Day 3: Holiday Dinner Party

Last night I had a small gathering for my mom's birthday, Becky & Thierry, Megan & Pat and my parents all came over to celebrate.  We had a great time and I hope everyone enjoyed the food.

Menu

Appetizers
Assorted Cheeses and Crackers
Marinated Olives
Meatballs

Main Course
Arugula Orange Salad with Pomegranate White Wine Vinaigrette
Beef Tenderloin
Pan-Seared Scallops with Black Grapes and Almonds
Mashed Parsnips and Potatoes
Roasted Asparagus

Dessert
Chocolate Cake

My sister Becky brought the appetizers; the cheese tray consisted of Midnight Moon, 15 Year Aged Cheddar and Camembert.  The meatballs are a great appetizer and are super easy to make. You take a 12 oz. bottle of chili sauce and a 12 oz jar of grape jelly and heat them in a pan on low (stirring frequently) until combined.  You then take a package of frozen cocktail meatballs and add them to the mixture, coating them evenly.  You can either continue to cook then in the pot or move them to a crock pot to heat them through.



Arugula Orange Salad with Pomegranate
White Wine Vinaigrette

 I have made this salad for Christmas a couple of times and I absolutely love it.  Not only does it look great on a plate because of all the colors but it tastes great. The only thing that is rather time consuming is de-seeding the pomegranate, it's also quite messy.  In case you have never cut a pomegranate before this link has very helpful instructions with how to cut and de-seed a pomegranate.

The beef tenderloin was prepared the same way I have made it in the past; check out the post called Good Food, Great Friends from July for the details on how to make the marinade.  I have also made the Scallops before, although since Champagne grapes are not in season this time of year I had to go with the Black grapes. I didn't photograph them last night but you can check out my post called Pan-Seared Scallops with Champagne Grapes from August when I made them for the first time.  The only thing I was disappointed about with this recipe last night was the coloring of the sauce; it was a purple-gray.  I can only assume this was from the different type of grape I used.  The scallops still had great flavor.



Mashed Parsnip and Potato

 I found the mashed parsnip and potato recipe on the food network website; it's a Tyler Florence recipe.  Any recipe I have ever made of his has been delicious so I figured I couldn't go wrong with this, and I was right, it was delicious.  I ended up making this a couple hours ahead of time and then moved it to a casserole dish with a lid.  About 45 minutes before dinner I put it in the oven to heat it back through. It turned out great.  One note I would make is to be sure the parsnips are really tender when you start mashing as I had a couple pieces I had to pull out because they wouldn't mash. I didn't have a food mill so I handed mashed them and then used a hand mixer.

As far as the asparagus goes I placed them in a single layer on a baking sheet. I drizzled the asparagus with olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper.  Place in oven on 475 for about 15 minutes.

My sister, Megan, brought the cake...it was divine.  She got it a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting from Standard Market; we will definitely be getting some bakery items from there in the future.  I let Stella have a couple small licks of the frosting last night and she must have really like it because today she was pointing at the counter saying "pie" over and over again until I gave her a little lick. 

Happy Birthday Mom!  I hope you had a great night!



This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears



Day 2: Candy Cane Cookies

Ever since I was a little kid Christmas has been my favorite time of year.  There is something so magical about the Christmas season.  This year is going to be especially exciting because S is now old enough to react to the beauty of Christmas lights and enjoys looking at the tree.  She got the Fisher Price Nativity set last year for Christmas; it is so fun to watch her play with it.  We have a little work to do on playing nicely with the Baby Jesus.   The other night S placed him in her grocery cart with Clifford and took him for a spin and the wise men were eaten by her toy alligator, but we are working on it.  I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I am actually looking forward to the first snowfall just to see her reaction.  I imagine it will be something like, “oh, wow!”  S and I have been having so much fun listening to Christmas music and dancing around the family room, she loves Jingle Bells and Up on the House Top.  And even more exciting for Christmas this year will be the debut of my nephew.  We will be meeting him in just 10 days (or maybe sooner).  I’m so excited for Becky and Thierry!!!

For Day 2 of the Twelve Days of Christmas Celebration here is Becky’s favorite Christmas cookie, Candy Cane Cookies.  My mom has made these cookies for years and unfortunately the copy of the recipe doesn’t say where it is from so I can’t give credit to the original author of the recipe. I will have to post the picture at a later date, once my mom makes her batch of these which will likely be this week sometime. 

Ingredients

½ cup butter or margarine, softened

½ cup shortening

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 egg

1 ½ teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ½ cups Gold Medal Flour *

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon red food color

½ cup crushed peppermint candy

½ cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, confectioners’ sugar, egg and flavorings.  Blend in flour and salt. Divide dough in half; blend food color into one half.

