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Cooking For The Winter Holidays


Heather

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Christmas Eve dinner for my family and the boys' girlfriends:

Salad of spinach, pear, gorgonzola, pine nuts

Cappelletti in brodo (about which I wrote pages last year)

Popovers

Black bottom tarts

About that last one... Every year Mom made something called black-bottom pie. I found the recipe in her 1957 edition of The Gourmet Cookbook vol.II, the pages stained, ripped, taped back together, and many, many notes scribbled all through the margins. To put my own spin on it, I'll make miniature fluted tart shells with pate brisee instead of a pie.

I'll post the recipe later if anyone wants it, but in short: egg-cornstarch custard stabilized with gelatin; half gets mixed with chocolate and poured into the bottoms of the tarts; the other half gets meringue folded into it and is flavored with rum; whipped cream goes on top, and chocolate shavings.

A few test tarts are chilling in the refrigerator right now. It really is a lovely dessert.

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Christmas Eve:

Bouillabaisse, rouille & croutons

green salad

pear/amaretto ice cream and and oatmeal almond cookies

Christmas Day:

hangar steaks from Mr. Landrum

bearnaise

pommes persillade

a green veg

lemon tart from Bouchon

New Years Eve dinner is still up in the air, but will probably feature champagne. :(

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Christmas eve (my sister's house, and cooking):

Oyster stew

Ham biscuits (from a bro-in-law-smoked country ham)

Jambalaya

Christmas day (same place):

Rib roast, the trimmings

My house, my (college) friends:

Sunday 30th--Pheasant, smoked duck, sausage, and shrimp gumbo

Monday 31st--Roast/smoked baby goat, black-eyed peas, potato gratin, grilled mushrooms, dry-land cress (if I get some from my supplier)

Tuesday 1st--Oyster stew and grilled boudin.

Assorted geeky wines. Natch.

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Forgot the 29th.

gougeres

anchoïade, and various veg to dip in it

duck rillettes with armagnac

terrine of some sort

little cups of wild mushroom soup

serrano & grilled mini chorizos

maybe truffled mac & cheese

cheese plate

apple calvados ice cream and gingerbread cookies

And lots of wine. And maybe a little gin. And champagne.

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Christmas breakfast:

Benton's ham, biscuits, and gravy

Christmas dinner:

Roast heritage turkey with cornbread dressing

Parsnip and carrot mash

Pommes dauphinoise

Haricots verts with sauteed shallots

Mince pies

Christmas pudding

(eta: mincemeat acquired, almond/cream cheese pastry will be started shortly)

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Christmas Eve cocktail party:

Crostini

Pita chips

Crudite

Olive and sun-dried tomato tapenade

Mini Italian meatballs

A range of smuggled-in Italian sausages, hams, and cheeses

Greek salad

Grapes

Apples

Peppermint bark

Brownies and cookies (to be made by friends)

Pilsner Urquell

Hard liquor

Margaritas

A mess of random wines finally released from customs and likely corked as all get out (which is why I'll be encouraging guests to start with a margarita)

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We'll be at my in-laws'.

My MIL is making the Christmas Eve meal:

Roast turkey

Rice Pilaf

Squash or Sweet Potatoes

I'm making dinner Christmas Day (she's making Christmas dessert: Swiss Broyage with a chocolate filling/accompaniment):

Green Salad with clementine sections and vinaigrette

Filet Mignon with Balsamic Syrup and Goat Cheese from Giada de Laurentis

Green Beans with toasted almonds and crispy shallots

Whipped Potatoes with Olive Oil and Parmesan (Bon Appetit, Sept. 1992) [posted in the mashed potatoes thread]

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Christmas Eve:

Bouillabaisse, rouille & croutons

green salad

pear/amaretto ice cream and and oatmeal almond cookies

Completely different menu tonight...yesterday while under the influence of "holiday cheer" I let Bev Eggleston talk me into buying a seven-pound mutant chicken/turkey hybrid, and this morning I picked up a truffle at Balducci's. So tonight we're having the FrankenChicken with a little truffle under the skin, and either truffle risotto, or truffle-y roasted potatoes.

And my mother-in-law wants bread pudding, so a bosc pear bread pudding with almonds and amaretto sauce.

