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Hello!
First off, a little thanks for being so patient with this issue’s lateness while I was down with illness all of last week. It’s quite some time since I was that unwell but I am on the way up. I am so grateful for the lovely get-well messages from many of you; this community really is my favourite community!
Now. I promised you some Christmas menu planning.
Scattered around the world as you are, a dedicated time plan for a conventional cold-climate Christmas dinner is not that helpful (if it is, for you, go back to last issue’s Thanksgiving plan, which is just as useful for Christmas as for turkey day, with a few small menu tweaks).
I want instead to show you how I think about Christmas menu planning, and take some of the angst out of deciding what and how much food to make.
I haven’t included a recipe in this issue; what most of us need are not more and more Christmas dinner recipes. We need practical advice about how to put already-trusted recipes to best use. I hope what follows helps you to do that.
If you are in search of recipe inspiration? Most of you know there’s an extensive Christmas collection in the Steam & Bake recipe index, and many of you will also have my Combi Steam Christmas cookbook. I really encourage you to use those if you’re stuck with using your steam oven for Christmas cooking; there’s something to cover most eventualities and I’m happy to take your questions if you need to know anything else!
Happy festive cooking, I’ll see you again on the 15th with some last minute food gift ideas you can whip up with your steam oven.
Emily x
I’m one of those slightly strange people who actually enjoys planning and executing big festive meals. I’ve been made aware over the years, though, that I am an outlier! It’s definitely not fun for everyone.
Many of you report a lot of anxiety around getting the balance right, in terms of which dishes to serve, how many different dishes, and how to work out ingredient quantities.
Let’s try to fix that anxiety and make everything a little bit simpler to think about.
The Season Flip
No season flip today, guys and gals! This is where illness maxed out my ability to think, but also, if you’re anything like me you are not looking for seasonal meal inspiration this month. You’re just trying to make it through to the 25th, ha.
A Thing I'm Loving
There are lots of things I use, eat, read about and enjoy in the kitchen that aren’t specifically related to steam ovens! Perhaps you’d like to know about some of them?
Not so much a thing I’m loving as a thing I always feel pulled to do at this time of year. I’d love to encourage if you don’t already do this too.
I am (as I’m sure most of you are) fortunate in the extreme to have a life where housing, good healthcare and the love of family and community are all open to me. For many people that’s not the case.
Although I give in small ways to many causes through the year, at Christmas I make a dedicated effort to donate to a local food-based organization, and to one that distributes gifts to families who are unable to purchase their own.
Why those two? No surprise agenda here. The food one is because people will forgo meals around the holidays, more than other times of the year, in order to afford a Christmas meal for their families. Food charities need more donations to meet this demand. And the gifting charity? That’s because I think every parent or guardian should have the opportunity to give a gift to the children in their care on Christmas morning.
I’m sure you already know of worthy charities in your area; here in Australia I give to Foodbank or OzHarvest, and to either the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal or a small local-led group that distributes gifts through a women’s shelter.
*note: some of the links to A Thing I’m Loving are affiliate links, meaning I make a small commission if you make a purchase from that business. But rest assured I will never, ever share something I don’t personally recommend.
Ask Me Anything (AMA)
Here’s your opportunity to ask me anything you like related to combi steam cooking!
I encourage you to submit questions, and will do my best to answer as many as possible. Though I may not be able to get to every single question, I carefully curate ones which are relevant and represent a variety of topics. We all learn from each other, and I often learn new things based on questions from all of you!
If you have an AMA question, please email it to [email protected]. Make sure you include the phrase INSIDERS AMA in the subject line so I can collate and read all your submissions.
This edition’s questions:
From Catherine
Q: Your newsletters have been a HUGE HELP to me! I’m wondering if Beef Wellington would work well in the steam oven? I’d love to make it for Christmas this year!
A: Beef Wellington is so good in the steam oven! I really wanted to publish a recipe for it on the blog this year, but I don’t think I’m going to get it up in time for Christmas.
For a quick rundown, I’d assemble the whole thing and have it ready to go and cold. Preheat your oven to Combi Steam, 350°F/180°C, 60% steam. Then use a meat probe set to the beef doneness you want. If you don’t have a probe with your oven, start checking the meat with an instant read thermometer about 25-30 minutes into cooking. It goes much faster than in a regular oven.
And I’m always glad to hear the newsletters are helpful! That’s my number one aim when I write them. 🙂
From Teresa
Q: I have a query about cooking dishes for large numbers in the steam oven. For instance, if a recipe calls for 4 chicken thighs and rice in a one tray bake how do I multiply this to serve 12 people ? Do I need to cook this several times or can I cook multiple trays at once?
A: Definitely multiple trays here. In most steam ovens, using the combi steam setting you can comfortably cook 3 trays at a time, perhaps swapping their position two thirds of the way through cooking for evenness.
Alternatively, you can use the biggest trays your oven will hold and do one huge tray bake, if all the ingredients will fit. As long as the food is spread evenly and with enough space between the chicken for air circulation, it should cook in just about the same time as a single quantity, perhaps a few minutes more.