Christmas Dinner, 2005

What's everybody making for Christmas?

Here's my menu:

Potted Shrimp with toast points (from Jim Beard's American Cooking)
Bacon-wrapped stuffed dates & figs
Parmesan crackers
Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label Champagne

Oyster stew
Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay

Standing prime rib roast au jus with horseradish cream
Yorkshire pudding
Roast root vegetables (potatoes, carrots & parsnips)
Creamed onions
Buttered brussels sprouts
Bourdeaux (I don't know what vinyard -- my brother is bringing it)

Frisee, persimmon, fennel and pomegrante salad

Stilton, pears (Harry & David Royal Riviera), walnuts, celery
Port (again, my brother is bringing it)

Red velvet cake
Mince pie
Coffee

Cookies, candies
Cognac, etc...

One of the things I love most about this forum is that it makes me feel normal. Why wouldn't one spend almost as much time developing the menu as cooking it? (My daughter and I have been known to have pitched battles about menus for important dinners). Furthermore, wouldn't it be great to fantasize about the menus you might have selected, had the parameters for the celebration shifted ever so slightly?

Unlike most families, my daughter and I never have the same Christmas eve menu twice, in spite of the fact that I remember one of those dinners as the best I ever made. This was the menu that night:

Lobster salad dressed with a sour-cream and salmon caviar, on Boston lettuce with thin slices of avocado and orange

Rib eye roast of veal
Sauce made with veal demi-glace (homemade), a reduction of cabernet, shallots, a touch of pomegranate molasses, butter, and a few fresh currants

Sauteed sweetbreads--simply prepared from Julia

A ragout of wild mushrooms

Cabbage strudel with bacon and onions

Minnesota wild rice

Stilton, walnuts, pears and port

The dessert tanked-- it was Tiramisu, I think

This year things will be considerably simpler. And the long preparation for the meal has involved another family member -- my younger brother, who raised the cow. He kindly sent a roast from his farm. Here is what we are having:

Black olive pesto and crackers
Marcona almonds
Cheeses (need to select them still)

Pea and watercress soup

Standing Rib Roast of Beef
Horseradish-Whipped Cream Sauce
Yorkshire Pudding
Minnesota Wild Rice with Chestnuts, Bacon and Onions
Carrots La Licorne (pureed with vanilla bean and butter)

Salad of Endive, Orange, Avocado, Hearts of Palm & Pomegranate

Whole Pears Poached in Glogg
Australian Sticky Toffee Pudding
Homemade Pear and Ginger Fruitcake
Vanilla Ice Cream

I'd love some help with the wines, as that is not my area. I do have some Prosecco on hand for an aperitif, but would like a reasonably priced full-bodied red for the main course. Any ideas, wine lovers?

Christmas isn't exactly a feast day for Jewish families, so we're having a big New Year's Eve party. Since there will be over 20 guests, it will have to be buffet style. We're doing a Mexican theme this year:

Grilled onion and roasted garlic guacamole with chips
Jumbo shrimp ceviche
Fried empanadas

Stuffed poblano chiles in puff pastry
Huitlacoche crepes
Tamales (Fleur De Lis)
Achiote-marinated pork shoulder smoked in banana leaves (cochinita pibil)

Capirotada (Bread pudding with cheese)
Flan
Sweet tamales (Fleur De Lis)

I'm starting to get stressed out - haven't done a spread with this many people for a long time. My biggest fear is that I'll run out of food.

Bill/SFNM

Josephine wrote:This year things will be considerably simpler. And the long preparation for the meal has involved another family member -- my younger brother, who raised the cow. He kindly sent a roast from his farm. Here is what we are having:

Black olive pesto and crackers
Marcona almonds
Cheeses (need to select them still)

Pea and watercress soup

Standing Rib Roast of Beef
Horseradish-Whipped Cream Sauce
Yorkshire Pudding
Minnesota Wild Rice with Chestnuts, Bacon and Onions
Carrots La Licorne (pureed with vanilla bean and butter)

Salad of Endive, Orange, Avocado, Hearts of Palm & Pomegranate

Whole Pears Poached in Glogg
Australian Sticky Toffee Pudding
Homemade Pear and Ginger Fruitcake
Vanilla Ice Cream

I'd love some help with the wines, as that is not my area. I do have some Prosecco on hand for an aperitif, but would like a reasonably priced full-bodied red for the main course. Any ideas, wine lovers?