Shape 1 teaspoon dough from each half into 4 inch-rope. For smooth, even ropes, roll them back and forth on lightly floured board.  Place ropes side by side; press together lightly and twist.  Complete cookies one at a time. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Curve top down to form handle of cane.

Bake about 9 minutes or until set and very light brown. Mix candy and granulated sugar. Immediately sprinkle cookies with candy mixture; remove from baking sheet.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

* If using Self-Rising flour, omit salt.  If using Wondra Flour, stir 2 tablespoons milk into butter mixture.

Day 1: Chocolate Crackles

We will begin the 12 days of Christmas celebration with my favorite cookie, Chocolate Crackles.  I always associate these cookies with Christmas since my mom made them every year.  As a kid I remember digging through the tins of cookies to find Chocolate Crackles and I would occasionally steal one or two.  Sorry mom, that is why you  never had quite as many as you thought you did for the cookie platters on Christmas Eve!!! 

On Tuesday I was at the office fairly late so when I got home and found a small plate of Chocolate Crackles on the counter it made me smile! My mom had been watching S that day so during nap time she baked Christmas cookies.  Thanks Mom :)

Ingredients
1 (1 lb 2 1/2 ounce) package devils food cake mix
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon water (sometimes you need a little more)
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
Confectioners sugar

Directions

• Combine cake mix, water and shortening.  Mix with spoon until well blended.
• Shape dough into balls the size of small walnuts. Roll balls in confectioners sugar.
• Place on greased baking sheets.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes

The recipe states that it makes 48 cookies (my mom has a note that she never gets that many)

Christmas has arrived...

A Bit of This and a Dash of That is officially decorated for the Christmas Season.  It was a little later than planned but we have been CRAZY busy the past few weeks.  Not only has our schedule been packed with all of the typical holiday gatherings, this is also my busiest time at work.  As a result I haven't been cooking all that much; which is not a good trend since I have also been missing my visits to the gym.  I am going to try my best to share my favorite holiday recipes over the next few weeks.  A Bit of This and A Dash of That's 12 Days of Christmas celebration will begin tomorrow with my absolute favorite Christmas cookie recipe!

Chicken Vesuvio

As I mentioned yesterday things have been really crazy around here lately but I actually did manage to make dinner on Wednesday night.  Last week I was digging through my kitchen cabinet and saw my electric frying pan; it made me think of my mom making Chicken Vesuivo in her avocado green electric frying pan when we were kids.  I know this was a very random memory!  At any rate, I decided to ask my mom if she had the recipe she used to make; as you can see in the photo below this is an oldie but a goodie. I was actually able to find the date on the article on the back of the recipe, it was published in the April 29, 1984 issue of the Chicago Tribune. 

Much to my surprise I was able to find the same Chicken Vesuvio recipe on-line, it appears the Tribune published it again more recently.

Ingredients

1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
3/4 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon each: dried leaf thyme, freshly ground pepper
Pinch each: dried rosemary, rubbed sage
1 broiler/fryer chicken, about 3 pounds, cut up
1/2 cup olive oil
3 baking potatoes, cut into lengthwise wedges
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup dry white wine

Directions

Mix flour, basil, oregano, salt, thyme, pepper, rosemary and sage in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour mixture; shake off excess.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron or other oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the chicken pieces in a single layer. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Remove with tongs to paper towels.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Add the potato wedges to skillet. Fry, turning occasionally, until light brown on all sides; remove to paper towels.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from skillet. Return the chicken and potatoes into skillet. Sprinkle with the parsley and garlic; pour wine over all. Cover; bake10 minutes. Uncover; bake until potatoes are fork-tender and thigh juices run clear, 15-20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve with the pan juices.

This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

Turkey Pot Pie

What better to do with leftover turkey than make turkey pot pie.

Ingredients
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of chopped carrot
1 cup of chopped onion
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half (I use fat free)
1/4 cup flour
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 cups of turkey (mixure of white and dark meat)
2 pie crusts
1 egg

In a saute pan, melt the butter and add the celery, onion and carrot. Season with salt and pepper.  Cook the vegetables until they are soft (especially the carrots and celery).  Add the flour and make sure it mixes well.  Add the cream, stir and let it start to bubble and thicken a bit. Then add the chicken broth continue to stir and let the sauce thicken back up.  Add the chopped up turkey and 1/2 cup of frozen peas. Mix well. Season again with a little salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the bottom of pie plate with the first pie crust.  Fill the crust with the turkey vegetable mixture.  Add the second pie crust to the top.  Place slits in the top and then cover the top with egg wash.

