What to cook for Christmas menu. Christmas Eve Traditions

2 years ago

13,480 Views

Christmas is considered one of the greatest Orthodox holidays throughout the world. In Russia, Christmas is celebrated on January 7, this day ends the forty-day fast. The day before, on Christmas Eve, it is customary for the whole family to gather around a table set with twelve Lenten dishes. This meal is called a rich supper; every dish on the Christmas table has a sacred meaning. So, traditions of the Christmas table.

Traditional dishes for Christmas

Christmas Eve

The festive family dinner on January 6 includes 12 Lenten dishes - the same number of apostles who took part in the Last Supper. On Christmas Eve, it is customary to prepare dishes from vegetables and fruits to bring good luck and prosperity into the house for the whole year.

The main dishes of the table on the Holy Evening before Christmas are: Kutya and Uzvar .

Kutie called porridge, cooked from whole grains, with the addition of honey, crushed nuts, raisins, and crushed poppy seeds. Christmas kutia can be made from wheat, barley, rice or pearl barley. It is with the tasting of kutya that the Christmas Eve meal begins.

Each component of kutya has a symbolic meaning. Grain is a symbol of renewal of life, honey symbolizes health and well-being in the home, poppy and nuts symbolize prosperity and success in business. According to folk traditions, tasty and “rich” kutia ensures a good harvest and becomes a talisman for the family home throughout the year.

Traditional drink on Christmas Eve - uzvar This is the name for compote made from a mixture of dried fruits - apples, cherries, pears, plums and others. It is customary to add honey to the Christmas uzvar, dried fruits rosehip or rowan, fragrant herbs(mint, lemon balm, rose petals). This drink is rich in vitamins and minerals, has tonic properties and strengthens the immune system.

Lenten borscht or - thick soup with millet and fresh or sauerkraut. In different regions, they add to Lenten borscht boiled beans, dried mushrooms or ears (dough products with lean filling, similar to small dumplings).

On Christmas Eve, as a mandatory dish on the table, cabbage, mushrooms, stewed cabbage, lean or mushrooms, or millet porridge, or with fruit fillings, . A must for Christmas dinner - boiled peas, beans or beans with onions fried in vegetable oil. Also served on the table fried fish and homemade pickles - sauerkraut, pickled tomatoes and cucumbers, peppers, pickled apples.

Dinner on Christmas Eve begins after the first star appears in the sky - until this time, only children were allowed to eat. After the prayer, all participants try kutya, then borscht and other hot dishes are served. The meal traditionally lasts 3-4 hours; this evening carolers go from house to house, sing songs and wish the owners well-being. They are presented with sweets and pastries and invited to the table. In many families, on the evening of Christmas Eve, children bring kutya to their godparents or grandparents.

What to cook for Christmas

The fast ends on January 7th , meat and poultry dishes appear on the table - boiled pork, goose or duck with apples, and more. The Christmas menu also included dairy dishes - porridge with milk - or milk noodles.

Table setting for Christmas

In the process of preparing for the Christmas holidays, it is important not only to prepare treats, but also to pay attention to table setting. Most often in decor there is a combination white with red or green.

Lay out an elegant tablecloth with a pattern and complement the decoration of the festive table with paper or textile napkins in a contrasting color.

From decorative elements you can use figured candles and figurines of angels.

A traditional decoration for the festive Christmas table is the didukh - a talisman woven from ears of corn or straw.

Multi-colored garlands and an elegantly decorated Christmas tree will help create a festive atmosphere in the room.

Treats prepared with love and beautiful table setting Christmas table is the key to a rich harvest, prosperity and well-being in the home. May 2017 bring health, love and prosperity to every home!

On my website you will find recipes for treating friends and family at Christmas. Share your family's traditional Christmas treats in the comments.

Prepare 12 delicious Lenten dishes for Christmas using the recipes in this article.

On January 7, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Nativity of Christ. The day before, January 6, the 40-day fast of Christmas ends and Holy Evening begins. Needless to say, Christmas has been popularized?

Many consider him one of the New Year's holidays, a reason to meet friends, eat at the table, or have a glass of alcohol. Not only do they not fast, but they don’t even know basic Christmas traditions.

