Christmas Menu

My friend, Marlene, was pondering what to do for Christmas instead of the "same old turkey." This is where my mother's famous dislike of turkey comes in handy. It never occurs to me to have one for Christmas because we always went with different luxuries depending on my parents' whim of the moment ... such as prime rib, thick steaks, well you get the idea.

My suggestions were based on the usual "luxury" dishes that I do twice a year, for Christmas and Easter. The main dish may change. As a matter of fact I'm considering double smoked ham or grilled pork chops at this point. However, the side dishes rarely change because I hardly ever get them and they are my favorites. Here is the backbone basic menu.

Christmas Day Dinner
Grilled, Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Mustard Marinade
Jalapeño Spinach
Potatoes Gratin
Potato Rolls
Salad with Spicy Caesar Dressing

For dessert? Lots and lots and lots of cookies!

Creamed Jalapeño Spinach

From Home Cooking by Lori Colwin.

(Serves eight)

1. Cook two packages of frozen spinach. Drain, reserving one cup of liquid, and chop fine.

2. Melt four tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and add two tablespoons of flour. Blend and cook a little. Do not brown.

3. Add two tablespoons of chopped onion and 1 clove of minced garlic.

4. Add one cup of spinach liquid slowly, then add 1/2 cup of evaporated milk (I use regular milk here), some fresh black pepper, 3/4 teaspoon of celery salt and six ounces of Monterey Jack cheese cut into cubes. Add one or more chopped jalapeños, either fresh or from the jar. (I use 6 ounces of Jalapeño Jack Cheese instead of the regular cheese and chopped pepper. It is what was called for in the original recipe and Colwin adapted it because she couldn't get jalapeño cheese.) Then add the spinach and cook until all is blended.

5. Turn into a buttered casserole topped with buttered bread crumbs and bake for about 45 minutes at 300°.

Mustard Coating and Marinade for Roast and Broiled Lamb and Kabobs

From The Way to Cook by Julia Child. I spread this all over a butterflied leg of lamb and refrigerate overnight before grilling it.

2 large cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs Dijon-style prepared mustard
1 Tbs soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp. fragrant ground rosemary, thyme, or oregano
2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup olive or peanut oil

Purée the garlic into a small bowl (I put it through a press) and mash to a paste with the salt. Whisk in the mustard, soy, herbs, lemon juice, and then the oil, to make a mayonnaise-like cream.

Potato Gratin

I have no clue where I got this recipe but it is strikingly like one that we had at a sidewalk café in Paris when we took Hannah and Rose in 2001. That restaurant was a wonderful introduction to French food for the girls, not to mention that they got to see the tradition of taking your dog into a restaurant. We also will never forget the young man who sat near us and dropped practically every utensil in reach while knocking things over with his elbows when picking them up.

Step 1:
2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled, very thinly sliced
Layer half in a buttered 6-cup shallow baking dish.

Step 2:
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 cup grated Gruyere
Combine. Sprinkle half over potatoes.


Step 3:
1 cup heavy cream
Sprinkle half over cheese.

Step 4:
Salt
Sprinkle over cream.

Repeat layers. Bake uncovered at 350° for 50-60 minutes until gratin is crisp and golden on top.

This Calls for Potato Salad!

Barney Gumble:		All I wanted to tell you about was this new barbecue joint.
Homer Simpson:		Ooooooo barbecue!
Barney Gumble:		It's called Greasy Joe's Bottomless Barbecue Pit! Oooo, ooo, I can still taste the sauce between my fingers. And are you ready for this? It's all you can eat!
Homer Simpson:		This is like some beautiful dream.
Barney Gumble:		Belch!
Homer Simpson:		Marge honey, I've got five words to say to you: Greasy Joe's Bottomless Bar-B-Q Pit.
Marge:		Homer, remember you promised you'd try to limit pork to 6 servings a week.
Homer Simpson:		Marge, I'm only human. Now look, here's what we're gonna do. We'll unload the kids on Patty and Selma Saturday night, and then we'll eat until they kick us out of the place. Just like old times!

Chris just gave us three racks of ribs and a huge bottle full of bbq sauce from his brother's Atlanta bbq place, Fox Bros. BBQ, where he supplies deprived Atlantans with real Texas style bbq. All I could do at this point was taste the sauce and, oh boy, are we in for a treat! Time to get busy making cole slaw and potato salad for the feast we're gonna have tomorrow.

Of General Interest ...

... over at Happy Catholic (the "mother ship" blog). It's all happenin' in the comments boxes for these posts about:

• Bamboo knitting needles
• The latest episode of The Amazing Race 6
• Being Left Handed
• The USPS' unofficial motto (and I always thought it was official!)

My Kind of Science

My hero, Harold McGee, makes the science of cooking actually interesting in On Food and Cooking. I didn't realize it's been 20 years but can't wait to get the new edition and read all 878 pages!

The original explained in lay terms, with illustrations and whimsical anecdotes, why eggs solidify when heated, why green vegetables lose their vibrant color when cooked, why apples turn brown when cut, why the freshest fish smells like plant leaves and the science behind so many other food mysteries.

The new one does that and more.

The original was 684 pages; the new one is 878. The section on chocolate is three times longer than in the original book.

Seafood, which merited about one paragraph in the original, now spans 70 pages. And while the original was a bit Eurocentric, the new one is much more global.

"It used to be that when people had questions, I could just refer them to a page in the book. But the day came that I couldn't do that any more," says McGee, 53. "I had to address this new, greater demand for information."

Via Too Many Chefs.

Mmmmmmm, Cheesecake

My dear parents sent us a cheesecake sampler from Harry and David's.



Doesn't it look good? Well it tastes good too ... at least the chocolate cheesecake that I shared with Rose last night was delicious. In fact, the caramel (?) cheesecake was so good that Hannah's friend, Addison, not only agreed to taste it (thereby overcoming a lifelong loathing of the concept) but it converted him as he ate every bite.

We'll just skip over the "of course, my cheesecake is better" muscle flexing, especially since my fabulous cheesecake recipe is my mom's, who sent this to us! If you can't have homemade cheesecake, this does seem to be the next best thing.

Thanks Mom and Dad! *muffled by a mouth full of cheesecake*

Ain't It the Truth?

From my in-box. (If anyone knows the credit for this, let me know and I'll link it.)

Oranges Sampler

In an attempt to add some fresh element to our dinner, I served an orange "tasting" of clementines, red naval oranges, and blood oranges. The regular oranges just didn't look good at the store so I got a few of these varieties to see if any were universally pleasing.

Universally pleasing? Puhleeez! Hannah and I favored the blood oranges as they were tart and we are grapefruit lovers (no sugar added, thanks). Tom preferred the red naval oranges as they really tasted just like regular ones. Everyone liked the clementines fine but no one thought they were worth rushing out and buying a whole crate as I read about foodies doing every year at this time. Truthfully, they were fuller flavored than the red navals but just too sweet for me.

Rose passed on any tasting as she informed us that she, "doesn't care for citrus." Wait a minute ... what about the leftover limeade from margarita making? "Well, except for lemons and limes ..."

Our true favorites are the heirloom oranges from California. They have that perfect sweet/tart combination. Also usually good are the stem and leaf oranges. I don't know what variety they are but they are worth any extra price because I can't keep up with the demand at home. It must not be the season for either one yet but when it is I'll be ready.

I'm Not Crazy About Pocky But This Seems About Right

You Are Milk Pocky

Your attitude: caring and charming Smooth and silkly... invigorating and natural. You are like comfort food for the soul.

What Flavor Pocky Are You?