Christmas Recipes From The Squared Community

Squared CHRISTMAS RECIPES FROM THE SQUARED COMMUNITY

Thank you to all who participated in the Collins Square and Parramatta Square recipe competition.

We loved all your recipes so much it just wouldn’t be right to keep them all to ourselves.

ENJOY COOKING THESE DELICIOUS RECIPES AT HOME AND BE SURE TO TAG US IN A PICTURE OF WHAT YOU MAKE! @COLLINS_SQUARE @PARRAMATTASQUARE

Roast Turkey with Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing RECIPE FROM ROSS

SERVES 8 | PREP IN 45 MINUTES, COOKS IN 3H 55M

Parramatta Square

Ingredients 6.3 kg oven ready Turkey 75 g softened butter 225 g streaky bacon Salt and pepper Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing 900 g finely minced pure pork 25 g sage, chopped Large onion, grated 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs Salt and pepper

To make the stuffing, combine breadcrumbs, onion and sage in a large bowl, stir in some boiling water, mix, add pork mince, season with salt and pepper, mix again and leave covered in a cool place.

Take the turkey, butter and stuffing out of the fridge a couple of hours prior to allow to come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Loosen the skin of the turkey with your hands and lightly fill some of the stuffing through the neck end pushing up between the flesh and the skin towards the breast.

Place the remainder of the stuffing into the body cavity.

Arrange two long sheets of foil across a baking tray, one across the length and the other across the width, place a baking rack in the centre and the turkey on the baking rack, rub generously with the butter all over and season with salt and pepper.

Lay the streaks of bacon overlapping each other across the breast and bring together the ends of the foil and seal ensuring an air space between it and the turkey below.

Place the tray on a low shelf in the oven and cook at the initial temperature for 40 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 170°C and cook for a further 3.5 hours.

Tear away the foil, remove the bacon, baste with the juices and return to the oven at 200°C for another 30 to 45 minutes whilst continuing to baste approximately every 10 minutes.

Test if cooked by piercing the thickest part of the leg with a thin skewer.

Juices should run clear.

Rest for approximately 30 minutes before transferring to a large oval dish.-

WHILST THE FAMILY CHRISTMAS LUNCH CHANGES FROM YEAR TO YEAR, ONE STAPLE REMAINS THE SAME; THE SEAFOOD SAUCE!

Seafood Sauce

RECIPE FROM BREE

10 MINUTE PREP

Collins Square

Ingredients 1 cup Greek Yoghurt 2 tbsp Kewpie Mayo 2 tbsp Tomato Sauce 2 tsp Lemon Juice 1 tsp Chilli Flakes

Combine the Greek Yogurt, Kewpie Mayo, Tomato Sauce, Lemon Juice and Chilli Flakes.

Adjust to your taste preference and serve with fresh prawns, bread and avocado

Jamie’s Jerk Ham with a Sticky Rum & Marmalade Glaze RECIPE FROM NAOMI

SERVES 16 TO 20 | COOKS IN 3 HOURS 45 MINUTES

Collins Square

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

4 kg piece of middle-cut gammon, with knuckle

Place the ham in a roasting pan. Peel the onion and cut into wedges, then add to the pan with the peppercorns and bouquet garni.

1 onion 1 tablespoon black peppercorns 1 bouquet garni, (leek, celery, bay leaves, thyme) Jerk Seasoning 3 cloves of garlic 3 red shallots 3 Scotch bonnet chillies ½ a bunch of chives , (15g) 1 tablespoon runny honey

Add water until it comes halfway up the side of the pan. Cover the ham with foil (making a tent to allow steam to circulate). Bake for 1½ hours or until pink and cooked through, then remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes, leaving it covered.

While it’s still warm, you will need to carefully remove the skin, keeping the fat attached to the ham. With a sharp knife, score the ham by making diagonal cuts across the leg.

To make the jerk seasoning, peel and chop the garlic and shallots, deseed and chop the scotch bonnets and finely chop the chives.

Blend all the ingredients with a decent pinch of sea salt in a food processor until smooth.

½ a bunch of fresh thyme , (15g)

Rub the jerk seasoning all over the ham and scored fat, cover in clingfilm and pop in the fridge overnight, preferably 24 hours.

3 fresh bay leaves

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

1 tbsp ground allspice 1 tbsp ground nutmeg 1 tbsp ground cloves 100 ml golden rum 100 ml malt vinegar Glaze 1 orange 3 tbsp quality bitter marmalade 150 ml golden rum

Combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl. Remove the ham from the fridge, scrape off the excess seasoning and bake for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven, brush with the glaze, then continue cooking the ham for another 30 to 40 minutes, basting with the glaze every 10 minutes until crisp, golden and sticky.

