Christmas Cottage Roll

Christmas Cottage Roll

Christmas Cottage Roll

This recipe is for my husband  John, because he loves baked ham. Christmas Cottage Roll uses a real pork an uncooked piece of pork shoulder. For us, it is the only way to make a ham.  I don’t like those pre-cooked, pre-sliced ones. There is nothing like the taste of pork shoulder and we make sandwiches out of the leftovers. I also like to use the leftovers in a hash skillet with eggs.  YUM!!

The pork shoulder is an inexpensive cut of meat from the just above the front leg of a pig.  It is flavourful and has less fat.  If you don’t cook it correctly, it can be tough.  It needs slow cooking at low heat which tenderizes the fat. There is also a difference between a pork butt and pork shoulder: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/1214-the-difference-between-pork-butt-and-pork-shoulder

My grandparents in Calabria raised a pig every year.  When slaughtered they make everything cured and that meat would last for the whole year. My nonna would flavour the sauce with the various cured meats.  Don’t forget that this was at a time when, meat was not readily available and very expensive.  Growing up we made sausages in the month of January and I loved the smell of the sausage links in our cantina.  Once they dried, we preserved them in oil and oh were they ever good sliced.

Another slowly cooked pork roast on my blog https://recipesatmytable.com/dried-fruit-pork-roast/

Ingredients

  • 1 pork cottage roll
  • couple of bay leafs
  • 1 whole onion
  • couple of cloves of garlic
  • 1 medium carrot

Glaze

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup orange marmalade
  • freshly grated nutmeg

 

Process

Remove the cottage roll from the plastic, but not from the net. Ensure that you rinse it  well because there is a lot of salt on these.  Place in a pot and cover with water.  Add a bay leaf, an onion, carrot and a couple of whole garlic cloves. Bring it to a boil and simmer on medium for about 1/12 to 2 hours.  I usually cook it for 30 minutes per 500 gr.

Christmas Cottage Roll: Recipes At My Table

While it is simmering, I make my glaze. Mix the sugar, nutmeg, mustard, and marmalade together.  Then pour in the orange juice.  

After the cottage roll has simmered, I remove it and place it in a baking dish.  Pour the glaze over the cottage roll and place it in a 400 F oven for 20 minutes. 

Christmas Cottage Roll:Recipes At My Table

Continue basting it in 5 minute intervals.

When it comes out of the oven, baste it and let it sit for 10 minutes. At this point you might want to use some freshly ground pepper. 

Slice and put on a platter.

Christmas Cottage Roll: Recipes At My Table

We served it simply with mashed potatoes and sweet squash. 

 

Christmas Cottage Roll
5 from 3 votes
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Christmas Cottage Roll

Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

  • * 1 pork cottage roll
  • * couple of bay leafs
  • * 1 whole onion
  • * couple of cloves of garlic
  • * 1 medium carrot
  • GLAZE
  • * 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • * 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
  • * 1/2 cup orange juice
  • * 1/2 cup orange marmalade
  • * freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Remove the cottage roll from the plastic, but not from the net. Ensure that you rinse it  well because there is a lot of salt on these.  Place in a pot and cover with water.  Add a bay leaf, an onion, carrot and a couple of whole garlic cloves. Bring it to a boil and simmer on medium for about 1/12 to 2 hours.  I usually cook it for 30 minutes per 500 gr.
  2. While it is simmering, I make my glaze. Mix the sugar, nutmeg, mustard, and marmalade together.  Then pour in the orange juice.
  3. After the cottage roll has simmered, I remove it and place it in a baking dish.  Pour the glaze over the cottage roll and place it in a 400 F oven for 20 minutes.
  4. Continue basting it in 5 minute intervals.
  5. When it comes out of the oven, baste it and let it sit for 10 minutes. At this point you might want to use some freshly ground pepper.
  6. Slice and put on a platter
Limoncello Cream Cheese Balls

Limoncello Cream Cheese Balls

Limoncello Cream Cheese Balls

It’s almost Christmas and most of my baking is in good homes now.  I always love to spread sweet joy around.  There is some left for us to enjoy.  Growing up in an Italian home, dessert was not a part of meals.  We normally enjoyed some fruit at the end of the meal and a slice of cake  or cookies later on with our evening coffee.  I like fruit after a meal to cleanse the palate and what is better than lemons. Limoncello Cream cheese Balls make it easy for me not to feel guilty eating sweets.

These little balls have the crunch from the almonds and the smoothness from the cream cheese.  They are almost like truffles.  The texture from the ground cookies gives them that extra level of flavour.  These disappear quickly and will refresh your palate after all that food.

For us Christmas Eve involves many dishes made from fish.  This year we are alone and it will be different.  I am making calamari, breaded tilapia, garlic shrimp and lobster tails.  For greens I am serving fried rapini and my multi layer salad ( that’s another blog) and stuffed zucchini. The star of the evening is our slow braised cabbage which is a Calabrese tradition and places my nonno Salvatore and nonna Emilia at my table.  These little lemon bites bring nonno Ciccio and nonna Marietta, my Sicilian grandparents to the table with us too.

