Ayurvedic Christmas Menu (2)

Our Ayurveda chef Heide Maria Vendler has created a very special Christmas menu for you. Charm your guests with six unique delicacies. A culinary delight that all your guests, and not only the vegetarians among them, will remember fondly for a long time.

Aperitif with pomegranate

Preparation
Cold-press the juice of 2/3 pomegranate. Remove the seeds from the other one-third.
Fill four champagne or martini glasses with the juice and stir in the spices.  Add a few pomegranate seeds. Top off with juice and water, and enjoy as an aperitif.

Avocado with green celery, apple and walnut filling

Preparation
Finely dice green celery and apple, and immediately sprinkle 2 tbsp of lemon juice over them. Add sour cream, vinegar, allspice, salt, pepper, and chopped walnuts, and mix together thoroughly. Taste.  
Cut avocadoes in half, peel them, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and lemon juice. Place a small portion of lamb’s lettuce/mache on a plate. Set the avocado halves on the bed of lamb’s lettuce/mache and fill them with the celery-apple mixture. Sprinkle with pepper, and garnish with pomegranate seeds and fresh watercress.

Cream of chestnut soup with flaxseed crackers

Preparation cream of chestnut soup

Cut leeks and apple into small cubes. Heat the ghee in a pan. Sautée the leeks, apples and spices in the ghee until translucent. Add the chestnuts and pour in vegetable broth. Simmer for 20 minutes, remove the bay leaves, then purée the remaining ingredients. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a bit of grated lemon rind to taste. Whip the cream into soft peaks, set aside 4 tbsp as a garnish, and stir the remainder into the soup. Ladle the soup into bowls, topping each serving with a dollop of whipped cream. Garnish with finely chopped parsley and leek greens.

Preparation flaxseed crackers

Soak flax seeds and chia seeds in water for twenty minutes. Mix in the remaining ingredients and stir to a thick, creamy consistency. Use a teaspoon to place little dollops on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then flatten them out and bake at 160oC in a fan oven for 15-20 minutes until crisp.

Serving
Serve the cream of chestnut soup together with the flaxseed crackers.

Eggplant with vegetables-quinoa filling with mashed potatoes accompanied by roasted parsnips

Preparation of the eggplant
Cook the quinoa (one part quinoa to two parts water) and bay leaves until soft.

Wash the eggplants and cut them in half lengthwise. Sprinkle the flesh of the eggplant halves with salt and let rest for 10 minutes. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and finely chop. Coarsely grate the carrots and cut the Swiss chard into narrow strips. Heat the olive oil. Lightly brown the mustard seeds until they begin to pop. Briefly remove the pan from the stove. Add the remaining spices and vegetables and roast at high heat. Mix the vegetables and quinoa together. Stir in the cashew butter. Add salt, pepper and finely chopped parsley to taste. Stuff the eggplant with the filling and set on a baking sheet coated with olive oil. Pour in a bit of vegetable broth or water and bake in a fan oven at 160°C for 30-40 minutes. Cooking time depends upon the size of the eggplants.

Preparation of the mashed potatoes

Skin the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm chunks. With the exception of the nutmeg, add the spices and cook in water until soft. Lay aside the bay leaf and cooking liquid. Add cream and butter to the potatoes and mash them. As you do so, add as much of the cooking liquid to the purée as needed to make for a creamy consistency. Give it a thorough going over one last time with a hand blender. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Preparation of the parsnips
Wash the parsnips, cut into slices 1/2 cm thick, and cut these into sticks on the diagonal. Roast the parsnips in ghee, asafetida and ajowan on high heat until they are al dente. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Serving
Auberginen, Kartoffelpüree und Pastinaken anrichten.

Pumpkin and orange crème with pumpkin seed brittle

Preparation the pumpkin crème
Peel the pumpkin, cut into 2 cm cubes, and place in a casserole. Cut apple into cubes without peeling it, then add to the pumpkin. Pour in the juice of an orange and bake at 170oC in a fan oven for about 35 minutes. Pumpkin and apple should be soft.

Purée the fruit and sweeten with honey. Season with spices and add grated zest of half an orange. Put aside 4 tbsp of pumpkin purée. Mix the rest of the orange juice with the agar agar powder, bring to a boil and stir into the pumpkin mixture. Whip the cream into firm peaks and carefully fold it into the pumpkin-orange crème. Place the mixture in 4 small bowls and place them in the fridge to firm up. 

Preparation the pumpkin seed brittle
Melt the sugar in a small pan without stirring until it caramelizes; please do not stir it. Sprinkle in the pumpkin seeds, toss briefly, and pour onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Smooth the mixture so that it’s evenly distributed and let it cool.  Break into large chunks and use a rolling pin to make them smaller.

Serving
Garnish the pumpkin crème with 1 tbsp of pumpkin purée, an orange segment and pomegranate seeds, and sprinkle a bit of pumpkin seed brittle on top.

Dates with marzipan filling in dark chocolate

Preparation

Knead orange rind into the marzipan and cut into 12 pieces. Cut dates open lengthwise and remove the pits. Form the marzipan into little “cores” and stuff the dates with them. Melt the chocolate over a hot water bath and dip the dates in it with the slit facing down. Set them on parchment paper and sprinkle with a bit of coconut flakes.