Christmas is the most beautiful, mysterious and magical holiday of the year. There are many traditions and signs associated with this holiday. Christmas Eve is called Holy Evening. Each hostess tries to set as many treats as possible on the table.
Traditionally, all Christmas meals have to be prepared before the evening of January 6th. After the first star appears in the sky, the holiday begins. According to Orthodoxy, it is necessary that there are 12 dishes on the table. All meals should be lean. Each housewife decides what dishes to cook for Christmas, but the main and obligatory dish of this holiday is kutia. There is also a recommended list of delicious dishes that will delight any household or guest at home, and there can be a lot of guests on Holy Evening.
In the evening, according to tradition, dinner is necessary with lenten dishes, and a Christmas meal may include meat dishes, but it, like an evening meal, must necessarily begin with kutia.
What is cooked on January 6
As we already know, there should be 12 dishes on the table, according to the number of the apostles. It is customary to cover the table with a white tablecloth. Place hay under the tablecloth. In the center, knead the Christmas grease, into which you need to stick a lighted candle. Dinner began after the first star appeared in the sky. This moment, very fond of children, they like to wait for the appearance of a miracle in the sky. The most important dish is kutia. Kutia is a cooked porridge made from whole wheat grains. The finished porridge is poured with honey water or sugar syrup and nuts, poppy seeds, dried fruits, preserves, jams are added to it. Millet can be replaced or rice. This food is traditional, no Christmas Eve should be without it.
There are many recipes for this ritual dish. Experienced housewives have their own family recipes for cooking this porridge, passed down from generation to generation. Young housewives can try new recipes, of which there are a great many now, thanks to the vastness of the Internet.
Traditional Christmas sochivo
1 cup whole wheat
3 glasses of water
80 grams of honey
50 grams of raisins
100 grams of poppy seeds.
Wheat, before cooking, it is necessary to rinse, sort out and pour boiling water over it. Drain the water, send the wheat to the pan, in which the kutia will be cooked. Cook until tender, until the water evaporates. Kutia cook like porridge.
Poppy needs to be steamed by pouring boiling water. If desired, it can be crushed in a mortar. You can also mince the poppy seeds.
In addition to raisins, various candied fruits, nuts, pieces of chocolate, halva can be added to kutya. It is allowed to fill the kutya with a tablespoon of rum. Improvise. Choose ingredients according to your taste, desire and availability.
Uzvar
Traditionally, the uzvar is considered the master of the Christmas table. It is always paired with kutya. Uzvar is an old drink that is able to give strength, energy, saturate the body with vitamins and microelements. Uzvar improves the functioning of the heart, gastrointestinal tract and has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
Preparation:
You need to take 200 grams of drying. It can be apples, apricots, pears, prunes, raisins. The washed drying is poured with three liters of water and brought to a boil. It is necessary to cook the uzvar over low heat for about 15 minutes. Then, if desired, you can add prunes, cherries, raisins and boil for another 15 minutes. After that, honey is added to the uzvar, covered with a lid and left to infuse for 2-3 hours. Uzvar is served chilled.
Lean borsch with beans
Borscht is a favorite dish in Russia. Traditionally, borscht is a daily dish, but even Christmas Eve is hard to imagine without it. Since it is difficult to cook 12 dishes at once, borscht can be prepared in advance, from this its taste will only become richer and brighter.
Borscht can be cooked with beans, sprat, beetroot, mushrooms. It all depends on the preferences of the family and the availability of food from the hostess.
Preparation:
Boil a glass of beans until tender. Or take ready-made canned beans.
Put 3.5 liters of water on the fire (you can take the water in which the beans were boiled). After boiling, add diced potatoes (4-5 tubers) to the water.
In the meantime, prepare the roast. Grate 1 large carrot, dice one onion and sauté it in a skillet until golden brown. You must use sunflower oil for frying.
Take 2 medium sized beetroot. Beetroot must be grated. Fry one beetroot together with onions and carrots, throw the second into a saucepan with potatoes and beans. At the end of frying, add half a liter of tomato juice, or 100 grams of tomato paste.
At the end of cooking vegetables, add half a head of chopped white cabbage to the pan. The cabbage should boil. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add spices and salt to the borscht to taste. Citric acid or vinegar as needed.
Pampushki
Pampushki or bread, a necessary addition to borscht. Pampushka is a round and small bun. Dumplings are made from yeast dough. If there is no time to bake them, you can get by with bread or buy ready-made donuts in the store.