From our house to yours, may your table be full of your best Christmas memories as we move forward in health, peace, and happiness.

Another great and easy  lemon recipe to end your meal https://recipesatmytable.com/mini-lemon-curd-tarts/

A great article on what foods cleanse the palate https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/foods-cleanse-palate-2261.html

Ingredients

  • 8 oz block of cream cheese
  • 2 tbsp  sour cream
  • Juice of half a lemon and its zest
  • 3/4  cup ground almonds
  • 3/4 cup ground cookies, I used a lemon one, but arrowroot or a plain cookie would suffice
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp limoncello (optional)
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut.

Process

Put the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, limoncello liqueur, juice and zest of half a lemon into a bowl and beat until smooth.  

Now add in the cookies and almonds and stir together.

Place the dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes.  

Put the shredded coconut onto a plate. 

Make small balls (use about 1 tsp) and roll into the coconut.  Place on a baking tray and  back into the freezer. This recipe made 50 balls. 

Remove as needed, but they will disappear.

Limoncello Cream Cheese Balls

Skillet Cranberry Chicken

Skillet Cranberry Chicken

Skillet Cranberry Chicken

It’s beginning to look like another cranberry recipe at our house. Skillet Cranberry Chicken offers another festive look at the table and it is easy to make on rushed evenings. The truth is that I have too many cranberries and I do love to cook with them  There is enough baking in the house and so I am going for a sweet and sour sauce or agrodolce.  The combination of the brown sugar and vinegar will compliment the cranberries.

This chicken is a comfort dish because it is sticky and finger-licking good.  There is something about a good glaze on a chicken. Another one of my favourite sticky chicken dishes: https://recipesatmytable.com/baked-orange-chicken/

I love chicken and I could eat it every day.  There are so many ways to cook it that there is no need to be bored with it.  If you aren’t sure how to start, here is a good link with 65 more ways to cook your chicken and it also gives you a little history. I really have to try some of the Indian Recipes on this site.  YUMM!!!  https://food.ndtv.com/opinions/a-delicious-history-chicken-65-ultimate-recipe-776763

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
  • 2 tbsp  butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 large onion (diced)
  • 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp each of  ground nutmeg and cinnamon
Process

Mix the flour with the salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken in the flour.

Place the butter and olive oil in a skillet and cook until brown on both sides.  Remove the chicken and set it aside.

Skillet Cranberry Chicken

In the same skillet brown the onion.  Once browned add the cranberries, water, brown sugar, vinegar, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Let this simmer for a few minutes.

Skillet Cranberry Chicken

Return the chicken breast to the skillet and cover and cook on medium-love for another 30 minutes.

Skillet Cranberry Chicken

Serve with some plain basmati rice.  Plate and serve.

Skillet Cranberry Chicken

 

 

White Christmas Fudge: Recipes At My table

White Christmas Fudge

White Christmas Fudge

It isn’t Christmas without candy at the table. I am not much of a candy maker because of the clean-up mess that goes with it.  This White Christmas Fudge is easy and the clean-up even easier.  The simple ingredients make it a simple fix for your sweet tooth.

My first memories of Fudge were of going to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan for family outings. One particularly stands out.  Mount Caramel Church in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario organized a pilgrimage to The Cross in the Woods located in Indian River Michigan.  My grandparents wanted to go and they did and took me. Now if you can imagine that they spoke little English, but they got on a bus loaded with many more people who didn’t speak the language and off they went.  There were many grandchildren that accompanied them that day.

My memory of fudge is that The Mackinaw Island fudge was readily available everywhere on the mainland.  We bought a slab to go with our picnic lunch and my nonno took out his trusty old pocket knife from Italy.  I can still picture the blade as it cut through the sugary chocolate brick.  We all waited in anticipation as the brick somewhat crumbled.  Rest assured, no crumbs were waisted.  Simple times, lasting memories and the sweetness of the fudge still lingers on my mind.

As Italians we make this candy called torrone for Christmas https://recipesatmytable.com/traditional-calabrese-torrone/

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • 1 cup chopped mixed nuts
  • zest of half an orange
  • 1 cup candied fruit
  • 1 tsp Frangelico Liqueur

I also made a dark chocolate one using dark chocolate chips, eagle brand milk,  cups chopped almonds, orange zest, baileys liqueur. Omit the candied fruit and add double the almonds.  

Process

I lightly greased an 8 X 8 pan and lined it with parchment paper.  Ensure that the parchment hangs over the edge for easy removal.

In a saucepan, combine the chocolate chips and condensed milk.  Put on stove over medium heat and stir until melted.  Don’t leave it or it will burn.

White Christmas Fudge

Remove from heat and add the liqueur and orange zest and stir. I like to mix the zest with the liqueur. 

Go in with the nuts and candied fruit.

White Christmas Fudge

Mix, place in pan and smooth.  I used plastic wrap over the mixture to ensure a smooth transition.

White Christmas Fudge

Refrigerate overnight before cutting.

White Christmas Fudge