Are you already in the Christmassy mood? The days are getting shorter, you can see lighting chains at every corner and smell the scent of hot mulled wine everywhere. Christmas is coming! As usual, I have given Christmas a thought from the culinary perspective already and I would like to show you my favourite Christmas dinner composition for this year.  I hope it makes you as happy and as expectantly as me.

Starter

Homemade Büsumer crab salad

A wonderful alternative to all the buyable crab salads out there is to make it yourself. It isn’t that difficult and you can really taste the difference. This is a recipe is a typical Büsumer Crab Salad from Germany’s North Sea coast. What makes it so special and especially delicious? You pickle the crab meat in a marinade of herbs, lemon juice and cognac or brandy for about an hour.

For a delightful opening of the Christmas dinner serve the Büsumer crab salad with freshly baked crispy bread and salted butter.

Intermediate course

Beef stew “straight from the garden” (“Quer durch den Garten”)

Originally, this is more of an everyday dish, but a really delicious one and combined with the right ingredients, it is a very elegant intermediate course. “Quer durch den Garten” is known in every part of Germany and actually means to make a stew of vegetables that are locally available within the current season.

For the second course of my Christmas dinner I combine tender beef brisket with fresh vegetables and serve it with plenty of freshly chopped parsley or chives. In this way a common stew becomes an exquisite intermediate course.

Main course

Roasted goose leg with red wine and raisin sauce and Brussels sprout leaves

A variation of the compulsory Goose recipe, with refining extras and slightly re-worked for a “new” classical main course at Christmas. This is a North German interpretation from Hamburg of a typical Goose dish, using only the Goose legs combined with roasted vegetables and a red wine sauce with raisins. For the somewhat different Christmas Goose! Although it isn’t a whole Goose, you should take at least 2 hours for cooking into account.

Dessert

Chocolate pudding with sour cherry and almond compote (“Mohr im Hemd”)

To give a special evening a warm and delightful ending, treat your guests with a matching dessert.

This chocolate pudding recipe is known as “Mohr im Hemd” in Germany, which is literally translated “Moor in a shirt”. Similar to the English Christmas Pudding, it is cooked in a water-bath and need to be served in a warm state. In combination with the homemade cherry compote on an almond sabayon it is a really delicious accomplishment for a nice dinner and a wonderful transition to a cosy evening.

I hope that my dinner thoughts could inspire you a little bit. Enjoy the Christmas season with all its delicate benefits! In case you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me using our contact form. Alternatively, use the #german_recipes hashtag on Twitter.