Onion or garlic sauce for donuts
It is customary to pour pampushki with a special sauce that makes them tastier.
Making garlic sauce:
5 cloves of garlic;
3 tbsp. l boiled water;
2 tbsp. l. oils.
Garlic is passed through a press, mixed with water, oil. Add dill or parsley, as well as spices if desired.
Making onion gravy:
2 onions are fried in a pan until cooked, 1 tbsp is added to the onion. l. flour. Fry onions with flour for about a minute. Then 2 tbsp is added. l. sour cream, 1 teaspoon of tomato paste, salt, spices. All this is fried for a couple of minutes. Then water is poured in and the onion sauce is stewed for 5 minutes.
Cabbage rolls with millet and mushrooms
We are all used to stuffed cabbage rolls with rice and minced meat. But cabbage rolls with millet and mushrooms are no less tasty dish. Cabbage rolls must be prepared in the traditional way, only rice and minced meat, replaced by boiled millet and fried mushrooms.
Fried fish
Fish is not only healthy, but also tasty, and since you need to meet Holy Evening without meat dishes, fish is perfect. It is necessary to fry the fish in flour, since the egg is not allowed on January 6th.
Bread
Regardless of whether there are donuts on the table, bread on the table must also be present. Bread can be served white, black, with the addition of spices, bran.
Christmas Olivier
Russian cuisine is poorly presented without Olivier. On Holy Evening it is necessary to cook it without sausage. This will not make his taste worse. But on Christmas day itself, Olivier can be served on the table with sausage, boiled meat or chicken breast.
The vinaigrette
This vitamin salad has many benefits for the body. All products in its composition can heal the body, strengthen it and fill it with energy. For the vinaigrette, you need boiled potatoes, beets, beans, carrots. Fresh onion, sauerkraut, vegetable oil. You can replace beans with green peas. Also, the salad will need to be salted and pepper.
Fruits
For dessert, you can serve a variety of fresh fruits: apples, pears, grapes, tangerines, oranges.
Christmas dishes
On January 7, it is allowed to serve meat on the table, so on this day you can suppress chicken, duck, pork, various meat salads.
Duck with apples
Traditionally, you can bake a duck with apples in the oven. For this gutted duck is rubbed with a mixture of herbs, pepper, garlic and oil. Leave the duck to marinate for a couple of hours.
Mix apples, plums, quince, prunes, season with wine and stuff.
The duck should be baked for about 3 -3.5 hours, pouring over the resulting fat.
Dessert
Christmas muffins are considered traditional baked goods. The cupcake can be prepared 1 - 2 months before Christmas and left to ripen, or you can make a quick cupcake with tangerines
Recipe:
200 grams of flour;
4 eggs;
200 grams of sugar;
1 tsp baking powder;
125 grams of butter;
150 grams of dried fruits;
2 tangerines;
vanilla.
Preparation:
Margarine at room temperature is beaten with sugar in a mixer. After that, eggs, sifted flour, vanilla, baking powder and dried fruits are gradually introduced into the resulting mass. Tangerines settle for 2 minutes in butter and are added to the dough. The cake is baked for 1 hour in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.
The finished cake is sprinkled with powdered sugar and decorated with tangerines.
Bon appetit and a wonderful Christmas!
Read more about cooking rice kutia for Christmas in this one.
Christmas food is divided into two feasts: Lenten table on January 6 on Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve, or Holy Eve, and a generous treat on January 7 on Christmas night. We will tell you what to cook for Christmas - what to serve on the Lenten table on January 6th. What meat dishes to serve on January 7 for Christmas.
The evening before Christmas is the last meal. On the day before Christmas, they did not eat anything until the evening - until the first star appeared in the sky. At this time, as follows from the Bible, Jesus Christ was born.
After the appearance of the star, at dusk, before dark, they began a festive meal of 12 dishes, according to the number of the apostles who participated in the Last Supper. All meals should be lean due to the ongoing Nativity Fast.
The next day, January 7, the Nativity Fast ends and the celebration of the Nativity of Christ begins. It's time to break your fast - the Christmas menu includes meat dishes.
What do they eat on January 6, on Christmas Eve (Holy Eve) - Christmas Eve
1. Kutia
On Christmas Eve, the meal begins with kutya - porridge made from whole grains - a symbol of resurrection, and sweet honey with which it is poured, denotes heavenly bliss.
2. Uzvar
Uzvar at Christmas is traditionally served with kutya.
