Cooking for the holidays?

[Jenise]

I'm doing Christmas Eve dinner, and I think I'm going to take it Italian. I'm REALLY looking forward to cooking as I really haven't done any cooking lately beyond the absolute bare-bones necessity so that I can get this damaged leg healed.

We're serving one other couple. The main course will be a roast breast of capon wrapped, with stuffing, around a pork tenderloin. Rosemary's involved and I think I'll put that with green beans and pancetta in order to free up carbs for a course of their own, a chanterelle risotto that I'm going to do Walt's Prosecco trick with. And a first course will be a Keller-ized butter lettuce salad with parmesan crusted lobster.

Dessert? Dunno. Would like to just serve cheese with cedar plank smoked pears, but it's been raining so continuously I'm not sure the smoking part will fly.

Wines not selected yet. Our guests love wine but aren't discriminating.

Continuing in the game vein begun earlier with the venison pot pie, Xmas eve is going to be little birds: I'll make a pheasant salmi (I have a Harrod's cookbook of traditional English recipes) and I'll roast a couple of squabs (barded, stuffed with grapes). I tried to get grouse but the end-of-year chaos prevented delivery.

Xmas day will be ducks (rubbed with five-spice and citrus). While the oven is on, I'll roast a couple hen of the woods mushrooms, too. I have a great-looking wild rice & porcini mix so that will also go on the table. And some green sizzled with bacon.

Oh, and I mixed up some eggnog on Sunday so it's not yet aged enough but we'll give it a taste.

And I think I'm making a basotti tonight, in case we need an Italian cheese brownie.

Yes! Christmas Day brunch here; ham, eggs, hash browns, French toast, pannetone, fruit salad, minosas. Two days after Christmas will be a big family party of 30 +; pizza, wings, beef on weck, nachos, cheese, paté. Then two days after that will be a small family traditional dinner of tortiere, herb roasted carrots, green beans, and blueberry pie. I have a beef roast in the freezer I may do for New Years, but I can't think that far ahead.

I just _have_ to cook a turkey once a year. A whole turkey, with stuffing inside, just like the olden days.
I'm doing it now. 11 1/2 lb hen. I'll have mashed potato, green beans and mince pie with. Just like the olden days.
And I'll eat off that turkey for at least 10 days. And then make soup stock.
It's all very well to go visit friends and share their holiday meals, but dang it all, I'm an old fogey!
Gotta figure out which bottle of PN to get out. I do have a couple of 1er cru Burgs, too.
Well, you'll all hear the tale tomorrow, after I have the first turkey sandwich breakfast of the year.

We have a Manhattan Roast (which I think it basically a New York strip) for Christmas dinner. We'll have it with chestnut mashed potatoes and some sort of green bean dish I haven't worked out yet.

The theme for our annual New Year's Eve dinner is "Food and Songs". You have to come up with a song and a dish that match. My first offering will be steak tartare with the theme from Rawhide. Given that I'm not certain everyone there will go for raw beef, I'm also putting together something (fairly obvious) to go with Beck's song, "Satan Gave Me a Taco".

The theme for our annual New Year's Eve dinner is "Food and Songs". You have to come up with a song and a dish that match.

What a fun idea!

Does this qualify (skip to 10:01)?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN_9a0LPFhY

[Jenise]

We have a Manhattan Roast (which I think it basically a New York strip) for Christmas dinner. We'll have it with chestnut mashed potatoes and some sort of green bean dish I haven't worked out yet.

The theme for our annual New Year's Eve dinner is "Food and Songs". You have to come up with a song and a dish that match. My first offering will be steak tartare with the theme from Rawhide. Given that I'm not certain everyone there will go for raw beef, I'm also putting together something (fairly obvious) to go with Beck's song, "Satan Gave Me a Taco".

I've not heard the cut referred to as that (used to be called a sirloin roast) but it's very appropriate and avoids confusing with top sirloin, which the new York is not.

Love the music theme.

We are roasting a goose with mashed potato stuffing (see Stuff My Goose), and having braised red cabbage and green beans with it. As we have always recommended we are popping a couple of Cab Francs with it; and lots of Christmas cookies for dessert.

[Jenise]

So my main course was ungodly good. Think porchetta without all the fat. I got the idea from an Italian deli in Canada where I saw such a thing in the meatcase and they described it to me. A whole chicken is basically deboned and all but the breast meat removed. Then the breasts are smeared generously with a paste of garlic, basil and rosemary, and a length of pork tenderloin wrapped in ham is nestled between the breasts, and the whole is rolled and tied and baked. I also brined it, gave it about 8 hours in a brine of white wine cut with a little water, olive oil, salt, sugar and a few rosemary branches. Gave it terrific flavor and moisture without turning it into lunch meat texture. A cut slice was beautiful on the plate, and utterly delicious. I will totally be doing this again!

You had me at the 'nestling between the breasts' part.

I think you may have found your recipe for the next Terrine event - Jenise's Ballotine!

Continuing in the game vein begun earlier with the venison pot pie, Xmas eve is going to be little birds: I'll make a pheasant salmi (I have a Harrod's cookbook of traditional English recipes) and I'll roast a couple of squabs (barded, stuffed with grapes).

The salmi came out well; I'll thicken up the sauce even more next time. The squab recipe is good but, whew, squab are tough to tear apart. No wonder I only ever see breast pieces on menus.

Xmas day will be ducks (rubbed with five-spice and citrus). While the oven is on, I'll roast a couple hen of the woods mushrooms, too. I have a great-looking wild rice & porcini mix so that will also go on the table. And some green sizzled with bacon.

Did the ducks on the vertical roasters; came out well. Low and slow, 2 hrs at 350*. Didn't get H o' W but ended up with a one-pound shelf of oyster mushroom. Wild rice mix had perfect texture.

Oh, and I mixed up some eggnog on Sunday so it's not yet aged enough but we'll give it a taste.

Mmm. Just don't strike a match.

And I think I'm making a basotti tonight, in case we need an Italian cheese brownie.

Still didn't come out quite as chewy as I want; maybe less broth?

The theme for our annual New Year's Eve dinner is "Food and Songs". You have to come up with a song and a dish that match.

What a fun idea!

Does this qualify (skip to 10:01)?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN_9a0LPFhY

You could do a week of 20 course meals out of that one!

[Jenise]

You had me at the 'nestling between the breasts' part.

Should. Have. Expected this.

Hey, I thought I showed admirable restraint in not mentioning the almost Nigela-ish lubricious slathering of the breasts with various emollients!