refrigerator.
- When you buy the fish, ask your fishmonger to clean it for you by removing the loins and reserving the head and bones (we will use it for the broth). Remove the remaining bones from the fish (and the skin if you wish) and reserve it for the broth. You will have fish clean of skin and bones, about 350 gr. approximately. Now is the time to cut it into medium dice and put it away.
- Peel and dice the zucchini into very small cubes and reserve.
- Put the thorns in a pot with a bottom of oil, let them begin to brown, add the pinch of garlic, the Provencal herbs, and the chili. Also, add the wine and cook for a minute over high heat. Then add half a liter of water, salt, and pepper and cook for 20 minutes over medium-low heat. After this time, uncover and cook 5 more minutes like this so that it reduces. 400 ml of broth is needed. Strain and reserve.
- Put the mussels in a covered pot over the fire. When they open, remove them from the heat, separate them from their valves, remove the filaments and the hard part, chop if they are large and reserve covered with plastic wrap so that it does not dry out. Also, reserve the juice.
- Preheat the oven to 200º. Sauté the fish in a pan with a background of oil, salt, and pepper, and reserve. In that same pan and to collect the flavors of the fish, add a background of oil and sauté the zucchini. Then add the juice of the mussels and cover the pan. Let it cook for 7 minutes. Reservation.
- Now beat the eggs and add 350 ml. of fish stock and add the zucchini with the mussel juices, fish, and mussels.
- Fill the tart and bake for 30 minutes on the bottom shelf of the oven. Halfway through cooking, put the dough stars on the cake. When the cake is curdled, remove it from the oven and temper it on a rack.
CREAMY CHOCOLATE
Ingredients :
- 200 gr of chocolate covering
- Half a liter of cream
- 25 gr of chocolate
Elaboration :
- Put 200 ml of cream on the fire and chop the chocolate. When the cream is about to boil, remove it from the heat and add the chocolate. Leave it for a minute and stir until a shiny and homogeneous cream forms.
- With the remaining cream, beat until it is mounted. When the chocolate is almost cold, mix it with the cream gently with enveloping movements. Serve it in bowls or glasses and keep it refrigerated. You can present it with chocolate flakes or sprinkle it with bitter cocoa.