Kutia (kutya) and uzvar are the main dishes. With the remaining 10 dishes, improvise according to the principle "the rich are, they are glad." The main thing is to adhere to the tradition that dishes on Christmas Eve are lean.
3. Salads
Carrot and beet salad
Beets, carrots, walnuts are the ingredients of this healthy and delicious salad.
Red cabbage salad
In addition to red cabbage, the salad contains apple, green onions and nuts.
4. Pepper stuffed with vegetables
Rice, fleshy peppers, carrots, herbs, onions, tomatoes.
5. Dumplings
Dumplings can be served with any filling - with potatoes, mushrooms, berries. The dough is traditionally prepared without eggs or milk.
6. Vegetable stew
Use any vegetables in the stew - for example, cook potatoes with mushrooms and onions.
7. Lean borsch with mushrooms
Borsch with cabbage, tomato, oyster mushrooms.
8. Lazy cabbage rolls without meat
Cabbage rolls according to this recipe are prepared from cabbage, rice and carrots.
9. Fish cakes
It is advisable to include fish dishes in the Christmas menu.
10. Pickles
Vegetable blanks, sauerkraut are a traditional addition to the Christmas table.
11. Lenten pies and donuts
Pies and pies can be stuffed with mushrooms, potatoes, cabbage. An important rule: such baked goods should not contain eggs and dairy products.
Stewed cabbage pie
The cake is shaped into individual cakes.
12. Fruit baked with honey and nuts
Baked apples and pears are a healthy and tasty dish.
Also for sweets, you can serve, roll with jam, etc.
What to eat for Christmas on January 7
The next day, January 7, they begin to celebrate the Nativity of Christ. On this day, meat dishes are served with the fasting Christmas meals as the Christmas fast is over.
At the Christmas table, it is advisable to serve meat from representatives of three elements: earth, air and water (that is, mammals, birds, fish).
At the end of the meal, two types of sweets are served: juicy, made from berries and fruits, and dry - sweets, cookies.
1. Chicken stuffed with rice
Use chicken or chicken, rice, raisins.
2. Chicken with apples in the oven
Bulgur kutia for Christmas is delicious
Ingredients: bulgur, water, raisins, nuts, poppy seeds, chia, sugarDelicious, beautiful kutia for Christmas is obtained not only from wheat, but also from bulgur. Add to it more nuts, dried fruits, poppy seeds, as in our recipe, and it will come out just wonderful and very festive.
Ingredients:
- 1 glass of bulgur;
- 2 glasses of water;
- 100 g of raisins;
- 60 g of walnuts;
- 2 tbsp. poppy;
- 2 tbsp. chia;
- sugar or honey.
27.11.2019
Snegurochka salad with layers of smoked chicken
Ingredients: potatoes, smoked chicken, eggs, processed cheese, Peking cabbage, mayonnaise, salt, pepperIngredients:
- 2 potatoes;
- 150 g smoked chicken;
- 2 eggs;
- 70 g of processed cheese;
- 120 g of Chinese cabbage;
- 2 tbsp. mayonnaise;
- salt to taste;
- pepper to taste.
17.09.2019
DIY fruit tree for the New Year: master class
Ingredients: cheese, orange, banana, apple, mint, nectarine, grapes, lemon juice, coconut flakes, carrotsA Christmas tree as a symbol of the New Year can be edible and very beautiful at the same time. You yourself can handle it without any problems, if only you want.
Ingredients:
- 1 carrot;
- 1 apple.
For decoration:
- 25 g of cheese;
- 1 orange;
- 1 banana;
- 1 apple;
- 2 sprigs of mint;
- 3 nectarines;
- 2 bunches of grapes;
- 2-3 tbsp. lemon juice;
- 1 tbsp. coconut flakes.
24.03.2019
Christmas english cupcake
Ingredients: nut, date, dried apricots, prunes, raisins, jam, candied fruit, mango, rosemary, turmeric, ginger, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, cranberry liqueur, egg, baking powder, soda, oil, honey, sugar, flourAn English Christmas cake traditionally prepared in Great Britain is a wonderful pastry: delicious, aromatic, rich ... Try it too - you will definitely love it!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour;
- 1 cup of sugar;
- 1 tbsp. honey;
- 125 grams of butter;
- 0.5 tsp soda;
- 1.5 tsp baking powder;
- 2 eggs;
- 50 ml of cranberry tincture;
- 2 tsp cinnamon;
- 1 tsp ginger;
- 0.5 tsp nutmeg;
- turmeric on the tip of a knife;
- 1 branch of rosemary.
