Let’s see…we have like five days to the Christmas feast. You need at least two days to thaw the turkey in the lower compartment of the fridge and another two days to season it well. So, it will be in good time to start taking that big bird out of the deep freezer and leave it in the lower compartment.
I am still undecided on what to prepare for the Christmas dinner and have no desire to plan yet. I work best under pressure and dateline so I shall leave it to the last minute.
I called two caterers today but unfortunately, both of them are already booked. Looks like I am going to need to weave some magic to get foods on the table. Can you sense my lack of excitement towards cooking lately? I don’t know why but hope to bounce back soon with a marvellous spread in time for Christmas.
Until then, anyone knows if we can make eggnog easily? Exactly what is eggnog? I have never taste one before.
Eggnog as the name suggests is an alcohol beverage prepared with egg. The main ingredients are usually rum and eggwhite. You can find numerous recipes on allrecipes.com (including some non-alcoholic versions) if your children are interested. Happy holidays and season’s greeting.
Thanks for the reminder, Lillian. Will transfer the turkey from the freezer tonight. As for egg nog, it tastes something like Irish Bailey Cream and is really easy to prepare. Here’s the recipe my friends and I used to make ours last year:
1 dozen eggs, separated
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups bourbon (optional. Use more or less if desired)
1/2 cup rum (optional. Use more or less if desired)
1 quart milk (add another pint of milk if not using liquor)
2 Tbl vanilla
3 pints heavy cream
Nutmeg
Beat together the egg yolks and salt in a large mixing bowl, slowly adding 1 1/2 cups of the sugar. Continue beating until tick and pale. Stir in the bourbon, rum, milk and vanilla until well mixed. Beat the egg whites until foamy and slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, continuing to beat until stiff and all the sugar has been incorporated. Whip the cream until stiff. Now fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture and then fold in the whipped cream. Taste and add more bourbon and/or sugar if necessary. Pour into a punch bowl and sprinkle with nutmeg. The punch bowl can be sitting in a bed of ice to help keep chilled.
There are lots other recipes on the net some with and some without alcohol. Of course, my friends absolutely CANNOT do without the alcohol 😀
Important Note: Egg must be really really fresh and I believe you NEED the alcohol or else, the bacteria or germs in the RAW eggs might not be killed, that’s why the alcohol is used.
Definitely has to be served chilled and therefore, highly not recommended in Malaysia, unless,
1. you are sure that the eggs is really fresh (u got in from the farm direct)
2. You are serving it in an air conditioned environment and therefore the eggnog would not reach 22 degrees tempt
DO not serve it to kids or elderly as their resistance is not that develop and for the elderly, that strong anymore.
It is however a rather delicious drink but circumstances prevents it from being served here in M’sia unless you are prepared to have a case of salmonella poisoning or cirit birit amongst ur guest.
salmonella from eggs is a rare occurrence for the most part, especially if you buy them chilled at 7 degrees or colder and keep them that way (it will prevent salmonella from multiplying) and if you get the eggs young and fresh. Otherwise people wouldn’t be able to make their own mayonnaise, and guys training for boxing matches would take longer to get their protein.
Most salmonella exists on the shell. A UK study on imported eggs (from other european countries) discovered that there’s about a 1 in 10 chance that there will be salmonella on the shell. In the USA, all eggs are washed before they are sold so this is less of a concern (although we have to keep our eggs in the refrigerator because washing makes the shells porous!). so a good wash in hot water before you crack them open would decrease your chance of getting salmonella from 10% to less than 1%. If that’s still not enough (and really, i wouldn’t normally take a 1% chance on food poisoning either!) you can heat your eggs with some of the cream in a double boiler, very slowly, until they’re about 70 degrees. 71 degrees is known to kill salmonella immediately, but you also run the risk of making the eggs cook solid at that temperature, so bring them up to temperature slowly, add some of the cream to interfere with protein matrix formation, and stop at 70 degrees. After that, get the eggs down to a chilly temperature quickly, maybe with an ice cream maker if you have one, then keep them chilled when you serve the egg nog. you’ll be 100% safe.