Ivy and Peter say food brings people together, which is why they enjoy making large Christmas spreads for their own family. From left: daughter Shenna, Ivy, Peter and Joash. — ART CHEN/The Star
In their sun-soaked apartment in Petaling Jaya, Peter Padman and his wife Ivy George are hard at work, huddled over the kitchen counter as they put the finishing touches to their family’s Christmas meal.
Their young adult children Shenna-Anne Shilpa Padman and Joash George Padman hustle in the background, ready to wash dishes or transfer food into new containers. Everyone has smiles on their faces, laughs aplenty and the spirit of Christmas burning strong.
It is evident that this is a family with love as a foundational force. Stewarding this ship is Peter, a seasoned F&B professional who first managed hotel restaurants before working his way up to managing hotels all over Malaysia and beyond, a role he currently holds at a hotel in Cheras.
Peter grew up in a family where cooking up large feasts for Christmas was the norm. His wife Ivy meanwhile grew up on a plantation and says her mother used to cook huge spreads for family, friends and staff at the estate come Christmas time.
When Peter and Ivy got married, they started their own Christmas food traditions, anchored by their love for their little family and their fondness for feeding people. While some of their Christmas dishes allude to their roots and ancestral recipes, some are entirely new concoctions that have since become family favourites.
Like Peter’s stuffed chicken for instance, a delightful meal that contrasts tender, succulent, garlicky chicken with a creamy yet vibrant lemon butter sauce – a combination that is insanely, addictively good.
“This is my own creation actually, and it’s a bit more Western, but every hotel that I’ve worked in I’ve always made it a signature dish. It’s stuffed with cheese and mushrooms and rolled in garlic and breadcrumbs. So it’s also very popular among the family as well. They remember me because of that,” he says, laughing.
Since getting married and having their own little family, Peter (left) and Ivy have started their own Christmas culinary traditions and enjoy feeding their family and friends. — ART CHEN/The Star
Then there is his Greek-style moussaka, which he learnt how to make when he was working in Switzerland and which has since become a family staple. Moussaka features layers of eggplant, minced meat in a tomato sauce and a rich bechamel sauce.
Peter’s version is spectacularly good – rich and luscious and yet so intoxicating that it’s hard to stop yourself from repeated eats.
“I did a kitchen internship in Switzerland and the chef there taught me how to do it. It’s a bit tedious because of the process – you have to fry the potatoes, make a Bolognese sauce, fry the brinjals and then make a white sauce. And it’s rich because it’s stuffed with lots of cheese and white sauce.
“In 1984 when I came back for a vacation, I made this dish and everybody loved it. So every year, if there is a Christmas gathering, everyone will say, ‘Can you make your moussaka?’ So it’s been like a tradition,” he says.
Peter’s Christmas staples also include traditional Indian dishes that his mother used to make like fish cutlets, which are breaded, deep-fried rotund parcels filled with fish and potatoes and seasoned with a range of Indian spices.
Ivy meanwhile also makes a mixture of old and new dishes for Christmas. Her nod to yesteryear is in the form of her mother’s vegetable pilaf, which is filled with all sorts of vegetables and is a soul-warming family-style dish.
“These days, my 88-year-old mum will call me up and say, ‘Can you give me the recipe for this?’ And I will say ‘But that was your recipe, I just changed it a little bit’. And she will say, ‘I don’t remember it tasting this way,’” says Ivy, laughing.
But it is perhaps making desserts that Ivy enjoys the most because she can exercise her creativity and come up with new and inventive sweet treats. Her delightfully holiday-themed ginger and orange cheese cake for instance is something that she and son Joash crafted after brainstorming for ideas for Christmas.
Although they both have come up with new recipes, Peter and Ivy's Christmas menu still includes traditional Indian dishes like vegetable pilaf. — ART CHEN/The Star
“He suggested ginger as a Christmas spice. So I worked around it and came up with an orange and ginger cheesecake. So it’s like a Christmas-themed cheesecake,” she says.
