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    The Twelve Days of Christmas ... Day One

    Julia Hill
    Julia Hill


    Location | Ligging : All Around The World
    Posts | Bydraes : 151
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    Join date | Datum aangesluit : 2011-08-28
    Age | Ouderdom : 53

    The Twelve Days of Christmas ... Day One Empty The Twelve Days of Christmas ... Day One

    Post by Julia Hill Wed 14 Dec 2011, 4:03 am

    On The 1st Day of Christmas

    My true love gave to me ... a partridge in a pear tree

    Now I have to ask in all honesty what WAS the man smoking! Firstly there is the very important fact that a partridge is a beautiful bird, and let’s face it not particularly common as I understand it. Then I had the thought that it was not terribly practical because of it size .... It would barely feed one let alone a family and Christmas is all about family and friends, and enjoyment that we can share together whether it is at the local bar or in our homes, or around our swimming pool – it is just stupid to spend a whole lot of time cooking up a (pretty) bird for one Smile

    Christmas Chicken Parcels

    So for this first festive recipe I have used chicken, please note there are no specific quantities because I am not sure how large your table will be

    1 medium chicken breast (filleted) per person
    Salt and pepper to taste
    ¼ pear per chicken breast, peeled and thinly sliced
    1 teaspoon cranberry jelly
    2 -3 walnut halves, chopped
    1 generous slice of brie (or for a stronger flavour use a good stilton or gorgonzola
    3 - 4 slices of good quality bacon slices
    A box of toothpicks

    Now this also happens to be an incredibly therapeutic dish ... well certainly in the preparation ... find a large mallet and bash the heck out of your chicken breast fillets, you want them nice and thin so that you can make a scrumptious parcel with it ... it is important in the spirit of Christmas to sip a nice refreshing drink (or in my case a nice warming sherry), as you do this, thinking about all the negativity in your day ... beat it out of the chicken – but with love – it has offered itself as a willing ingredients to make you feel better after your bad day at work or a hard day Christmas shopping ... and as your muscles ease and tensions slip way we can now move onto the next part of the preparation. Place your chicken breasts nicely beaten in front of you, season with salt and pepper to taste, and put your thinly sliced pear in the centre, topping with the cranberry jelly, walnuts & cheese. Fold your chicken up into a parcel and then wrap the bacon rashers around it and secure with toothpicks. Place to one side.

    There are several ways of cooking this chicken and for Sunny SA no doubt a fantastic braai would be perfect, but as an alternative, you could bake it in the oven on a lightly greased baking tray at 180C for about 25 minutes until cooked ... but I also think it would be really nice if you layer a whole load of thinly sliced veggies – potatoes, butternut, carrots, celery, peppers etc , pour a good tub of cream over it, and then having briefly pan-fried the chicken parcels in a frying pan, place them on top of the vegetables, seal with foil and bake them slowly for about 30 minutes at 150-160C, remove the foil and cook till golden (about 15 minutes) ... Enjoy whichever route you opt for – I would serve the plain baked parcels with a little sauce – something simple not to overwhelm the lovely flavours wrapped up in your parcels.

    drunken cheers

    13/12/2011
    (c) Julia Hill

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