Holiday Food

The holidays have special meanings for most of us. Whether it’s the nostalgia of family gatherings, the anticipation of Christmas Eve, the dancing and singing that occurs during parties that bridge December 24th and 25th, we probably all get a smile when we think of Christmas. Nearly as important as the holiday events are the foods served there.

Marco Antonio Villavicencio Diaz: Presents Under the Pillow

Marco Antonio Villavicencio Diaz used to spend Christmas Eve, or the twenty-fourth, as he refers to it, with his wife, Carmen, and their nine children. They would eat dinner at midnight, filling themselves with pig or turkey or whatever he had on the farm. His salary was five cordobas a day and that was sufficient to provide not only the essentials like food and clothing, but it also allowed the little extra money necessary to buy presents for the children. He would sneak the presents under his childrens’ pillows before they went to sleep in the early hours of Christmas.

When they awoke, Marco would ask them what Santa had brought for them and they would say, “Nothing,” for they hadn’t spotted their gifts. He would have to lead them on, suggesting they look in a number of places for the gifts, which they ultimately found.

On a recent evening, Marco is in San Juan del Sur at O Sole Mio Restaurant , owned by his daughter, Mariella, and her husband, Paolo Ferraro, who moved to Nicaragua ten years ago and opened the beachfront restaurant. Marco is here to visit his children that live on the southern coast of Nicaragua; he and his wife and some of the children live up north on the coast, in La Boquita.

Growing up, Marco’s mother had animals. One day a new calf was born and his mom said, “This is yours.” So began his farming career. He has also worked as a stonecutter and caretaker and he currently manages his son-in-law’s 170-acre cattle farm. He proudly points out that he has given all of his children, his 33 grandchildren and his 6 great-grandchildren either a horse or a cow.

One of Marco’s fondest holiday memories, aside from spending time with his family, was the result of his wife’s thoughtfulness. She knew he liked boots and she gave him a pair of handmade boots.

Members of his family are making plans for this year’s Christmas. Marco hopes they will all come to his house, where they will serve one of the animals raised for the occasion. There will be singing, and maybe some guitar-playing and dancing, as well.

Marco’s daughter, Flor de Maria Villavicencio Selva, submitted this easy recipe for stuffed chicken which their family often serves for the holidays (approximate measurements; alter according to your taste):

• Mix about 2 cups of coarsely chopped bread, ¼ cup milk, ½ pound ground pork, ½ pound chicken finely chopped, 2 tablespoons capers, ½ cup raisins, 3/4 cup chopped green olives
• Stuff into the cavity of a whole chicken
• Brown the chicken in butter and oil in a pan on the stovetop
• Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour.

From April Whann, owner/operator, El Jardin Garden Hotel & Restaurant, San Juan del Sur, www.eljardinsanjuandelsur.com

My Christmas memories are filled with laughter, the smell of pine, spices, holiday cookies and homemade almond Rocca (which I never could get enough of). Cousins, aunts and uncles gathered around the Christmas tree singing, talking and sipping peppermint cocoa. This was always followed by a big feast and lots and lots of love.

I actually got tears in my eyes remembering how simple and beautiful family really can be. Thank you!

Pecan Pie

Ingredients for the crust

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons butter, soft
6 tablespoons shortening
6-8 tablespoons ice water

• Sift dry ingredients
• Cut in butter and shortening
• Add ice water little by little until you can form a ball that sticks together
• Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes
• Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness, making sure make sure you have a 1 inch border, then crimp the edges.

Ingredients for the filling

2 cups roasted pecans
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs lightly beaten

• Put pecans in a microwave safe bowl, heat one minute, stir and heat one more minute or until they look done, or browned
• Cut each pecan in half and put aside
• Mix all the remaining ingredients and pour into pie crust
• Sprinkle pecans over top and bake for one hour at 350 in a preheated oven
• Let cool and decorate with whipped cream.

Mary Huzar Serra is a baker extraordinaire. Her homemade breads and holiday cookies top the list of the Serra family memories (her cooking is fabulous, too!). Here are some of her favorites, which were published in a cookbook entitled, Fabulous Foods, produced by the Masonic Healthcare Center Volunteers in Connecticut.

