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!

thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. It is the official start of the holiday season, and my favorite time of year. As with the recent years past, I've been passed the torch to all holiday meals. My menu this year included the usuals as requested by my brother, brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, and risotto. I originally planned a roasted butternut squash risotto, but it was changed back to my popular mushroom risotto of the past few years. I added chipotle sweet potatoes as a side, since my mom bought them earlier in the week. And of course, we had the showstopper turkey with gravy.



I've had great success with Alton Brown's Good Eats Turkey last year, so it was back by popular demand. It completely merits the rave reviews and thus I must thank Audgbodge again for referring me to the recipe. I added a layer of mirepoix with a can of low sodium chicken stock below the turkey when roasting. Although not part of the original recipe, my family always liked the extra vegetables, so I figured why not. Plus, it added moisture while roasting, which was nice.

I watched the Food Network Thanksgiving specials this year and noticed that Alton Brown dry-brined his turkey, which was interesting, but call me old fashioned when I say that I love the way a whole turkey looks on the carving board with everyone hovering over it. So, I stuck to his old recipe but decided to try his new gravy, which just became a new yearly request. The only thing was that I disgarded the giblets after the stock was made. I must say it was the best gravy ever, rich with turkey flavor, slightly spiced with herbs, and utterly delicious.

My brother loved the gravy so much that he refused to give it up when we were packing leftovers. Since he's the only one that likes cranberry sauce, I asked if that meant I didn't need to make it especially for him anymore. He insisted that he still likes the cranberry sauce but also thinks the gravy is really something special.

They loved the mushroom risotto, noting that it was better this year. I undercooked it a bit on purpose, knowing that it will continue cooking in the hot pot waiting to be plated. Our plates were full of food and we had to rest over an hour before we had dessert. I made my own spin on Williams Sonoma's pumpkin mousse, turning it into a trifle, but more on that and other things pumpkin later.

And here is our king of the house, asleep from his Thanksgiving dinner of chicken breast, broccoli, and kibble, equipped with his gobble gobble bandana.