Author Topic: Holiday Menus  (Read 150367 times)

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #50 on: December 04, 2008, 03:06:57 pm »
My son always wants to go to this really good butcher shop near here and get ducks.

But my grocery store had a two-for-one special on hams, so I have a couple. And if I get lazy ...  :)

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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #51 on: December 04, 2008, 05:53:59 pm »
And if you get lazy, buy the duck and say to your son, have at it, knock yourself out! (oops sorry for the violent expression!!)

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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #52 on: December 04, 2008, 05:58:39 pm »
And if you get lazy, buy the duck and say to your son, have at it, knock yourself out! (oops sorry for the violent expression!!)

To his credit, when he gets interested in a meal like that, he often does participate in a lot of the cooking.

But I'm looking forward to the day when he can drive himself to the butcher shop, select and pay for the duck, bring it home prepare it, serve it, and clean up the kitchen afterward.

Is that asking too much? Don't answer that.  :laugh:



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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #53 on: December 04, 2008, 06:12:03 pm »
To his credit, when he gets interested in a meal like that, he often does participate in a lot of the cooking.

But I'm looking forward to the day when he can drive himself to the butcher shop, select and pay for the duck, bring it home prepare it, serve it, and clean up the kitchen afterward.

Is that asking too much? Don't answer that.  :laugh:

Have faith, friend, it can happen! It did happen to my daughter. She was the messiest cook, and always requiring lots of exotic ingredients. But after living away from home for a year and in another country (cooking for her roommates) for several months, she came back home and is now a completely resourceful, autonomous, and considerate cook!! And, she also grows herbs and makes wine and mead as well!! I am so proud.
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Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #54 on: December 05, 2008, 03:54:23 am »
Your 2007 menu sounds so good, Lee.  Could you tell about the potatoes, please.

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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #55 on: December 07, 2008, 05:12:31 pm »
Oh yes, I love those roesti potatoes. It's a Swiss recipe. Here is how James Beard did it:

I find that boiling good-sized potatoes in their jackets for 10 minutes, then peeling them, is a fine idea. (Yukon potatoes are best)
Grate them coarsely and form them into a large cake. Sauté in 6 to 8 tablespoons butter till they are exquisitely brown and crusty on the bottom.
Invert the pan on a plate, add more butter to the pan, and slip the uncooked side into the pan. Cook the potatoes over medium heat till they are crusted on the other side. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
These may also be made with raw potatoes or cold baked potatoes grated coarsely.

You can of course use olive oil instead. I also add some fines herbs. They look like a big pancake, and you cut it into pie wedges to serve it.
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Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #56 on: December 07, 2008, 09:43:13 pm »
Oh yes, I love those roesti potatoes. It's a Swiss recipe. Here is how James Beard did it:

I find that boiling good-sized potatoes in their jackets for 10 minutes, then peeling them, is a fine idea. (Yukon potatoes are best)
Grate them coarsely and form them into a large cake. Sauté in 6 to 8 tablespoons butter till they are exquisitely brown and crusty on the bottom.
Invert the pan on a plate, add more butter to the pan, and slip the uncooked side into the pan. Cook the potatoes over medium heat till they are crusted on the other side. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
These may also be made with raw potatoes or cold baked potatoes grated coarsely.

You can of course use olive oil instead. I also add some fines herbs. They look like a big pancake, and you cut it into pie wedges to serve it.


That's what I want right now.



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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #57 on: December 17, 2009, 01:35:16 pm »
Need some help with my holiday menus!! Because there will be some kosher-keeping people and some finicky people at my table this year, I won't be able to serve any pork, shellfish, or fish. No scallop empanada, which I traditionally serve for Christmas Eve dinner. That's not so big a problem...I am planning to put smoked turkey and duck into the empanada instead. Problem fixed! Then, for Christmas dinner, I will have a standing rib roast, like Leslie serves. I haven't served beef for Christmas dinner in ages, but it seems to be the right thing to do this year with beef such a bargain. I take two large beef rib roasts, trim them, and stand them up in a circle in a pan and tie them. Drizzle them with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and other spices, and broil them till they're done. In the middle of the crown roast, I would like to pile brussels sprouts, but my mother recoiled at the very mention. So I've come up with a melange of portobello mushrooms, new potatoes, and pearl onions. Hope that will work. Side dishes will include some kind of yam souffle, whole wheat rolls (recipe in the Moosewood Classics cookbook), Paul's cranberry relish, Cumberland Sauce, and a salad with oranges, kiwis, and pomegranate seeds. Dessert will be chocolate silk pie with whipped cream, and grapes and cheeses. Let me know your suggestions for other things, particularly appetizers. I can't think of an appetizer that doesn't have ham, prosciutto, or shellfish in it!!
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #58 on: December 17, 2009, 02:13:44 pm »
You could serve a Philadelphia appetizer, Cheese Whiz on Ritz crackers. ...  :laugh:
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

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Re: Holiday Menus
« Reply #59 on: December 17, 2009, 02:27:03 pm »
You could serve a Philadelphia appetizer, Cheese Whiz on Ritz crackers. ...  :laugh:

If I did that, my kids would gobble them all up and not have any room for dinner!!
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