Filling:
- 70 gr of nut mix;
- 80 grams of dates;
- 70 grams of dried apricots;
- 70 gr prunes;
- 70 grams of raisins;
- 30 grams of Kiev dry currant jam;
- 10 grams of candied orange peels;
- 50 grams of dried mango.
21.02.2019
English christmas cupcake
Ingredients: egg, sugar, butter, cream, flour, baking powder, apple, dried apricots, raisins, prunes, dates, walnuts, cognac, seasoning, powdered sugarIngredients:
- 2 eggs;
- 140 grams of brown sugar;
- 140 grams of butter;
- 50 ml. cream 20%;
- 150 grams of wheat flour;
- 70 grams of almond flour;
- 10 grams of baking powder;
- 1 apple;
- 65 grams of dried apricots;
- 65 grams of raisins;
- 30 grams of prunes;
- 50 grams of dates;
- 60 grams of walnuts;
- 100 ml. cognac;
- ground cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, dried ginger;
- icing sugar.
09.02.2019
Duck with sauerkraut in the oven
Ingredients: duck, sauerkraut, onion, salt, pepperQuite often I cook poultry dishes for the festive table. Duck with sauerkraut in the oven is liked by absolutely all my homemade ones. The duck turns out to be tasty and tender.
Ingredients:
- 1 duck;
- 400 grams of sauerkraut;
- 150 grams of onions;
- salt;
- black pepper.
27.03.2018
Wheat kutia with poppy seeds and nuts
Ingredients: wheat, poppy seeds, honey, raisins, walnutsIf you plan to set the table on Christmas night according to all the rules, then do not forget about kutya - you cannot do without it. it can be cooked in different ways, one of the successful options is wheat kutia with poppy seeds and nuts.
Ingredients:
- wheat - 1 glass;
- poppy seeds - 2 tablespoons;
- honey - 2 tablespoons;
- raisins - 1 handful;
- walnuts - 1 handful.
06.02.2018
"Christmas wreath" salad with candles
Ingredients: crab sticks, corn, eggs, cucumbers, dill, mayonnaise, saltA bright and festive salad in the form of a Christmas wreath with candles will become a real decoration of the menu for New Year's celebrations. It is prepared from crab sticks, corn and fresh cucumber, so it also turns out to be very tasty.
Ingredients:
- crab sticks - 150 gr;
- canned corn - 150 gr;
- eggs - 2-3 pcs;
- cucumber - 1 pc (about 150 gr);
- mayonnaise - 150 gr;
- salt - a small amount;
- dill - for decoration.
31.12.2017
Pine cone salad with almonds
Ingredients: chicken fillet, eggs, cheese, mayonnaise, almonds, salt, potatoes, pickled cucumbersOn the festive table, be sure to prepare this delicious and beautiful salad in the form of a cone. The roasted almonds in this salad will add a sophisticated flavor to the salad.
Ingredients:
- chicken fillet - 300 grams,
- potatoes - 3 pcs.,
- pickled cucumber - 2 pcs.,
- eggs - 3 pcs.,
- hard cheese - 150 grams,
- mayonnaise or sour cream - 150 grams,
- roasted almonds - 200 grams,
- salt.
31.12.2017
Herring salad - tastier "Herring under a fur coat"
Ingredients: beets, eggs, pickled mushrooms, herring, mayonnaise, dillI want to offer you a recipe for a new herring salad, which I like even more than herring under a fur coat. Be sure to try it.
Ingredients:
- 2 beets,
- 1 carrot,
- 2 eggs,
- 1 herring,
- 150 grams of pickled mushrooms,
- 250 grams of mayonnaise,
- dill - a twig.
29.12.2017
Italian Christmas cupcake or Easter cake Panettone
Ingredients: milk, sugar, eggs, butter, yeast, raisins, candied fruits, olive oil, wheat flour, cardamom, vanilla sugar, nutmeg, salt- 1 glass of warm milk;
- 1 cup of sugar;
- 3 eggs;
- 150 g butter;
- 30 g fresh yeast;
- 1 glass of raisins and candied fruits;
- 3 tbsp. l. olive oil;
- 600-700 g of wheat flour;
- vanilla sugar, cardamom, ground nutmeg;
- a little salt.