But for our ancestors, Christmas had a special meaning; they prepared for it very carefully: they cleaned up their home, went to church, observed religious canons, and invited only their closest and loved ones to the house that evening. Perhaps we should think about resuming traditions? First of all, prepare the right Lenten dishes for Christmas.

What festive dishes are served at Christmas?

Those who observe Orthodox canons do not eat anything on January 6 until the first star lights up in the sky in the evening. She notifies the world that Jesus Christ was born. This means that you can sit down at the table and have a delicious meal.
Festive dishes for Christmas are served following certain rules:

There should be 12 dishes, that’s exactly how many apostles Jesus Christ had. The Slavs also believed that 12 dishes on the table at Holy Evening symbolize 12 months, and as tasty as the dishes are, those months will be so generous in food and harvest.
Dishes must be lean. That is, there should be no butter, milk, sour cream, eggs or meat on the holiday table. You can eat fish.
Before preparing each dish, you need to read a prayer.
It is advisable that when preparing food festive table All family members took some part.

IMPORTANT: There should be no alcohol on the table on Holy Eve!

Option for table setting for Christmas.

Choose which Lenten dishes will be included in holiday menu, every housewife has the right to do it herself. But two will be mandatory:

Kutya. - a symbol of resurrection after death, it must be prepared for funerals. You can read about how to cook it deliciously in.
Uzvar is also a symbolic drink, which was always prepared when a child was born in a family.

Together, kutya and uzvar represent memories of the birth and death of the Savior and every person who lived on earth.

VIDEO: Lenten recipes

12 delicious Lenten dishes for the Christmas table

So, an approximate Christmas menu, in addition to kutia, may include the following dishes:

Uzvar

The tradition of cooking uzvar originated in Ukraine, and was later adopted by residents of many Eastern European countries. Essentially, the drink is a compote of dried fruits, dried berries, honey and sugar. But not simple, since after the water boils it does not cook, but is immediately removed from the heat.

Uzvar turns out to be concentrated, since it is customary to take 0.5 kg of dry berries and fruits for 2 liters of water. Which ones exactly are up to the hostess to decide. Take 3 tbsp of honey for the specified volume of drink. spoons, sugar - to taste.

Here is one of the uzvar recipes for which they take:

dried apples -100 g
dried plums or prunes – 100 g
dried pears – 100 g
raisins - 100 g
dried apricots – 50 g
dried cherries – 50 g
honey - 3 tbsp. spoons
sugar – 3 tbsp. spoons

Dried fruits and dried berries needs to be soaked. They do this in different ways: overnight, for 2 hours or for 15 minutes.
Pour in the straightened, soaked fruits and berries, fill them with water, bring to a boil and immediately remove. Sometimes they do it differently - they simply pour boiling water over the ingredients.
Honey and sugar can be added immediately. But in boiling water, honey loses its strength and becomes harmful. Therefore, it is better to put it in the already cooled uzvar.
Uzvar is prepared 3-4 hours before the feast so that it has time to brew. Serve and drink either chilled or slightly warm.

IMPORTANT: Uzvar on the table on Christmas Eve replaces alcoholic drinks. Both adults and children drink it throughout the feast. Sometimes uzvar is poured over kutya.

potatoes – 5 pcs.
carrots – 2 pcs.
onions – 2 pcs.
pickled cucumbers (medium) – 5 pcs.
parsley root (small) - 2 pcs.
tomato paste – 2 tbsp. spoons
lemon
different greens
salt, sugar, pepper
olives and olives
water - 3 l

Potatoes are put into salted water first. To do this, it is cleaned, washed, and cut quite finely. You can also throw a bay leaf there if you wish.
At this time, the dressing is prepared in a frying pan: finely chopped onions, grated carrots, parsley root, and cucumbers are sautéed.
Add tomato paste and pepper to the sautéed vegetables. They will be stewed, as it were, since the cucumbers and paste will give a lot of liquid.
Add the dressing to the potatoes, cooked until done. Cook the hodgepodge covered for 5 minutes. If desired, add cucumber pickle and a little sugar to it.
When serving, Lenten solyanka is decorated with chopped herbs, rings of olives or black olives, and lemon slices.

