Choosing & Cooking Chinese Christmas Recipes

With the Chinese New Year being the most important event in the Chinese calendar, you'd imagine that Christmas got swept under the carpet. Not so, as celebrating Christmas becomes more popular throughout China.

Whilst you won't find the hype and shopping madness of Western countries, in major cities you'll see lights, trees and Christmas decorations on the streets and in stores. Christmas Day is not even a bank holiday in China, although it is in Hong Kong and Macao. Whether this is just part of the Chinese interest in Western culture, or a sales ploy by the big stores, who can say?

Chinese Cooking

With an increasing number of Christians, it can only be expected that more people will be celebrating the festive season in China each year. With little tradition and history, cooking for a Chinese Christmas dinner means you can cook any special occasion dish you choose.

However, there are a few suggestions we can make to get you started:-

• Peking Duck
• Cantonese Roast Duck
• Kung Pao Chicken
• Cookies
• Five Spice Peanuts
• Sesame Seed Balls
• Spring Rolls

Whilst many of the recipes above are traditionally eaten for the Chinese New Year, they will serve just as well for a Christmas dinner. As always with Chinese cooking, use the freshest ingredients, prepare them well ahead of time, so that all you have to do is cook!

An excellent resource is http://chinesefood.about.com/ which has lots of great recipe and food ideas for every holiday occasion including Chinese cookie recipes.

Choosing & Cooking Chinese Christmas Recipes

For further tips and ideas for cooking great and traditional food from around the world, visit Chinese recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com/chinese-recipes.html]

This article was submitted by Jen Carter, owner of the Worldwide Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com] website.

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The Feast of 7 Fishes - Italian Christmas Eve Dinner Made Easy With A 4-Fish Seafood Risotto

Seafood risotto is usually made with the seafood cooked right into the risotto. Although this makes a wonderful dish, I find that the seafood can easily become overcooked and get lost in the risotto, or that some diners can get lots of seafood while others get cheated. I find that flavoring the risotto with a seafood broth and then topping it with sautéed seafood is an unbeatable combination.

Servings: 4-6

Italian Cooking

• 1 pound risotto, made from Arborio rice prepared according to package directions and kept warm (see note)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 2 dozen small clams, rinsed
• 2 dozen small mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
• 12 large sea scallops
• 12 medium to large shrimp, shelled, cleaned, and de-veined
• 1/2 medium clove garlic, minced
• 3 plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
• 1 tablespoon Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, stems removed and chopped
• 1 cup white wine sauce (see below)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 to 6 lemon wedges, for garnish

Preparation:

1. Prepare the risotto according to package directions. Either keep the finished risotto warm in a 200ºF. oven or cook it while you prepare the rest of this recipe.
2. Put the olive oil and red pepper flakes in a large sauté pan over high heat for about 30 seconds, or until the oil is hot but not smoking.
3. Cook the clams, mussels, and scallops (on both sides) for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the clams begin to open and the scallops begin to turn opaque.
4. Add the shrimp and cook everything for 1 minute more, until the shrimp turn pink on one side.
5. Turn the shrimp, add the garlic, and cook for a few seconds, until the garlic begins to turn golden.
6. Add the tomatoes followed by the sauce and cook for a moment or two until all the juices in the pan blend together.
7. Finish with a pat of butter or two and a splash of cream if desired.

The Sauce:

1. Add ¼ cup olive oil to the bottom of a saucepan, followed by 3-4 tablespoons of flour and stir over medium heat.
2. Slowly add 1 cup of white wine and continue stirring. (sauce will thicken).
3. Now slowly add about 1cup of clam broth and ½ cup of water. Stir until all the liquid is incorporated.
4. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking for about 15 minutes until the sauce reduces to the consistency of a smooth gravy.

Serving Seafood Risotto:

Stir some of the liquid part of the sauce into the risotto, then spoon the risotto onto individual serving plates. Top each serving with the remainder of the sauce and the seafood. If desired, arrange the mussels all along the rim of the platter or plate, then add the seafood in the center. Sprinkle with the parsley, salt and pepper, and garnish each serving plate with a lemon wedge.