For Peter and Ivy though, the ultimate satisfaction in continuing to cook these festive dishes for Christmas is the reward of getting their family together and nourishing them with good meals.
“Food brings people together. So when people say they look forward to our food at Christmas, it really does boost my morale because the food that I cook is from the heart,” says Ivy.
PETE’S MOUSSAKA
Serves 10-14
12 potatoes, thinly sliced
10 long brinjals, thinly sliced
White sauce
125g salted butter
2 white onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
500g rice flour
1 litre chilled full cream milk
200ml cooking cream
4 bay leaves
300g Parmesan cheese
2 tsp nutmeg powder
Meat bolognaise
canola oil, for sauteing
4 white onions, finely minced
1 whole garlic, finely minced
1 kg finely minced meat of your choice (chicken, beef or lamb)
250g chopped celery
2 gherkins, finely minced
4 black olives, thinly sliced
4 green olives, thinly sliced
500ml chicken/beef broth (depending on choice of meat)
1 can of tomato pronto (1.5kg)
4 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
Shallow fry the sliced potatoes and brinjal and place on separate trays on kitchen towels to absorb the oil. Leave to rest
Prepare white sauce by melting the butter in a deep sauce pan. Add onions and garlic and fry till golden brown.
Add rice flour. Blend in with the butter till you get a paste formation. Add the chilled milk and cooking cream. Continue to stir and do not allow the mixture to get lumpy.
Add salt and pepper and the bay leaves. Allow to simmer with continuous stirring.
The contents will start to thicken, add nutmeg powder and cheese. Keep stirring until sauce achieves desired consistency.
To prepare bolognaise, heat pan with oil and saute the onions and garlic. Add the minced meat and continue stirring with the celery and chopped gherkins & olives.
Add the broth & tomato pronto and bay leaves. Continue cooking for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a large baking pan, spread butter and layer the fried potatoes, followed by bolognaise. Next layer will be brinjal and finally the white sauce. Top with a layer of 3 cheeses (mozzarella, Parmesan and cheddar).
Bake at 180°C for 20 to 25 minutes till golden brown.
CLASSIC STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS
Serves 8
4 chicken breasts, skinned
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp mustard paste
salt and pepper to taste
Italian herbs, to taste
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
6 slices cheddar cheese, chopped
½ can button mushrooms, finely sliced
1 kg golden bread crumbs
2 eggs, whisked to coat the shaped cutlets
Make a slit with a sharp knife to make a pocket in each piece of chicken breasts.
Marinate the breast with the chopped garlic, oyster sauce, mustard paste, salt, pepper Italian herbs and Worcestershire sauce and allow to rest for 2 hours.
Stuff each breast with cheese and mushrooms. Coat the chicken breast with egg wash and breadcrumbs.
Heat a pan with butter and place chicken breast in pan. Cover during the cooking process. This will ensure that the meat is evenly cooked and remains moist. Flip it over and ensure that it is golden brown. As the cheese oozes out, it will be a sign that the meat has cooked.
A rich meal is now all yours to indulge in!
IVY’S GINGER & ORANGE CHILLED CHEESECAKE
Serves 8
Base
300g finely crushed digestive biscuits
125g melted butter
½ tsp ground ginger powder Filling 500g full fat cream cheese
¾ cup icing sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
grated rind of 1 orange
¾ tsp ground ginger powder
½ cup white chocolate chip, melted
400ml whipping cream
2 tbsp chopped sweet, preserved ginger
Mix all ingredients for the base of the cheesecake and press into pan. Keep aside.
Beat cream cheese, icing sugar, salt, orange rind & ginger powder and the melted white chocolate and combine; add cream and beat till smooth and fluffy. Fold in the chopped sweet, preserved ginger.
Pour onto the base and chill overnight or for a few hours. If desired, drizzle with dark melted chocolate before serving.