Cabbage with mushrooms I think a simple dish? It will turn out festive if instead of champignons you take dried porcini mushrooms and beautifully decorate the stew.

white cabbage – 1 kg
dried porcini mushrooms – 300 g
carrots – 1 pc.
onion – 1 pc.
tomato juice - 0.5 cups
salt, pepper, herbs

Porcini mushrooms are soaked for 1 hour.
Prepare frying of onions and carrots.
Finely chop the cabbage and send it to stew. If you salt it at the very beginning and lightly crush it, there will be a lot of juice, you won’t have to add water.
Immediately add finely chopped porcini mushrooms to the cabbage and cover the saucepan with a lid. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add frying, tomato juice and pepper to the prepared dish, simmer for another 10 minutes.
When serving, lay out the dish in a neat mound and decorate with herbs.

They need:

champignons – 0.5 kg
onion - 1 pc.
loaf – 200 g
milk – 200 ml
starch – 1 teaspoon
salt pepper
flour or breadcrumbs

The champignons are cleaned and cut into quarters, and fried for 10 minutes along with finely chopped onion.
Onions and mushrooms are put into a meat grinder. They also roll a loaf soaked in milk.
IN minced mushroom add salt, pepper, starch diluted in 30 ml of water (it is needed for the cutlets to “set”).
Cutlets are formed from the minced meat, breaded and fried on each side for 2-3 minutes.

Lenten cabbage rolls are stuffed with rice and carrots. Needed:

cabbage with wide leaves - 1 head
carrots - 4 pcs.
onion – 1 sh.
rice – 0.5 cups
vinegar – 50 ml
vegetable oil– 50 ml
greens, salt, pepper, sugar

Rice is boiled as follows: add 1 part of it to 2 parts of salted water, bring to a boil, cook under the lid until the water boils away.
To ensure that the leaves are easily separated from the cabbage and do not tear, boil the cabbage head directly in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Peeled carrots are cut into strips or grated into Korean grater, sauté together with finely chopped onions.
Combine rice with carrots and add pepper.
Cabbage leaves are stuffed with minced meat and cabbage rolls are formed. Place them in a pan one by one, pour boiled water so that the cabbage rolls are covered.
When the water boils, add vinegar, vegetable oil, pepper, sugar and salt.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Greenery is used for decoration.

The vinaigrette

A simple but beloved dish, vinaigrette, is quite suitable for the Christmas table.
It is prepared from:

beetroot – 3 pcs.
potatoes – 3 pcs.
pickled cucumbers – 4 pcs.
carrots – 2 pcs.
salad onion – 1 pc.
green peas – 200 g
olive oil – 100 ml
table or apple vinegar – 50 ml
salt, pepper, herbs

The beets can either be boiled or baked in the oven (they are baked in foil for 2 hours).
Potatoes and carrots are peeled, washed and boiled.
If the peas are frozen, boil them in boiling water for 5 minutes.
All vegetables are cut into cubes approximately the size of peas.
Prepare a dressing from oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
Dress the salad, add chopped greens to it.
Stir it.
If desired, add sauerkraut to the vinaigrette.

Carp from the oven

You can bake carp for Christmas. In Eastern Europe this river fish love and know how to cook. It is often baked with sour cream and cheese, but on Christmas Eve the dish should be lean, and these ingredients should be discarded. Instead they take:

carp – carcass 1-1.5 kg
onion – 1 pc.
honey - 4 tbsp. spoons
vegetable oil – 100 ml
balsamic vinegar – 3 tbsp. spoons
coriander seeds – 3 tbsp. spoons
rosemary sprigs – 3 pcs.
salt pepper

The fish is washed and scaled. Leaves his head. The carcass is cut in the rib area.
Prepare a marinade from melted honey, seasonings, balsamic vinegar and vegetable oil.
Keep the carp carcass in the marinade for about 1 hour.
Place the carp on a greased baking sheet and cover with foil. You can completely wrap the carcass in foil and pour the remaining marinade into this “cocoon”.
Bake at 200 degrees for 40 minutes.
Carp baked in this way can be served on a bed of potatoes or any other vegetables.

Bean pancakes

At Holy Evening, pancakes are often made, but you can make pancakes not from potatoes, but from beans. Take:

beans – 100 g
flour - 2 cups
water – 1.5 cups
starch – 1 teaspoon
yeast – 2 g
sugar, salt
vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. spoon.

