Make Christmas more special this year by sharing a wonderful meal with your family. You don’t have to hire someone to cook for you or buy meals from expensive restaurants. Here are easy to make 8 holiday meal recipes that your family will love and will love you more for making these scrumptious delights.
Glazed Ham
Ingredients: 1 half ham, 1 can pineapple slices with syrup, 1 small jar cherries, 2 tablespoons yellow mustard, and ¾ cup brown sugar.
Cook ham according to package instructions but remove 30 minutes earlier and set aside. Arrange pineapple slices on the ham’s surface and place cherries on the slice’s center. Secure with toothpicks. Combine brown sugar, mustard and pineapple syrup in a small bowl until a thick glaze is made. Pour the glaze all over the ham and bake for 30 minutes.
Roasted Root Beer Ribs
Ingredients: 2 pork rib racks, 1 can root beer, 1 cup tomato ketchup, 2 tablespoons cumin powder, 2 tablespoons liquid seasoning, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, and 1 teaspoon hot sauce.
Preheat oven to 250 degree Fahrenheit. Pat the pork ribs dry and rub all the sides with cumin. Cover and secure with foil and bake for 4 hours. Prepare the sauce by mixing ketchup, root beer, seasoning, vinegar, mustard, syrup and hot sauce in a small saucepan. Simmer the mixture until thick. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Set aside and let cool in room temperature. After four hours, take out the ribs and increase oven’s heat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully open the foil and transfer the ribs into a baking pan. Fully coat the ribs with about ¾ of the root beer sauce and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve with the remaining sauce.
Easy Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients: ¾ kilo beef (breakfast steak variety), 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 carrot (chopped), 1 onion (chopped), 1 cup beef stock/broth, 2 tablespoons all purpose floor, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 large potatoes (peeled and sliced thinly), ½ cup frozen peas, ½ cup cream of corn, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
Preheat skillet in medium heat. Pour in oil and add the beef, seasoning it with salt and pepper. After 4 minutes or after the meat is browned and crumbled, add onions and carrot. Stir until vegetable are cooked. Add butter and flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour in the broth followed by the Worcestershire sauce and whisk to thicken the gravy. Put in the corn and peas. Once cooked, transfer everything into a baking dish and layer the meat with the potato slices. Brush the surface with olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
Asian Whole Roasted Chicken
Ingredients: 1 whole dressed chicken, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 8-ounce clear soda (Sprite or 7-Up), 1 onion (sliced), 4 garlic cloves (minced), 3 tablespoons calamansi (or lemon) juice, 1 thumb sized ginger (sliced), 2 lemon grass stalks, 3 bay leaves, 1 stick butter, 3 tablespoon soy sauce, black pepper and salt.
Marinate chicken overnight in the mixture of soda, calamansi juice, soy sauce, ginger, half of the garlic, pepper, sugar, and onions. To begin cooking the chicken, preheat oven to 325 degrees Celsius. Remove the chicken from marinade. Do not discard marinade. Stuff the chicken with garlic, bay leaves, pepper and tied lemon grass stalk. Inject the marinade all over the chicken while rubbing the skin with butter, salt, garlic and pepper. Roast the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until golden. Serve while hot.
Baked Zitti with Italian Sausage
Ingredients: 400g cooked penne pasta, ¾ cup grated parmesan, 1 ½ cups grated mozzarella, 400g Italian sausage (casing removed and crumbled), 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic, 1/3 cup chopped onions, 1/3 cup each of green and red bell pepper, ½ cup sliced mushrooms, 2 cups tomato sauce, 400g crushed tomatoes, 2 teaspoons liquid seasoning, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and pepper flakes to taste.
Heat olive oil and sauté onions followed by the garlic and bell peppers. Add the sausage and when cooked, pour in the mushrooms. Stir and mix in the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, cover, and lower heat to simmer for 10 minutes. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and pepper flakes if needed. Toss in the cooked pasta into the sauce and mix in half of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan. Transfer the pasta into a baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheeses before baking in a preheated 375 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 20 minutes. Serve while hot.
Honey-Orange Sticky Chicken Wings
Ingredients: 1 dozen chicken wings, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon five-spice powder, ¼ teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon grated orange zest, 1 tablespoon ginger, and ½ cup honey.
Heat enough oil to deep fry the chicken in medium heat. Mix five-spice powder, flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. Coat the wings thoroughly. Deep fry the chicken wings until golden brown and drain in paper towels to remove oil. Make the honey-orange glaze by sautéing ginger in 1 tablespoon of oil; add the orange zest and honey. Simmer mixture for about 3 minutes. Place the cooked chicken wings in the glaze and coat evenly.
Honey Ginger Fried Chicken
Ingredients: whole chicken (cut into pieces), all purpose flour, ½ cup cornstarch, 1/3 cup rice wine, 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 1/3 cup honey, ¼ cup lemon juice, ¼ cup soy sauce, 3 tablespoons shredded ginger, 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and ½ cup water.
Mix ½ cup cornstarch, rice wine, salt and pepper in a bowl. Put in the chicken slices and marinade for an hour in the refrigerator. After an hour, coat chicken with all purpose flour and deep fry in hot oil. Place the chicken pieces on paper towels to drain oil. Make the sauce by mixing the oyster sauce, honey, lemon juice, soy sauce, ginger, chilli sauce, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and water in a wok. Heat until a thickened mixture is achieved. Toss the chicken into the sauce, garnish with spring onions and serve immediately.
Chicken Teriyaki
Ingredients: 5 pieces boneless chicken breasts, 6 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons sherry, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 3 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium), 2 tablespoons regular soy sauce, 2 tablespoons maple syrup and 3 tablespoons dry sherry.
Marinade the chicken for two hours in the refrigerator by putting it in a large, resealable bag together with the water, sherry, brown sugar and low sodium soy sauce mixture. Before taking out the chicken, prepare the basting sauce by combining maple syrup, dry sherry and soy sauce. Grill the chicken for 10 minutes while consistently basting it with the sauce. Flip the chicken either side once in a while to prevent overcooking. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve.
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Written by
Karen Mira
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