‘Twas The Week Before Christmas…

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It’s the week before Christmas and you’ve got nothing ready or planned… While the festive season for many in Hong Kong has zero religious significance it is a time for gifts and feasting. And there is no better gift that either cooking someone a good meal or gifting them a tasty bite. Thankfully our local supermarkets are all up to speed and there to make your life easy and Christmas a tasty treat.

bc‘s ‘no cooking needed’ Christmas feast starts with a trip to Great in the basement of Pacific Place with a side stop at Marks & Spencer is all you need – in fact a trip to Great’s website probably suffices as whether you want roast turkey, beef, lamb or pork all can be ordered online and delivered or collected. They also offer all the trimmings: roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, Brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing…. The roasts can be ordered uncooked or cooked and in different sizes depending on your needs.

White truffle and caviar at Great’s luxury food counter

Starter
Smoked salmon: IKEA offers packs of frozen smoked salmon (Lax Kallrökt) $69 for 200g.

Main
Roast Turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce.
Roast Turkey: Great: cooked US roast turkey $120-220/kg (4-6kg). Buy at the cooked food counter including Christmas Day. They also have roast beef, roast lamb and baked gammon if you prefer something other than turkey.
Roast potatoes: Great: cooked
Parsnips: Great: cooked and raw
Brussels sprouts: Great: cooked and raw
Red cabbage: sadly we couldn’t find any cooked this year
Turkey gravy/ bread sauce: Marks & Spencer: $49/400g
Cranberry sauce: Marks & Spencer: $49/400g
Stuffing: Marks & Spencer: sage and onion/ cranberry & orange stuffing
Bacon wrapped sausages: still unable to find this staple side dish in a cooked version.

Dessert
Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter
Christmas pudding: Great: Cole’s Classic Christmas Pudding ($159/454g),
Brandy Butter: Great: Cole’s Brandy Butter $15.5/42g
Panettone: Great: An Italian Christmas favourite that can be enhanced wonderfully with a can of classic Bird’s custard mixed with a dash of brandy/ rum.

Cheese
Great’s cheese room is one of the wonders of Hong Kong, the choice is varied, constantly changing, delicious and if you’re used to US and European cheese prices, expensive – but what is Christmas without cheese?
English Stilton: Great: $46/100g

Christmas Cake + Mince Pies
A good tasty Christmas cake is a Christmas necessity, especially one with marzipan and Royal icing.
Christmas Cake: Great and M&S have several choices at different prices from $89 (Gluten free – M&S) upwards. Most are sadly more like fruit cakes than Christmas cake which is a shame as the two are subtly different in taste.
Mince Pies: Again Great and M&S have several choices, but after sampling several none are that special that we recommend one over another.

Drinks
Mulled Wine: Great: Shropshire Spice Traditional Mulled Wine Mix: $33.9/8g

Store Details + Contacts:
Great Basement Pacific Place, Admiralty Tel: 2918 9986 www.greatfoodhall.com
IKEA Causeway Bay, Shatin, Kowloon Bay www.ikea.com.hk
Marks & Spencer various stores www.marksandspencer.com

Edit: 21 Dec – Added Christmas cake photo and updated text

Christmas with Chiu Yin Mei @ Food Allee – 23 December, 2015

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Chiu Yin Mei owner of Food Allee celebrated Christmas with friends over mulled wine and food prepared by Yin on her wood fired stove. Good food. Good conversation. Happy Christmas.
Food Allee 22-28 Kennedy Street, Wanchai
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Last Minute Christmas

traditional-roast-turkey-dinner

It’s late December, where has the year gone? The seasonal music and decorations that have been up for months have inured you to Christmas, yet suddenly it’s here and you’ve got nothing prepared… bc’s here to help with it’s ‘instant’ traditional Roast Turkey Christmas meal – no cooking involved, although you will need to warm some dishes up to fully enjoy them.

Starter
Smoked salmon + Rainbow Salad
Smoked salmon: IKEA offers packs of frozen smoked salmon (Lax Kallrökt) $66 for 200g.
Rainbow Salad: black chickpeas, carrots, peas, corn, potatoes, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, parsley from Maya Takeaway, $88.

Main
Roast Turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce.
Roast Turkey: Great Food Hall in Pacifc Place have around 12 cooked US Roast Turkey per day $120/kg (4-6kg). Buy at the cooked food counter including Christmas Day. They also offer cooked roast beef, lamb and gammon if you prefer something other than turkey.
Roast potatoes: Great – $18/100g (cooked); M&S – $45/300g (need cooking)
Parsnips: M&S – $50/300g (need cooking)
Brussels sprouts: Great – $18/100g
Red cabbage braised with Bramley apples: $45/300g Marks & Spencer
Turkey gravy: $69/540g Marks & Spencer
Cranberry sauce: $59/300g Marks & Spencer
Stuffing: sage and onion/ cranberry & orange stuffing from M&S
Bacon wrapped sausages: sadly we couldn’t find this staple side dish in a cooked version.

For vegetarians: mediterranean vegetable stew / chickpea patty simmered in tomato sauce both $88 from Maya.