Tomorrow will still feature hanger steaks from Michael Landrum, but with a wild mushroom demiglace insetad of bearnaise. Leek & potato soup to start. And there might be more truffles.

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Tonight we had:

Thai seafood stew--King crab, shrimp, scallops, mussels and squid with leek, snow peas and shiitake mushrooms in coconut milk-lemon grass-galangal broth

Earl Grey tea and Leatherwood honey flavored panna cotta

2005 Strauss Gelber Muskateller -- dry as a bone, high acid, floral and litchee notes--a perfect pairing with the sweetness of the seafood and the rich, spicy coconut broth.

Tomorrow:

Country ham

Stone-ground grits

Braised kale

Sweet potato pie

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Godfathers: blended scotch and amaretto, garnished with a cherry

Grilled asparagus and shiitake

Pan-seared Iwate steak with garlic/mushroom pan sauce

Browned butter mashed potatoes

We made dinner after deciding that we didn't really want to get the "traditional" KFC for Christmas dinner. We did buy a Christmas cake, though. It's not Christmas in Japan without Christmas cake!

post-971-1198601200_thumb.jpg

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Yesterday I made a beautiful Lobels Natural Beef prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, potato dauphines (sp?), creamed spinach, roasted wild mushrooms, and sautéed green beans.

Tonight was supposed to be celebrated with a dinner at Citronelle, but instead I will be at home drinking Nyquil to combat the symptoms of a hideous bout of the common cold.

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As with Thanksgiving, I was again preparing a small feast for my son,

his mother and me. I cooked a few nice brined and pomegranate glazed

ducks to send to my relatives in Upstate NY (a tradition), but by then I was

sick of birds.

So I decided to prepare an Italian inspired Christmas feast this year with

a lovely pastry wrapped pork loin as the centerpiece.

Here's the menu for this year.

* curry/cumin/chile powder/sugar spiced almonds

* zucchini/carrot/red onion/ginger/lemon zest/serrrano pickles

* roasted squash/onion/hazelnut/nutmeg/cream soup

* penne/fennel/sweet red pepper/shallot/garlic/oregano/pepper flakes/tarragon

/wine/stock/tart goat cheese/cream/fresh tomato/aged parmesan

* rosemary rubbed, prosciutto wrapped pork loin/olive+anchovy tapenade/puff pastry

* spinach/garlic/shitake + button mushrooms sauteed in duck fat

* traditional Christmas sugar cookies with icing

The soup was a big hit. My 15 month old son seemed to enjoy a sampling of

every dish excepting the spinach (although my personal favorite). He even

liked the somewhat spicy pickles, favoring the red onions! His mother bitched

about having to diet for a month, but seemed to eat her fair share :-)

A good time was had by all. I just like seeing my son eat my food :-) A very

merry Christmas indeed.

Scott

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We did take-two on turkey for our Christmas Eve feast since my dear friend Mrs. S was visiting us for Christmas and had tragically only eaten yucky smoked turkey, not once, but twice, at Thanksgiving. We grilled another Maple Lawn Farms free-range bird (purchased at MOM's) and it yet again came incredibly savory and moist (yes, I did brine it).

Accompaniments were:

Mashed Potatoes

Dressing (which thankfully came out much better than it did at Thanksgiving!)

Gravy!

Brioche Rolls

Brown Sugar/Mustard Carrots

Garlic/Bacon Peas

Broccoli w/Hollandaise Sauce (compliments of Mr. & Mrs. G)

For dessert we had the very decadent bourbon pecan steamed pudding discussed in this thread here (thanks again for the recipe, Barbara!). ETA: I almost forgot the best part... I'd been bummed all afternoon that we'd not had the time to make it down to The Dairy Godmother for their once-a-year "Gift of the Magi" flavor (saffron, candied cranberries & pistachios), but the very thoughtful Mr. & Mrs. G arrived bearing a quart of it! :(

Bacon and sticky buns (pecan/cinnamon for me, chocolate/walnut for Mrs. S who is very pro-chocolate and anti-cinnamon, and both kinds for rwtye) were for breakfast the next morning. Accompanied by candy from Santa. :(

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I used the Lee Brothers' southern cookbook as a guide yesterday--I'm no fundamentalist, however, I made liberal interpretations of their recipes.