The prosecco may be a bit sweet for your cheeses etc. Try some cava instead - such as Cristallino (usually $7 per bottle). Should also be ok with the pea soup.

For the red, what do you consider reasonably priced?

I did one on Sunday, and am doing another on Boxing Day. The Sunday one:

Various cheeses, capicola, and red grapes with ficele rounds

White bean, sausage, and kale soup

Roast lamb in a rosemary/mustard EVOO viniagrette marinade

Tomato couscous

Dry-fried green beans with pork

A nice crusty bread from Red Hen

Jacobs Creek reserve Shiraz, 2001

Swedish fresh strawberry whipped-cream-rum custard cake


Boxing Day:

Various cheeses, smoked salmon from Seattle, red grapes and ficele rounds and pita toasts

Glogg

Lentil soup with bacon

Sauerbraten

Braised red cabbage with apples and caraway

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes

Limpa from Wikstrom's Deli

The same Shiraz, I think, since it worked so well with the lamb

Charlie Trotter's chocolate pudding cake with coconut milk

Sharffen Berger bubbly

Nibbles TBA

The cheeses: a nine-year-old Cheddar from a visit to the Madison farmers market, a good Gruyere, dill and caraway Havartis

leek--

You asked for clarification regarding "reasonably" priced red wine.
I am thinking in the $25-and-under range. (We are few in number and light drinkers, so I need only 2 bottles max.) Often, I get a bottle of Morgon or Chiroubles for these occasions, but maybe there is a Bordeaux or a California Cabernet in that price range that is pretty much OK? By the way, thanks for the tip on Cava.

Sundevilpeg, is your swedish strawberry rum whipped cream cake store bought. If so, from where...My parents love the strawberry whipped cream cakes, but it would great to have the rum in it, too.

Josephine, I might want to try and pry for our sticky toffee pudding recipe, assuming it's homemade and not too hard to do. I had some in London and can only wish the dessert were common here in Chicago. I know Grand Lux has it, but I haven't tried it there yet. Does anyone know anywhere else that serves the sticky toffee pudding?

Thanks, and happy holidays!

Josephine -

My husband suggests

In that price range, a top Cotes de Castillon (Ch. d'Aighuile, Clos L'Eglise). At a lower price range, Ch. La Brande Cotes de Castillon.

Hope this helps

Thank you, leek and husband. I'll stop by Schaefer's and see if they carry the Cotes de Castillon you suggested.

kithat-- the toffee pudding is from Saveur, November 2005 ("The Greater Goo," p. 48). I looked online at saveur.com, and I guess it takes them awhile to post their recipes, however, they do show a date, fig, and walnut pudding from another issue that also has a toffee sauce. If you are less interested in that one, and can't find a copy of the November Saveur, send me a pm, and I will send the recipe (or my redaction of it, anyway.) The thing I like about the November recipe is that it is do-ahead and freeze, leaving only the last stage of baking (in the toffee sauce) for the last minute. I do not know of any Chicago restaurants that serve toffee pudding. I had it in Harbor Springs, Michigan at La Becasse.

kithat, I stole the cake idea from the "New Scandinavian Cooking" series on PBS. I used fresh berries on top, but inside, atop the custard, I used thawed berries that I froze during the peak of the season, purchased from My Guy at the Evanston farmers market. I also semi-cheated and bought the sponge cake at the oft-mentioned Kaufman's bakery on Dempster in Skokie, but the recipe in question sort of assumes you're not going to make a scratch cake, anyway.

I used vanilla rum in the custard; a slug in the whipped cream would be very nice, as well. I froze the leftovers, and have been nibbling at them with a spoonful of the soft leftover custard on the side. Awfully tasty. The sponge cake holds up a lot better than you'd think, which is nice.

Here's the blueprint recipe, from the scancook.com site:

God Jul!

Same thing as every other year...

Lechon, black beans and rice, yuca with mojo, tamales, queso blanco w/ membrillo and guava, turron (de Jijona y de Alicante), cafe Cubano, anis de mono...

I can't get anything Italian in edgewise, until breakfast the next morning, which is panettone french toast or bread pudding.

I think I might try to sneak something in for a starter to honor i miei parenti, maybe an eel or some scungilli. The angulas at cafe Samuel reminded me that there is some crossover on that front between Iberia and Campania.

(By the way, I still wonder if elvers baked en cazuela are widely eaten in Mexico, or if they are on the menu at C. de Samuel because the owner (?) has Spanish roots (I am assuming the owner is the the fair older gentleman who told us he is from Mexico but his family is from Andalucia).