Bake on 425 degrees for about 40 minutes.

I made a salad with baby arugula and drizzled it with a little grapeseed oil and white balsamic vinegar. I served some of the left over Shallot-Gin Cranberry Sauce with it.  Frankly the salad was quite tasty with the cranberry sauce mixed in it.

This meal was rated 4.5 asparagus spears

Thanksgiving 2011

It was our year to spend with my in-laws for Thanksgiving so we had Chris's parents and sister over to celebrate.  It was nice having a much more intimate gathering as opposed to our usual 40 plus people on my side of the family.


Menu
Appetizers
étoile Rosé
Assorted Cheeses and Crackers

Hot Pepper Jelly over Cream Cheese



Brie, Midnight Moon, Assorted Olives

Main Course
Shallot-Gin Cranberry Sauce
Green Bean Casserole with Madiera Mushrooms
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Sweet Potatoes
Fresh Turkey
Pork Sausage Stuffing
Dinner Rolls
2009 Newton Chardonnay
2009 Matthew Fritz Pinot Noir Carneros


Dessert
Pumpkin Bread
Homemade Apple Pie
Vanilla and Pumpkin Ice Cream


My plan on Wednesday night was to make as much as I could ahead of time so that S and I could watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade together on Thursday morning.  For those of you who know me well, you know my obsession with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I watch it every year.  While I wasn't able to watch the entire parade we saw a good amount together and S seemed to enjoy it; she pointed at the balloons, she saw Abby Cadabby on the Sesame Street float and really enjoyed the singing and dancing. Unfortunately she missed Santa at the end because of nap time but don't despair, I taped the rest of the parade for her. I don't think Chris has noticed it yet on the DVR otherwise I am sure it would have been "accidentally" deleted as he hates watching the parade.

So Wednesday night I was able to make the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, chop the vegetables for the stuffing, prepare the shallots for the cranberry sauce, make the cranberry puree and set the table. I decided I was going to buy flowers and attempt my own centerpiece. I was actually quite pleased with how the flowers turned out, typically I'm not so good with floral design.

This left making the stuffing, preparing and stuffing the turkey, making pumpkin bread, making the apple pie and making the green bean casserole for Thursday. I was actually quite impressed with myself I got everything done and did 3 loads of laundry all before 2:30 p.m. when our company arrived.


Shallot-Gin Cranberry Sauce

I had never actually made cranberry sauce before but found it to be quite easy.  I found this recipe on Gilt Taste, it is from Anthony Myint and Karen Leibowtiz, Mission Street Food.

Ingredients
1 quart cranberry juice
1 cup sugar
12 ounces fresh cranberries (or frozen)
3 shallots, finely diced
Zest of 2 oranges
Salt
Splash of gin, to taste (optional, but if you're concerned about alcohol, simmer it for a few minutes before adding )
Fresh tarragon, chopped, to taste (optional, but very nice)

1. The day before, generously salt the shallots and reserve them in the fridge.
2. Reduce the cranberry juice by half, then add the sugar and fresh cranberries. Cook on low until the cranberries are very tender. Drain the cranberries and reserve the liquid. In a blender, puree about half the cranberries with a few tablespoons of the reduced juice to get a smooth puree, and reserve the puree, along with the soft cranberries, in the fridge.
3. The following day, drain the shallots and combine them with the cranberry puree, the soft whole cranberries, orange zest, and gin and tarragon, if using.

Green Bean Casserole with Madiera Mushrooms

While I know my husband loves the regular old green bean casserole with canned green beans and cream of mushroom soup I was looking for something a little more exciting this year, something with fresh vegetables. I thought this was a good compromise.  This recipe was from the November 2011 issue of Cooking Light magazine.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups chopped sweet onion

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

1 (8-ounce) package pre-sliced button mushrooms

1/3 cup Madeira wine or dry sherry

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

1 cup (about 2 ounces) canned fried onions (such as French's)

1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Place beans into a large saucepan of boiling water; cook 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well. Place beans in a large bowl; set aside.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and thyme to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms; sauté 10 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring frequently. Stir in wine, salt, and pepper; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in chicken broth; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Add mushroom mixture to green beans; toss well. Place green bean mixture in a 2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish. Combine fried onions and grated cheese in a small bowl. Top green bean mixture evenly with fried onion mixture. Bake at 425° for 17 minutes or until top is lightly browned. 

