Christmas Dinner Menu Planning: The Topic

[Qwerty]

One thing that kind of jumped out at me while reading this thread is the mixture of Asian influenced dishes with other, I dunno, more traditional dishes. Did you consider just sticking with one theme or style and playing that out? Just seems like it might be kind of jarring to be served a bunch of asian amuse, then western style course, then more asian, then western.

Of course, sounds like you are just wanting to experiment and have fun, you are amongst friends, so it's not like a formal tasting menu meal.

The menu reads nice and should be fabulous.

For the asparagus dish, have you considered an orange peel puree? Supreme oranges, take the cut peels (pith and all), start with cold water, bring to a boil, strain, repeat, strain, then boil it for a few minutes in simple syrup. Strain the syrup and reserve, then puree in a blender with some of the simple syrup--just enough for it to become a smooth puree. Add a pinch of salt, and maybe a little finishing evoo for sheen. It may be a little bitter, but the orange flavor is nice and should pair with the other components. Candied zest would be nice as well. Also, are you dressing the asparagus at all? Might think of a very light coating of something to round out some of the flavors, a nice citrus vin--a little rice wine vin, something like that.

For the shrimp...maybe serve them in a crisp fried wonton skin "shell?" Make a little cup out of the skins, cool, then fill. Make them as large or as small as you like, plus the other things will fit nicely inside. Would also add a pleasing fatty/fried crunch.

For the egg dish, I might forego the maple syrup...or present it in another way. Maybe just do a light candy on the smoked almonds (coat the nuts in maple syrup, brown and cool..I'm sure you know) and get your sweetness from that. The almonds will be nice too, smoky, salty, sweet. I might have the sauce be the broken yolk. You can break it just before serving, and let the yolk run down and sauce the dish. I think brioce would be fine, but a nice loaf of bread would be great too. I like the idea of the duck fat, and would tie in with the duck ham. Why not do the ham both ways? Serve the regular sandwiched, then maybe fry a fine julienne of the ham and "teepee" it on top of the dish. 2 textures, same product. Freeze pieces of the ham before you julienne, it will make it easier.

I think the lobster dish sounds nice. Why skewer it? Seems uneccesary to me. Plus, it might get black in the fryer, and you'd have to hold each one, etc, logistically it may be off. Also it seems like the lobster should be served with something...maybe like a nice bitter, lightly dressed salad to contrast with the richness from the tempura and sauces. A little arugula or something similar may work well, and the green would present nicely. How do you plan on getting the raw meat out of the shell? Might be tricky...you could do the old TK thing and just pour the boiling water over the lobster, let em sit for a min, and at that point you should be able to crack and remove the meat without it being cooked too far. Just do it while they are hot or the fat could congeal and make it tricky again to pull out. If you have done or have a technique for getting raw meat out I would like to hear it...I don't know how.

The soup sounds good...have you thought about placement? IMO, soups should come earlier. Just a thought. Also, I don't think that oil would sink to the bottome, more than likely it will float of top, just like grease in a sauce or soup. If you are worried about seeing the flavored oil on top of a clear broth, that may be a probem. You could always lightly whip some cream, put a dollop in the soup, swirl it in and use that to drizzle the oil on.

The last course with the sausages sounds good. Mashedpotatoes? Here's how I do em...

Whole, washed Yukon gold (or russet, whatever) potatoes, unpeeled

cover the potatoes with cold water, add a lot of salt, bring to a simmer, and cook until tender. Meanwhile, heat up a mixture of 1/2 milk and 1/2 cream (or just cream, or half and half, whatever you want)Drain, but leave about an inch of hot water in the bottom of the pot (this will keep them hot while you peel), peel with a pairing knife, and put the potatoes directly into a ricer.

Rice the potatoes, add the hot cream, a little at a time, along with whole, cold, diced butter, salt, and pepper if you want (I don't use pepper), until desired richness/texture is reached. Use a lot of salt, and since it's a holiday use a lot of butter too.

Keep warm and enjoy.

Why don't I peel? The peel protects the potato from getting waterlogged and saturated, and then can lead to dilution of flavor and a wetter, runnier texture. So you get a more potato"y" potato puree.

Hope that helps.

No desert? I say make the guests bring something, lol, looks like you will be really busy in the kitchen.

Edited December 17, 2006 by Qwerty (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks Shalmanese.