29.12.2017
"Champagne bottle" salad with shrimps
Ingredients: shrimps, cucumber, carrots, potatoes, eggsThe more salads prepared on New Year's, the better. Especially if they all carry a thematic "charge". That is, they are prepared in the form of a Christmas tree, a snowflake or, like today's salad, a bottle of champagne.
For the recipe you will need:
- 200 grams of shrimp,
- 1 cucumber,
- 1 carrot,
- 1 potato,
- 2 eggs.
28.12.2017
Oven baked turkey with soy sauce
Ingredients: turkey fillet, sauce, mustard, sauce, adjika, oil, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, paprikaBaked turkey in soy sauce will become the main dish of your holiday table. The recipe is simple. Be sure to see how to cook it.
Ingredients:
- 600 grams of turkey fillet,
- 70 ml. soy sauce,
- 1 tbsp. mustard,
- 1-2 tsp chili sauce,
- 1 tbsp. adjika,
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil,
- 2 cloves of garlic,
- salt,
- black pepper,
- sugar,
- paprika.
25.12.2017
Duck with tangerines in the oven
Ingredients: duck, tangerine, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, hot sauce, salt, honey, jam, a mixture of ground peppers, potatoesIf you have not yet decided what to cook for the New Year, then we advise you to bake a duck with tangerines in the oven: this is an excellent dish that looks just great! And the taste of such a duck will not leave anyone indifferent.
Ingredients:
- 1 duck of medium size;
- 2-3 pieces of tangerines;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 1-2 tsp ginger root;
- 50-75 ml of soy sauce;
- 50 ml of hot sauce;
- 2 tsp salt;
- 1 tbsp. honey or orange peel jam;
- 1 tsp a mixture of ground peppers;
- potatoes for a side dish - to taste.
24.12.2017
Pork leg aspic
Ingredients: hoof, carrot, onion, garlic, celery, laurel, pepper, salt, dillInexpensive ingredients, not too complicated cooking process, hearty and beautiful result - this is about pork leg jellied meat. This dish is perfect for the New Years, so its recipe will probably come in handy.
Ingredients:
- 2 kg of pork hooves;
- 200 grams of carrots;
- 140 grams of leeks;
- 1 head of garlic;
- 1 dried celery root with herbs;
- 3 pieces of bay leaves;
- black pepper;
- dill greens;
- salt to taste.
24.12.2017
How to cook jellied meat
Ingredients: knuckle, pork leg, onion, pepper, garlic, parsley, laurel, egg, dill, salt, paprikaJellied meat is an invariable component of the New Year's menu. It is prepared from different meats, but it tastes best from pork legs and shank. There is nothing complicated in its preparation, you will see for yourself by reading our recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 kg shank;
- 1 kg of pork legs;
- 2 onions;
- 10 peas of black pepper;
- 6 cloves of garlic;
- 1 parsley root;
- 3 bay leaves;
- 3 grams of ground red paprika;
- 10 quail eggs;
- Dill;
- salt.
23.12.2017
Ingredients: carp, mushrooms, onion, lemon, butter, dry white wine, salt, pepper
For the Christmas festive table, I suggest you prepare this very tasty and satisfying fish dish - Czech carp. Preparing it is easy and fast enough.
Ingredients:
- carp - 1.2 kg.,
- champignons - 250 grams,
- onion - 1 pc.,
- lemon - a third,
- butter - 80 grams,
- dry white wine,
- salt,
- black pepper.
New Year's salad "Snowballs" with chicken breast
Ingredients: chicken fillet, corn, cucumber, mayonnaise, cottage cheese, cheese, garlic, dill, sunflower oilAs soon as the holidays are approaching, many housewives think about what to cook. I do not want to repeat the familiar recipes. Cooking something original and new is scary, suddenly they will not appreciate it. There are a lot of recipes on the Internet, but it is difficult to choose something that is beautiful, inexpensive and tasty. I propose to do this: take the products that everyone loves and make a simple and tasty salad out of them. And to make it look beautiful, we will decorate it with cottage cheese balls, which will make it more piquant.
After all, everyone eats meat? Almost. Canned corn and fresh cucumbers are held in high esteem by almost everyone?
This salad is perfect for the New Year. So if you have not yet compiled a New Year's menu, feel free to include this salad there. So, a salad recipe for the New Year.
For 2 servings of Snowball salad you will need:
- large chicken fillet;
- half a glass of canned corn;
- 1 fresh cucumber;
- 2-3 tbsp. light mayonnaise;
- 2 tbsp. cottage cheese, better than low-fat, but as you like;
- 70-100 grams of hard regular cheese;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- greens;
- vegetable oil for frying.