Lime & Macadamia Glazed Ham

RECIPE FROM AMY Parramatta Square

Ingredients 7–9 kg ham, bone in and cooked 350 g jar ginger, lime and lemon marmalade

Preheat Oven to 150°C. Remove Rind from Ham with Sharp Knife.

Score Ham fat into diamond pattern, not cutting deeper than 5mm.

⅔ cup brown sugar

Place Ham into roasting pan.

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

Combine marmalade, sugar, mustard and nuts in bowl.

2 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce 1 cup Macadamia nuts, chopped

Spoon half of mixture over ham.

Cook for 45 minutes.

Remove carefully from oven and Spoon over remaining glaze.

Cook for further 45 minutes or until golden.

Slice hot, cold or at room temperature.

Piragi Christmas Bacon Buns

RECIPE FROM AMELIA Collins Square

Ingredients 350 g bacon rashes diced finely 2 brown onions finely diced Ground pepper to taste 7 g dry instant yeast 60 ml warm water 60 g unsalted butter 190 ml milk 8 tsp caster sugar, superfine sugar 1 egg beaten 440 g (3 ½ cups) plain flour 2 tsp salt 1 egg, beaten 40 ml water

PIRAGI ARE TRADITIONAL LATVIAN CHRISTMAS BACON BUNS. MADE BY MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER, GRANDMOTHER, MYSELF. TRADITIONALLY EATEN ON CHRISTMAS EVE.

In a heavy non stick pan sauté onions and bacon until the onions are translucent and most of the bacon fat has rendered. Add ground pepper to taste.

Leave this mixture to cool completely while you are making the dough.

I usually make the bacon/onion mix the day before and leave it in my fridge until I am ready to use it. The bacon mixture is easier to work with when cold.

Place yeast and water in a small bowl, put aside for the yeast to activate.

It will froth up.

In a small saucepan add butter, milk and sugar. Warm over a low heat until butter has melted and sugar has dissolved into the milk.

When milk mixture has cooled to lukewarm stir through beaten egg, yeast and water.

Place two cups of the plain flour and salt in a large bowl, pour liquid over and stir to combine. Once combined add the remaining flour. Mix until all ingredients have come together, then leave to rest in the bowl for 10 minutes.

Once rested turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5–10 minutes.

Place dough back in to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Leave dough to raise, around 1½ hours or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven 180°C Once dough is ready, start pulling off a walnut size pieces of dough.

Work them in to a ball in your hand then tease them out to a circle.

Place a tablespoon of the bacon mixture, and bring the edges of the dough together. Seal the bun in a torpedo shape.

Place formed buns on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.

Mix the beaten egg and water together to make an egg wash.

Brush egg wash mixture on buns. Place buns in oven and bake until golden, 12–15 minutes.

Repeat with the remainder of the mixture and dough.

Once out of the oven they are ready to eat.

Ham Coca Cola

RECIPE FROM ASHLEY

SERVES 8 | PREP IN 30 MINUTES, COOKS IN 4 HOURS

Collins Square

I find now that mild-cure gammon doesn’t need soaking, but if you know that you’re dealing with a salty piece, then put it in a pan covered with cold water, bring to the boil, then tip into a colander in the sink and start from there; otherwise, put the gammon in a pan, skin-side down if it fits like that, add the onion, then pour over the Coke.

Bring to the boil, reduce to a good simmer, put the lid on, though not tightly, and cook for just under 2 ½ hours. If your joint is larger or smaller, work out the timing by reckoning on an hour per kilogram, remembering that it’s going to get a quick blast in the oven later. But do take into account that if the gammon’s been in the fridge right up to the moment you cook it, you will have to give it a good 15 minutes or so extra so that the interior is properly cooked.

Ingredients 2 kg mild-cure gammon 1 onion, peeled and cut in half 2 L Coca-Cola Glaze A handful of cloves 1 heaped tbs black treacle 2 tsp English mustard powder 2 tbsp Demerara sugar

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 240°C. When the ham’s had its time (and ham it is, now it’s cooked, though it’s true that Americans call it ham from its uncooked state), take it out of the pan and let cool a little for ease of handling. (Indeed, you can let it cool completely then finish off the cooking at some later stage if you want to).

Then remove the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat. Score the fat with a sharp knife to make fairly large diamond shapes, and stud each diamond with a clove.

Then carefully spread the treacle over the bark-budded skin, taking care not to dislodge the cloves.

