Christmas Dinner

How was your Christmas so far? As those of you reading my previous posting, i had a nice quiet Christmas at home. Yes, even dinner was at home instead of going out.

This time around, we decided to cook our own Christmas Eve dinner. Here’s what we had.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients:

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• Spaghetti
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• Minced Meat (You could either use Beef, Chicken or Pork)
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• Tomatoes x 5
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• 1 can Tomato paste
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• Onions x 3 (chopped into cubes)
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• 1 can Button Mushroom (sliced)
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Method

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1. Heat a non-stick frying pan and add half the mince. Cook over a high heat to colour the meat, breaking up any lumps with the back of a fork. Repeat with the rest of the mince and drain off any fat.
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2. Heat the oil in another large pan and cook the onion until they start to soften.
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3. Stir in the tomatoes after it was boiled and had it’s skin removed until soften, add in a can of tomato paste.
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4. Add the mince and simmer gently for 30 minutes until thick.
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5. Place amount of spaghetti into boiling water until soft.
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6. Drain the spaghetti of excess water, add in a cube of butter and mix well.
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7. Serve with a good amount of Bolognese Sauce and eat!
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and the next dish was the Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

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• Potatoes x 10 (I love my potatoes)
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• Minced Meat (Chicken)
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• Mixed Vegetable (Green Peas, Carrots and Corns)
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• 1/2 cup chicken broth
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• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice
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• Chopped Onions
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1. Place the Potatoes into a pot of boiling water until it’s soft enough to be mashed up.
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2. Mash up the potatoes with a healthy amount of butter
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3. Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.
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4. Add chicken and sauté until cook. Add salt and pepper. Add half a cup of chicken broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more broth as necessary to keep moist.
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5. Place the cooked ingredients in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well. As I love my potatoes, I actually placed an initial layer of potato at the bottom of the baking dish. It really depends on how you prepare it.
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6. Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.
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And to top it all off for the night. We also have some pre-made salad which we brought from Cold Storage as well as a nice bottle of red wine.

So, how was your Christmas eve and Christmas day? Did you have a great one?