Christmas Dinner! Om nom nom.
Dec. 26th, 2010 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amalnahurriyeh in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnomLast night's Christmas dinner went off pretty successfully, so I thought I'd share the recipes. Sorry, I forgot to take pics. We're a little constrained, because our group contained a vegetarian (me) and a celiac (my wife), so there had to be accomodations.
Our menu was:
Roast Beef:
I am not a cooker of meat, generally, so this one was pretty hacked together. I made a mustard sauce from the Joy of Cooking, which was 1/2 cup dijon mustard, 2 tbsp white wine, a clove of garlic, a tbsp of chopped fresh thyme, and a 1/2 tsp of powdered ginger. (I doubled the recipe.) Then I smeared half of it all over the meat, let it marinate a few hours, and roasted it in a pan with a V-rack, with chopped parsnips and some veggie broth underneath. The meat-eaters were contented. The parsnips burned a little because I didn't put enough liquid in, but those who ate them said they were delicious, and tasted like parsnips, beef, and mustard. Mmm. I put out the extra sauce on the table for spreading on the meat and eating with the green beans.
Stuffing Risotto:
Rather than making gluten-free bread to make stuffing with, I duplicated the flavors in a risotto, which is dead easy to make.
Sautee the onions, celery, garlic, and herbs in lots of butter, well-salted, at medium heat. Eventually, it will smell like stuffing, by which I mean the onions will get sweet smelling but will not brown, the celery will be aromatic, and the herbs blend together. When the veggies are all cooked, add the drained chickpeas and cook another few minutes. If you can't see visible butter in the bottom of the pan when you scrape the veggies off to the side, add more. Once it's melted, add the rice, and stir until the rice is totally coated in melted butter and fully mixed with the veggies. At this point, start adding the veggie broth, say, a cup at a time to start with, a half-cup at a time as you continue. Cook, stirring regularly (the rule is "constantly," but I generally mean "stir when I am not doing another important thing that prevents something else from burning, at least once every 2 minutes"), until the rice has absorbed all the broth. Then, add more broth. When you run out of veggie broth, use the chickpea cooking liquid if you cooked them yourself. (Don't use the gross stuff in the can.) If you need more liquid, use water. If your liquids can be warm when they go in the pan, it's better. Keep cooking until the rice is cooked through and there is no visible liquid in the pan. Stir in the pecans just before the liquid is all gone. If it doesn't taste enough like stuffing, add more poultry seasoning.
Sweet Potatoes:
This was based on a recipe for sweet potato gratin with smoked gouda and chipotles. I couldn't handle that much dairy in one place, plus many of my family members don't like heat, so this gave me some flexibility. I boiled big chunks of sweet potatoes (they filled a 3qt container) until they were soft, and then mashed them with about 4tbsp of butter and some salt. Then I added about half a pound of grated smoked gouda, while the potatoes were still hot, so the cheese melted and blended in. I then added some smoked sweet paprika. After that I just kept it warm in the oven. To get the heat available for those (like me!) who wanted it, I made a chipotle goat crema. First, I strained a cup of plain goat's milk yogurt, using a one-cup coffee maker thing and a coffee filter over a little bowl. I only strained it for about half an hour, so it was still pretty loose. Then I chopped up two chipotles in adobo and stirred them in, and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge. This produced a lovely, creamy, smoky, hot condiment, which my brother assured me was good on the meat as well as the potatoes. The potatoes were great without the crema, but it was super delicious as well.
Green beans:
Er, I sauteed them in butter. That's all. They were delicious.
Fruitcake Bread Pudding:
Accidental dessert! I had made a boiled fruitcake last week in a Christmas tree pan, and was going to serve it. But when I got it out of the cupboard, I discovered that it had gone super stale, and was basically inedible. So I put it back in its pan (it had shrunk about a quarter inch away on every side) and poured a custard made from 1 cup half-and-half, 1 egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and a teaspoon each cinnamon, cardamom, and powdered ginger (the spices in the fruitcake). I let it soak for a few hours and then baked it for 1/3 hour at 350F. The cake swelled up to the size of the pan, and was soft and decadant when served with vanilla whipped cream.
I don't have the fruitcake recipe on this computer, but I'd be happy to post it if desired: it's got equal parts dried fruit and flour, to give you an idea of what it's like, and no citrons or anything like that.
Clafoutis:
I had made a coconut-cherry-chocolate trifle for Thanksgiving dessert, and a repeat of that flavor profile was requested. So I put 10 oz of dark sweet cherries (bought frozen, thawed and drained) in the bottom of a large pie dish, added chopped 65% dark chocolate and a fistful of coconut, and poured a standard clafoutis batter, with an added cup-and-a-half of coconut, over it. This was my first clafoutis, and I am not sure it was a success. It was very much more cake-like than custard-like; I think the coconut may have made it too dry, and I should have subbed out some of the flour. But my wife was all about it. I will probably experiment with clafoutis again, but maybe not soon.
