The Le Beau Team is made up of many nationalities, so to celebrate them all I have put a Christmas recipe collection together from all of their countries. I hope you enjoy making and earring these as much as i have enjoyed putting them together for you. Make Your Christmas This year a Round the World Experience.

Kourabie (almond short bread)- Lebanese –Arabic

• 2/3 cup flaked almonds
• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups pure icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
• 2 tablespoons aniseed essence
• 2 1/4 cups self-raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Place almonds on 1 tray. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool. 2 Using an electric mixer, cream butter and 1/2 cup icing sugar until pale and creamy. Add egg yolk and beat until well combined. Add vanilla and aniseed essence.

Step 2

Sift flour and baking powder together over butter mixture. Using hands, crumble toasted almonds over butter mixture. Stir until dough comes together. Knead gently. Flatten into a 10cm disc and wrap in greaseproof paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 3

Roll dough out until 15mm thick. Using a glass, cut crescent shapes from dough. Place on baking trays. Bake for 20 minutes or until light golden. Stand biscuits on trays for 5 minutes.

Step 4

Roll warm biscuits in remaining icing sugar. Place on a wire rack to cool. Sift any remaining icing sugar over cooled biscuits. Serve

ZUCCOTTO TRIFLE FROM ITALY

• 400g panettone, cut into 3cm pieces
• 150ml good-quality dessert wine
• 2 x 120g punnets fresh raspberries
• 500g fresh ricotta
• 60g (1/3 cup) icing sugar mixture
• 1 x 600ml ctn thickened cream
• 30g mixed glace fruit (such as cherries, pineapple and ginger), coarsely chopped
• Fresh raspberries, extra, to decorate
• 1 x 30g Cadbury Flake bar, crumbled

All nutrition values are per serve.

Step 1

Place half the panettone in a 2L (8-cup) capacity serving dish. Drizzle over half the wine and top with half the raspberries.

Step 2

Use an electric beater to beat the ricotta, icing sugar and half the cream in a bowl until smooth. Spoon the ricotta mixture over the panettone. Top with the remaining raspberries and panettone. Drizzle over the remaining wine.

Step 3

Use a clean electric beater to beat the remaiing cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Add the glace fruit and fold to combine. Spoon the cream mixture evenly over the top of the trifle. Decorate with the extra raspberries and sprinkle with Flake bar to serve.

Bunvelos- Mexico

In Mexico and New Mexico, Christmas is bunuelos time, meaning doughnuts these fritters are simply delicious. In Spain, you might find them as fluted sticks of batter called churros. Mexicans eat them during Las Posadas, a nine-day celebration in the lead-up to Christmas that marks Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem.

• 60g (1/4 cup) demerara sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 x 7cm cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 410ml (1 2/3 cups) water
• 50g butter
• 150g (1 cup) plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 4 eggs, lightly whisked
• 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Canola oil, to deep-fry

Method Notes

Step 1

Place, demerara sugar, lime juice, cinnamon, fennel seeds and 160ml (2/3 cup) water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes or until the syrup thickens slightly. Transfer to a heatproof bowl. Set aside to cool. Strain through a fine sieve into a serving jug.

Step 2

Meanwhile, place the butter and remaining water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat. Stir in the flour and salt. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture forms a ball and begins to come away from the side of the pan. Stir in the vanilla. Use a balloon whisk to whisk in the egg, then use a wooden spoon to beat until well combined.

Step 3

Combine the caster sugar and cinnamon on a plate. Add enough oil to a large saucepan to reach a depth of 5cm. Heat to 180°C over medium-high heat (when oil is ready a cube of bread will turn golden brown in 15 seconds).

Step 4

Use 2 metal teaspoons to shape 1 heaped teaspoonful of the dough into a ball, about 3cm wide. Repeat to make 3-4 balls. Carefully place the balls in the oil. Cook, turning occasionally with a slotted spoon, for 3 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a tray lined with paper towel. Set aside for 2 minutes to drain and cool slightly. Toss the warm doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar to evenly coat. Repeat, in 5 more batches, with the remaining dough, reheating the oil between batches. Serve warm with the syrup.

To make shaping doughnuts easier in step 4, clean the 2 teaspoons between batches.

IRISH PLUM PUDDING

Irish plum pudding accompanied by brandy butter is part and parcel of a traditional Irish Christmas food feast although it is doubtful that the dessert we eat today would be immediately recognisable to our ancestors who lived through the 18th century. Their version was lighter – in both weight and colour.