L’onginettes

These cookies are good because they’re not as sweet as some of the others. The sprinkles on the icing make for a festive presentation. They’re even great dunked in your morning coffee!

Ingredients
1 stick margarine, room temperature
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 to 5 cups flour
3 cup Confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
water

• Cream margarine and sugar
• Beat eggs
• Add eggs to sugar mixture
• Add 2 tablespoons vanilla, baking powder and flour and mix until dough isn’t sticky
• Roll about a teaspoon worth of dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet
• Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes
• For icing, mix 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and add water by the ½ teaspoonful and mix until mixture is a texture similar to chocolate syrup. When the cookies are finished and have cooled so they can be handled, turn the cookies upside down into the icing, flip them over right side up, and place on waxed paper to set. Sprinkle holiday shots, or sprinkles, on top.

Thumb Print Cookies

You can make a tray of these cookies using a variety of preserves or jams with different colors for a beautiful assortment.

Ingredients
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, separated
1 cup regular flour
¾ cup finely chopped nuts
Strawberry, pineapple, grape, blueberry jam or preserves (or any other type you like)

• Cream butter
• Add sugar, salt, vanilla and egg yolk
• Beat until light
• Add flour and stir until blended
• Form one-inch balls
• Dip in beaten egg white and then in nuts
• Press center down with forefinger
• Fill indentations with ¼ teaspoon jam or preserves
• Bake 20 minutes at 300 degrees.

Pignoli Cookies

Pignoli nuts (also spelled pinoli) is the Italian name for pine nuts; in Spanish they’re called piñón. Pignoli cookies are an Italian specialty and a real nutty treat!

Ingredients
1 pound almond paste
2 cups sugar
4 egg whites
½ pound pignoli nuts

• Beat egg whites into soft foam
• Blend into almond paste
• Add sugar
• Shape like a half moon, about 1 inch long, roll in pignoli nuts and place on greased cookie sheet
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Anna Webster: Flocking the Tree

Holidays are all about the family, friends, and fondly remembered traditions. Our family always did everything with 100% enthusiasm, and decorating the house for Christmas was no exception. My mother would find a beautiful tree, and then would have it flocked, or covered with material that looked like snow. This wouldn’t happen only once. The tree would be flocked at least twice so that you would swear it was the sole survivor of the "great blizzard of 1944".

The tree decorating would continue with twinkling lights, a multitude of treasured family ornaments, strings of popcorn, a Créche nativity scene in a nearby corner, lighted pine garlands, wreaths, and a tiny village scene with an electric train whistling by on a blanket of white batting that was handed down from my grandmother. Nat King Cole accompanied us with carols on the stereo. What magic!

Mom wouldn't stop until the entire house looked like the Christmas storefront windows at Macy's in New York City. At least that’s what we thought it looked like.

She would then add her very comical final touch - a sign over the mantel on the fireplace that read, “DUE TO THE LACK OF INTEREST, CHRISTMAS HAS BEEN CANCELLED”.

We are particularly excited for this holiday season. Our beautiful home in San Juan del Sur has been completed and we have been decorating for the holidays in a manner that would make Mom proud. Our son, Sam, and his dear girlfriend, Britt, are coming to visit. There will be plenty of cooking going on at this house and we will savor the beautiful, familiar aromas of the holidays. I can smell it now: roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, pumpkin pie, and of course, Christmas Turtles.

Note: Cooking With Anna was featured in Nicaragua Living, Issue 1. You may see that story by visiting our web site at www.nicaragualiving.info. Anna’s January cooking class will understandably be titled "Waisting Away.... A delicious/healthy aftermath to the holiday season." Visit her website at www.cookingwithanna.com

Christmas Turtles

My family enjoyed these ooey-gooey chocolaty treats around the holidays. I haven’t seen them in Nicaragua, so here’s how you can make them yourself. This recipe makes about 24 yummy pieces.

