Timpana for Christmas!

Timpana is the ultimate pasta pie. Macaroni is cooked separately (to under al dente stage) and added to a rich bolognaise style sauce, often with chicken livers. With the addition of eggs, the mixture is cooked in a pastry case in either a deep dish or baking tray until its golden brown. This recipe uses bought puff pastry but I usually like to make it myself - its what we called a rough puff pastry, not as flaky but made with lots of butter!
This recipe can easily feed an army of people and it tastes just as good as leftovers the day after (if there is any left!)

Ingredients

500g puff pastry (frozen sheets)
500g  macaroni or penne
300g minced beef
300g minced pork
300g chicken livers, diced
300g bacon, finely diced
500g onions, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
150g parmesan cheese, grated
150g  cheese, grated (any other type)
7 eggs, beaten
200g tomato paste
200g tomato purée
500ml chicken or beef stock
150g butter
Salt and pepper

For glaze
100ml milk
1 egg, extra

Method
Preheat oven to 180˚C.

Sauté the onions and garlic in butter for 5 minutes.
Add bacon and pork mince, stirring well to separate.
Add beef mince and continue stirring, cooking for 10 minutes.
Add chicken livers  and cook for 5 minutes.
Add stock, mix well and bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add tomato paste and tomato purée.

While the sauce is cooking, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just undercooked.
Drain and mix with sauce, adding parmesan and tasty cheese.
Stir in beaten eggs.
Line a greased baking dish with the pastry, extending it up the sides.
Spoon in sauce and cover the top with another layer of pastry which has been pricked all over with a knife to let steam escape.
Beat together glaze ingredients and paint top of timpana all over.
Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Recipe adapted from one I found on an Australian site - There are more Maltese in Australia than there are in Malta!

Christmas Pudding

The most British of desserts, the traditional Christmas pudding was always a must at home. It would be made several months in advance, then re-steamed a few days before christmas. Tradition also dictated that a silver sixpence would be put in the mixture for a lucky person to find (and hopefully not choke on!) A sixpence does not exist any more - let alone a silver one but I do remember putting one in!
Another tradition was that everyone in the family would stir the pudding and make a wish.

This is a great recipe adapted from the
 Telegraph on line

Butter a pudding basin (8-10in/20-25cm) and line the base with a circle of baking paper. Into a very large bowl put 4oz/115g raisins, 4oz/115g sultanas, 4oz/115g chopped Smyrna figs, 4oz/115g chopped pitted prunes and 4oz/115g chopped dates.


Add 4oz/115g grated pumpkin and 1 grated  apple. Pour over 3½ fl oz/100ml cider or ale and leave to stand for about 20 minutes, until the raisins have plumped up a little.

Add 2 beaten eggs and 2 extra egg yolks, 2 tbsp black treacle and 4oz/115g dark muscovado sugar. Stir in 4oz/115g ground almonds, 4oz/115g vegetable suet  and 3oz/85g grated plain chocolate .
Sift together 4oz/115g white  flour , ½ tsp ground mixed spice, ½ tsp grated nutmeg and ½ tsp ground cinnamon and fold well into the pudding.

Spoon into the greased basin (or basins, if you are making more than one smaller pudding, in which case reduce cooking time by two thirds). Cover the surface of the pudding with another circle of baking paper.

Cut a large piece of baking paper (big enough to cover the bowl and be tied down) and a similar-sized piece of foil. Lay one on top of the other and fold to make a pleat so they hold together.

Lay over the bowl and tie down with a piece of string. Place in a large, deep pan and pour water in until it reaches halfway up the basin.

Bring to the boil, cover with a lid, turn down to a slow simmer and steam for about 6 hours. Allow to cool and store at room temperature. From time to time, open the seal and sprinkle with brandy. You will need to steam the pudding again for about 3 hours before serving it.

Quick and Easy Biscuits (Cookies)

I like having home-made  biscuits (cookies) at home and an easy way to ensure a constant supply is to make extra dough and freeze, then slice off what you need. The dough keeps well in the freezer for about a month - or around a week in the fridge.

