Christmas special: From Plum Cake to Yule Log, 11 recipes that you must try at home

From Yule Log to Plum Cake, from Quinoa Rainbow Salad to Goan Style Pot-Roasted Tenderloin, we have something for everyone. 
Plum Pudding and Yule Log
Plum Pudding and Yule Log

What is a festival without some delicious food on the table, right? And, since many of you wouldn't be venturing out for a Christmas lunch, we thought of collating recipes of your favourite dishes from your favourite chefs as our gift to you! From Yule Log to Plum Cake, from Quinoa Rainbow Salad to Goan Style Pot-Roasted Tenderloin, we have something for everyone. 

1. Yule Log
By Chef Nilesh Mandadkar, Executive Pastry Chef, The Chocolate Spoon Company

Ingredients (for chocolate sponge): Butter unsalted – 85 gms, castor sugar – 85 gms, flour – 55 gms, cocoa powder – 26 gms, baking powder – 5 gms, salt a pinch, water 110ml

For the frosting: Callebaut dark chocolate – 150 gms, Amul cream – 100 ml, Amul milk – 50 ml

For assembling: Sugar syrup – 150 ml, mascarpone cheese – 200gms, ganache – 250gms

Method:
• For the sponge, preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and mix it until it turns creamy and lighter in colour, using a whisk.
• Sieve the flour and add all the dry products into a bowl. Mix everything together and slowly add water to it.
• Line a baking tray with butter paper. Put the mixture in the tray at 1 cm height. Bake it in an oven for 9-10 minutes or until dark brown and springy to touch.
• For the frosting, pour the cream and milk into a small saucepan and place it over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the cream, it's not necessary to boil or simmer it. It just needs to get hot. The cream is ready when you can place a finger in the cream and keep it there for 3 to 4 seconds. Turn off the flame and remove the cream from the stove.
• Scoop the chocolate into the cream. Stir gently so that chocolate is mixed with cream. Keep it aside for some time to set.
• For assembling, unroll the cake and brush it with sugar syrup.
• Spread mascarpone cheese and roll it. Set it in a fridge for one hour
• Spread chocolate ganache on top of it and make wood pattern with a fork on the surface of the roll

2. Tuna overloaded sushi roll
By Chef Karma Tenpa, Head Chef at Yazu: Pan Asain Supper Club

Ingredients: Sushi rice – 150 gm, black rice (chakhao rice) - 150 gm, sugar - 225 gm, mizkan vinegar - 270, salt - 75 gm, kombu dry - 50gm, kikkoman soya sauce - 100gm, wasabi powder - 50 gm, yaki nori sheet – 2 sheet, bamboo mat – 1 no, tuna - 100 gm for marination and 50 gm for julienne cut, gherkins, mayonnaise - 200gm,  togarashi powder - 10gm, sriracha sauce - 20 gm, cream cheese – 50 gm 

Method:
• Dissolve the sugar and salt together with rice vinegar, add mirin as per requirement (30 ml is adequate) and add Kombu. Set it aside for 10 minutes. Discard the Kombu.
• Rinse the rice in a strainer until the water runs clear. Put rice in water and heat up. Bring water to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Rice should be tender and water should be absorbed.
• Stir sushi vinegar into the cooked rice. Keep stirring; the rice will dry as it cools.
• Marinated the tuna with sriracha sauce, add salt and pepper
• Cut tuna in Jullien along with avocado.
• Spread vinaigrette black rice evenly on the nori sheet and sprinkle black and white sesame seeds over it.
• Turnover and spread cream cheese lengthwise across the sheet.
• Place Jullien tuna and avocado on cream cheese and roll tightly. Slice into 8 equal pieces evenly; add a little spicy mayo on each side, topped with marinated tuna on each piece of sushi roll and topped with a thin slice of gherkins
• Serve with the wasabi, pickled ginger with soy sauce on the side. 