I soaked the Cibola Farms country ham for two days, in several changes of water, then poached it in water with cider vinegar, bay leaves and--the recipe called for yellow mustard seeds, which I didn't have--black mustard seeds. I eschewed their brown sugar-clove glaze, instead I boiled down Toigo apple cider to a syrup with cloves, and then painted the ham with the cider syrup and baked it for an hour in a slow oven, adding more cider glaze periodically.

Veggie-teen ate salmon cakes with remoulade sauce.

I added some chopped chives to the creamy stone-ground grits, which were slow cooked for almost two hours, and were fluffy and had amazing depth of flavor. I was urged by my family never to serve any other kind of grits to them.

We drank a riesling that had a fair amount of sweetness, but it cut the saltiness of the ham.

The Lee Bros.' buttermilk-sweet potato pie recipe used steamed potatoes, but I had roasted mine the night before. And I didn't have any buttermilk, so I used what I had, which was labneh--very thick strained yogurt-- which I mixed half-and-half with whole milk. And I enhanced the spices they called for with ginger and cardamom. I did heed the recipe's advice to beat the eggwhites separately and fold them in. And this pie was divine, my dears. Light as a feather, not too sweet, and aromatic as a spice bazaar. Served with whipped Lewes Dairy heavy cream.

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Christmas this year included aLOT of eating, but the only cooking I did was Christmas breakfast.

Christmas Eve was at a cousin's house. They cooked an Italian feast for 12:

For starters, there were huge antipasto platters: various meats including salamis, prosciuttos; cheeses such as burrata, provolone, parmesan; olives, roasted red peppers; bruschettas; etc.

Then for dinner, a salad with crisp prosciutto, red onion and gorgonzola.

Garlic bread

Penne alla vodka

Meatballs in red sauce

Osso bucco

And cannoli for dessert

Christmas morning, I made the breakfast I make every year because no one will let me deviate.

Sausage egg casserole

Monkey bread

Fruit salad

Christmas dinner was at a sister-in-law's house.

For starters, various nibbles including crab dip and goat cheese, pesto, pine nut dip.

Then, Beef tenderloin

Lobster risotto

Ham

Green Salad

Corn pudding

Sweet potato casserole

And for dessert, various pies including: pumpkin, pecan, lemon meringue. And cheesecake.

I'm full.

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For Boxing Day (26 Dec) with my fiances father and stepmother:

Calvados sidecars

Nigella's best bar nuts

Roasted brined turkey breast

Cajun cornbread dressing

Brussels sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts

Roasted butternut squash and garlic scented with fresh bay and thyme

Christmas apple chutney

2005 Renwood zinfandel

Decaf french roast

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Forgot the 29th.

gougeres

anchoïade, and various veg to dip in it

duck rillettes with armagnac

terrine of some sort

little cups of wild mushroom soup

serrano & grilled mini chorizos

maybe truffled mac & cheese

cheese plate

apple calvados ice cream and gingerbread cookies

And lots of wine. And maybe a little gin. And champagne.

Rich nibbles, slightly revised:

leek & roquefort quiche

duck rillettes & pate de campagne

wild mushroom soup with truffles

trotter medallions with a dab of sauce gribiche (recipe from Bouchon made into canapes)

baguette rounds with thinly sliced hanger steak, bearnaise sauce

veg with tarragon creme fraiche dip

cheese plate

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Just finished fabricating the goat. My source cut it in half crossways. I then boned out most of the spine, removed and marinated the rib racks, and tied each end. So I have a tied double hindshank (with some saddle and breast meat) and a tied double foreshank (with neck). Those will go on some cherrywood smoke when the coals are done. The racks will go on in a few hours.

And I only cut myself twice!

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We had our own little New Year's Eve party, since no one invited us to theirs :(

We started with American Hackleback caviar with fixin's-- creme fraiche, chopped hardboiled egg and scallions

Champagne Duval-Leroy

Breast of veal roulade stuffed with prosciutto, spinach, and shiitake and oyster mushroom duxelles

Tarragon cream sauce

Veggie-teen had a spinach and duxelles flan

Steamed broccoli

Meyer lemon tart with blackberry coulis and creme chantilly

Espresso

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Bump for 2008!

Due to some last minute shuffling, I just found out I will be hosting a cozy Christmas dinner for two. This kind of nixes my plan for a turkey, stuffing, and the works--which is disappointing because that is my absolute favorite meal. Does anyone have a recipe for maybe a stuffed turkey breast that might work instead? Or do you think I should just go with some really nice steaks? This is getting to be pretty last-minute, and I just can't decide... Help?