15.12.2017
"Gift" salad
Ingredients: potatoes, yolk, carrots, grapes, beets, green peas, chicken liver, mayonnaiseThe "Gift" puff salad will undoubtedly become the main decoration at your festive feast, no matter what holiday you celebrate. The solemn decoration of this delicious dish will definitely not go unnoticed by your guests!
Ingredients:
- potatoes - 5 pcs.;
- 4 yolks (boiled);
- carrots - 2 pcs.;
- seedless grapes - 300 g;
- beets - 1 large;
- green peas - 100 gr.;
- chicken or beef liver - 300 g;
- some mayonnaise.
What dishes to choose for the Christmas menu? Usually housewives begin to think about this issue immediately after the end of the New Year's celebration. If this year the responsibility for the Christmas menu has fallen on your shoulders, "Culinary Eden" will gladly help you set a delicious hearty table to the delight of your family and friends, making the holiday pleasant, bright and memorable.
First of all, of course, you should decide on the hot one - will it be one signature dish or several, a classic or a tempting culinary experiment? If a large number of people gather at the festive table, it will be more convenient to cook one large dish for all than to waste time on portioned dishes for each guest. For example, Christmas meat with sauerkraut and potatoes. It is also much more practical to bake a large piece of meat so that you can then cut it into portions than to cook a large number of chops. So, a 4 kg piece of meat will be enough for 12 people. All that is required of you is to marinate it thoroughly, fill it if desired, coat with glaze and send it to bake in the oven. Agree, it's much easier? A turkey roll with bacon, meat in the “New Year's Feast” oven or baked boiled pork is an excellent confirmation of this.
If you decide to bake a bird, then a 5 kg chicken or turkey will be enough to feed 8 people. Stuff it with prunes with walnuts and garnish with caramelized apples, oranges and sprigs of greens - this fantastically beautiful and incredibly tasty dish will delight your guests indescribable. Baked chicken with potatoes and rosemary, stuffed chicken "Surprise" or duck with potatoes will look very festive on the table. Seafood lovers will surely appreciate the stuffed pike or baked fish rolls with vegetables.
Of course, every family has culinary traditions that have been maintained for many years, but a holiday is an abundance and riot of tastes, vivid emotions and impressions, which means that it is the best time to dare to venture out on culinary experiments and try gastronomic delights. Do not be afraid to combine traditional dishes with new and unusual - so, classic hot dishes will perfectly complement exotic appetizers and salads. In addition, the same classics can be served in an original way, supplemented with a variety of ingredients, for example, cook meat baked with pineapple or chicken chops with kiwi topped with cheese.
Christmas is a great excuse to prepare the salads and appetizers you wanted but couldn't prepare for the New Year. But now you can slowly and without unnecessary fuss to do the dishes, the embodiment of which you had to postpone, and also devote more time to decorating the dishes. Christmas potato salad, Bright Holiday salad, Stargazer puff salad and Tsarsky salad will perfectly fit into the Christmas menu due to its wonderful taste and festive appearance. At Christmas, you can also fantasize with traditional New Year's salads, presenting them in a new way. For example, your guests will be pleasantly surprised if you serve them Olivier salad with salmon or Jellied herring under a fur coat salad. You can be equally creative with the appetizers by preparing the Christmas Wreath canapés, stuffed crab sticks or Mushroom stumps. The simplest options for appetizers are tartlets, the filling of which can be very diverse, and stuffed eggs. Their preparation usually does not take a lot of time. If you want to give these traditional appetizers a touch of originality, make crabmeat pâté tartlets or herring-stuffed eggs.
The Christmas menu, perhaps, especially needs a sweet dessert, since the table at Christmas is usually not as lush as on New Year's, which means that by the end of the meal, guests should still have some room in their stomachs for something tasty. Therefore, traditional gingerbread cookies, orange muffins, Christmas cinnamon rolls or Christmas log cake will come in handy here. Each holiday has its own taste, and for the New Year holidays it is, first of all, the taste of aromatic spices, so be sure to set off your desserts with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom or cloves. Orange peel can also add a festive touch to sweet dishes. Don't feel like bothering with baked goods? No problem! Beautifully decorated fruit cuts, berry jelly, tender mousse, baked apples with dried apricots and nuts, or hand-made truffles will also make a great finishing touch on the Christmas menu.