Bill/SFNM wrote:
I'm starting to get stressed out - haven't done a spread with this many people for a long time. My biggest fear is that I'll run out of food.

Bill/SFNM

Follow Gwiv's motto, "Nothing says excess like excess." You will never run out.

Sounds like quite a a feast. I'm just trying to get through this weekend, and I"m not even cooking.

Last year I posted a detailed description of the 'Vigilia di Weihnachten' tradition of my family...
viewtopic.php?p=18049#18049
... and, as I noted there, with the very small gathering we have here in Chicago, it's impossible to get the full range of seafood madness that a proper Christmass Eve dinner should have for Southern Italians. I'm especially frustrated at the prospect of reasonably being able to make only one kind of pasta. So I find myself torn between making vermicelli con le alici e noci -- spaghetti with oil, garlic, touch of diavuletto, anchovies, lots of black pepper, parsley and walnuts (these kept at a good distance from the allergic Lucantonius) -- or laganelle al sugo di seppia -- slow cooked sauce of tomatoes with cuttlefish or, more likely given the market choices here, with squid.

Baccalà (perhaps, for novelty's sake, alla Vicentina), some shrimp and scallops and a small piece of swordfish or fresh tuna. As a snack while we're getting things ready, I'll make pizzelle (small balls of pizza dough filled with cauliflower or anchovy or, non-traditionally, with mozzarella and fried in olive oil).

Christmas Day will likely be the old German roast goose dinner...
viewtopic.php?p=17952#17952


Fröhliche Weihnachten! / Buon Natale!

Antonius

Some people are lucky and can have such meals with family for the holidays.

Then there's us, only three from a group of eight who would actually try to the fancy gourmet type stuff.

Since 3 of us missed Thanksgiving, my parents due to a vacation and my poor HS Senior nephew who was in the hospital with E-Coli (he is fine now).

So we're having a traditional Thanksgiving meal for our family, which is decidedly plain. Except I talked my Mom into also roasting a goose.

WINE:

I'd really hate to recommend some specific wine. I'd go either Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon for pairing with the beef so well. I hope you have a nice wine shop around you that could recommend a bottle in your price range.

I can tell you that you can get some incredible bargains from Spain and Argentina lately, they're cheap areas that have hit some terrific vintages.

I recently had a Cab that was about $7 from Sam's that was awesome. Unless you want to run out to Sam's I hate to name specific wines.

$25 is PLENTY to give you something that would drink well with your meal, if you can find a shop that bothers to select their wines carefully. I know some, but I don't live anywhere near Evanston and don't know ones in your area.

Nancy

Thanks for the info on the strawberry cake and sticky toffee pudding. I'll see if I can dig up the sticky toffee pudding recipe. Happy holidays!

LTH,

Our Christmas day party was lots of fun, good food, presents, kids running, screaming, laughing, only one drunk idiot, good cheer from all. We rotate the party every year, my wife comes from a large family, and the host is responsible for meat and booze, family members bring their "known-for" dishes. For example my sister in-law Rita and her won-ton salad.

I cooked, as mentioned in this thread a couple of 7-bone ribs roasts I bought at Costco. They were just over 19-lbs each and ran $6.49/lb for USDA Choice.

I made up a wet rub consisting of olive oil, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and Mexican pepper, ancho/chipotle/guajullo etc, for color and a little spice. Rub in well and let it sit for at least 15-minutes.


I used WSMs, no waterpan, with lump charcoal and applewood, rotate every 25-30 minutes for even cooking. Take out when 120° and let rest for 15-minutes.


These were so big I actually had to trim a little bit off the end. Which worked out well as I had snacks as I went along.


The combination of direct over lump charcoal with wood chunks and wet rub give the meat a crunchy, spicy, caramelized, juicy, fatty, rich, smoky, meaty riot of flavors I just love.



Nicely med-rare throughout, with was perfect for a crowd. For myself, it could have been a little more rare, for my wife it was verging on overcooked.


I also heated up a Honey Baked Ham which we received earlier in the week as a gift. Not bad, but nothing I'm ever going to crave.


We rounded out the meal with lots of cookies, a pumpkin cake and Buche de Noel.


We came very close to having one more for dinner as my niece was due any second.


Hope all have a wonderful holiday season.