Hrmm... This is rather a different approach but what about serving them with a soft boiled egg and have "asparagus & ham soldiers". You could drop just a tiny bit of minced orange peel into the egg before serving. I forget whether you have access to an immersion circulator but if you just keep the eggs in there at temp, this should be an easy dish to make.

No immersion circulator, I'm afraid. Since this is an amuse (and since these two amuses are already two bites instead of one bite each), I want to keep the dish simple. I'm also already afraid that this is going to be egg-centric!

I would actually make some noodles out of the cucumbers and make a nest to place the shrimp in. You mentioned you had a hobart slicer. Peel & cut each cucumber in half, scoop out the seeds and then slice them thinly. You can then marinate them in something to get some added flavour. You won't get that crunch you get from sliced cucumber but I guess you could put another layer below to get some more texture. A shrimp chip may work but it may overwhelm everything else.

Cucumber noodles are a great idea, and I can salt, drain, and squeeze them to get that pickly crunch and a bit of added salt. The trick here is going to be what, if any, flavors to impart on the cucumber. I'm leaning toward staying out of the way of those sweet shrimp....

BryanZ came up with a really good way of splitting eggshells. I can't remember what it is though, hopefully he'll pop in. I guess you would want a finely textured, neutral bread for this. I don't see what's wrong with just a standard, good quality white bread. Fried in duck fat or butter would be ideal.

Fried in duck fat: oh yes....

If this is the post you were thinking of, then I believe Bryan's technique is for getting sous vide eggs out of their shell. This is a bit different, I think: I want to retain the shape of the shell below about a 1/2" cap.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks Susan. I'll fiddle with the cucumber idea below, but I think I can get the crunch from the noodles pretty easily. Not surprised you agree about the duck fat.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks for the stack of ideas, Qwerty!

It's true that there are some Asian techniques in there -- and a few flavors -- and stupid fusion makes me ralph. However, each of these decisions is motivated by a specific urge: with the shrimp, something that will accentuate the sweetness; the asparagus is intended to showcase the lop yuk; the lobster tempura isn't really an Asian dish in any way save the fry method, which seems best to provide some crunch but be sufficiently light (a beer batter, for example, would overpower just about everything).

That is to say: this isn't merely an attempt to experiment and have fun. I really do want to have dishes that have integrity, a menu that progresses through textures and flavors, etc. So if there are components that seem jarringly fused, I'd be very interested to know what your specific concerns are!

For the asparagus dish, have you considered an orange peel puree?

I had, and took a pass on it, since that would be a bit too much orange. Again, the idea here is to put the lop yuk at the forefront. That's why I'm not dressing the asparagus at all.

For the shrimp...maybe serve them in a crisp fried wonton skin "shell?"

Interesting idea, creating the plate with food somehow, but I don't think it'd work in this case. Since the shrimp are so delicate, I think that a fried wonton skin would threaten to overpower them. (Actually, given your concerns above, I was surprised to see a wonton skin suggestion!)

For the egg dish, I might forego the maple syrup...or present it in another way. Maybe just do a light candy on the smoked almonds (coat the nuts in maple syrup, brown and cool..I'm sure you know) and get your sweetness from that. The almonds will be nice too, smoky, salty, sweet. I might have the sauce be the broken yolk. You can break it just before serving, and let the yolk run down and sauce the dish. I think brioce would be fine, but a nice loaf of bread would be great too. I like the idea of the duck fat, and would tie in with the duck ham.

Great ideas. I definitely want the maple flavor in there, and your idea about making a candy on the nuts would work very well. Letting the yolk be the sauce is also smart -- I mean, it's gonna be unless I screw up.

Why not do the ham both ways? Serve the regular sandwiched, then maybe fry a fine julienne of the ham and "teepee" it on top of the dish. 2 textures, same product. 

Two textures is a good thought. I'm not sure what you mean by "sandwiched": can you say more?

I think the lobster dish sounds nice. Why skewer it?

Just to hold its shape in the fryer. It won't be skewered on the plate; sorry I wasn't clear.

Seems uneccesary to me. Plus, it might get black in the fryer, and you'd have to hold each one, etc, logistically it may be off. Also it seems like the lobster should be served with something...maybe like a nice bitter, lightly dressed salad to contrast with the richness from the tempura and sauces. A little arugula or something similar may work well, and the green would present nicely.

Another great idea -- one that picks up on the lettuce for a lobster roll, btw. I'm a bit concerned about having too much oil on this plate, though, so the dressing would be tricky; perhaps the arugula can be undressed with enough of the two sauces that they can be used by each diner to dress the salad?

