Christmas Cooking..... Next year I'll.....? page

[Salkeela]

Okay so I'm new to Primal (1st Dec this year) and Christmas crept up on us.... So I cooked all the usual fare and just took a Primal "holiday" for Christmas Day and Boxing Day (gotta finish up some of those things today ...).

So NEXT year I want to think this through more.....

Our typical menu is:

Smoked salmon on Irish Wheaten Bread

Turkey with Sage and Onion Stuffing
Smoked Roasted Ham with Bread Sauce
Roast Potatoes
Creamed Potatoes
Roast carrots and parsnips
Brussell Sprouts
Gravy thickened with flour
Cranberry sauce

Plum pudding with brandy butter and cream

Cheese board and crackers

Thankfully I don't eat chocolate in the first place as it gives me migraine, so those sickly milk chocolates are really easy to give up!

So by NEXT year I hope to be better organised to make kale crackers for the cheese, and invent some sort of Plum pud that is not flour based.....

And if any of you Primal experts can throw some interesting ideas into the mix ..... then I'm totally listening!

[oliviascotland]

Well, this year was my second Primal Christmas, and things are slightly better than last year's efforts. I used quite a lot of almond flour baking products this year (Gluten free, grain free, high protein and healthyElana's Pantry | Gluten free, grain free, high protein and healthy).

Our Christmas menu wasn't perfect by a long shot, but went as follows:

Smoked salmon on almond bread
Roast goose stuffed with onions and Cox's Orange Pippins
Roast potatoes (but only 1 each)
Roast Brussels sprouts
Steamed carrots
Home-made cranberry sauce sweetened with honey instead of sugar (which no-one ate)
Giblet gravy (made a stock with the goose giblets, which I used to de-glaze the bottom of the roasting pan, before reducing, adding a splash of wine, and thickening with butter)

We did have a Christmas pudding, but this was home-made and gluten-free with a very much reduced sugar content and nut flours instead of breadcrumbs and flours. Seriously good, and disappeared in a flash (however, the brandy butter also disappeared - oooops).

I also made mincemeat this year with fresh suet and with no sugar - just the fruits, suet, nuts and alcohol, and made some mince pies with pastry made by combining 3/4 cup almond flour with 3/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/4 cup melted butter and 1 egg (rolled out between sheets of greaseproof paper). Again, very acceptable if not completely primal.

For a Christmas cake I used the Paleo Fruitcake recipe from Elana's pantry with home-made marzipan (75% less sugar!) and the coconut frosting also from Elana's pantry. Very good, and is going down well.

Will be trying harder yet next Christmas!

[athomeontherange]

I have found simplicity is best. A good roast (we have a nice big bone in pork roast and roasted it with a bacon blanket), a vegetable (we have brussels sprouts cooked in bacon and onions), and a colorful green salad. There are a lot of good primal recipes. Personally I do not make mock anything or do primal substitutions if I can help it. So for me no almond flour (allergic anyway) or coconut flour. This year be adventurous and stock pile those fabulous primal recipes so you have a nice selection to choose from. Happy New Year!

[Salkeela]

@ Olivia Scotland - Sounds pretty good to me!! Do you have the recipe to hand for the Christmas Pud? It sounds very good.....

Next year, I'll do better! Although I guess the whole ethos if Christmas is eating rich foods you don't usually eat!

[Salkeela]

Hi Karin, I think Christmas Day is one day where I like things to "look" right.... and - even if it means a small slip or two with objectives - to taste close to what the family's traditional Christmas Day food has always been like.

Luckily I can tolerate the nut flours and family seem okay too.

Throughout the rest of the year, I'm with you.... foods don't need to imitate conventional foods, but can be their own thing. Just Christmas.... is .... well ..... all about tradition in our household! It's the only predictable meal we have in our household!!

[Mamame]

@ Olivia Scotland - Sounds pretty good to me!! Do you have the recipe to hand for the Christmas Pud? It sounds very good.....

Yes - I'd love that recipe!

[namelesswonder]

Next year, I'll make more gluten-free treats so I can indulge safely.

[oliviascotland]

Christmas pudding recipe is as follows - please note, this is NOT really primal, and is a once-a-year indulgence for us!!

50g/2oz glace cherries, quartered
140g/5oz mixed dried fruits
140g/5oz dried figs, chopped
100g/4oz ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped (or 100g/4oz soaked and drained weight dried apricots, chopped)
2tbspn brandy
3tbspn port
Grated zest and juice 1 lemon and 1 grapefruit
4oz butter
50g/2oz dark muscovado sugar (I used 1oz muscovado sugar and 1oz xylitol)
25g/1oz blanched flaked almonds, chopped
2 large eggs, beaten
1 eating apple, cored and diced
1tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn each ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon
1tspn mixed spice
190g/6oz mixed nut flour (I used a mixture of almond, walnut and hazelnut)

Put all the fruits into a saucepan with the alcohol, citrus zests and juice, butter and sugar. Bring slowly to the boil and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Cool slightly, then stir in the flaked almonds, eggs and apple. Sift in nut flours and spices. Mix all ingredients well. Spoon into a greased 1.2 litre/2 (imperial) pint basin and smooth the top. Cover with a large square of greaseproof paper with a pleat in the centre and tie down with string. Trim off the excess paper, then overwrap the basin with tin foil, pleated, and tie down. Bring about 2in/5cm of water to the boil in a large pan with a tight fitting lid. Lower in the pudding, cover and steam for 3 hours, checking the water level periodically, and topping up if necessary.

Either serve immediately or, to store, leave the pudding to cool, then replace the greaseproof paper and foil with fresh and store in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 2 months. On the day, steam for a further 2 hours. Serve with brandy sauce/butter/cream.

I'm rather like Salkeela in that I do like my traditional foods on Christmas Day - they may not be 100% Primal, but they will be gluten free and as low sugar as I can manage, and form part of my 20%. For us it is as much about using recipes that have been handed down through the generations, that my mother made with her grandmother, that I made with my grandmother, that my daughters make with me and will hopefully make with their children that helps to make our Christmas a cohesive, traditional, family affair! If we have one day out of 365 that isn't 100%, so be it

[oliviascotland]

Just to add - I did a lot of internet searching to source dried fruits without the almost inevitable vegetable oil, so I did need to soak some. Also, my husband and one of my daughters are allergic to orange, hence the use of grapefruit - but you can use orange if you prefer.

[athomeontherange]

Hi Karin, I think Christmas Day is one day where I like things to "look" right.... and - even if it means a small slip or two with objectives - to taste close to what the family's traditional Christmas Day food has always been like.

Luckily I can tolerate the nut flours and family seem okay too.

Throughout the rest of the year, I'm with you.... foods don't need to imitate conventional foods, but can be their own thing. Just Christmas.... is .... well ..... all about tradition in our household! It's the only predictable meal we have in our household!!

Well to each his own I suppose. I left traditional meals behind years ago and never looked back. My goal was to not have the season or holiday center on food. I do understand sometimes families have expectations though. cheers!