3. Chocolate Raspberry Tea Cake
By Manpreet Dhody, Head, Foodhall Cookery Studio

Ingredients: 150g softened unsalted butter, 2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract,     50ml milk, 300 gms refined flour (sifted), 1/2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 cup (135g) dark chocolate melted, 150g fresh or frozen raspberries, Whipped  cream to serve, Chocolate sauce to serve 

Method: 
• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line an 8-inch cake pan or mini tea cake moulds (approx 10-12)
• Beat the butter and caster sugar with electric beaters until pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add milk, melted chocolate and then beat to combine
• Fold in the flour and raspberries
• Spoon into the pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely
Serve with whipped cream, chocolate sauce or extra raspberry compote

4. Rainbow Quinoa Salad 
By Chef Cyrus Irani, Director - Culinary at JSM Corporation

Ingredients: Beet Carpaccio - 5 slices

Avocado mixture: Hass avocado – ¼, lemon juice-½ tsp, cumin ⅛ tsp tabasco ½ tsp

Quinoa mixture: White, black and red quinoa – 4 tbsp each, green and yellow pepper – 3 tbsp, roasted red pepper- 1 tbsp, diced tomato(no seeds)-1 tbsp, diced red onions- 1 tpsp, English cucumber-1tpsp, braised olive- 1tpsp, pickled beet- 1 tpsp, flat parsley chopped- 1 tsp, creamy feta (freeze first- dice when semi-frozen)- 1tpsp, lemon honey dressing - 1 tbsp, salt, extra virgin olive oil 

For garnishing: Tomato - black cherry- 1pcby2, tomato – sunpeach 1pcby2, tomato- sungold-1pcby2, pitted kalamata olive- 3pcby3, fennel sprig -1, sliced fennel- 8 slices, leaf flat parsley – 5pc, wild baby rocket - 5pc

Vinaigrette: lime juice - 1 tbsp, extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp, honey – ¼ tsp, salt & pepper – 2gms or to taste

Method: 
• Cut avocado into fine dices, toss all ingredients of the Avocado mixture together and place over the Beet Carpaccio
• Wash the quinoa well and cover it with water to 1/2 an inch (1.5cm) above the quinoa itself, season it with salt and bring it to boil.
• Cover the same and cook on very low heat for 18 minutes. Let it then cool completely.
• Combine the diced vegetables, onion, feta cheese and lemon confit and season it with some of the vinaigrette to taste.
• All quinoa mixture ingredients to be tossed together and placed over the avocado mixture in a ring mould 
• Toss and garnish with garnishing ingredients on top of the salad 

5. Dundee Cake
By Executive Chef Abhijeet Thakre, Taj City Centre Gurugram

Ingredients: Butter - 225 gm, brown sugar - 225 gm, eggs - 5, refined flour - 300 gm, baking powder - 1 ½ tsp, orange marmalade - 30 gm, crushed almonds - 80 gm, raisins - 500 gm, orange peel - 100 gm, orange rind - 1, lemon rind - 2, dark rum - 60 ml, blanched skinless almonds - 100 gm

Method: 
• Soak raisins, orange peel, crushed almonds, lemon rind and orange rind with rum for 4 hours. 
• Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until light. 
• Combine flour with baking powder and fold into a wet mixture. Add in the soaked fruits.
• Spread the batter into a foil-lined round baking pan. Arrange the blanched almonds on top.
• Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for about 1 ½ hour, until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean. 
• Remove cake from pan and serve.

6. Stollen Bread
By Chef Sanjay Kumar, Executive Pastry Chef, The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel


 
Ingredients: Flour - 500 gms, milk - 125 gms, fresh yeast - 25 gms, butter - 250 gms, sugar - 50 gms, mix spices - 5 gms, salt - 8 gms, mix fruit - 600 gms, lemon zest - 3 gms, gluten - 20 gms, clarified butter - 250 gms, marzipan - 100 gms