From warm water, yeast, sugar and a small amount of flour make a dough.
The beans are boiled and mashed with a fork.
Add bean puree to the dough, a spoonful of vegetable oil, diluted in 2 tbsp. spoons of water starch and remaining flour. Salt the dough.
It should rise twice for half an hour.
Bean pancakes are fried in vegetable oil until golden brown on both sides.

Dumplings with potatoes and mushrooms

For this dish you need:

potatoes - 4 pcs.
champignons – 200 g
onions – 3 pcs.
flour – 2 cups
water - how much dough will take
salt, pepper, herbs

Champignons and 1 pc. chop the onions, fry together in vegetable oil for 5 minutes, they will turn golden.
The potatoes are peeled, washed, and boiled until tender. Add salt and pound into puree.
Connect mashed potatoes and mushroom frying.
Steep dough for dumplings is kneaded from water, flour and salt.
Dumplings are made and filled with potato and mushroom mixture.
Boil the dumplings in salted boiling water until they float.
2 pcs. finely chop the onion and fry until golden brown large quantities oils Prepared dumplings are coated with this dressing.

We already have ten dishes for the Christmas table. The other two can be anything. For example:

fried porridge
boiled, stewed or baked potatoes
pickles and salads made from them
fresh fruits
pies with vegetable and fruit filling
dressings from garlic, vegetable oil, herbs, etc.
Lenten cookies

Lenten pies- idea for the Christmas table.

VIDEO: Real rich uzvar made from dried fruits

VIDEO: Uzvar in a slow cooker

Christmas table decoration

On Christmas Eve, the family sits at a large table:

a white tablecloth or a tablecloth decorated with traditional patterns is laid on it
napkins are chosen to match the tablecloth
straw is placed under the tablecloth, symbolizing the manger in which Christ was born

Lenten table for Christmas.

IMPORTANT: Today I often set the table in the colors of Catholic Christmas - red and white.

Table decoration option for Christmas Eve.

Church candles are also placed on the table and lit at dinner.

There is always one more device than there are people at the table. It will be for deceased relatives who are usually remembered at Christmas. There should also be a glass of uzvar.

Christmas dinner lasts a long time, followed by measured conversations in a measured manner. Those present must try each of the dishes. And only then you can sing carols or arrange a nativity scene and give gifts to the children.

VIDEO: Dishes for the Holy Eve before Christmas

The question of what to cook for Christmas has been relevant for many, many, many years. Every year on Christmas Eve, every Orthodox family sets the family Christmas table, which, according to tradition, should include 12 Lenten dishes,

Christmas is the brightest and most magical holiday. Christmas Eve - the night from January 6 to 7 is called Christmas Eve. Until the evening of Christmas Eve, Orthodox Christians adhere to strict fasting and break their fast only after the first star appears in the sky.

Before Christmas, it is customary to set the table twice: on January 6 - on Christmas Eve, the table must be fast, and on January 7 - on Christmas itself, here you can already prepare dishes from eggs, milk and meat. Many adhere to traditions and prepare 12 Lenten dishes for Christmas. The number 12 symbolizes the number of apostles; there were exactly 12 of them. Some people believe that 12 Lenten dishes at Christmas symbolize the number of days of Christmastide - there are also twelve of them.

There is very little time left until the Holy Evening and now it is important to know what to cook for Christmas 2017, what tasty and healthy treats to treat your family and invited guests. Many mysterious and beautiful rituals and traditions are associated with Christmas night, which are still honored and observed in many families - for example, children go and tell and sing carols at Christmas.

So what should you cook for Christmas? What dishes to serve on the table for Christmas? What does a classic Christmas menu look like?

According to tradition, it is mandatory to prepare kutya or kutya. It's delicious and healthy porridge from wheat (there are recipes for making kutia from rice or millet), with which the Christmas feast begins.

What to cook for Christmas - Recipes for 12 dishes for Christmas

1. Kutya

Ingredients: Wheat groats– 1 glass, walnuts– 1 glass, dried apricots – 10 pcs; half a glass of raisins and poppy seeds; honey.

