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Friday, December 30, 2011

christmas dinner


I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I had a nice and quiet family dinner, only made special by our menu and presents. No, we did not start with dessert, but I couldn't help but start this post with a picture of it. I'm starting to love the way desserts look served in a glass, simple yet elegant.


So I started cooking dinner by roasting a medley of vegetables scented with smashed garlic and sage leaves. The Brussels sprouts and potatoes are always a crowd-pleaser during the holiday meals, so I figured why not combine both dishes into one and add some carrots for extra color and flavor. Worked out very well, but remember not to overcrowd the pan, or else the veggies won't brown well.


I started to include a rice dish in our holiday meals last year, because my brother's girlfriend doesn't eat meat, so she needs a carb dish to satisfy her stomach. I changed it up by making a roasted butternut squash risotto. I never had to prep a butternut squash before, so let me warn you that the flesh is very hard and you need to be careful when peeling it. I cut the end off and cut right across the beginning of the bulb, that way you have a flat platform to peel and dice.


And the piece de resistance...horseradish crusted prime rib. I tried a new recipe this year, courtesy of Tyler Florence and Food Network. It was a beautiful medium rare, juicy, and flavorful rack of meat. My only complaint was that the crust was beyond salty and even the outer areas of beef were quite salty. The horseradish was completely lost in the sodium laden crust, practically defeating its entire existence. But thank goodness the prime rib was still tasty once you cut off the crust.


Dessert? Well that was a lemon curd with vanilla bean and cardamom mousse verrine. I didn't have any meyer lemons, so I used a combination of lemon juice/zest and orange juice/zest. As for the mousse, I substituted half a teaspoon of ground cardamom in place of the pods. To add texture, I added the crumble topping from my blueberry muffins. Just spread the crumble on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, just until golden.

And how do you know if dinner was a success? When you see this...


This will be my last post for 2011. Have a Happy New Year, everyone!

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