Xmas Feast 2012

Sharing what my family and I had for Xmas :)

My church Xmas celebration was on Sunday 23 Dec, and we went to Legoland Malaysia on Monday 24 Dec, so we had our Xmas meal on Xmas day itself, 25 Dec

I was busy in the kitchen the whole day cooking and baking on that day, despite feeling tired after the long day we spent in Legoland
As a result, I felt really tired for the next two days I didn't feel like doing anything, hence the late post cos I uploaded all the pictures only yesterday :)

So, here's what we had for our Xmas lunch...
Lemon maple honey baked ham with roasted vegetables, cream corn soup (cooked by my mum) and aglio olio spaghetti

The ham and vegetables before going into the oven

After out from the oven

 

 

I got the recipe from my sis' friend whom owns a restaurant, he's a great chef and I thank him for sharing this great recipe. This was the third time I used this recipe :)

Sorry but he didn't give the exact measurement of the ingredients used, and I never really measured myself everytime I made this...

 

What you need:

 

800g honey baked ham

salt / pepper

 

For glazing:

sweet dark soya sauce

worchestershire sauce

honey

lemon

maple syrup

salt / pepper

 

Vegetables I used roasted together with the ham: (cut in chunks)

Japanese pumpkin

baby potatoes

Australian baby carrots

green and red capsicums

1. Slice ham crosswise, marinade with salt and pepper, set aside for around 1 hour
2. In a bowl, mix all ingredients for glazing.
3. Arrange all cut vegetables in an oven proof baking dish. Sprinkle a little salt and black pepper also drizzle with a little oil
4. Brush ham all over with the glaze, and place in the middle of the baking dish on top of vegetables and bake in preheated oven of 220degC for approximately 1 hour
5. Turn ham to the other side halfway

 

And here's our dinner...

Still with the same roasted vegetables but this time it's roasted chicken :)

 

Before going into the oven



 

 

I used the recipe I saw at Annie's site

I like the name, I like how easy to prepare this dish and I like the good review she wrote

And so I chose this recipe, and what a good choice it was!

 

I skipped the pan-searing step, which I totally regretted. You see how my chicken looked like and you see hers and you know that this step is not to be skipped!

The next time I make this again, I will surely take the trouble to go through this additional step

 

Taste wise, it's really really good! Just like what she described - crisp skin, juicy and succulent meat

It's so good that there's no leftover on that night, all gone! :)

 

I marinated the bird for approximately 10 hours, from early morning to dinner time

The next time I make this again, I will marinade overnight

 

oh ya, I didn't tie the end of the leg to join them together since no stuffing for the chicken

 

Here's the recipe, thks Annie for sharing :)

 

What you need:

(I made 1.5 recipe for the seasoning)

 

1 whole chicken (I used free range / kampong chicken)

15g MasterFoods Roast Chicken Seasoning

4 tbsp olive oil

15g sea salt

few dashes of pepper

1 tsp of dried rosemary (or fresh rosemary)

1. Clean the chicken, cut the feet, neck and tailbone. Wash and pat dry with kitchen towel
2. Mix well in a small bowl: oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and roast chicken seasoning
3. Spread the marinade mixture all over the chicken, including underneath the breast skin, too
4. Keep the chicken in the fridge overnight (in an airtight container or wrapped in cling wrap)
5. Preheat oven to 220degC with fan on, top and bottom heat
6. Pan sear the chicken for 1 minute each side, let it slightly browned
7. Cut the vegetables in chunks, place it in the oven proof baking dish, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper
8. Place the chicken in the middle on top of the vegetables
9. Put the baking dish into the oven and bake for 40 minutes
10. Reduce heat to 190degC and further bake for 20 minutes

 

Did you see the browned skin on top? It's because I was itchy hand when I saw the bird was not brown enough to my liking, I switched the oven to grill mode at the last few minutes. I ended up having the slightly charred skin :(

But actually, it tasted yum, crisp and brown LOL

Not recommended though, it didn't do the appearance any good hehehe...

 

 

Now, the last thing I did on Xmas day... one bowl chocolate cupcakes from Martha Stewart

 

 

Very easy to prepare with a pretty good result :)

And I decorated some of the cupcakes into this...

 

 

The Xmas tree cupcake, too bad I didn't have anything to make a yellow star to put at the top of the tree...

 

The Xmas wreath

 

And not to forget, Mr Snowman :)

 

 

Here's the recipe for the cupcakes...

 

What you need:

 

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup plain flour

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup warm water

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 175degC
2. Line muffin pan with paper liners, set aside (I got 12 mini and 10 standard cupcakes)
3. Sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
4. Add in eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and mix til smooth, about 3 minutes with balloon whisk. Scrape the bottom and sides with rubber spatula to assure the batter is well mixed
5. Pour the batter into the muffin cups, 2/3 full
6. Bake til the tops spring back when touched and skewer comes out clean, mini cupcakes about 15 minutes, and standard cupcakes about 25 minutes, rotating pan if needed
7. Transfer to a wire rack, cool completely

 

Okay, so that's about all what I did on Xmas day

What a fun we had on that day, and of course - stuffed! LOL

Really hope you had a great Xmas too! :)

 

The snowman was chosen by Ian and candy cane was Abby's choice - both from Daiso :)

 

 

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #26 hosted by Alan of Travelling Foodies and Cook like a Star, organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Riceball from Riceball Eats