Dickens Christmas Dinner Menu and all the recipes (2024)

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Ingredients

1. 4 large eggs
2. *1 cup milk (equal quantity of milk to your measured eggs)
3. *1 cup flour (equal quantity of all purpose/plain flour to measured eggs)
4. Pinch of salt
5. 2 tbsp lard or beef dripping (I used vegetable oil because I was making game hens as my entree)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Whisk thoroughly with an electric hand beater or hand whisk. (Important! Let mixture sit for 10 minutes).
3. Gradually sift the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture, again using an electric hand beater or hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream.
4. Important! Let this batter rest for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible - can leave up to several hours.
5. Place a pea-sized piece of lard, dripping or ½ tsp vegetable oil into your chosen Yorkshire pudding tin, (I used a regular 12 hole muffin tin) and carefully place in the oven until the fat is smoking.
6. Whisk the batter adding 2 tbsps of cold water, then fill each muffin hole up to about 1/3 to the top and return the muffin tin quickly to the oven.
7. Let the "puddings" bake until golden brown, approx 20 minutes. Repeat the last step again until all the batter is used up.
8. Yorkshire Puddings do not reheat well as they become brittle and dry.

Notes

1. *I followed the instructions by measuring out the quantity of "liquid" in each egg and matching it with the flour and the milk. It varied per egg.
2. ****In Yorkshire, the pudding is traditionally served with gravy as a starter dish followed by the meat and vegetables. More often smaller puddings cooked in muffin tins are served alongside meat and vegetables.

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Ingredients

1. 4 Cornish game hens
2. 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon pepper
5. 3/4 cup orange juice
6. 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
7. *1/2 cup chicken broth
8. 2 tablespoons lemon juice
9. 1 teaspoon ground mustard
10. 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
11. Zest of orange (optional)

Instructions

1. Tie legs of each hen together; turn wing tips under backs. Place on a greased rack in a roasting pan. Brush with butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 1 hour.
2. In a saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Spoon over hens. Bake 15 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 180°.

Notes

1. *You can use wine, Madeira or Sherry in place of the chicken broth if desired.
2. I also stuffed my hens with a sausage apple chestnut stuffing, putting the excess in a baking dish to bake for about 30 minutes.

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Ingredients

1. 2 pounds russet potatoes
2. 4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
3. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
4. 1/4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
5. 1 teaspoon kosher salt to taste
6. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
7. 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8. **1/4-1/2 cup finely shredded Swiss cheese, grated on the small holes of a box grater (about 1 ounce)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400°F Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Cook potatoes as you would for making mashed potatoes and then mash
3. While the potatoes are still warm, mix in the egg yolks 1 at a time making sure each yolk is completely incorporated before adding the next. Add the butter, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and stir until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth.
4. *Transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star piping tip and pipe into round mounds onto your baking sheet. Sprinkle with the cheese.
5. Bake for 15 minutes until the tops of the potatoes are light golden brown

Notes

1. *If you do not want to use a piping bag, you can "heap" your potatoes in a mound with a large spoon.
2. **If you want to use pepper jack cheese, please do so...that is the way the Captain and I like ours.

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Ingredients

1. 5 cups torn pieces of day-old bread, lightly oven toasted
2. 4 ounces cooked sausage, crumbled
3. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4. 1 medium onion, diced
5. 2 celery stalks, diced
6. 3 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves
7. 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme leaves
8. 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaf
9. 1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced
10. 4 ounces presoaked dried cranberries
11. 1 package or jar of peeled whole roasted chestnuts, coarsely chopped
12. 1-3 cups of chicken broth or stock

Instructions

1. In cast iron skillet, cook the sausage breaking it apart as you cook
2. Remove and place sausage on paper towel
3. Add butter to the sausage drippings and saute the onions and celery, add the sage, thyme and rosemary (you can use the dried herbs if desired)
4. Place bread and cooked sausage into a large bowl.
5. In a large skillet saute the onions, the celery, the sage, the thyme, and the rosemary. Add the chestnuts, apple and cranberries stirring well.
6. Add the vegetable mixture to the bread and sausage, tossing the mixture well, add salt and pepper to taste and add as much broth to soften and let the stuffing cool.
7. Mix in eggs and add more broth if needed.
8. Makes enough to stuff a 10 pound turkey with extra to bake on the side in a casserole dish.
9. Or bake covered in a well buttered 15 X 10 X 2-inch glass baking dish at 350 degrees for 30 minutes then remove foil for 15 minutes to crisp the top and sides

Notes

1. Sometimes I use the eggs and sometimes I don't. I have not noticed a big difference in the stuffing.
2. The stuffing may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. (To prevent bacterial growth do not stuff poultry in advance.).

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Ingredients

1. 18 Brussels Sprouts, halved lengthwise
2. 1/2 cup of diced Pancetta (or you can use bacon, cut into 1/4-inch slices)
3. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4. 6-8 peeled whole chestnuts, thinly sliced
5. Salt and freshly ground pepper
6. 1/2 cup Chicken broth

Instructions

1. Brown the Pancetta or bacon in 2 tablespoons of the butter (or olive oil if desired, remove to drain)
2. Toss the sprouts in the fat/oil and brown on both sides
3. Place lid on the pan and let the sprouts steam a bit
4. Add the Pancetta, chestnuts, salt and pepper, and the remaining butter
5. Cook until tender and serve.

Notes

1. I don't like boiling the sprouts first as some recipes suggest. I get more flavor browning in heavy skillet.

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Ingredients

1. 8 whole carrots, scrubbed, tops removed if desired
2. 8 slices of bacon
3. 3 tablespoons maple syrup
4. Cooking spray or olive oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
6. Aluminum foil sprayed with non stick spray

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Peel carrots if desired and wrap the slice of bacon tightly around the carrot
3. Place on foil lined baking pan and spray with olive oil or your preferred cooking spray
4. Bake 20 minutes and then brush with maple syrup and bake another 10 minutes until carrots are tender
5. Place on serving dish and sprinkle with salt if desired.

Notes

1. I did not add any salt and my carrots were great.