Over the years, as more exotic ingredients have become available, the Irish plum pudding we know and love today has evolved.

The following recipes are guaranteed to finish off Christmas Dinner in fine form. It comes with three warnings, however:

Adding some small coins is fun but make sure your dinner guests know they might bite into something hard. No one wants an emergency dental bill added to the expense of Christmas.

You’ll be tempted, but don’t eat too large a portion of this rich pudding or you won’t be able to move from your chair!

Under no circumstances eat Irish plum pudding before taking part in a Christmas Day swim. It might make you feel a bit warmed, but you will sink. Simple.

Ingredients for Irish plum pudding

Brandy butter

This is a very simple brandy butter recipe that can be made two or three weeks in advance of its arrival on the Christmas dinner table. Because you get to taste it as you go, you’ll find it puts you rather nicely in the Christmas spirit! You can freeze it if you wish, but it keeps well enough in the fridge without being frozen.

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons brandy
• 6oz/175g unsalted butter
• 6oz/175g soft dark brown sugar.

Method:

Using either a food processor or a hand whisk, blend the room temperature butter with the sugar until it is soft and creamy. Once it is smooth, add in a small quantity of brandy. Mix well. Repeat until all the brandy is used up. Taste, and add more brandy if you think it needs it.

Put the mixture into a sealed container and wait for Christmas Day. Serve, as cold as possible, with plum pudding.

• 3oz/90g/ white breadcrumbs
• 1½oz/45g plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 4oz/115g demerara sugar
• 4oz/115g prepared suet
• 4oz/115g sultanas
• 4oz/115g raisins
• 4oz/115g currants
• 2oz/55g sliced almonds
• 1oz/30g chopped cherries
• 2oz/55g peel
• ½ lemon, rind and juice
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ½ to 1 tsp mixed spice
• pinch of bicarbonate of soda
• salt

Method:

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then add lemon rind, juice and eggs. Mix really well. Place the mixture in a well-greased 1½ pint/850ml bowl and cover the bowl with two well-greased pieces of greaseproof paper. Steam the mixture for six hours and then remove the paper.

Ignore any fat lying on the top of the pudding as it will be absorbed. Once the pudding is cold, recover it, still in its bowl, with fresh paper and store it for up to three months. You can douse it in rum or brandy occasionally if you like a pudding with a kick. On Christmas morning, steam it for three hours.

A traditional Irish plum pudding is brought to the table aflame. Obviously you need to take extra care doing this. Before serving, pour brandy or any other alcohol over the pudding and set it alight.

Judias Verdes con Salsa de Tomate - SPAIN
(green beans in tomato sauce)

• 2 Tbsp. olive oi
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 lb. (5 cups) green beans, cut into 1inch lengths
• 1 1/2 lb. canned tomatoes (chopped) and juice
• 1 Tbsp. chopped chives
• salt and pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tbsp. pine nuts
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Saut‚ garlic in olive oil for 2 minutes, stirring. Add beans and cook 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in tomatoes with liquid from can and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to low and simmer 25-30 minutes. Remove an discard bay leaf. Serve at once.

Makes 6 servings.

PERSIAN- Iran Adas Polo

(Polow)

Recipe

made with rice, meat, raisins, saffron, dates and lentils

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

• lentils, 400 grams
• long-grain or basmati rice, 500 grams (1.1 lbs)
• ground beef or lamb, 400 grams
• dates (pitted), 100 grams
• raisins, 120 grams
• saffron, 1/2 teaspoon
• onions, 2 large
• cooking oil
• salt
• black pepper

Method

Soak rice in water for 3-4 hours, then cook in salted water for 10-15 minutes using a non-stick pot until it just softens. Drain water and empty the pot.

Bring 2-3 cups of water to boil. Wash lentil and add to water with a bit of salt. Cook over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes until tender.

Peel and thinly slice onions. Fry in oil until slightly golden. Add ground beef or lamb, salt and black pepper, and fry over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add one cup of hot water and cook until water has been mostly absorbed.

Wash raisins and dates. Pour 1/2 cup of water and some oil in the non-stick pot. Pour in half of the rice. Follow with meat, lentil, raisins, dates and raisins. Then add in remainder of rice. Cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. Dissolve saffron in 1/3 cup of hot water and pour over the rice. Mix well before serving.