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Bump for 2008!

Due to some last minute shuffling, I just found out I will be hosting a cozy Christmas dinner for two. This kind of nixes my plan for a turkey, stuffing, and the works--which is disappointing because that is my absolute favorite meal. Does anyone have a recipe for maybe a stuffed turkey breast that might work instead? Or do you think I should just go with some really nice steaks? This is getting to be pretty last-minute, and I just can't decide... Help?

My husband made a roasted turkey breast recipe from Martha Stewart Cookbook several years ago for Thanksgiving when I was too busy to cook. It called for an herb mixture with oil, salt, and pepper under the skin*. A couple of Tbsp. of the dressing is put under the skin and the rest is reserved and brushed over the outside of the turkey breast. Roast at 350 for 1 to 1/2 hours for 4-5 lb. breast. I believe we had it with rice pilaf and something else :P .

When I tried to search for the recipe online, I found a bazillion Martha Stewart roasted turkey recipes, including some for roasted breast. One that called for stuffing was stuffed with vegetables. I don't see any reason you can't make a batch of bread stuffing separately in the oven and serve the sliced turkey breast over it. If you don't want to make stuffing, serving it over rice pilaf would be equally nice, as would be mashed potatoes. Green beans and a salad and you have a nice meal.

*1/4 cup olive oil, parsley, thyme, marjoram, and lemon zest, plus s + p

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So I decided to stuff the turkey idea (har, har) and went with prime rib. What the hell? It's Christmas! Served with horseradish sauce, mashed potatoes and green beans with almonds and lemon. Perfect. Just exactly what I wanted.

Now I have to figure out what the hell one person does with 2-3 pounds of leftover beef in the next two days... :P

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Grind up some of the beef in your food processor and make shepherd's pie. It helps if you have leftover mashed potatoes, too. Freeze the rest or use it in a stir-fry.

Thanks Zora! I have just a bit of potatoes left, so the shepherd's pie is an excellent idea. (I was stuck on meals and meals and meals of steak salad.)

But how do you recommend I freeze the rest? Should I grind it, or freeze it in its current large, thick slices? I have to imagine that the texture will lack something on defrosting, so do you have any suggestions on what to do with it?

I have to say that I never hesitate to buy something as spendy as prime rib--until I consider leftovers because I really don't know what I can do with the stuff after pulling it out of the deep freeze that will honor the original. I appreciate all your expertise!

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But how do you recommend I freeze the rest? Should I grind it, or freeze it in its current large, thick slices? I have to imagine that the texture will lack something on defrosting, so do you have any suggestions on what to do with it?

You are right, the texture will suffer if the meat is frozen, so consider making things where the texture isn't a huge issue. If you are in a mood to cook, grind up all of the meat and make chili or bolognese sauce with it and then freeze the chili or pasta sauce.

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Christmas dinner will be leg of lamb on the grill with traditional British veggies (roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips).

Mom's Most Excellent Christmas Pudding, with the ceremonial igniting of the pud.

For the non-traditional, I'm stopping at Wilbur's BBQ in Goldsboro, NC, on the way down to pick up some pulled pork. Sister-in-law's mother is going to ship us some homemade kimchi. Brother is going to make pulled pork kimchi dumplings.

I'm not sure which I am more excited about.

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The main course for Christmas dinner will be rib roast. Spinach mornay, rice pilaf, and an endive salad to round things out. Christmas Eve is going to be vegetarian, centered on the Mushroom Bourguignon recipe from the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook. I haven't made it before, but her recipes usually turn out pretty well. The rest of that meal will be a simple salad, no-knead bread, and stuffed grape leaves. Still undecided on desserts for the two meals.

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Latkes tomorrow. Stroganoff for a warm, filling, family dinner to go with them and the lightening of the candles. (I can't bring myself to think of latkes as the main course.)

I can't decide on Christmas dinner. The last few years I've cooked it and then no one has eaten it. Perhaps I'll do lamb shank since I know BL-Kindergartener will eat lamb. Some sort of breakfast sausage and bacon casserole for Christmas morning.

