On our show today Charly and I talked about Christmas traditions and some recipes. My household is vegetarian, so you won’t find a turkey or ham dish! I believe in simple, healthy food made from fresh ingredients. Being Christmas you also will find some traditional recipes which are yummy and full of calories. Enjoy them, worrying about what you eat causes more stress than the occasional indulgence that you well and truly enjoy!

Stollen is a traditional German Christmas cake/bread that is shaped to resemble a swaddled baby to symbolise the birth of Christ. It tastes just as nice if you bake it in a bread tin!

It has a long history and was first mentioned in the year 1400. The modern version has evolved over many centuries and even during my lifetime the evolution has continued.

Stollen (the recipe used in our family)

Ingredients:

500g flour

12g baking powder (you can make your own by mixing 2 parts of cream of tartar with 1 part bicarb of soda)

150 g sugar (or 100g fruit sugar for diabetics)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1 packet of vanillin sugar

4 drops of bitter almond flavour (there is really no substitute for this – it gives a particular flavour and it is worth looking for it. The brands available here in Australia are “Dr. Oetker” and “Ruf”.

1 tablespoon of rum or rum essence

1 teaspoon of lemon essence

2 knifetips full of ground cardamom

1 knifetip full of ground nutmeg

2 eggs

150 g unsalted butter – softened or chopped into small pieces

50 g coconut fat (copha or similar) – traditionally the recipe calls for lard

250 ricotta or farm cheese or quark

125 g ground almonds or hazelnuts

125 g currants

125 g raisins (you can use all currants or all raisins)

40g mixed peel (I chop it really finely or mince it in the food processor because I don’t like the little “chunks”)

Icing:

50g butter

50 g icing sugar

Preparation is pretty simple. Get a big bowl and put everything in except the raisins, currants and mixed peel. Use your hands to knead a smooth dough. If it is too wet, add a little bit more flour. Add the currants, raisins and mixed peel and knead into the dough.

Shape into a “swaddled” baby shape or put into loaf tin. Bake at 200 degrees C for about 1 hour – check that is doesn’t get too dark.

Take out of the oven and while still hot brush with butter (will melt and get absorbed into the Stollen) and straight away dust with icing sugar (make a fairly thick coating). When completely cool wrap in greaseproof paper and then aluminium foil and store in a cool, dry place. It will keep for a number of weeks. The flavour improves with age!

Avocado Dip

2 ripe avocados (peeled and seeds removed)
1 small tomato finely chopped
1 clove garlic (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon
few drops Tabasco Sauce of one finely chopped chili
salt and pepper (optional)

Put everything into a food processor and blend till smooth. Season to taste and chill. Serve with cornchips, crackers or carrot and celery sticks.

Hommos

1 tin of chickpeas (drain and keep liquid)
Juice of one lemon
2-3  tablespoons tahini (sesame paste – comes in a glass jar from supermarket or deli)
1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled
salt (optional)
pinch of allspice (optional)

Blend all of the above in a food processor or with a bamix. Add a little bit of the liquid reserved from the tin till you have a smooth, slightly runny consistency. Hommos will thicken as you chill it.

Before serving you may want to drizzle a little olive oil and sweet paprika over the bowl. Serve with flat bread, crackers or carrot and celery sticks.

Vegie Burgers

Makes 8-10 Burgers
Ingredients:
1 cup dry lentils, washed – I use 3/4 green lentils and 1/4 red but you can use all green. All red goes too mushy.
2 1/2 cups water
some salt and/or soysauce
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 large onion, chopped finely
2 medium carrots, grated
1 celery stick, finely chopped (optional)
3/4 cup rolled oats, ground into a fine flour (in food processor or electric coffee grinder)
3 tablespoons flour
1 slice of wholemeal bread (or white) soaked in hot water, then squeezed to remove most of the water

Method:

Place lentils, water and salt in a pot, bring to boil, lower heat, cover and let simmer for at least 1/2 hour till green lentils are very soft and the skins are splitting. The water should be nearly gone. If there is too much water, drain the lentils and add some of the liquid back in to get the right consistency.

Fry carrot, onion and celery in olive oil till soft.

Mix lentils, all other ingredients and fried vegetables in a big bowl. Will still warm, form into patties.You can now freeze them, keep them in the fridge (for up to 3 days) or cook them immediately.

The healthiest way to cook them is in the oven, on a tray lined with baking paper. Brush each burger with just a little bit of olive oil. Bake for about 15 minutes at 200 degrees C.

Cold beetroot soup

Ingredients:
4 large beetroots, peeled and trimmed
3 cups vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

2-3 teaspoons sugar or honey

black pepper

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, sour cream or yoghurt
1-2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated
2-3 spring onions (or scallions) sliced
To decorate:
3-4 boiled potatoes
3-4 hardboiled eggs

Boil the beets in vegetable broth or water and salt till soft (at least 30-40 minutes). Lift the beets out and put them aside to cool. Keep the liquid.

Grate the beetroots coarsely and put them back into the liquid. Add all the other ingredients, stir till smooth and pink. Put into soup plates and garnish with cooked potato cubes and wedges of hard boiled egg and some more freshly chopped dill.

If you like this recipe you might enjoy Molly Katzen’s cook books. The above recipe has been adapted from one of her books. I own the first book she ever wrote “The Moosewood Cookbook” and I still use it.

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day

Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery)

I hope you will enjoy some of my recipes – if not at Christmas, you may want to try them another time.

Connie

from

http://www.stretchyourmindandbody.com