How do you plan on getting the raw meat out of the shell? Might be tricky...you could do the old TK thing and just pour the boiling water over the lobster, let em sit for a min, and at that point you should be able to crack and remove the meat without it being cooked too far.

You've got it right there. The method I use for getting meat in chunks is just to kill the lobsters and patiently pry it out while grimacing as the meat twitches. But to get it out whole I use this boiling water trick.

The soup sounds good...have you thought about placement? IMO, soups should come earlier. Just a thought.

I wondered about that, too. I think in terms of flavor and wine progression it fits there, but, of course, in a traditionally coursed meal it should come earlier. Not sure....

No desert? I say make the guests bring something, lol, looks like you will be really busy in the kitchen.

My better half is the baker in the house. I may do a sorbet at meal's end, or she may, but, in any case, dessert is when I get to collapse!

[jackal10]

Amuse 1:

Lop yuk and asparagus bundles

Asparagus is out of season. Something else to go with the Lop yuk? Melon maybe, oysters *Angels on horseback", or mi cuit prunes ("devils on horseback")...

Amuse 2:

Maine shrimp, cucumber, Thai gremolata

Chinese soup spoons

Course 1:

Ham and eggs with toast

Too close to amuse 1? And do you really want palate numbing cocktail here?

Course 2:

Lobster tempura with two sauces

Sounds good, and if you use a lightly fried tempura batter you don't overcook the lobster. Some salad would make the lobster go further.

An Alsace, even a Gewurztraminer would be nice.

Course 3:

Mushroom noodle soup

I think your cylindrical mushrooms are ceps.

The white wine (Gewurztraminer?) will carry through for this course.

For plating consider serving the garnishes only plated in the soup plate, with the soup either in individual jugs or poured at the table.

Course 4:

Roasted Toulouse sausage and grapes, mashed potatoes

Nice. More winter vegetables? ,

For example roast shallots, parsnips, dried beans...

What follows? for example a winter sorbet, then traditional Xmas pudding?

Edited December 17, 2006 by jackal10 (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Hi Jack -- thanks!

Asparagus is out of season. Something else to go with the Lop yuk? Melon maybe, oysters *Angels on horseback", or mi cuit prunes ("devils on horseback")...

Unfortunately, I can't do melon or oysters, both of which I prefer to the asparagus, due to diner restrictions. The prunes, however, are intriguing.

Amuse 2:

Maine shrimp, cucumber, Thai gremolata

Chinese soup spoons

They're a little too small for these shrimp, I'm afraid.

Course 1:

Ham and eggs with toast

Too close to amuse 1? And do you really want palate numbing cocktail here?

I had worried about placement of this in re the lop yuk, yes. Perhaps I should swap this with the soup? And the cocktail works so perfectly I'm loathe to give it up. Perhaps it should just start the meal and lead into the first amuse, which would also work: the flavors in the Red Hook pick up on the cured pork and duck both....

Sounds good, and if you use a lightly fried tempura batter you don't overcook the lobster. Some salad would make the lobster go further.

An Alsace, even a Gewurztraminer would be nice.

Thanks. Any particular wine recommendations to hunt down?

I think your cylindrical mushrooms are ceps.

They're massive ceps, then, bigger than any ceps I've ever seen. Have you seen any like this, Jack?

The white wine (Gewurztraminer?)  will carry through for this course.

Excellent....

For plating consider serving the garnishes only plated in the soup plate, with the soup either in individual jugs or poured at the table.

Poured at table: that's perfect. Great idea.

Nice.  More winter vegetables? ,

For example roast shallots, parsnips, dried beans...

I'm fearful of too much starch here at the end -- can't steal the fire from the house baker!

[snowangel]

Chris, for some great mashed potato advice, don't forget about jackal10's ECI Potato Course

[Chufi]

Course 3:

Mushroom noodle soup

The other find involves unnamed cylindrical mushrooms from my local Chinese market that are about 3" in diameter and about 6-8" long. I'd love to know the name of these things and can't find anyone or anything that knows; if you have a clue (photos to aid soon), please do share it. These mushrooms have a remarkably firm texture when cooked, and I've been experimenting with cutting them into long, thin "noodles."

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chris, do they look like this?

there was some discussion about those in the Umbria thread in October. Trumpet royale mushrooms, I think the concensus was...

[jackal10]

I've seen some ceps this year with very large stems and small tops.