Santa is getting homebaked cookies this year. We're going to Disney right before and we're bringing back Mickey shaped cookies for Santa. Mr. BLB looked crushed so if there is time I may relent and freeze some dough before we go...

Unclear if we will be here or at the in-laws for New Year's. If we are here, I'll likely do a picnic of pates, pickles, cold shrimp and stinky cheeses. We'll watch Love Actually as our last Christmas movie of the season and be asleep by 10!

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Now that food for school parties (tatertot casseroles, bean dip, poundcake, & cookies) are out of the way, trying to figure out what to fix for the next week. I'd planned on smoking a turkey tomorrow, to recover from my T'giving debacle, but If high winds are forecast, I may wait until Sunday. I'm making a stupid-cute appetizer for an open house on Sunday (I have got to learn how to insert links), filet mignon & shrimp risotto for Xmas eve, & probably a ham on Xmas day. I'm mulling over filler dishes-cauliflower/feta fritters & clementine gravlax, & of course, I plan on collards & blackeyed peas for NYE, just have to figure what to fix with them. How's everyone else feeling about holiday cooking?

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I'd like to make a coconut buche de noel for my brother-in-law, but after going through cookbooks and the internet I'm not finding a good recipe for an appropriate filling. I'd like something less rich than a buttercream, and coconut extract is verboten. Any of you bakers have any ideas? Thanks.

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Zora, I make that cake at Christmas too. It's a great recipe.

Our sauerbraten went in the marinade yesterday. Tomorrow night we will be having roast beef, yorkshire pudding, and other assorted treats at my brother's house, so no cooking on Christmas eve for me. I'm still sorting out Christmas breakfast. Might be homemade coffeecake

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I'd like to make a coconut buche de noel for my brother-in-law, but after going through cookbooks and the internet I'm not finding a good recipe for an appropriate filling. I'd like something less rich than a buttercream, and coconut extract is verboten. Any of you bakers have any ideas? Thanks.

Do NOT use the recipe from last year's Saveur magazine. It was a disaster for me--buttercream separated (and I'm a stickler on pastry measurements), the recipe on meringue mushrooms was way too fussy and then failed to explain how to attach caps to stems, and the outer frosting was not stiff enough either. That was about the point that I said "[explictive] this [explictive], where's my Maida Heatter?" and rescued the whole mess. Her recipe for mushroom meringues is a dream --I had 13 year-olds doing some of the piping and assembling this year, and I used the delicious and stiff frosting from the Queen Mother's cake on the outside. The one problem I encountered that was not recipe related was discovering that my wall ovens are too small for a properly sized jelly roll pan. The end result looked great, but suffered from a drippy buttercream inside.

After the fact, I found comments online suggesting that other readers encountered similar problems.

Have you considered a jam filling that would complement the coconut? Perhaps guava or mango preserves?

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Thanks for the warning, Polly. In the meantime I found a recipe for a coconut pastry cream that looks like it will come out fairly stiff; if it doesn't I can always fold in some beaten egg whites. WRT guava or mango, I was thinking actually that a layer of a soft passion fruit gelee would be a nice touch, but all of these will have to wait for another time, since I don't know how it would go over with my MIL.

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lunch today was cold grilled lamb sandwiches in pita with labneh, roasted eggplant slices drizzled with charmoula (a middle-eastern spiced lemon vinaigrette), tomato-cucumber-roasted pepper-garlic-za'atar chopped salad, drizzle of tahini, and lettuce.

dinner was mostly made by J. who wanted to contribute to the holiday meals. We had homemade baked beans with bacon and salt pork, pan-grilled bratwurst, salad with feta cheese (my contribution, since J. is a reluctant salad eater) and flourless chocolate cake.

We spent a couple of hours before dinner fooling around with mixology. K. has gotten interested in making cocktails, and since we have a variety of spirits, liqueurs, aperitifs and bitters, as well as some bartenders' recipe books, we collaborated on a few different drinks (sazerac, negroni, white negroni, and a couple of others) and worked on several iterations of an original specialty cocktail she plans to bring to the Asian fusion restaurant where she works. She thinks their specialty cocktails are pathetic (chocolate martini, anyone?), and her bosses told her that if she comes up with something good, they'll put it on the menu. I won't spill all the details of the recipe, but I think we've come up with a winner, which includes lemongrass simple syrup and is garnished with a slice of fresh ginger.

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