Gently pat the mustard and sugar onto the sticky fat. Cook in a tinfoil-lined roasting dish for approximately 10 minutes or until the glaze is burnished and bubbly.

Should you want to do the braising stage in advance and then let the ham cool, clove and glaze it and give it 30 to 40 minutes, from room temperature, at 180°C, turning up the heat towards the end if you think it needs it.

Christmas Truffles, Gingerbread Cheesecake

RECIPE FROM JAMES

PORTIONS 22 | 50 MINUTES PREP, 15 MINUTES COOK

Collins Square

Gingerbread dough

Dough

50 g butter, chopped

Melt butter with sugar and honey in a small saucepan over low heat.

Cool. Combine butter mixture and egg in a bowl. Stir in flours, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and bicarb.

100 g (½ cup) brown sugar 125 ml (½ cup) honey

300 g (2 cups) plain flour

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide the dough into 2 discs and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.

75 g (½ cup) self-raising flour

Truffles

1 egg, lightly whisked

2 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cloves Truffles 1 quantity gingerbread dough 250 g cream cheese, chopped, at room temperature 150 g dark cooking chocolate, melted, cooled 375 g packet dark choc melts

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the dough on baking paper until 5mm thick. Cut nine 5 cm squares. Place on prepared tray. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill.

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan forced. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until light golden. Cool on tray. Coarsely chop. Process in a food processor until coarse crumbs form.

Use electric beaters to beat cream cheese in a bowl until soft. Add melted chocolate. Beat until combined. Stir in ½ cup biscuit crumbs.

Place mixture in fridge for 6 hours or overnight, until firm enough to roll.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Roll tablespoonfuls of cheesecake mixture into balls. Place on tray in fridge for 30 minutes.

Place choc melts in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium, stirring every minute, for 2-3 minutes or until melted and smooth.

Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.

Short for time?

Blitz up some gingersnap biscuits and cream cheese to a sticky consistency, roll into balls, refrigerate for a while. Then dip in chocolate and decorate!

I like to go white chocolate with xmas sprinkles or dark chocolate with a dollop of white like little pudding!

KATE Collins Square

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Dip balls in melted chocolate.

Drain off excess. Place on prepared tray. Sprinkle with the remaining crumbs. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Frozen Christmas Cheesake Pudding

RECIPE FROM ANITA

PORTIONS 8 | 30 MINUTES PREP

Collins Square

Ingredients

Place dried cranberries and brandy in a bowl.

⅓ cup dried cranberries

Set aside for 20 minutes to soak.

2 tbsp brandy (see notes) 500 g cream cheese, softened 1 L vanilla ice-cream ⅔ cup bottled fruit mince 80 g packet pistachio kernels, roughly chopped 1/2 x 250 g packet gingernut biscuits 40 g salted butter, melted 1/2 x 205 g bottle milk chocolate shell topping, to decorate 1/2 cup frozen berries, to decorate Fresh mint leaves, to decorate

Line an 8-cup-capacity metal pudding basin with plastic wrap.

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add ice-cream. Beat until well combined. Fold in fruit mince, pistachios and cranberry mixture. Pour mixture into prepared basin.

Freeze for 30 minutes.

Place biscuits in a food processor. Process until fine crumbs form.

Add butter. Process until combined. Spoon over top of ice-cream, pressing with the back of a spoon to level and compact (see notes).

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.

Turn pudding onto a serving plate. Carefully remove plastic wrap.

Drizzle with chocolate topping. Decorate with frozen berries and mint.

Serve immediately.

Notes: You’ll need to start this recipe 1 day ahead.

If you don’t want to use alcohol, you can substitute orange juice for the brandy.

EmmyLou Loves – Christmas Zuppa Inglese Mince Pie Ice Cream RECIPE FROM MELISSA Parramatta Square

Ingredients

Soften ice cream for 5 minutes .

2 L vanilla ice cream (minus 1 cup)

Place in a large mixing bowl (minus 1 cup of ice cream).

4 Woolworths Fruit Mince Pies 1 cup thickened custard (store-bought or homemade)

Roughly chop your Woolworths Fruit Mince Pies.

Fold in chopped fruit mince pies and the custard.

Place back in the ice cream container, and set for a few hours in the freezer.

Enjoy on its own or with some extra chopped Woolworths Fruit Mince Pies on the top!

Malteser Cheesake Pavlova

RECIPE FROM RAJNI

SERVES 12 | PREP IN 15 MINUTES, COOKS IN 50 MINUTES

Collins Square

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease the inside of your pudding steamer with butter.

In a large bowl put the brown sugar, milk and butter and melt it all together in the microwave.