Ingredients
4oz butter

4oz  sugar

Grated zest of one lemon or orange

(other options may include adding spices like cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg. This is a basic recipe so you can tweak it a bit! If you want chocolate flovoured biscuits, add  1 tbsp cocoa powder to the flour)
9oz  flour
1 egg
pinch of salt

Method
Beat the butter, sugar and zest together until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg and salt.
Add the flour and using your hands work in  gently.
Shape the dough into a roll about 2" thick and wrap well in plastic wrap.
Put in the fridge for about an hour or if you are freezing, just put in the freezer

To bake, heat the oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet with non-stick paper.
Cut the dough, straight from the fridge or freezer into ¼in slices and arrange, well spaced, on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 12 mins (the exact time will depend on the thickness of the biscuits) until very lightly coloured.
Put the biscuits onto a rack to cool .
These biscuits will be nice and crisp

Mince Pies

Mince pies have been eaten as part of a traditional British Christmas since as long ago as the 16th century. Then, they were made of meat along with spices and fruit and alcohol to preserve the meat.Now, mincepies are made with sweet mincemeat; a mixture of dried fruits, sugar, spices, suet  and brandy.
When mincemeat is made in the English kitchen, all the family takes turns in stirring and making a secret wish. The mixture is always stirred clockwise To stir in a counter-clockwise direction is to ask for trouble in the coming year!

You can buy mincemeat in speciality stores, but use my recipe - its more fun and the taste can't be beaten!
We now need the recipe for the pastry.

Ingredients
2/1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into pieces
6-7 tbs cold water (iced is better)

Method
Sift the flour and salt
Rub the butter and shortening in using fingertips till you get a breadcrumb like consistency
Add the water bit by bit until the mixture begins to combine.
Shape into a ball and refrigerate for about 30 mins.

Use a low cupcake type tray and line with circles of the pastry, fill with the mince meat, cover with another circle and prick the tops. You can also brush with beaten egg

Cook at about 400F until nice and brown

While still warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Mostaccioli

Mostaccioli are characteristic of a Neapolitan Christmas. They are spicy cookies with a chocolate fondant icing, generally made in diamond shapes. You could make them flat or in balls if you wish. Some recipes also add liquor and candied peel but i have kept these relatively simple.

Thanks to Gianluca for this recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 /4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

Zest of one orange

Chocolate Glaze:

3 tbs unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Water

Silver ball decorations

Method.

Prepare Cookies:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

In another bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar with butter until blended.

Increase speed to high; beat until light and creamy.

At low speed, beat in egg and zest.

Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, just until combined, occasionally scraping bowl.

Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough and cut into diamond shapes using a pizza cutter.

Place shapes 2 inches apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet.

Bake cookies 7 to 9 minutes (they will look dry and slightly cracked).

Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Chocolate Glaze:

When cookies cool, in medium bowl, with wire whisk or fork, gradually mix cocoa with 1/4 cup boiling water until smooth.

Gradually stir in confectioners' sugar and blend well.

Dip top of each cookie into glaze. Place cookies on wire rack set over waxed paper to catch any drips.

Decorate with silver balls

Allow glaze to set, about 20 minutes. Store cookies, with waxed paper between layers, in tightly covered container at room temperature up to 3 days, or in freezer up to 3 months.

Kipferl - Austrian Cookies

Another great recipe given to me by Nikki. These are rather short biscuits, great with coffee or a glass of wine. Very popular around the Christmas season. The central and northern European countries have great recipes for Christmas cookies...hopefully I will find some more!

Just a word of advice...these cookies are not the prettiest to look at...but they taste excellent! You can also dip one side in chocolate to make chocolate kipferl though i personally prefer the original type.

INGREDIENTS

250gms flour

1 egg plus one yolk, beaten

1 pack vanilla sugar

120gms grated, unpeeled roasted almonds

200gms butter or 100gms vegetable oil

grated peel of 1 lemon

METHOD

Sift flour and sugar.

Add almonds and lemon peel

Add beaten eggs and fats.

Form a dough then roll out strips, cut into about 3" pieces and curve to make 'moon shapes'

Cook at 180C or until brown (about 12 mins) take out of oven a dredge with powdered sugar. Let cool - then dredge with sugar again