Method 
• In a bowl soak all fruit in the rum overnight. 
• Dissolve the yeast and milk with a pinch of sugar.
• Mix flour, yeast mixture, sugar, gluten, spices, lemon zest and salt for several minutes. The dough should just come together and not be very smooth yet. Add butter and mix until flour and butter are completely incorporated and become smooth dough. Remove from the bowl and let the dough rest, covered for 30 minutes.
• Knead the fruit into the dough. Turn the dough out onto a greased surface, divide it into three pieces, and shape each piece into an oval shape.
• Place one piece of marzipan down the longer center of each oval and fold the dough over it lengthwise
• Leaving the top edge of the dough just shy of the bottom edge.
• Press the top edge to seal it to the dough below.
• Place the bread on a baking sheet covers them and let them rise until puffy.
• Bake the stollen for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown in a preheated oven at 200 Degree Celsius.
• Remove the stollen from the oven and brush them with melted butter and dust with icing sugar.
• Transfer on a rack to cool completely. Wrap airtight and store in a chiller.  

7. Burratina With Braised Puy Lentils
By Chef Aabhas Mehrotra, Head Chef at Sorrentina by Foodhall 

Ingredients: Fresh burrata/ burratina - 150grm, balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar - 10ml, puy lentils - 30grm, toasted bread, spring onions to garnish

For puy lentils: 250grm puy lentil or whole masoor (chilka) dal, 100grm onions, 100grm carrot, 20grm celery, 2 bay leaf

For tempering puy lentils: 100grm cooked puy lentils, 5ml olive oil, 10grm garlic, 10grm olives, 10grm cherry tomatoes, 2grm basil, 15ml tomato puree, salt and pepper for seasoning

Method:
• Start by soaking the Masoor Dal for at least 2 hours or a maximum of a day
• In a pan, heat oil and saute carrots, once they are caramelized, add celery and onions and let them cook.
• Add in the Soaked puy lentils along with spices and water and let it simmer 
• After all the water is absorbed (takes around 20 minutes), allow it to cool down.
• For tempering of puy lentils, heat some olive oil in a pan. Add ½ cherry tomato and allow to blister. Add in the garlic, basil and olives
• Add in the cooked puy lentils along with the stock and allow it to cook though
• Add in a spoon of the tomato pelati. Season the mixture with salt and pepper
• Now, toast the bread for the base of the dish. Spoon puy lentils on top of the toasted bread
• Slice open a burrata and place on top of the crostini, season with salt and pepper and olive oil
• Drizzle Balsamic and olive oil. Garnish with spring onion

8. Goan Style Pot-Roasted Tenderloin
By Chef Jose Thomas, Executive Chef, Vivanta Goa, Panaji

Ingredients: Tenderloin fillet – 1kg, ginger-100 gm, garlic – 200 gm, peppercorn – 30gm, cumin – 30gm, clove – 5gm, cinnamon – 5gm, Kashmiri chilli(dry) – 5, green chilli– 5, salt to taste, Goan vinegar -10ml

For accompaniment:
Take two boiled potatoes and cut it into roundels, grill on a pan marinated with salt pepper and chopped coriander.

Method
• Grind all the ingredients apart from tenderloin and vinegar to a fine paste with a little water.
• Trim the fat layers in the tenderloin, if any and poke with a fork to make it soft.
• Marinate the tenderloin with a fine paste and refrigerate below 5 degrees overnight.
• Take a heavy bottom pot, place the marinated meat and pour water to cover 2 inches above the meat.
• Cover with a lid and cook on a slow fire, tender meat takes 45 to 60 minutes to cook. Finish by adding vinegar and bring to a boil.
• Slice the tenderloin and coat with the reduction (roast gravy) left in the pan.
• Reduce the roast gravy to a pouring consistency.
• Arrange the sliced meat with some grilled potato roundels and top it with roast gravy.

9. Plum Pudding
By Chef Dane Fernandes, Executive Chef, The St. Regis Mumbai.

Ingredients: Refined flour  - 500g, castor sugar - 1000g, egg - 10, unsalted butter - 1000g, bread crumbs - 500g, christmas fruit - 2000g, mixed spice powder - 20g, black caramel syrup - 250g

Method: 
• In a Kitchen aid bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. 
• In another bowl, mix bread crumbs, flour, Christmas fruit, mixed spice powder and black caramel syrup. Gradually add to the creamed mixture. 
• Now, grease quart pudding moulds. Empty the mixture into the mould.
• In a stockpot add hot water and add the mould inside and steam bake covered till a toothpick inserted inside comes out clean. 