Note about Arborio Rice:

Arborio rice, for making risotto, is sold in 1-kilogram boxes (2.2 pounds) and comes in two packages. The cooking time is about 15 minutes, but it's best prepared slightly underdone because it will continue cooking after it's removed from the heat.

Enjoy!

The Feast of 7 Fishes - Italian Christmas Eve Dinner Made Easy With A 4-Fish Seafood Risotto

About Chef Silvia:

For Chef Silvia Bianco, a native of Calabria region in Italy, food has always been an act of love, which Silvia shares in the form of a unique blend of culinary alchemy and life-enhancing recipes in her monthly newsletter, "A Note from the Chef".

Subscribe to the FREE newsletter at Silvia's blog "Cooking with Chef Silvia"

Visit her website for more recipes cooking tips and information on Chef Silvia's cooking classes

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Traditional Italian Christmas Traditions and Recipes for Panettone

The Italians love food, and Christmas is no exception.

On Christmas Eve it is traditional to eat fish dishes; certainly, no meat is eaten on Christmas Eve. Panettone, a traditionally light Milanese cake, also plays a part in this meal but can be eaten at any time with family and friends during the holiday season.

Italian Cooking

Religion and faith plays an important part in the Christmas festivities, with families attending mass together and watching the Pope appear on his famous balcony on Christmas Day.

Christmas lunch is often stuffed pasta parcels, followed by stuffed goose or boiled capon or more seafood.

Made the traditional way, panettone is a comparatively complicated recipe, but this simple version suitable for a bread machine is a quick and easy way to create this delicious Christmas treat:-
Full of candied fruit, raisins, citron, anise or fennel seed, lemon zest and even almonds - here's three online bread recipes to choose from:-

1. For a full flavoured, spicy and aromatic, panettone, visit http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27031.asp
2. For a simple, quick recipe visit http://bread.allrecipes.com/az/PanettoneII.asp
3. Using American measurements, this should make a fragrant, tasty loaf, visit http://www.recipezaar.com/106369

In Italy the children have to wait until 6th January for their presents, so it's probably just as well they have plenty of delicious food to enjoy until then. Buon Natale!

Traditional Italian Christmas Traditions and Recipes for Panettone

For further ideas for Italian recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com/italian-recipes.html] and Christmas Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com], visit our website.

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Christmas Turkey Cooking recipe - Juicy Turkey Breast

This turkey recipe uses brine techniques to bring forth turkey meat which is incredibly moist. Cooking this turkey meat for your Christmas meal will make you a hit both your friends and family. Home cooking has never never more exciting!

In cooking, brining is a process similar to marination in which meat is soaked in a salt explication (the brine) before cooking.

Cooking

Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells of its muscle tissue before cooking, via the process of osmosis, and by allowing the cells to hold on to the water while they are cooked, via the process of denaturation. This prevents the meat from drying out, or dehydrating.

Christmas Turkey Cooking Recipe

Juicy Turkey Breast

Serves 8

For the brine:

16 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 cups tasteless salt

5 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon pickling spices

For the turkey:

1 fresh breast, 9-11 pounds, deboned

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Black pepper

2 cups chicken broth

1. Merge the brine ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until sugar and salt dissolve. Cool to room temperature.

2. Rinse the turkey breast, discarding excess fat. Place in a deep bowl or pot, turkey breast-side down. Pour the brine over the turkey breast and refrigerate. Loosely covered, overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350*F. Remove the turkey breast from the brine 30 minutes before roasting. Line a shallow roasting pan with long pieces of heavy-duty aluminum foil.

4. Place turkey breast in the pan. Brush with 4 tablespoons of melted butter; season with pepper. Gather foil loosely on top and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Open the foil and bake for 2 1/4 hours more, basting every 30 minutes with broth and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, until the turkey breast is golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 165*F and the juices run clear.

5. Exchange the turkey breast to a cutting board; let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Reserve pan juices for gravy.

Calories: 240;

Carbohydrates: 1g;

Protein: 33g;

Fat: 10g;

Cholesterol: 90mg;

The water, pickling spices, and salt Merge to make brining a great technique for wonderfully moist turkey meat. Be sure to register on our web site to receive free weekly home cooking recipes, great home cooking articles, home cooking tips, and cooking recipes from the world over.

Christmas Turkey Cooking recipe - Juicy Turkey Breast

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