Our menu was:
- Roast beef with mustard sauce and parsnips
- Stuffing risotto
- Mashed sweet potatoes with smoked gouda and chipotle goat crema
- Green beans sauteed in butter
- Dessert: Fruitcake bread pudding and chocolate-cherry-coconut clafouti
Roast Beef:
I am not a cooker of meat, generally, so this one was pretty hacked together. I made a mustard sauce from the Joy of Cooking, which was 1/2 cup dijon mustard, 2 tbsp white wine, a clove of garlic, a tbsp of chopped fresh thyme, and a 1/2 tsp of powdered ginger. (I doubled the recipe.) Then I smeared half of it all over the meat, let it marinate a few hours, and roasted it in a pan with a V-rack, with chopped parsnips and some veggie broth underneath. The meat-eaters were contented. The parsnips burned a little because I didn't put enough liquid in, but those who ate them said they were delicious, and tasted like parsnips, beef, and mustard. Mmm. I put out the extra sauce on the table for spreading on the meat and eating with the green beans.
Stuffing Risotto:
Rather than making gluten-free bread to make stuffing with, I duplicated the flavors in a risotto, which is dead easy to make.
Ingredients:
Equal parts diced onion and celery, including the celery greens (I used about 2 onions, and then the same volume of celery; it fit perfectly in a 1-qt yogurt container)
3 cloves garlic
About 2 tbsp chopped sage
About 1 tbsp chopped thyme
About 1tbsp "poultry seasoning," plus more (poultry seasoning contains sage, marjoram, thyme, and some other assorted seasonings)
INFINITY BUTTER (er, probably about 6 tablespoons?)
2 cups rice
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (with reserved broth if you cooked them yourself)
1 qt vegetable broth (or more if you've got it; I only had one box)
1 cup pecans
Sautee the onions, celery, garlic, and herbs in lots of butter, well-salted, at medium heat. Eventually, it will smell like stuffing, by which I mean the onions will get sweet smelling but will not brown, the celery will be aromatic, and the herbs blend together. When the veggies are all cooked, add the drained chickpeas and cook another few minutes. If you can't see visible butter in the bottom of the pan when you scrape the veggies off to the side, add more. Once it's melted, add the rice, and stir until the rice is totally coated in melted butter and fully mixed with the veggies. At this point, start adding the veggie broth, say, a cup at a time to start with, a half-cup at a time as you continue. Cook, stirring regularly (the rule is "constantly," but I generally mean "stir when I am not doing another important thing that prevents something else from burning, at least once every 2 minutes"), until the rice has absorbed all the broth. Then, add more broth. When you run out of veggie broth, use the chickpea cooking liquid if you cooked them yourself. (Don't use the gross stuff in the can.) If you need more liquid, use water. If your liquids can be warm when they go in the pan, it's better. Keep cooking until the rice is cooked through and there is no visible liquid in the pan. Stir in the pecans just before the liquid is all gone. If it doesn't taste enough like stuffing, add more poultry seasoning.
Sweet Potatoes:
This was based on a recipe for sweet potato gratin with smoked gouda and chipotles. I couldn't handle that much dairy in one place, plus many of my family members don't like heat, so this gave me some flexibility. I boiled big chunks of sweet potatoes (they filled a 3qt container) until they were soft, and then mashed them with about 4tbsp of butter and some salt. Then I added about half a pound of grated smoked gouda, while the potatoes were still hot, so the cheese melted and blended in. I then added some smoked sweet paprika. After that I just kept it warm in the oven. To get the heat available for those (like me!) who wanted it, I made a chipotle goat crema. First, I strained a cup of plain goat's milk yogurt, using a one-cup coffee maker thing and a coffee filter over a little bowl. I only strained it for about half an hour, so it was still pretty loose. Then I chopped up two chipotles in adobo and stirred them in, and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge. This produced a lovely, creamy, smoky, hot condiment, which my brother assured me was good on the meat as well as the potatoes. The potatoes were great without the crema, but it was super delicious as well.
Green beans:
Er, I sauteed them in butter. That's all. They were delicious.
Fruitcake Bread Pudding:
Accidental dessert! I had made a boiled fruitcake last week in a Christmas tree pan, and was going to serve it. But when I got it out of the cupboard, I discovered that it had gone super stale, and was basically inedible. So I put it back in its pan (it had shrunk about a quarter inch away on every side) and poured a custard made from 1 cup half-and-half, 1 egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and a teaspoon each cinnamon, cardamom, and powdered ginger (the spices in the fruitcake). I let it soak for a few hours and then baked it for 1/3 hour at 350F. The cake swelled up to the size of the pan, and was soft and decadant when served with vanilla whipped cream.
I don't have the fruitcake recipe on this computer, but I'd be happy to post it if desired: it's got equal parts dried fruit and flour, to give you an idea of what it's like, and no citrons or anything like that.
Clafoutis:
I had made a coconut-cherry-chocolate trifle for Thanksgiving dessert, and a repeat of that flavor profile was requested. So I put 10 oz of dark sweet cherries (bought frozen, thawed and drained) in the bottom of a large pie dish, added chopped 65% dark chocolate and a fistful of coconut, and poured a standard clafoutis batter, with an added cup-and-a-half of coconut, over it. This was my first clafoutis, and I am not sure it was a success. It was very much more cake-like than custard-like; I think the coconut may have made it too dry, and I should have subbed out some of the flour. But my wife was all about it. I will probably experiment with clafoutis again, but maybe not soon.