Holiday Party 2009 Food Pictures

Well, Sunday was our annual cooking extravaganza. Stats were a little different, with 13 dishes and 11 types of cookies instead of the usual 12 and 12.

Lamb Borek, Potato and Feta Borek:

Potato ones have sesame seeds
These were quite a hit. Tasty and filling. Recipes from "Savory Baking"

Pulled Pork, Cornbread, Garlic Cole Slaw

Pork, Sauce (Texas-style) and Slaw are from Low and Slow, cornbread from Cook's Illustrated (Northern Style, it's all Sue will make)

Falafel Waffle with Tahina Ice Cream

This wasn't much of a success. The waffle iron couldn't seem to put a good crisp on the waffle, they came out dense and bready. The ice cream is still quite delicious. Boxed falafel mix with eggs replacing 1/4 of the water; I've posted the ice cream earlier, the harissa was an ad-lib from bell peppers, mint, caraway, red pepper.

Squash Soup with Pumpkinseeds, Toasted Chiles and Shrimp

The soup was inspired by a Delicata Squash soup at Frontera, but this was a thicker soup with butternut squash. The soup itself is vegetarian (stock from pieces cut from other veg during the cooking week), with shrimp as a garnish. Square cups from J.B. Prince.

Chicken Tartlets with Cranberry Salsa

These were teriffic -- the salsa is a real hit, made from raw cranberries, ginger, lime, cilantro and sugar. Recipe here, plus Martha Stewart's tartlet dough.

Potato and Rosemary Pizzas (some with bacon)

From the Gourmet cookbook. Would have been better if they weren't kept in a warm oven throughout the evening.

Vegetarian Egg Rolls

Thing1's contribution. Tofu sauteed in garlic and soy, sliced omelet, cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot.

Tarragon Chicken Salad

Tasty, but not tasty enough. Probably needed more tarragon. From Gourmet cookbook.

Creole Deviled Eggs

Sauce from Paul Prudhomme added to yolks -- came out a disgusting color but were devoured. It's getting challenging to come up with a unique deviled egg every year. Leftover sauce (and shrimp for the soup) made dinner the next night with some white rice.

Hoisin Beef and Scallions on Noodle Cakes

Another Gourmet cookbook item -- tasty lime-hoisin-marinated tenderloin bits on somewhat leathery fried rice noodle cakes. Don't know that I'd make this again.

Stuffed Fruits and Veggies

Inspired by Vienna's naschmarkt delis. There are roasted mushrooms, peppers, zucchini and eggplant stuffed with garlic-enhanced chevre or feta, lady apples with port wine-spiked cheddar, and figs stuffed with gorgonzola and wrapped with prosciutto and walnuts.

Little Hot Dog Things (duh)

Vienna dogs in Pilsbury Crescent

Cookies

Cheese and jam kolachky
Apple-butterscotch oatmeal cookies
Chocolate Crinkle, Pecan Crescent, Chocolate Peanut Bars

Molasses Spice
Chocolate pinwheel, Cheesecake Brownies
Pistaccio, Mint Brownie, Pumpkin Cake

Seriously, a really nice looking spread there.

Joel, it doesn't seem like Christmas until you've made your post, and I especially love your armchair-quarterbacking of each dish, as it's nice to see someone else take the same type of critical approach to their cooking as I do. I did applesauce-oatmeal this year too (used dried cherries and nuts instead of butterscotch) they've become my favorite of all the cookies I've made this year - (at least the ones I didn't overcook; it was a tough call - either they're hard kind of like a florentine, or they're impossible to stack because they stick together.)

At some point, I'd love to see a compiled list and critique of deviled eggs; I'm always looking for new ideas (I do it at Easter; last year's wasabi eggs were, well, meh.)

Hi,

I'd like your thoughts on the Vienna hot dogs instead of Best RIP? Were the satisfactory or nothing will be better than Best, but they'll do?

Did you nix your efforts at molecular gastronomy? I was curious how that would work on the home stage.

Happy Hanukkah!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I'd like your thoughts on the Vienna hot dogs instead of Best RIP? Were the satisfactory or nothing will be better than Best, but they'll do?

They were comparable. I can't say there was any loss in quality. Perhaps the flavor was different, but no better or worse, and texture was equivalent.

Did you nix your efforts at molecular gastronomy? I was curious how that would work on the home stage.

Nothing quite jelled in our recipe list -- we did Alinea's Bacon, Butterscotch, Thyme last year and that was a lot of work. The closest thing this year was the Falafel Waffle with Tahina Ice Cream. I was going for something more syrupy on the harissa, but it didn't get there, and became part of the party theme of strange pink colors, along with the port wine cheese which started with white cheddar, port made it brown, red food coloring made it flourescent; and the creole eggs which were close to, well, vomit in color.

At some point, I'd love to see a compiled list and critique of deviled eggs

Good idea... I'll try to recall all the ones I've done, I've only been keeping spreadsheets with recipes for the last four years.

Beautiful pictures . . . that is some food fest. The falafel waffle idea is very interesting. Perhaps the next time you give it a shot, maybe you can crisp the waffles on a griddle? I'd still love to try that.

JoelF wrote:It's getting challenging to come up with a unique deviled egg every year.

If you're looking for something unique, may I suggest these deviled eggs?



Peeled, hard-boiled eggs are steeped whole for 2 days in a beet pickling liquid; after that, they are halved, and the yolks are mashed in a fairly typical mayo, mustard and parsley mixture, but with a dash of toasted ground caraway. The beet pickling liquid, in addition to making the eggs jewel-colored, lends a subtle acidity and sweetness. Be forewarned, though: Pickling the eggs makes the whites firmer, but one person who tried these eggs actually preferred this firmer texture to the jigglier, slimier, texture of just-boiled and cooled whites. Here is the recipe from Epicurious.

Great yearly spread, per usual, Joel.

Lovely spread.

aschie30 wrote:

JoelF wrote:It's getting challenging to come up with a unique deviled egg every year.

If you're looking for something unique, may I suggest these deviled eggs?


...
Be forewarned, though: Pickling the eggs makes the whites firmer, but one person who tried these eggs actually preferred this firmer texture to the jigglier, slimier, texture of just-boiled and cooled whites.

I can vouch for the beet-pickled eggs, which I was able to try thanks to aschie30. I'm also the one very averse to the jiggliness of egg whites (which is why the only egg whites I've previously enjoyed have been the very hard white part of balut), particularly against the often mushy filling of deviled eggs. The beet eggs are very pretty, too.

JoelF wrote: the port wine cheese which started with white cheddar, port made it brown, red food coloring made it flourescent; and the creole eggs which were close to, well, vomit in color.

Sparky and I were successful coloring our white-cheddar mac and cheese with annato seeds. You could probably start there (annato-colored butter, can't imagine that would be bad in a spread) and add just a touch of red food color or beet juice.