We wash the cereals and leave them in cold water for 4 hours. After this, in an aluminum or stainless steel bowl, boil the cereal over low heat, adding 2 glasses of water. When the porridge is ready, set it aside and let it cool. At this time, poppy seeds, raisins and dried apricots different dishes pour boiling water over it. When the water gets cold, drain it, grind the poppy seeds, cut the dried apricots into small pieces. We also cut the walnuts into small pieces. Mix the porridge with all ingredients, add honey to taste.

2. Uzvar (compote)

Uzvar – dried fruit compote. The traditional Christmas drink uzvar is brewed from a mixture dried apples and pears, cherries and plums. The real uzvar is rich, pleasant taste, so cook it in advance - in the morning. This drink is also very healthy; in winter you can prepare uzvar not only for Christmas, Generous Evening and Epiphany, but also just like that, as an alternative to compotes (canned or frozen berries) and tea.

3. Lenten solyanka

The first dish for Christmas (on Christmas Eve) - How to cook Lenten solyanka?

Great for hot dishes Lenten solyanka with mushrooms. For it you will need mushrooms (in winter, of course, the choice is small, so use fresh champignons, you can also take dry ones), a small head of cabbage, one carrot, two onions, two or three pickles, a small potato, salt, herbs, oil and pepper. So, put the water on the fire, while the water boils, fry the mushrooms and onions. Chop cabbage, carrots, potatoes and pickles. Place into boiling water one by one raw vegetables, let it boil, then the mushrooms, let it boil and before removing the hodgepodge from the heat, add garlic, herbs and vegetable oil. The first dish is ready.

4. Dumplings

Traditional dish for Christmas - Pampushki

Dumplings are served on the table instead of bread, but bread must also be on the table. Dumplings are cute round buns from fresh yeast dough, and it’s good to prepare a dish like...

5. Vinaigrette

For an appetizer, prepare a vinaigrette. For it we need boiled beets, carrots, potatoes, pickled cucumber, a jar canned peas, herbs and salt. We cut the vegetables into small cubes, finely chop the greens, then combine all the ingredients, add salt and season with oil. The vinaigrette is ready! During strict fasting, you need to eat lean dishes without oil, so if the vinaigrette is not seasoned with oil, it can be served on strict days.

6. Potatoes in foil in the oven

Christmas dishes recipes - Potatoes in foil in the oven

Ingredients: medium-sized potatoes (2 for each person), garlic - 4 cloves, herbs, vegetable oil, salt, spices, foil.

We wash the potatoes thoroughly, removing all particles of soil. Let dry and then grease with oil on all sides. We cut off part of the foil so that the piece matches the size of the tuber. Place in the center of the sheet coarse salt, garlic, potatoes on top, sprinkled with salt. Packing. After the bundles are ready, it is necessary to make several holes in each of them with a toothpick. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, place the packages on a baking sheet, bake them for about fifty minutes. We check readiness. When there are no complaints, remove the foil, place the potatoes on a dish and sprinkle them with finely chopped herbs.

7. Stuffed cabbage rolls with mushrooms

Dishes for Christmas - Stuffed cabbage rolls with mushrooms recipe

Ingredients: champignon mushrooms, white cabbage, rice, onions, carrots, tomato paste, salt, pepper.

Chop the mushrooms and fry in oil. Add finely chopped onion to them and fry everything together. Three carrots, which go into the frying pan with the mushrooms and onions. At this time, boil the rice, which will then mix with the cooled contents of the pan. This is the filling for cabbage rolls. Stuff the boiled cabbage leaves. After this, lightly fry to fix the shape of the cabbage rolls. Place them in a saucepan. Prepare a mixture of water and tomato paste(for 1.5 cups of liquid – 3 tablespoons of pasta), pour in the cabbage rolls. Simmer over low heat for 40 minutes.

8. Dumplings with potatoes

Dumplings on the Christmas table - What to cook for Christmas

On Lenten table Be sure to put dumplings with potatoes. To do this, prepare the dough as for dumplings, only without eggs. The filling is mashed potatoes with fried onions. Then we make dumplings, boil and serve with vegetable oil.

9. Dumplings with cherries

Dumplings for Christmas - Sweet dishes for Christmas

Dumplings with cherries. A wonderful sweet dish that can be eaten as dessert!

Although you can make dumplings with other fillings: potatoes, cabbage, beans and even poppy seeds.

