Last night, we had an Around the World dinner of Christmas dishes from different countries. We enjoyed all of the dishes.
Menu:
Ensalada de Navidad (Mexico, literally Christmas salad)
Moros y Cristianos (Cuba, black beans and rice, literally Moors and Christians)
Kartoffelsalat (Germany, potato salad)
German Christmas cookies
The cookies and ensalada de Navidad were M's favorites. M is dictating to me, since he is busy making a Christmas present for his dad (aka Steve). M helped make the cookies and learned how to grate lemon peel. M says "The cookies were awesome" and I have to agree. We made extras to share with M's grandparents who will be visiting later in the week. M is also going to leave some for Santa.
I used Wikipedia's Holiday Greetings page to make a quiz about how to say Merry Christmas in lots of languages. M and Steve worked together and were able to get 8 out of 11 right.
the recipes:
German Christmas Cookies (they probably have another name, but this is how I found them on cooks.com. I cut the recipe in half and it still made 54 cookies! This is the full recipe.)
8 eggs
4 cups sugar
4 oz. chopped citron
4 oz. blanched almonds
grated rind of 2 lemons
9 cups flour
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Beat 8 eggs. Add 4 cups sugar, beat until smooth, about 15 minutes. Add 4 ounces chopped citron, 4 ounces blanched almonds, (which have been coarsely chopped) and the grated rind of 2 lemons.
Sift together 9 cups flour, add 1/2 tsp. ground cloves, 2 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper to flour and sift again. Add to the first mixture.
Roll out dough 3/4 inch thick. Cut into small rounds 1-inch in diameter.
Before baking, turn each cookie upside down, put a drop of water on each and bake at 350°F. for 15 minutes.
Ensalada de Navidad - Christmas Salad (I skipped the pomegranate seeds)
10 servings
Ingredients
2 small cooked beets, peeled and diced
1 large cooked carrot diced
1 orange, peeled and chopped
1 apple, peeled and diced
1/4 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and diced
1 large banana, diced
1/2 cup unsalted nuts, almonds or peanuts
seeds of 1/2 small pomegranate
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
3 tbsp salad oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
dash of salt
Mix all the fruits. Put lime or lemon juice, salad oil, sugar and salt into a screw top jar. Shake until blended and sugar has dissolved. Pour the dressing over the fruit salad and toss well.
Pile the salad into a salad bowl and garnish with the nuts and pomegranate seeds. Let it stand in the refrigerator until chilled.
Serve chilled.
Kartoffelsalat (I used faux bacon instead of real)
Ingredients
* 10 medium potatoes well scrubbed
* 1 large white onion chopped
* 1/2 cup cider vinegar
* 1/2 cup water
* 4 tablespoons olive oil
* 4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
* 3 tablespoons parsley chopped
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1. Cook potatoes in water until tender.
2. While hot remove skins and set potatoes aside until cool enough to handle comfortably.
3. Slice into a large bowl.
4. Simmer onion in a saucepan with vinegar and water until tender.
5. Pour over potatoes and allow to stand until cold.
6. Do not mix or disturb the potatoes as they will crumble and become mushy.
7. When potatoes are cool add oil, bacon, parsley, salt and pepper then toss gently to blend flavors.
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