Christmas.lunch

honestly speaking you haven't spent christmas in the lowlands for at least 2 or 3 years.  you always opt for an escape to asia or somewhere warmer in europe, but this year you decided to stay put, hence you host a christmas lunch for your family and a dear couple from the church.

this year you have the take of italian and french christmas, it's the mix of the best of both world, after all you last project was based in parma, italy and you just recently been to le cordon bleau for a cooking workshop and manage to haul back some goodies from paris. so this is the italian salumi culatello, if there's a king of salumi, culatello is it! and a french foie gras served on a home baked pain d'épices, a french version of ginger bread though it is not yeasted. you baked this loaf a week in advance of christmas and let the aroma develops over time.

 the stico prosciutto that you hauled back from parma in two trips.  the leg of ham is cooked and sealed in a package, so all you did was to roast them  with the carrot and potatoes with the seasoning of rosemary. the meat was really moist and tender. this dish is well received by everyone.

 and a kilo weight turkey breast wrapped with prosciutto ham with sausage meat as staffing, this is finally glazed with maple syrup. again very good dish with the balance of savory and sweet hint from the syrup, the meat is moist and juicy.

 this is a carb dish for the main, requires almost no preparation , a baked dish of potato, pasta and sprout with gruyere cheese and parmesan cheese

 dessert, amaretti from italy, mincemeat pie that you received as a gift from a friend and some maltese chocolate balls

but really the star of the dessert is this store bought (again from italy) pandoro.  verona christmas cake, some sort of yeasted cake, taste a bit like brioche but yet different.  you serve it with vanilla ice cream and top with a physalis.
have a blessed christmas everyone.