Dinner! 2009

[Blether]

Beautiful, as always, prawncrackers. Happy Christmas

[robirdstx]

Roast Goose with Apple-Prune Sauce - based on the recipe in Cooking At Home with The CIA.

[jsmeeker]

Christmas Dinner 2009

Prime rib, twice baked potatoes, carrots, and a spinach gratin

[judiu]

Negi (leek) gratin:

Yesterday, Fettucine with chicken liver ragu:

Blether, I would LOVE a recipe for those leeks, they look wonderful! TIA

[Blether]

Hi, judiu. It's very simple, really.

Negi / Leek gratin

Make a bechamel (about a British pint ?), removing the bay leaf when the sauce has thickened.

While the bechamel simmers for 5-10 minutes, cut the negi (4 or 5) on the bias, sprinkle with salt and in the baking dish, covered with plastic wrap, zap them for, oh... 5 or 6 minutes at high power - test for doneness with a skewer or fork.

Add grated cheese (in my case, some fresh parmesan and mature cheddar) to the bechamel, season with salt & pepper.

Drain any water from the leeks, and mix them in a bowl with the bechamel. Return to the baking dish and bake at 200C till nicely browned - 25 minutes in this case.

I more often make a smaller portion, and just pour the cheese sauce over the zapped leeks in the baking dish. This was a bigger quantity, so I wanted to mix it up well.

[percyn]

Had Christmas dinner at my Aunt's house. Didn't have time to take a pic of the entire menu, which included Honey Baked (Heavenly) Ham, Aged Prime Rib cooked sous vide, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, mac & cheese, biscuits and other items I am probably forgetting.

Here is a pic of the Prime (standing) Rib Roast which I contributed. I decided to cook it sous vide at 130F for 2.5 hrs first, before searing it and warming it up in the oven. Turned out great rosy pink throughout, except that those who were not familiar with sous vide were afraid to eat it as it looked undercooked, so for them I seared the edged in a roasting pan.

[gfweb]

Xmas dinner...Filet mignon, apple and allspice braised red cabbage, potatoes au gratin, brussels sprouts/bacon/onion gratin, asparagus and cherry tomatoes.

[Dejah]

Why do I always forget to take pictures on memorable dinners?

Extended family (23) Boxing Day (Canadian/Bristich thing): 7-rib AAA prime rib done in Fine Cooking herb-salt-crusted standing rib roast with morel sauce. Incredibly flavourful, succulent, tender. Hubby deemed this to be the best roast I've ever made in our 44 years of Xmases. It was great with Yorkshire puddings. I also made the traditional English trifle.

My s-i-l and her daughters contributed scalloped potatoes, brussel sprouts in bacon, thyme,and maple syrup, sweet potatoe - marshmellow casserol, Chinese cucumber salad, baby carrots, sweet & sour beets, steamed rice, and 3 other desserts: lingonberry-raspberry puree-pomogranite shooters, "creamsicles", and tapioca and yogurt with whipped strawberry jello topping.

There were too many wines to remember...

on the 23rd, I made Nigella's Aromatic lamb shanks with red lentils. Xmas eve was my first brined turkey. I was happy with the way it turned out. Xmas day, I made maple syrup-brined boneless pork rib roasts. Very good also - tender, juicy.

Today was leftover-turkey pot pie with puff pastry.

In our primarily Chinese family, the only Chinese food served was watercress soup, rice and spicy cucumber salad. I couldn't post in the "Chinese food for Christmas Dinner" thread.

[suzilightning]

at the in-laws for christmas and made a ham with ginger ale/orange marmalade/brown sugar glaze, german potato salad, sage honey glazed carrots and green beans almondine.

brought home the bone to make soup to send up to my mother-in-law but before then when i got home from work on sunday night i dragged johnnybird into the kitchen to help me. i had him chop up some of the ham that was left on the bone and grate up some whiskey cheddar as well as a few other miscellaneous pieces of cheddars that were in the fridge. while he did that i thinly sliced some red bliss and idaho potatoes and par-cooked them in some milk that i had floated a bay leaf in. potatoes, ham, cheese - repeat and cover with the poaching milk. 350 oven for about 450 minutes and casserole.

off for 3 days after tonight so doing some planning for the long weekend meals:

pork shnitzel with german potato salad and green beans

matloaf, olive oil mashed potatoes and either peas or carrots

chicken parm with penne

also need to make the soup and some tomato sauce

we celebrate our christmas on new year's eve so i'm thinking just noshes - a nice cocktail, champagne natch, pigs in a blanket, shrimp, sweet and sour mini meatballs, some roaring 40's or rogue blue with pears, some cheddar and apple, chocolates for dessert...then the loot!

[Kim Shook]

djyee – that duck looks so lovely and delicious!

Prawn – as always, your food is awe-inspiring and beautiful. The ostrich burger, the sweet and sour pork, the gorgeous pigeon!

David – love the calvados chicken – thanks for posting the recipe, too!

Jeff – OMG – that perfect roast beast !

Dinner with my parents on Sunday:

green salad w/ mango, cukes and lime vinaigrette

Marlene’s balsamic glazed pork chops – everyone loved these, Marlene!

Marlene’s glazed carrots. Incredible – even I liked these and I am NOT a cooked carrot fan!

Cornbread

[djyee100]

Wonderful holiday dinners, everyone.

JMahl, I enjoyed the pix of your lovely Chanukah table and office party. thanks!

Deensiebat, I never heard of Marmitako. Sounds delicious, & I want to try it.

Kim, that cornbread looks perfect.

A down-home dinner here, Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, Cantonese Style. This dish was a treat when I was growing up. At Xmas, my parents served it with lobster. My father took the family to a seafood wholesaler he knew and we bought these gigantic lobsters for the holiday dinner. This was New England in the 1960s, folks, when gigantic lobsters were still around, at a price within reach!

[ambra]

That shrimp with lobster sauce looks amazing! Care to share the recipe?

[CDRFloppingham]

We're having a simple NYE in tonight but tomorrow, I'm making the traditional turkey dinner for NYD.

I've never made it before. This time it's just for two of us so I bought a turkey breast and will roast that. Fixings will include: cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, candied yams, green bean casserole. Since I don't have a full carcass, I bought wings, roasted the, and am making turkey stock now.

I'm not doing dessert...probably left over panna cotta or some sugar cookies my fiance made.

[Chris Hennes]

NOTE FROM MANAGEMENT: This topic is continued in Dinner! 2010