I think roast shallots and home made baked beans would go well with the sausage, without overloading the carbs.

For Alsace look for Rolly Gassmann (my favourite), or Zind Humbrecht, which is fairly widely distributed. You may need to go to $20, and some of the single vinyard wines will be more. Some of the Edelzwicker (mixed grape variety) wines, such as Rolly Gassmann's Terroirs des Chateau Forts are cheap and delicious, but I think not available in the US.

[Chris Amirault]

Chris, for some great mashed potato advice, don't forget about jackal10's ECI Potato Course

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Yeah, that's the technique that's been driving me batty for over a year! I'm hellbent to get it right.

chris, do they look like this?

there was some discussion about those in the Umbria thread in October. Trumpet royale mushrooms, I think the concensus was...

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Them's the ones! THANKS!!

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks for the wine specifics, Jack.

I think roast shallots and home made baked beans would go well with the sausage, without overloading the carbs.

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The shallots would play very nicely with the grapes, too.....

[Chris Amirault]

Next draft of courses:

Starting cocktail: Red Hook

Amuse 1: Lop yuk and asparagus/prune bundles

Amuse 2: Maine shrimp, cucumber noodles, Thai gremolata

Course 1: Mushroom noodle soup

Course 2: Lobster tempura with arugula and two sauces

Course 3: Ham and eggs with toast

Course 4: Roasted Toulouse sausage, shallots, and grapes, mashed potatoes

I'm drawn to the mi cuit prune idea, but I'm unlikely to find any out of the bag this week. Could I gently and partly reconstitute some prunes somehow?

As for wine, I'm going to take Jack's ideas to my wine merchant for courses 1 and 2; I'm still hoping for ideas on 3 and 4. Might they also share?

Made the sausages today.

[Live It Up]

The mushroom pic that Chufi linked to are what I have seen called king oyster mushrooms. Probably just regional variations in the name. Also, I noticed you moved the cocktail to the beginning of the meal, but I just wanted to mention that I find the idea of drinking out of an eggshell very unappealing. Otherwise your menu sounds great. I'm jealous of your guests.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks -- and I think the egg shell glass idea has been left behind with the move of the cocktail.

[jackal10]

Use ordinary stoned prunes. The mi cuit was just fancification

Maybe move Amuse 2 to after the soup.

For wine with courses 3 and 4 I'd think you want a hefty red.

Lots of choices

Jovals Liquors in West Warwick carry Zind Humbrecht, but at around $30

While you are there you could pick up some Ridge Zin, or they have according to their web site the superb 2000 CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE (Parker 92) , a real bargain at $28, and ideal for courses 3 and 4.

Vickers Liquors in Newport also carry them, as well as Ridge Lytton Springs Zin 2002 (Parker 93), but at a dollar more, Either will knock your socks off.

[Chris Amirault]

Did a little more research (thanks, Jack) and then went out to Joyal's Liquors (thanks, again, Jack -- and click here for a discussion), where I bought the E. Guigal Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2000 and the Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim 2003, both a bit out of my price range so I only got a bottle each. Given the drinking habits of my guests, that should work: two small glasses for each of four people (the fifth is nine years old) per bottle.

On the way back, I stopped at the Chinese market and got some cryovacked water chestnuts and a king oyster/royal trumpet mushroom from last week's delivery to do a bit of experimenting. If the water chestnuts are good (always a dicey proposition even when fresh), I'll do the aromatic lop yuk wrap with one of those and the plain lop yuk wrap with the prune. Still thinking about trying out those orange rind ties.

[Chris Amirault]

Some brief experiment results. Carefully peeled orange zest, sliced into thin laces, is pliable enough to wrap the lop yuk bundles. The cryovacked water chestnuts were awful, bitter and slightly fermented. Prunes only, it seems.

In addition, the lop yuk isn't as salty as I had expected. So I'm leaning toward stuffing the prunes with slivers dried tangerine rind, wrapping them with the lop yuk, and dusting them with some sort of powdered salt -- perhaps some five spice and a bit of ground tangerine rind. Then the orange rind laces.

[s_sevilla]

Consider poaching the shrimp very gently in some aromatic EVOO of your choice. You'll want to retain the texture and sweetness of the shrimp, with just a hint of the olive oil in the background.

[Shalmanese]

Some brief experiment results. Carefully peeled orange zest, sliced into thin laces, is pliable enough to wrap the lop yuk bundles. The cryovacked water chestnuts were awful, bitter and slightly fermented. Prunes only, it seems.