In winter, more than ever, you want warmth and comfort, so warming spicy drinks will be especially relevant in the menu. This can be lemon mulled wine, honey grog or Christmas cocoa with cream. It is better to exclude spirits altogether and serve instead champagne, wines, liqueurs and homemade cocktails.
The Christmas menu is another way to present your loved ones with a delicious holiday, enveloping them with the care and warmth of home comfort. You will find much more recipes for Christmas and New Year's dishes on the pages of our website, but we wish you bon appetit and boundless happiness in the coming year!
Useful Tips
A bright holiday - Christmas is approaching.
This means that Orthodox people are running out of fasting time, and caring housewives are in a hustle and bustle looking for recipes to surprise their dear guests on Christmas Eve.
Read also:How to make a wish come true (and not only at Christmas)
12 dishes for Christmas
It is believed that there should certainly be 12 dishes on the festive table, symbolizing the 12 apostles.
Kutia (sychivo)
The word Christmas Eve or Nomad - comes from sychovo, which means grain of wheat. However, it can be lentils, peas and barley prepared in a special way.
Juice is traditionally eaten after a church service on Christmas Eve, completing a forty-day fast with this dish. It is sometimes called "kutia".
Kutia is, without exaggeration, the main dish and symbol of Orthodox Christmas. It is with him that the dinner on the eve of Christmas begins.
In addition to wheat grains, this dish usually includes poppy, symbolizing martyrdom, and honey, which is a symbol of purity and purity.
In addition, kutia also means union with God and the world of the dead. For this reason, the dish is also saved at night for the souls of deceased relatives and friends.
So, kutia is a dish made from wheat and other grains or legumes (such as rice, barley or beans), sweetened with honey. To improve the taste, raisins, dried apricots and other dried fruits are also added to kutya.
Kutia is eaten from a common dish. Such a process, as it were, symbolizes unity, and in some families a spoonful of kutya is thrown up to the ceiling. If it sticks, you can expect an abundant collection of honey in the coming year.
Mushrooms
In the countries of the former Soviet Union, where mushroom picking, drying and pickling is a national pastime, special attention is paid to mushroom dishes. Christmas mushrooms are one of the 12 main festive dishes.
It can be either mushroom soup or just pickled mushrooms, which must be seasoned with vegetable oil. To emphasize the taste of the product, as a rule, housewives prefer sunflower oil.
Mushrooms symbolize two essences and the life of Jesus Christ: divine (hat) and earthly (leg).
Borsch
Some families choose sauerkraut borscht, vegetarian borscht, or vegetarian hodgepodge, to which they add something like dumplings with mushroom, potato or cabbage filling instead of meat.
The dough for these dumplings is also prepared with a small amount of vegetable oil.
Borscht is a symbol of the triumph of good over evil. It is believed that the hostess prepares lean borscht from all the ingredients that the land gives her. This means that everything that our land is rich in should be present on the festive table.
Some read that red borscht also symbolizes the blood of the Bethlehem children, who were exterminated by order of King Herod.
What dishes are prepared for Christmas
Kapustnyak
Another of the main dishes that must be present on the festive table is cabbage.
Cabbage symbolizes simplicity and at the same time strength, strength, unity, cohesion, which has one single basis - the Almighty.
A fish
Not all Orthodox Christians eat fish and eggs during fasting. However, when the fast ends, fish dishes are an obligatory part of the festive table.
So, pike perch, cod, carp, eel, salmon and salmon occupy the central place in the fish list. By the way, the most diligent housewives bake kulebyaka with fish filling. Eggs, dill and rice are also added to the kulebyaka.
In addition, fish snacks are welcome on the table. It can be herring and other salted fish.
Cabbage rolls
Cabbage rolls are one of the main dishes of the Christmas meal. When preparing this dish, the hostesses turn on their imagination: someone prepares cabbage rolls from sauerkraut leaves, but there are also those who prefer to use grape leaves.
As a rule, sour cream is served with stuffed cabbage rolls.
The main word already appears in the name of this dish. In many cultures, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, a messenger of God and signifies beauty and strength.
Vareniki
Dumplings are a symbol of prosperity and prosperity.
The hostess chooses the filling for this dish based on the taste preferences of her household and guests. It can be potatoes, mushrooms, sauerkraut, cherries.
Please note that the dough for dumplings is prepared according to a special recipe using only lean sunflower oil. And the molding of dumplings is generally a real art.
Russian dishes for Christmas
Pies
Well, what is a feast without your favorite pies?