Mashed Potatoes

I made my usual mashed potato recipe.  I used a combination of red potatoes and yukon gold potatoes; I had just under 5 lbs of potatoes (4lbs, 11 oz to be exact).  Wash and peel the potatoes, cut them into quarters.  Boil potatoes in water that is slightly salted.  When the potatoes are done (you can pierce them with a fork) drain the water and put them back into the pan.  Using a hand masher begin to mash the potatoes, add 2 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of sour cream, 2 palms of Montreal Steak Seasoning, a little salt and 1/4 cup of milk.  Continue to mash until you get the consistency that you are looking for.  I sprayed a corningware dish with some cooking spray and then added the potatoes, I let them cool before I put them in the fridge.  On Thursday I added about a tablespoon of butter (more to come on the butter) and then heated them for about an hour on 350 degrees.

Sweet Potatoes

Since we had such a small crowd I only made 4 sweet potatoes. Clean them and then bake them on 350 degrees for about an hour.  Let them cool and then you should be able to just peel the skin right off.  Cut them into smaller chunks. In a bowl two separate bowls melt butter in one and place brown sugar in the other. Roll the potatoes in melted butter and then roll in the brown sugar.  Place the potatoes in a baking dish and cover in the fridge. On Thursday I heated them for about an hour on 350 degrees.

Pork Sausage Stuffing
2 bags of Brownberry or Pepperidge Farm Sage and Onion Stuffing Mix
2 - 1 lb packages of Jimmy Dean Regular Pork Sausage
2 cups of chopped celery
2 cups of chopped onion
3 cups of chicken broth
2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted plus 1 tablespoon

Saute the vegetables in 1 tablespoon of butter, season with salt and pepper.  Let the vegetables cool a bit and then in a large bowl combine the stuffing, vegetables and slowly add the melted butter, chicken broth and the pork sausage.  Make sure everything is combined well and the pork sausage is broken into small pieces.
When you are ready to stuff the turkey put as much of the dressing as you can in the turkey and the remainder in a corningware dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cook on 350 degrees for an hour, make sure the pork sausage is cooked all the way through.

Turkey
We ordered a fresh Amish raised turkey from Standard Market, it was an 18 lbs turkey.  We cooked ours in a Nesco roaster so we had the oven space for all the side items.  I stuffed the turkey and then liberally coated the skin with olive oil and melted butter.  Seasoned with salt and pepper (lots of pepper).  I added a tiny bit of chicken stock to the bottom of the roasting pan.  We cooked the turkey on 325 degrees and turned it up at the end to 400 to get the skin a little more brown.  We basted the turkey throughout the cooking after the first hour. 

As far as the gravy goes I used a Turkey base that I got from Williams-Sonoma and then added some of the drippings/juices from cooking the turkey to it.



Dinner is Served... Happy Thanksgiving!


Homemade Apple Pie
To make the apple pie I used the filling I made a couple months ago when we received so many apples in our fruit deliveries.  I defrosted the filling over night.  On Thursday I used the Pillsbury Unroll and Fill Pie crusts, I placed the first crust covering my pie pan. Filled it will the apple pie filling and then added the second crust on top.  I put a couple of slits in the top and then cooked it for 40-45 minutes on 425 degrees.  I forgot to take a picture before we started serving it so here is one with a few missing slices.  It was quite delightful!  We served it with Oberweis Vanilla and Oberweis Pumpkin ice cream.

Pumpkin Bread
I cheated on this one and bought a package of pumpkin bread mix from Trader Joes. You just add water, oil and egg.  Pretty simple.  I made two small loaves.  I did make my own glaze for the top.  I used 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and then added a tiny bit of milk (maybe 1 1/2 teaspoons) and just drizzled it over the top.  The sad part is we were all so full no one actually had any on Thanksgiving, but S and I tried it out on Friday and it was delicious.  S LOVES it!

We had a great day, I think everyone enjoyed their dinner.  So I mentioned I would get back to the additional butter I added to the potatoes before heating them on Thursday.  As I was preparing everything Thursday Chris told me to be sure to use lots of butter. I proceeded to tell him how much butter was in everything and he felt the potatoes may need more.  So I figured, its Thanksgiving why not.  Well, the additional butter ended up cooking over right at the end of the cooking time and started to smoke in the oven. There was so much smoke that our smoke alarm went off.  I had just put S down for her afternoon nap and thought to myself what perfect timing, she is sleeping and dinner is ready.  Well, her nap did not last long at all, you see when one smoke alarm goes off in our house all of them do.  This includes the one in S's room and the one in the hall directly outside of S's room. The poor little girl was petrified when the it started sounding.  We ended up with windows open and someone fanning the smoke detector for a good 20 minutes.  Nothing says Thanksgiving like a smoke detector! 

Overall, we had a great day and we have so much to be thankful for. I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!



S waiting for the company to arrive