10. Baked fish with vegetables

Baked fish with vegetables - great option for a delicious Lenten Christmas dinner.

Ingredients: Fish (fillet) 2 pcs.; Red tomatoes 1 pc.; Bell pepper 2 pcs.; Onions 2 pcs.; Garlic 2 cloves;

Clean vegetables and fish and prepare for further work. Cut the vegetables as desired and place on a baking sheet. Salt, pepper, pour over olive oil and send them to bake in a preheated oven. Vegetables should be baked until done. Occasionally remove the baking sheet and stir them gently.

Rub the fillets with fish spices (or salt and pepper) and red paprika. When the vegetables are ready, place the fillet on top and pour over the juice from the vegetables. Place in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Then turn over and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

11. Blanks

Christmas dishes - Preparations for the Christmas table - Salads for Christmas

You can open the jar vegetable salad from summer stocks - for example, pepper salad, eggplant salad, or make sauerkraut salad. Two or three menu items vary each year.

12. Dessert

Dessert on the Christmas table - Sweet dishes for Christmas 2017

Let's cook for dessert fruit jelly according to the principle of vegetable aspic. We cut the fruits, put them in glasses and fill them with a sweet gelatin solution.

The second dessert on the Lenten table can be baked apples with honey, nuts and dried fruits.

Try to cook Christmas dinner correctly, because 12 dishes are not just food, but a wonderful folk and family tradition, and it just seems like it takes a long time to do them. It's actually not difficult to get everything done.

What not to cook for Christmas - What dishes should not be on the Christmas table

Christmas food is divided into two feasts: a fast table on January 6 on Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve, or Holy Eve, and a generous treat on January 7 on Christmas evening. We will tell you what to cook for Christmas - what to serve on the Lenten table on January 6th. What meat dishes to serve on January 7th for Christmas.

The evening before Christmas is the last meal. On the day before Christmas, they did not eat anything until the evening - until the first star appeared in the sky. At this time, as follows from the Bible, Jesus Christ was born.

After the appearance of the star, at dusk, before darkness fell, they began a festive meal of 12 dishes, according to the number of apostles who participated in the Last Supper. All food must be lean - in view of the ongoing Nativity Fast.

The next day, January 7, the Nativity Fast ends and the celebration of the Nativity of Christ begins. It's time to break the fast - meat dishes are included in the Christmas menu.

What to eat on January 6, Christmas Eve (Svyatvecher) - the eve of the Nativity of Christ

1. Kutya

On Christmas Eve, the meal begins with kutya - porridge cooked from whole grains - a symbol of the resurrection, and sweet Honey with which it is watered, denotes heavenly bliss.

2. Uzvar

Uzvar is traditionally served with kutya at Christmas.

Kutya (kutya) and uzvar are the main dishes. With the remaining 10 dishes, improvise according to the principle “what you have is what you are happy with.” The main thing is to adhere to the tradition that dishes on Christmas Eve are Lenten.

3. Salads

Carrot and beet salad

Beets, carrots, walnuts are the ingredients of this healthy and tasty salad.

Red cabbage salad

In addition to red cabbage, the salad contains an apple, green onions and nuts.

4. Peppers stuffed with vegetables

Rice, meaty peppers, carrots, greens, onions, tomatoes.

5. Dumplings

Dumplings can be served with any filling - potatoes, mushrooms, berries. The dough is traditionally prepared without eggs or milk.

6. Vegetable stew

Use any vegetables in the stew - for example, cook potatoes with mushrooms and onions.

7. Lenten borscht with mushrooms

Borscht with cabbage, tomato, oyster mushrooms.

8. Lazy cabbage rolls without meat

According to this recipe, cabbage rolls are prepared from cabbage, rice and carrots.

9. Fish cutlets

It is advisable to include fish dishes in the Christmas menu.

10. Pickles

Vegetable preparations, sauerkraut- a traditional addition to the Christmas table.

11. Lenten pies and donuts

Pies and pies can be filled with mushrooms, potatoes, and cabbage. Important rule: These baked goods should not contain eggs or dairy products.

Pie with stewed cabbage

The cake is formed into individual pies.

12. Fruits baked with honey and nuts

Baked apples and pears - healthy and tasty dish.

