Delectable Christmas Day dishes

Every Wednesday in the run up to Christmas, the Bermuda Sun will be sharing some of the best festive recipes from the island’s chefs. 

This week we have a homemade cranberry compote for those who dread the red jelly in a can, and a truly delicious lobster mac ‘n’ cheese from TV host Teneika Eve (Live, Love, Eat on CITV). These are among her family’s traditional Christmas recipes.

From the Fairmont Southampton Resort comes a complicated composition of pork chop with pumpkin gratin  but believe us, it’s worth the effort. This is served in the Newport Gastropub. From the Jasmine Lounge comes the fruity Poinsettia Cocktail — a perfect aperitif to wow the dinner guests on arrival. 

Cranberry Compote

Ingredients

• 1 lb bag of fresh cranberries

• Zest of 1 orange

• 1/2 cup of orange juice

• 1 Granny Smith apple finely diced

• 1 & 1/4 cup of sugar

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1/2 cup of apple juice or cider

• Pinch of salt

Preparation

• On a medium flame, combine cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, sugar, apple juice and cinnamon stick & simmer in pot until berries pop and the mixture thickens. 20 minutes into the cooking process fold in diced Granny Smith apples.  This should take between 35-45 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Pork Chop with Pumpkin Gratin from The Newport Gastropub

Ingredients

Pork Chop served with Apple Calvados Jus

• 10 oz Kurobuta Pork Chop

• 2 tbsp. Calvados

• 1/2 an apple, peeled & diced

• 1 shallot, diced

• 1 tbsp. sugar

• 1 tbsp. raisins

• 1 quart stock

Pumpkin Gratin

• 4 lbs butternut squash peeled and thinly sliced  

• 1 onion diced small

• 4 cloves garlic minced

• 1 lt cream

• 3 oz white wine

• 8 oz parmesan cheese powder

• 2 oz corn starch

Preparation

Grilled Pork Chop

• Preheat oven to 400F.

• Grill pork chop for 3 minutes on each side.

• Finish in oven for 10 minutes until cooked medium — well.

Apple Calvados Jus

• Sauté shallots in butter until caramelized.

• Add apples and flambé with Calvados.

• Add golden raisins and stock.

• Simmer until desired consistency.

Pumpkin Gratin

• Preheat oven to 375F.

• In a pot, sauté onions and garlic over medium heat.  Deglaze with white wine.

• Add cream and bring to the boil.

• When liquid is reduced by half, whisk in the corn starch and half of the powdered parmesan (4 oz).  Bring mix to the boil.

• Add the sliced squash into the pot and mix well. Take off the heat.

• Line a pan with parchment paper and layer the squash with the sauce
evenly spread throughout.

• Put the oven and cook for 35 minutes.

• Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese (4 oz) over the top of the squash and gratin under broiler until golden brown.

• Check the squash is cooked using a small knife.

The Poinsettia Cocktail

Ingredients

From The Jasmine Lounge

• 3 measures champagne

• 1 measure Creme de Cassis

• Cranberries to garnish

Preparation

• Shake creme de cassis in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass.

• Top with champagne.

• Float cranberries.

Lobster Mac n Cheese

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. of butter

• 5 tbsp. flour

• 1 lb penne or elbow pasta

• 2 shallots finely chopped

• 1 clove of garlic

• 1/4 cup of white wine

• 2 cup of heavy cream (let sit out for 1/2 an hour before use to remove chill, the same with milk)

• 2 cup of whole milk

• 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 cups of Gruyere cheese

• 2 cups of sharp white cheddar

• 2-3 lobster tails (meat removed & cut into chunks)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 365F

• Cook pasta in salted boiling water until el dente, strain  and hold on side.

• Sweat shallots, garlic & pepper flakes on medium low flame in butter, until shallots are translucent.

• Add in 2 bay leaves.

• Deglaze with white wine & let reduce for 3 minutes.

• Add in flour, mix in until paste forms. Use a wooden spoon to move paste around pan for about 1 minute. Make sure that no colour is added to paste.

• Gradually mix in heavy cream, followed by milk.

• Allow sauce to thicken, but continue to stir occasionally (wooden spoon works best) sauce should coat the back of the spoon.

• Remove from heat  & add in Gruyere  & cheddar one handful at a time stirring well after each addition.

• Remove bay leaves & combine pasta & sauce, stir in chunks of lobster, place in butter casserole & sprinkle panko bread crumbs on top.

• Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.