Enjoy,
Gary

My mom has pictures that I assume she'll post later, along with more memories of the dishes, but:

Christmas dinner was a 10.5 lb costco 5-rib roast, dry aged for 2 days in the fridge. Roasted at 300 until 110, it coasted to 118, and then at 500+convection until 123. I pulled it and it coasted again, after 25 minutes rest, to 131. Nearly perfectly cooked. Red wine sauce made with the leftover browned bits, ribs, and some oxtails that were also in the roasting pan.

My embarassment: I totally forgot to season the roast. I don't know how, but no salt, no pepper. Not before roasting, not after roasting. I don't get it.

Served with:

Saveur's horseradish cream, which was way better than I expected.
Cooks Illustrated snow peas + garlic + pine nuts
Waldorf salad
Stuffed potatoes
A spinach dish involving garlic, sour cream, and cream cheese (if memory serves).
Popovers

It was a pretty good meal. I wish I'd seasoned the roast, and I think I'd roast it at 250 next time and get it up to 115, coast to 120, and then let it cruise up to 123 in a 500+convection oven.

Obligatory photo:

You notice how small Ed's hands make the roast look. In fact it fed ten (well, two were babies) and fully half of it was left and, better yet, left at our house. We've been eating it in sandwiches, and, my favorite, sliced cold but with the good re-heated gravy on it and, my great invention, mashed potatoes to which the leftover horseradish cream was added.

We started the day as we traditionally do, with the Fisher family breakfast pizza. . I then used the left-over dough and some nice yellow peppers to make a focaccia appetizer for the benefit of those who missed breakfast.

Both the veggie dishes were Cooks' Illustrated recipes. Both were terrific.

gleam wrote:
Served with:

Saveur's horseradish cream, which was way better than I expected.

Is this the 1996 recipe? Thanks.

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:

gleam wrote:
Served with:

Saveur's horseradish cream, which was way better than I expected.

Is this the 1996 recipe? Thanks.

Bill/SFNM

Yep!.

1 1/3 cups heavy cream, 1tbsp sugar, 5tbsp grated horseradish.

gleam wrote:Yep!.

1 1/3 cups heavy cream, 1tbsp sugar, 5tbsp grated horseradish.

Ed,

Bill beat me to the question. The recipe reads quite deliciously.

I used a horseradish cream with my beef as well. Sour cream, grated horseradish, lemon juice, kosher salt, bit of white pepper, pinch of powdered red pepper. Sometimes I use creme fresh or crema.

Enjoy,
Gary

Ann Fisher wrote: We started the day as we traditionally do, with the Fisher family breakfast pizza.

Wow, those pizzas look great!

G Wiv wrote:Wow, those pizzas look great!

Ah shucks It's the convection oven and that great Antonius-inspired pestofrom this summer. I also used it in the mighty fine vegetable beef soup I made from the leftover ribs and oxtails.

gleam wrote:It was a pretty good meal. I wish I'd seasoned the roast, and I think I'd roast it at 250 next time and get it up to 115, coast to 120, and then let it cruise up to 123 in a 500+convection oven.

In your initial roast, was that convection or non-convection? Was the 500 degree shot for browning?

I did the Cook's Illustrated method of dry aging for 5 days, then I removed the bones, browned the surfaces (except where the bones were), re-attached the bones, then roasted it at 250 until we had a temperature of 125.

I had everything to make the horseradish cream, then simply forgot to make it. Fortunately, I didn't forget the turnovers.

Regards,

The initial roast was mostly non-convection, although I think the first 30 minutes were convection before I changed my mind. The final shot at 500 was indeed for browning, although the roast was plenty browned. But I do like a bit of a crust on the outside of the meat, which this roast had.

G Wiv wrote:

Ann Fisher wrote: We started the day as we traditionally do, with the Fisher family breakfast pizza.

Wow, those pizzas look great!

With only a few days left I'm voting for that as understatement of the year.

Today's NY Times has this article about cooking a prime rib for New Years. He approves of low and slow, but is planning to do his high and fast anyway.

Ann Fisher wrote:Today's NY Times has this article about cooking a prime rib for New Years. He approves of low and slow, but is planning to do his high and fast anyway.

He dumped Worcestershire, ketchup and Tabasco in a pan and let it reduce until it smelled meaty and sweet. It was a flashback to his Smith & Wollensky days, when he concocted some popular bottled sauces.

He called this one Worchestobascetch.

Sounds like homemade A1....

He couldn't make a bordelaise?