You can also serve it as a dessert, roll with jam, etc.

What do you eat for Christmas on January 7th?

The next day, January 7, they begin to celebrate the Nativity of Christ. On this day, meat dishes are served with Lenten Christmas dishes, since the Nativity Fast is over.

It is advisable to serve meat from representatives of three elements on the Christmas table: earth, air and water (that is, mammals, birds, fish).

At the end of the meal, two types of sweets are served: juicy, from berries and fruits, and dry - sweets, cookies.

1. Chicken stuffed with rice

Use chicken or chicken, rice, raisins.

2. Chicken with apples in the oven

Christmas is the most beautiful, mysterious and magical holiday of the year. Many traditions and signs are associated with this holiday. Christmas Eve is called Holy Evening. Every housewife tries to set the table with as many treats as possible.

Traditionally, all dishes for Christmas must be prepared before the evening of January 6th. After the first star appears in the sky, the holiday begins. According to Orthodoxy, it is necessary that there are 12 dishes on the table. All dishes must be lean. Each housewife decides what dishes to prepare for Christmas, but most importantly a must-have dish This holiday is Kutya. There is also a recommended list of delicious dishes that will delight any member of the household or house guest, and on Holy Evening there can be a lot of guests.

In the evening, according to tradition, it is necessary to have dinner with Lenten dishes, and the Christmas meal may include meat dishes, but it, like the evening meal, must begin with kutya.

What's being prepared on January 6

As is already known, there should be 12 dishes on the table, according to the number of apostles. It is customary to cover the table with a white tablecloth. You need to put some hay under the tablecloth. Place in the center Christmas juice, into which you need to stick a lit candle. Dinner began after the first star appeared in the sky. Children love this moment very much, they like to wait for a miracle to appear in the sky. The most important dish is kutia. Kutia is a cooked porridge made from whole wheat grains. Ready porridge pour honey water or sugar syrup and add nuts, poppy seeds, dried fruits, preserves, and jams to it. Millet can be replaced with rice. This food is traditional and no Christmas Eve should be without it.

There are many recipes for preparing this ritual dish. Experienced housewives have their own family recipes the preparation of this porridge is passed down from generation to generation. Young housewives can try new recipes, of which there are now a great many, thanks to the Internet.

Traditional Christmas sochivo

1 cup whole wheat,
3 glasses of water,
80 grams of honey,
50 gram of raisins,
100 grams of poppy seeds.

Before cooking, wheat must be washed, sorted and poured with boiling water. Drain the water and place the wheat in the pan in which the kutia will be cooked. Cook until cooked until the water has evaporated. Kutya cooks like porridge.

The poppy seed needs to be steamed by pouring boiling water over it. If desired, it can be crushed in a mortar. You can also pass poppy seeds through a meat grinder.

In addition to raisins, you can add various candied fruits, nuts, pieces of chocolate, and halva to kutya. You can season the kutya with a tablespoon of rum. Improvise. Choose ingredients according to your taste, desire and availability.

Uzvar

Traditionally, the uzvar is considered the master of the Christmas table. It is always prepared paired with kutia. Uzvar is vintage drink, which can give strength, energy, saturate the body with vitamins and microelements. Uzvar improves heart function, gastrointestinal intestinal tract and has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.

Preparation:

You need to take 200 grams of drying. These can be apples, apricots, pears, prunes, raisins. The washed dryer is poured with three liters of water and brought to a boil. Cook the uzvar over low heat for approximately 15 minutes. Then, if desired, you can add prunes, cherries, raisins and boil for another 15 minutes. After this, honey is added to the uzvar, covered with a lid and left to infuse for 2-3 hours. Uzvar is served chilled.

Lenten borscht with beans

Borsch is favorite dish in Russia. Traditionally, borscht is a daily dish, but it’s hard to imagine Christmas Eve without it. Since it is difficult to prepare 12 dishes at once, borscht can be prepared in advance, this will only make its taste richer and brighter.

Borscht can be prepared with beans, sprat, beetroot, and mushrooms. It all depends on the preferences of the family and the availability of products from the hostess.

Preparation:

Boil a glass of beans until tender. Or take a ready-made one canned beans.