10. Spinach Tomato and  Feta Quiche
By Chef, food stylist and author Natasha Celmi

Ingredients (For the crust): 280 grams all-purpose or wholewheat flour, 140 gms cold butter (cut into pieces)
 
For the filling: 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 2 eggs, 280 ml double cream, Drizzle of olive oil, 1.5 cups spinach (chopped), ½ cup feta cheese, cubes or crumbled, Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
 
Method:
• The crust can be made by hand or a food processor. To make by hand, rub in the flour and cold butter together to resemble crumbs. Add 8 tbsp cold water and bring together to make a ball of dough. It is important to use cold butter and water. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
• To make the dough in a food processor, simply blend the above ingredients together till it comes together in a ball of dough. Wrap and refrigerate.
• Preheat your oven to 180 C.
• Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to make a circle about 5cm larger than your pie tin. Carefully use your rolling pin to lift it up and press into the pie tin neatly. Roll the crust over the edges of the tin and trim. In case of cracks, simply mend them by pinching the pastry together or press in and merge a small piece from the corner.
• Prick some holes in the base with a fork. Cover with a circle of butter paper. Add some dry beans like kidney beans or chickpeas on top and bake blind for 20 minutes. This prevents the pastry from rising. Remove the paper and beans and bake further for 10 minutes until golden brown.
• In the meantime, in a small baking dish, drizzle the tomatoes with some olive oil and season. Bake in the lower part of your oven for 20 minutes
• To make the filling, beat the eggs in a bowl. Gradually add in the cream while beating. Season lightly.
• Once the pastry crust is ready, dot the bottom with some feta cheese cubes, tomatoes and spinach leaves. Pour in the cream mix. Top with some more feta and spinach. Bake for 20-25 minutes until set and golden brown on top.
• Allow it to cool outside and then remove from the tin and serve in slices with a side salad or soup. Bon appétit!

11. Almond Crusted Sole With Maltaise Sauce
By Mukesh Kumar, Sous Chef, Hilton Garden Inn, Gurgaon Baani Square

Ingredients: Sole fish slice – 1 cup, chopped almond slice - 2/3 cup, extra virgin olive oil – 100 ml, chopped fresh dill  – ½ cup, kosher salt  – as per taste, crushed black peppercorn – as per taste, dijon mustard – ¼ cup, chopped 5 to 6 garlic cloves, unsalted butter  – ½ cup
 
For maltaise sauce: egg yolks – 2, clarified unsalted butter – 2 tsp, orange juice (reduced) – 2 tsp, orange zest – ¼ cup

Method:
• Combine chopped Almonds, chopped dill, salt, pepper, mustard, soft butter and make a coarse paste.   
• Cook marinated fish in a preheated oven (180 degrees) with salt, pepper and olive oil for about 7 to 9 minutes until opaque in the centre.      
• Preheat the oven at 400 degrees. Stick the coarse paste on fish. Bake for 5 mins till it gets slightly brown in colour.            
• For Maltaise sauce, melt the butter in the microwave for 2 mins. Take a large heatproof bowl and add ¼th water in it, gently place another small bowl into the steamed pan, ensuring the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water in the pan. 
• Separately whisk the egg yolks with 1 tsp of orange juice and pour it in the small bowl. Keep Stirring until it makes it into a thick paste. This will take 3–4 minutes depending on the temperature of the bowl. Keep an eye on the water, if it gets too hot the eggs will scramble. 
• While you continuously whisk, slowly drizzle the melted butter. Keep on whisking until just left with the solids at the bottom. At this stage, the sauce should be quite thick, pour leftover orange juice until you get the desired consistency and flavour. 
• Once the sauce is made, pour in orange zest at the end.  Taste and season with salt.                                                                                                                                             
 

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