In addition, the lop yuk isn't as salty as I had expected. So I'm leaning toward stuffing the prunes with slivers dried tangerine rind, wrapping them with the lop yuk, and dusting them with some sort of powdered salt -- perhaps some five spice and a bit of ground tangerine rind. Then the orange rind laces.

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Since you're using lop yuk, you might try the traditional chinese seasoned salt which, IIRC is 2:1:1 Salt/Sichuan Peppercorn/Black Pepper. You need to provide another fairly thin liquid to dip it in as well. You first dip it into the liquid just enough to wet the food and then give it a quick brush through the salt to get a fine coating. Everything needs to be finely ground for this to work so a spice grider is probably neccesary.

[Chris Amirault]

Those are two great ideas. I'm definitely going for the seasoned salt (with perhaps a bit of the tangerine rind ground in). I fear that the little sweet shrimp may be overwhelmed by the oil, but I'll give it a try to see.

[Chris Amirault]

Final draft of courses. I've turned the bundles into canapés with the cocktails and fiddled a bit with the other elements:

• Red Hook Cocktails
  Lop yuk and prune bundles
  Amuse: Maine shrimp with cucumber noodles and Thai gremolata
  Course 1: Mushroom noodle soup
  Course 2: Lobster tempura with arugula (pea pod leaves?) and two sauces
  Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim 2003
  Course 3: Ham and eggs on toast
  Course 4: Roasted Toulouse sausage, shallots, and grapes with spinach and mashed potatoes
  E. Guigal Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2000
  

A few notes. I've prepped the ham and lop yuk (click and click respectively) and realized that I wanted to cook up both of them. In particular, I sliced up one of the duck breasts very thinly and the other (pictured) I've cut into lardons to crisp up and serve with the non-cooked slices. I also tried out the lop yuk with the prunes, and the prunes in the non-cooked bundles overwhelm the lop yuk -- and the texture is very uniform. So I think I'm going to crisp up the lop yuk bundles briefly before service, which I found this morning brings to the fore the porky goodness of the lop yuk. Also, I'll find out today whether I'll have a good supply of pea pod leaves to substitute in for the greens on the lobster plate.

Finally, I found some very simple and cheap square plates at Crate and Barrel, which will solve the rest of my plate problems. I still will have, no doubt, plating problems, so I've read again the great eGCI course on plating and presentation.

[wattacetti]

So, as per Chris' request and based on comments throughout for plating suggestions, I present the following two photos:

This was done for a dinner earlier this year. The original idea was to have a shrimp and cucumber salad as one of the starters; I would blanch the shrimp and plate in a cucumber noodle nest with some micro-beet. That got changed after getting a request to include bacon somewhere on the menu.

So, the shrimp became an amuse-bouche. The cucumber noodles were marinated quickly in ponzu and twirled to serve as the "nigiri" base. Shrimp were glazed with soy and mirin before a quick pass with the blow torch.

This could assist in getting around the small bowl issue since you could be serving two or three of the things in a relatively compact area.

[Chris Amirault]

It's an excellent idea, I must say! Twirling them into that shape gets around one of the noodle problems that I've been wondering about. The other one is whether or not I want to have two vegetable noodles in the same meal....

No arugula to be found, but I found some remarkable Chinese celery just now and the leaves will be perfect as the green for the lobster. (Celery is, of course, one of the staple extenders in lobster salad.)

[Chris Amirault]

Up for more prep today. Last night after a painstaking hour of careful slicing I had the mushroom noodles all set. Here they are after a quick simmer in chicken stock that I'll use later in the soup:

More udon than angel hair, but that's ok, I think. Also got the lop yuk bundles done.

[tammylc]

Finally, I found some very simple and cheap square plates at Crate and Barrel, which will solve the rest of my plate problems. I still will have, no doubt, plating problems,  so I've read again the great eGCI course on plating and presentation.

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Those are good prices on square plates. Of course, even the largest is only 8 inch square, and I'd prefer a 10 inch plate for an entree, but for the price!

My plate find was small rectangular plates and shallow oval bowls for $1 apiece at the Dollar Store near me! They're not big enough for much more than single bite courses, but much easier for me to justify the purchase of!

Good luck with your dinner! In honor of my new plate purchases, I'm planning a dinner for New Year's Eve, so I'm going through many of the same thought processes. Off I go to re-read the plating and presention course...