Put 3.5 liters of water on the fire (you can take the water in which the beans were cooked). After boiling, add diced potatoes (4-5 tubers) to the water.

Meanwhile, prepare the roast. Grate 1 large carrot, dice one onion and saute it in a frying pan until golden brown. Sunflower oil must be used for frying.

Take 2 medium-sized beetroot. Beetroot must be grated. Fry one beetroot along with onions and carrots, throw the second one to cook in a pan with potatoes and beans. At the end of frying, add half a liter tomato juice, or 100 grams of tomato paste.

At the end of cooking the vegetables, add half a head of chopped cabbage to the pan. white cabbage. The cabbage should boil. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add spices and salt to the borscht to taste. Of necessity citric acid or vinegar.

Dumplings

Dumplings or bread, a necessary addition to borscht. Pampushka is a bun round shape and small size. Dumplings are made from yeast dough. If you don’t have time to bake them, you can make do with bread or buy ready-made donuts in the store

Onion or garlic sauce for pampushki

It is customary to top pampushki with a special sauce, which makes them tastier.

Preparation garlic sauce:

5 cloves of garlic;
3 tbsp. l boiled water;
2 tbsp. l. oils

Garlic is passed through a press and mixed with water and oil. If desired, you can add dill or parsley, as well as spices.

Making onion gravy:

2 onions are fried in a frying pan until tender, add 1 tbsp to the onion. l. flour. The onion and flour are fried for about a minute. Then add 2 tbsp. l. sour cream, 1 teaspoon of tomato paste, salt, spices. All this is fried for a couple more minutes. Then add water and simmer the onion sauce for 5 minutes.

Stuffed cabbage rolls with millet and mushrooms

We are all used to cabbage rolls with rice and minced meat. But cabbage rolls with millet and mushrooms are no less tasty. Stuffed cabbage rolls need to be cooked traditional way, only rice and minced meat, replaceable boiled millet and fried mushrooms.

Fried fish

Fish is not only healthy, but also tasty, and since Holy Evening must be celebrated without meat dishes, then fish is perfect. Fish must be fried in flour, as eggs are not allowed on January 6th.

Bread

Regardless of whether there are donuts on the table, there must also be bread on the table. Bread can be served white, black, with the addition of spices and bran.

Christmas Olivier

Russian cuisine is hard to imagine without Olivier. On Holy Evening it is necessary to cook it without sausage. This will not make its taste any worse. But on Christmas Day itself, Olivier can be served with sausage, boiled meat or chicken breast.

The vinaigrette

This vitamin salad brings many benefits to the body. All products in its composition can heal the body, strengthen it and fill it with energy. For the vinaigrette you will need boiled potatoes, beets, beans, carrots. Fresh onion, sauerkraut, vegetable oil. Can beans be substituted? green peas. The salad will also need to be salted and peppered.

Fruits

For dessert you can serve a variety of fresh fruits: apples, pears, grapes, tangerines, oranges.

Christmas dishes

On January 7, meat is allowed to be served on the table, so on this day you can serve chicken, duck, pork, and various meat salads.

Duck with apples

Traditionally, you can bake duck with apples in the oven. For this gutting, the duck is rubbed with a mixture of herbs, pepper, garlic and oil. Leave the duck to marinate for a couple of hours.

Mix apples, plums, quinces, prunes, season with wine and stuff.

The duck must be baked for approximately 3 -3.5 hours, basting with the resulting fat.

Dessert

Christmas cupcake counts traditional baking. The cake can be prepared 1 – 2 months before Christmas and left to mature, or it can be cooked quick cupcake with tangerines

Recipe:

200 grams of flour;
4 eggs;
200 grams of sugar;
1 tsp. baking powder;
125 grams of butter;
150 grams of dried fruits;
2 tangerines;
vanilla.

Preparation:

Margarine room temperature beat with sugar with a mixer. After that, eggs, sifted flour, vanilla, baking powder and dried fruits are gradually introduced into the resulting mass. Tangerines take 2 minutes to settle in butter and added to the dough. The cake is baked for 1 hour in the oven preheated to 180 degrees.

The finished cake is sprinkled powdered sugar and decorated with tangerines.

Bon appetit everyone and have a wonderful Christmas!

Read more about cooking kutia from rice for Christmas in this article.