Now whisk in the dry ingredients: flours and cocoa. Mix the eggs together in a jug and whisk them in too.

Whisk until it’s all combined. Pour it into your steamer and put it in the oven (no lid) for 40 minutes. Check it after 40 minutes and turn the heat down to 170°C.

Ingredients 1 ½ cups brown sugar 1 cup milk 190 g butter 1 ¼ cups self-raising flour ¾ cup plain flour ¾ cup cocoa powder 4 eggs 300 g dark chocolate melts 125 ml thickened cream 30 g butter 465 g Mars Maltesers 200 g white chocolate melts 2 Allen’s Jaffas Notes You can put whatever cake recipe is your favourite cake recipe inside the “pudding.”

If you don’t have a pudding steamer, you can cook your cake in a glass Pyrex bowl.

Cook for another 10 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Let it cool completely before adding the ganache.

To make the ganache, melt the dark chocolate, butter and cream together in the microwave. Leave it for about 15 minutes to set and thicken.

Cut the bumpy top off your pudding cake, so that you can flip it over and decorate it down side up.

Cover the cake with ganache.

Before the ganache cools completely, start adding the Maltesers.

Begin in the centre, forming one row down the middle of the cake.

Work outwards from there in lines across the cake.

Put the cake in the fridge to chill for at least two hours.

Once the cake is chilled, melt the white chocolate melts in a bowl in the microwave. Leave them to cool to room temperature before you pour them over the cake (otherwise all the Maltesers will melt.)

Once the chocolate is just at room temperature (don’t wait too long or the chocolate will start to set hard again) pour it over the top of your cake so that it looks like the custard on a Christmas pudding.

Finish it off with two Jaffas and some any glossy green leaves you can find in your garden. You could also use the holly from a Christmas decoration.

Pavlova Trifle

RECIPE FROM VIEN

SERVES 12 | 40 MINUTES PREP

Collins Square

Ingredients 500 g strawberries, sliced 3 cups whipping cream 6 tbsp icing sugar 170 g can of passionfruit pulp, or use fresh passionfruit 2 tbsp Grand Marnier (optional) 3–4 mangoes, cubed 3 cups vanilla bean yogurt 20 meringue nests, crushed into small chunks White chocolate for grating 1 orange for zesting

Mix the strawberries, passionfruit and Grand Marnier in a bowl.

Set aside to marinate together.

Beat the whipping cream and 6 tablespoons icing sugar until peaks form.

Carefully fold in the vanilla bean yogurt into the whipped cream.

Mix carefully maintaining the ‘fluffiness’ of the whipped cream.

Using a large glass trifle bowl, layer the strawberries, followed by a layer of crushed meringue (using half). Then layer with half of the vanilla bean cream.

Repeat with a second layer of sliced mango, meringues and cream.

Grate white chocolate and orange zest. Mix them together in a bowl and sprinkle the top of the Pavlova trifle before serving.

Serve immediately.

Armenian Nutmeg Cake

RECIPE FROM TIFFANY

SERVES 12 | PREP IN 15 MINUTES, COOKS IN 50 MINUTES

Collins Square

Ingredients

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

1 cup milk

In a small bowl, mix together the milk and the baking soda.

1 tsp baking soda 2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and the baking powder.

Whisk in the brown sugar to the flour mixture until combined.

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cubed and cold

Using a fork (or your fingers) mash in the cold butter cubes until you get a more-or-less uniform crumbly mixture.

1 to 1 ½ tsp ground nutmeg

Press half of this mixture into the bottom of a springform pan to form a crust.

(you can also use cinnamon and/or cardamom as a substitute, or use a combination)

1 egg ½ cup walnut pieces (It’s recommended to break them up with your hand)

Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and the nutmeg for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it is mixed well and frothy.

Pour the milk with baking soda into the bowl with the eggs and whisk until combined.

Pour this egg mixture over the remaining half of the crumbly mixture in the bowl, and whisk until it is incorporated (it will be very liquidy).

Pour the liquid over the crust in the springform.

Gently and evenly sprinkle the walnut pieces on top.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan, and then release.

Shortbread

RECIPE FROM ANNETTE

SERVES 8 | PREP IN 30 MINUTES, COOKS IN 40 MINUTES

Collins Square

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 160°C.

180 g butter, chopped (don’t substitute margarine)

Line a 20 x 30 cm tin with baking paper.

¾ cup caster sugar

Sift the flours.

1 cup cornflour

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz till smooth.

1 ½ cups plain flour

Press the mix into the tin and prick the top with a fork to create a pattern.

1 egg

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool in the tin.

Cut up into biscuit size pieces.