Every good housewife has her own original recipe for making pies. The filling here can also be absolutely anything: from potatoes and peas to mushrooms or cabbage.
By the way, the pies symbolize the longevity, health and happiness that a person receives from communication with the newborn Son of God - Jesus Christ.
What to cook for Christmas
Peas
Pea dishes are a symbol of God's spring. Peas also symbolize the unity of the human race, so this dish must be included in your Christmas dinner.
Dishes for Orthodox Christmas
Beans, vegetables
Beans and boiled or stewed vegetables should also be present on the table. Beans should be cooked slowly the night before for several hours.
Then it can be seasoned with fried onions and sunflower oil. Stewed vegetable stew is also a welcome dish and a must-have element of a Christmas dinner.
Beans, other legumes and vegetables take center stage on the table and symbolize wealth and prosperity in the coming year.
Christmas goose in the oven
Goose baked in apples or oranges
Well, where can you go without a Christmas goose?
Just as the turkey plays an important role in Western culture, the goose also takes its place of honor in the culture of the Orthodox goose, displacing other types of meat from the festive table.
As a rule, housewives bake a goose in apples or oranges. But here it already depends on the desire of the household and on the fantasy of the hostess.
However, of course, a goose or other bird is cooked and eaten by those who do not fast.
As an example, consider the following recipe for cooking goose in white sauce:
Trim off excess fat from the goose, then melt in a saucepan. Rinse the poultry thoroughly, then divide it into the desired serving size, sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté in melted fat.
Fry the goose until golden brown, then remove from the pan and add finely chopped onion to it. Add a spoonful of flour and fry this mixture for a few minutes, then add a couple of tablespoons of sour cream to it. Pass the sauce through a sieve, pour over the poultry and bake at low temperature until the meat is done.
Desserts for Christmas
Dessert and Uzvar
Dessert on Christmas Eve in the strictest Orthodox families is exclusively dried fruits and nuts flavored with honey or a fruit compote, the so-called uzvar.
So, this drink is more like a compote and is a sweet mixture of dried fruits such as apples, pears, cherries, prunes, currants, raspberries, gooseberries and raisins. All ingredients are mixed with honey, sometimes with spices and boiled in water.
In fact, it is a half drink, half stewed fruit.
Uzvar is a ritual drink that serves to celebrate those who have just arrived, therefore it symbolizes the birth of the Baby Jesus and his arrival in this world.
According to the Orthodox tradition, food on Christmas Eve should be washed down not with water, but exclusively with uzvar.
Some families serve more sophisticated desserts such as gingerbread and animal-shaped cookies. Such cookies are called carols.
Kolyadki are Russian Christmas cookies, usually made from rye flour with the addition of cottage cheese.
Baked apples are delicious, healthy, and just right for Christmas.
To improve the taste, apples are baked with honey and raisins. To add even more taste and pleasant aroma, some housewives add seasoning in the form of cinnamon and cloves. In just a few minutes, a delicious Christmas dessert is ready. Well, even a child has heard about the benefits of baked apples.
Lenten meals for Christmas
The vinaigrette- This salad can be a great alternative to a side dish.
If you are not a fan of vinaigrette, you can opt for any other lean salad. It can be salads from beets, nuts, various raw, boiled vegetables. If you are not fasting, you can find delicious salad recipes in our article: Top 11 delicious and healthy holiday PP salads
Pickles- an invariable addition to any festive table in Russia.
Pickled and pickled cucumbers, tomatoes and zucchini, loved by many, are loved by young and old.
Pampushki- it is customary to serve bread with garlic baked inside for dinner. It is believed that garlic drives away evil spirits and attracts all good and kind.
Stewed cabbage with mushrooms is another hearty and tasty lean dish that is prepared by many housewives in the post-Soviet space.
Lenten potato dishes- it can be both baked potatoes with salt, and potatoes stewed with vegetables or boiled potatoes with herbs and garlic.
Traditional food for Christmas
Chicken stuffed with rice;
For the filling, in addition to rice, raisins and dried apricots are also used.
Chicken baked with apples in the oven;
Thanks to apples, poultry meat is saturated with sweet and sour aroma and taste.
Boiled pork;
Not a single Russian feast is complete without this dish.
Fried carp;
Another simple and tasty dish at the same time.
Fish pie.
Red caviar sandwiches:
Well, what a festive meal without red caviar? It's delicious and healthy. A more expensive alternative to red caviar can be black caviar.