Ingredients
2 cups pecan halves
1 1/3 cups whipping cream
1 cup sugar
½ cup light corn syrup (If you can’t find this, simply melt a cup of sugar over medium heat with ¼ cup of water until completely dissolved and thickened slightly. For dark corn syrup, just continue to heat until slightly caramelized. How easy is that?)
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces bittersweet, or semisweet chocolate, chopped

• Butter two large nonstick cookie sheets
• Arrange pecan halves in clusters resembling turtles
• Combine cream, sugar, corn syrup, milk and butter in a heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.
• Clip candy thermometer onto side of pan (No candy thermometer? No problem. As the mixture cooks, occasionally drop a bit of the mixture in ice water. When it is soft, but pliable, it's at the “soft ball” stage, which is about 235 degrees.)
• Increase heat to high and boil, without stirring, until mixture turns golden, bubbles thickly and thermometer registers 235 degrees Fahrenheit. Swirl the pan occasionally for about 15 minutes.
• Remove mixture from heat.
• Stir in vanilla
• Immediately drop 1 tablespoon caramel mixture onto the center of each pecan cluster.
• Cool slightly
• Stir chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water until melted
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon chocolate over each candy
• Chill until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes
• These turtles can be prepared a week ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.

THE VIGILOF THE NACATAMAL

I want to let you know that I wrote the recipe using expressions and terms used by local inhabitants of the area for the understanding of the readers.

With this recipe something funny happened. I wanted to invite some friends to the house before December 31, but I wanted to do it in a way that everybody was going to be able to participate, not only in the conversation, but also in the cooking.

So I had the idea of experimenting in making (it was a lot of fun, between much talking each person cooperated in the making of the spice and in making our own nacatamal). We started at 9pm and spent more than 5 hours making nacatamales. This is the reason I call the recipe THE VIGIL OF THE NACATAMAL.

The remaining friends were wide-awake and hungry, so they ate their nacatamales that night and others took them home for breakfast a little later.

I’m sending you a picture of a nacatamal, but you know I don’t make them until December, but if you have a nacatamal, open it, and take a picture.

Lic. Irene Marenco Perez
Professional Associated in Gastronomy
Studies Made in Guadalajara-Jaliso Mexico

INGREDIENTS
5 pounds of white corn
1 liter of lard
2 pounds pork
2 pounds of rib
2 spoonfuls of achiote
¼ cup of black vinegar
2 ½ liters of water
Salt to taste
20 pieces of ¼ centimeter in thickness of: tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes
20 chili peppers congo
20 onion rings of ¼ centimeter of thickness
40 mint leaves (Hierbabuena)
10 spoonfuls of uncooked rice, washed and soaking
40 pieces of banana leaves of 15 x 15 inches (boiled) or you can use aluminum foil
20 pieces of string almost a meter in length to tie nacatamales

SPICE INGREDIENTS
8 medium ripe tomatoes cut into quarters
½ medium onion cut into quarters
6 medium peppers (red or green) cut into quarters
3 bitter oranges (use the juice only)
2 spoonfuls of achiote
4 envelopes of consome of pork, beef or chicken (optional)
3 pieces of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 rolls of mint (only the leaves)

PREPARATION
Cut in pieces the pork and the ribs. Marinate with 2 spoonfuls of achiote, salt and vinegar. Let rest for 2 to 3 hours.
Liquefy all the ingredients of the spices and strain.
In a pot mix the corn with the spice ingredients and water. It must look watery, if necessary add more water. Cook on medium heat and stir until it starts to boil, pour in the butter and let continue to boil for a few minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Place a leaf in rhombus shape, then place another over it in a square shape; put a portion of the corn. On top of the leaf put a piece of pork or ribs, of the size that you want your nacatamal to be, then put ½ a spoonful of rice and adorn the sides with a slice of potato, tomato, onion, pepper, 2 mint leaves and 1 chili. (See photograph). If you wish you can add raisins, olives and plums.
Take the long ends of the bottom leaf and put them together, fold in rolls downwards, then hold the center with one hand and with the other hand double the large end towards your hand, then hold and double the small end. Tie with the string. Make sure that none of the leaves have cracks in them.
Put the nacatamales in a pot, cover with water and put a lid on. Cook at a moderate temperature for 5 hours, adding water if necessary. To make sure that the nacatamales are cooked thoroughly, stick a knife in one and if it comes out clean, it means they are ready.
**** Can use chicken or turkey instead of pork ****