Gold_Melt_in_the_Middle_Chocoalte_PuddingDessert
Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter
Christmas pudding: Great: several choices, M&S: $379/907g
Brandy Butter: $59/195g M&S or you can make it yourself it’s just butter beaten with sugar and brandy, or pick up a can of classic Bird’s custard and add a dash of brandy/ rum for a good alternative.

Cheese
Great’s cheese room is one of the unsung wonders of Hong Kong, the choice is varied, delicious and if you’re used to US and European cheese prices, expensive – but it’s Christmas so indulge.
A cheaper alternative is www.cheesebytom.com: cheddar 250g/$35, Brie 250g/$50 and other cheeses. Deliveries to Central and Lantau.

Christmas Cake + Mince Pies
xmas-cake-1
Finding a good tasty Christmas cake is hard, especially one with marzipan and Royal icing
Christmas Cake: Great and M&S have several choices at different prices from $89 up – including the Hand Decorated Bauble Bar Cake (left) with marzipan and royal icing at $379. Most are more like fruit cakes than Christmas cake which is a shame as the two are subtly different in taste.
Mince Pies: Again Great and M&S have several choices, but none have a taste that leap out and say buy me!

Store Details + Contacts:
Great Basement Pacific Place, Admiralty Tel: 2918 9986 www.greatfoodhall.com
IKEA Causeway Bay, Shatin, Kowloon Bay www.ikea.com.hk
Marks & Spencer various stores www.marksandspencer.com
Maya Takeaway 173 Des Voeux Road, Central. Tel: 2111 4553 www.mayacafehk.com

Edit: 24 Dec – Added Christmas cake photo and updated text

Operation Santa Claus + US Meat Export Federation: Eat and Donate

OSC-USMEF-Poster

Christmas and the festive period are about celebrating and sharing, now with Operation Santa Claus (OSC) and the US Meat Export Federation it’s easy and free to combine the two. Simply choose one of the promotional dishes at a participating restaurant and 15% of the cost of the dish is donated directly to Operation Santa Claus to help someone less fortunate than you enjoy the holiday period. There is no charge or cost to you, simply enjoy your meal featuring quality US beef or pork.

The restaurant groups participating in this festive giving include the Aldente Group, Concept Creations, The King Parrot Group and the El Grande Group. There’s a wide choice of dishes and most menus run throughout December – although check each outlet for exact details. For more information on US meat see www.usmef.org.hk

The Aldente Group OSC Christmas menu features four dishes at it’s AlDente restaurants in Soho, TST, Wanchai and Harbour Road: U.S. Rib Eye steak (Char-grilled to your preference, accompanied with a giant king prawn, roasted veggies and fries. $188); Chicken Saltimbocca (US chicken breast with sautéed spinach, prosciutto, sage and cheese, mushroom sauce, mash and veggies. $149); Sirloin Steak (USDA certified Angus beef, char-grilled to your liking. Served on a bed of fire roasted veggies and fries with choice of mushroom or pepper sauce. $198) and Grilled Sea Bass (Chilean Sea Bass char-grilled, served with grilled veggies, mash with lemon capers butter sauce. $189).

At Tinello: Beef Tagliata (USDA certified Black Angus sirloin marinated with fresh rosemary and natural seasoning, served with radicchio, arugula, slow roasted tomatoes and shaved parmesan. $198); Pork Parmesan (Milanese style – US pork chop, breaded with herbs, parmesan, served with fine french beans, mash potatoes and tomato coulins. $168); Saltimbocca di Polo $159 and Grill Sea Bass $198. Angus offers US Sirloin Steak (wet aged minimum 4 weeks, $248); Grill Sea Bass ($198); US BBQ spare ribs (1/2 slab $148); Pork Loin (French cut – tender and juicy grilled U.S premium pork served with gratin potato, sautéed peach and sage. $178) and Grilled Sea Bass $198.

The El Grande Group outlets Inn Side Out, HK Brew House, Fatt’s Place, Slim’s, Hop House are offering US Pork Sliders – 4 pulled pork sliders and chips.

Concept Creations new outlet Frites Causeway Bay OSC menu features Frites Xmas Cordon Bleu Special: USDA pork loin pounded thin, herb breaded and filled with Virginia ham and cheese then pan fried and served with a salad and Frites souffle, $275. Frites Xmas Rossini Special: USDA Black Angus prime tenderloin, seared foie gras, truffle mash potato with Kriek beer jus and Amarena Fabbri Cherries, $525.

At these King Parrot Group outlets El Cid, Coast, Island Seafood, Mijas and Tong’s Road House Seafood and Grill a Christmas Operation Santa Claus Menu is available until the 6 December and 15% of all sales will be donated to support the 22 charities supported by OSC in 2015. At El Cid the menu includes US Beef and paprika soup baked with fillo pastry($50), US beef kebab ($100), Deep -fried sous vide US beef brisket ($80), grilled US prime ribeye steak with sea salt ($360) and US Beef Tenderloin with daily catch seafood ($450).

For more on this year’s Operation Santa Claus visit www.operationsantaclaus

Umbrella Movement – 17 November, 2014

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Occupy Santa

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There’s trouble in Tinseltown this Christmas as Occupy Santa continues…

Occupy Santa proves very popular at Umbrella Square

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