Boxing Day Dinner

In England, the day after Christmas Day is called Boxing Day. Not because of a prize fight, not because  it's the day they get rid of gift packaging, but because it is/was the day when tradesmen and servants would receive a gift called a Christmas Box from their bosses or employers.

English, Sally, her Mum, and daughter Holly, celebrate Boxing Day (although not necessarily on December 26th) by making a traditional English-style holiday dinner, distinct from whatever might have been served to the extended family on Christmas Day. 

 This is one day when I stay out of the kitchen (mostly), and Lady Sally cooks for her family, and me. I'm usually in charge of the meat. Sally does the veg and starches and especially the Yorkshire Puddings (a type of airy biscuit).

Beef

The meat for Boxing Day is invariably beef. Sometimes it's a bone-in Rib Roast, sometime Prime Rib. This year is was a boneless Ribeye Roast of about 4.5 lbs. I marinated it overnight in red wine, then cooked the roast in my foil-lined deep electric skillet for 25 minutes per pound at 225F. I dusted all the surfaces with a 24/7 spice blend and a bit of kosher salt. Truth be told it came out medium, not the medium-rare that I wanted, after 2 hours. I didn't start temp checking early enough -- it cooked faster than I thought it would.

Of course there was a good gravy to go with the meat.

Starch

The traditional peeled parsnips and quartered potatoes are par-boiled for a few minutes, then finished off in a hot oven, bathed in smoking hot oil to give them a unique almost crust-like exterior and creamy interior. No seasonings need apply.

Green Vegetable

This year I was also put in charge of the green veg because Lady Sally wanted my pan-fried Brussels sprouts. Wash them, then halve the sprouts from pole-to-pole. Toss with some Cavender's Seasoning, and fry them over med-hi heat, cut side down for about 6 minutes in a little EVOO. Then toss and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until tender.  Folk who don't like Brussels Sprouts love the caramelized goodness of these mini-cabbages.

Yorkshire Puddings

These are the crowning glory; or the deflated blobs, of the feast. This year Sally did a fabulous job, and the Yorkies came out fantastic. A perfect combination of oven temp, batter, temp, humidity, and eleventy-zillion other random elements. Light and airy and oh, so good! They are similar to pate a choux, or Dutch Baby or savory cream puff shells.  The recipe came from Sally's Dad, many years ago.

2 cups AP Flour 

2 Eggs, beaten

1 cup plus, Whole Milk

a pinch of salt

Cast-iron molds for Yorkshire Puddings

Sally uses shallow cast iron molds which produce trees and hearts. Some folks use deeper cup-shaped molds. Or even cupcake tins.  The following directions are for shallow molds. Deep-mold users will have to discover how much batter to add, by trial and error. The above recipe made the puddings shown, with about a half-cup left over.

Make a well in the flour, add the eggs and begin stirring with a wooden spoon, adding milk as you go to make a non-lumpy batter the thickness of heavy cream (much thinner than pancake batter, more like crepe batter). Sally uses a wooden spoon, I'd be tempted to use a whisk. Put the mixture in the fridge to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Oil or lard (preferred) the molds and place them in a 400F oven. Heat to "smoking" hot -- at least 20 minutes. Nearly fill the molds with the batter, the Yorkies will puff up as they cook. Return the filled molds to the oven and cook 20-30 minutes until GB&D.

Christmas Pudding

Boxing Day dinner would not be complete without this traditional dessert.  Sally's Mum, who make the Christmas Pudding, guards her recipe like the Crown Jewels. It can be made a year in advance and stored, sealed, in the refrigerator to age like good wine or beef. 

When most American hear "pudding" they think of that stuff that comes from boxes marked Jello.   Not so in England!

Christmas Pud and its relatives are a sort of extremely moist sweet bread that is steamed rather than baked, similar to Boston Brown Bread, but sweeter, richer, denser and moister. Think fruitcake without the globs of fruit and not as dense. Christmas Pud has a much finer, lighter texture than fruitcake. Traditionally a glass of brandy poured over the cake and lighted before serving. 

Lady Sally serves Christmas Pudding with a heaping helping of Bird's Custard, available as a powder in the Brit section of the International aisle at your local megamart. Stir the powder to a water/milk mix, and simmer for a few minutes to make really tasty custard. Americans might call this vanilla pudding, but that would just be wrong!