It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go,
Take a look in the five-and-ten, it’s glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes that glow….
You know Christmas is coming….
when halloween had came to an end.
when every departmental store starts to play christmas carols.
when everyone is booking each other slots during this festive season.
when the christmas shopping spree starts. (oops!)
when you start to plan what to wear on both the eve and actual day.
when I start smelling pumpkin, cinnamon and the smell of a roast….
No doubt, Christmas is always such a joyous holiday that somehow lift one’s mood no wonder how blue is it.
Christmas just made the whole December a much fun month to be in.
Some people enjoy the gift wrapping part of the whole christmas process,
while others love the card writing part.
But for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the food portion – both baking and cooking.
Christmas to me, it’s about sharing the love between friends and family.
It’s about cooking a feast so everyone that I love can enjoy it.
Having a joyous conversation over a hearty meal.
So I thought of sharing some easy recipes for this christmas that you can cook up a feast and make you like a pro.
– Lobster Mac & Cheese
– Brussel Sprout with Bacon Salad
– Rosemary Chicken with lemon and tomatoes
It might sound a little intimidating for the beginners but trust me! It’s simple.
If you are not convinced, believe it or not, I made the above 3 dishes in 2 1/2 hour.
No complicated steps and everything can be easily found in any leading supermarkets here.
Before I start typing the recipe, I thought maybe I can share some thoughts for each dishes like how I came up with it?
First of all, the recipe of this Lobster Mac & Cheese is slightly different from the regular Mac & Cheese recipes I have used. I wanted to make it really simple and no complicated cheese names and not too technical for the beginners. So I made it with a slight twist from my easy cream pasta recipe that never goes wrong I swear.
Next salad of the feast. A feast is only balance if there’s meat, carbohydrates and vegetables (&fruits).
This brussel sprouts salad is inspired from the best brussel sprouts I ever had in my life during my trip in Perth early this year. I was mind-blown. I remembered eating a brussel sprout dish last christmas at Strangers’ Reunion so I thought it must be a christmas vegetable dish! The one I had in Perth was deep-fried but I thought let me make it a little simple and a lesser mess in the kitchen by avoiding frying.
& lastly what is a christmas feast without a roast?
This roast is really simple just throw all the ingredients listed in the casserole, send it to the oven and 1hr 20mins later tadah!
So now do you believe in me when I say it’s simple?
There you go!
[Recipe] Easy Christmas Dinner Feast
Ingredients
Lobster Mac & Cheese:
400g Botson Lobster (Frozen)
*You can get fresh lobster in Seng Siong or frozen ones from The Seafood Market Place by Song Fish*
150g Macaroni (Before cooking weight)
200g Heavy Cream for cooking
1 cup of Perfect Italiano Parmesan Cheese
A handful of Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Cheese
4 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
2 tbsp of Butter
1tsp of Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Rosemary Chicken:
1.4kg Whole Chicken
200g Tomatoes
4 cloves of Garlic (crushed)
1 Lemon
3 sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
Olive Oil
Salt
Brussel Sprout Salad:
500g Brussel Sprouts
3 cloves of Garlic (sliced)
6 slices of Streaky Bacon (roughly chopped)
2tbsp of Butter
Perfect Italiano Parmesan Cheese
Salt to taste
Method
(Let start off with the chicken first because it takes the longest to cook in the oven.)
1. Remove the head, feet and innards of the chicken.
2. Rub the chicken with salt, olive oil and rosemary.
3. Place the chicken in a oven-proof dish.
4. Stuff half a lemon inside the chicken body.
5. Cut the remaining lemon in wedges and squeeze the juice over the chicken.
6. Add the tomatoes, garlic, lemon wedges and leftover rosemary in the dish with the chicken.
7. Cook the chicken in a preheated oven of 180c for 1hr.
8. Crank up the temperature of the oven to 200c and cook it for an additional 20 mins.
*Timing might vary depending on the size of the chicken and individual oven*
(Next we can proceed with the brussel sprout…)
9. Trim the ends of the brussel sprouts and make a cross at the bottom to allow it to cook through easier.
10. Boil the brussel sprouts till it is just cooked. – Don’t overcook it!
11. Once done, drain the water and run it through the tap water to prevent it from overcooking.
12. Add the butter into the heated saucepan,
13. Add the garlic and mix it for 1min.
14. Then add in the bacon to render the fats.
15. Sauté it for 2mins.
16. Place the sprout in a glass dishwater and pour the bacon oil mixture all over the sprouts.
17. Place it into the oven with the chicken when you crank up the temperature to 200c and bake it for 20mins.
18. Once done, sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese for the extra flavour.
19. Cook the frozen lobster into a pot of boiling water with salt for 10-12mins. (You can choose the steam the lobster instead to retain more moisture)
20. Once the lobster is cooked, use the same water to cook the macaroni according to the cooking instructions on the package.
21. Add a drizzle of oil in the water so the macaroni will not stick to each other when we drain them later on.
22. Cook the pasta 2mins lesser than the instructed timing on the package.
23. Once the pasta is done, drain the water and let the tap water run through the cooked pasta to stop the cooking process. – You can add some ice too.
24. Add butter into the heated saucepan.
25. Throw in the finely chopped garlic in and sauté it.
26. Add the pasta in now and give it a good toss.
27. Add the cream and parmesan into the pasta mixture.
28. Let the parmesan dissolve and the cream thicken.
29. Pour the pasta mixture into an oven-proof dishware and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese all over the pasta generously.
30. Put Mac & Cheese into a preheated oven (240c) and let it inside for 5mins.
31. Serve the Mac & Cheese with the lobster.
More pictures and cooking tips:
Trim the ends and a cross at the bottom like the picture above to facilitate the cooking of the sprouts.
Do not over render the the bacons for the brussel sprout salad. If not, it will become bacon chips after cooking in the oven.
The brussel sprout is ready to enter the oven!
If you are using a live lobster, kindly put them in the freezer first before boiling or steaming them. The lobster meat will taste better that way and it is a more humane way to cook a live seafood.
The star of my christmas feast: One of the main reason I choose the above cheeses is because they are the most common cheeses in our family refrigerator and it can be easily found in all leading supermarkets.
I bought a bunch of really sweet grapes as dessert instead. Healthier choice and balance feast? Haha
Try it because cooking can be really simple like the above 🙂
thepopcorngirl 