[Sca-cooks] Christmas Dinner

[David Walddon]

Individual French Onion Soups in the freezer section at Costco may  
solve your onion issues.
They are actually quite good! Especially when you must have French  
onion soup in 6 minutes!
Eduardo
________________________________________________________

Food is life. May the plenty that graces your table truly be a VAST  
REPAST.

David Walddon
david at vastrepast.com
www.vastrepast.com
web.mac.com/dwalddon


On Dec 23, 2008, at 6:14 PM, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:

>
> On Dec 23, 2008, at 3:58 PM, Michael Gunter wrote:
>
> <sensibly-constructed invitees list snipped>
>
>> Starting with homemade French Onion Soup.
>
> You're doing the whole gratineed thing with the melted cheese, or  
> putting the cheese on the crouton, which is generally what you get  
> in France? I love onion soup in all forms, and rarely get to eat it  
> at home, since of the other two unfortunate souls I live with (I  
> didn't mean they're unfortunate for living with me, but if the shoe  
> fits, I guess), one is made violently ill by onions, and the other  
> simply dislikes them and is also lactose intolerant. <sigh>...
>
> I've started to think other forms of onion soup are vastly  
> underrated; there's a certain magic to being able to cook onions in  
> white stock and perhaps milk or cream, without browning, and still  
> concentrate their flavor.
>
>> Main course will be a whole beef tenderloin herbed and roasted on
>> a rack of root vegetables.
>> A rack of lamb rib chops.
>> Cornbread dressing with wine gravy.
>> Homemade creamed corn.
>>
>> The guests are also insisting on bringing something over so there
>> will be a couple more vegetable dishes.
>>
>> Elizabeth is wanting to make some homemade dinner yeast rolls.
>>
>> Baroness Alys will be bringing a bread pudding and I am going to try
>> my hand at making a chocolate cake and frosting from scratch using
>> the Hershey's dark cocoa recipe.
>>
>> There will be puff pastry appetizers and glogg before the meal and
>> we'll probably be drinking a Coppola Black Label 2006 Claret and  
>> Pascual
>> Toso 2007 Malbec with dinner.
>
> Sounds pretty sexy. I have no idea who's joining us for dinner on  
> Thursday -- we're dealing with my relatives on Friday and Ceandra's  
> on Saturday, and then a belated Hanukkah celebration on Sunday, at  
> the home of the same people at whose home we spent Thanksgiving.
>
> I was asked if there was any way I could put up some gravlax for  
> Sunday [once again, a vacuum-sealer is a godsend for this job], so  
> there's a whole 14-pound salmon's worth sitting in our vegetable  
> bin, which cramps my style just a tiny bit; it means the rest of  
> the meals this week are going to be just a touch on the simplistic  
> side.
>
> I'll probably do something for tomorrow evening involving the  
> shrimp and bay scallops we've got in the freezer; I'm torn between  
> a simple seasoned-flour-coating, frying, and marinara sauce, and  
> something decadent, Spanish, and involving too much garlic, olive  
> oil, and flat parsley.
>
> For Christmas I've got half a prime rib roast (well, the four ribs  
> from the skinny end), and when I went out to pick up the salmon  
> today at the local Chinese grocery, I  picked up a duck at the meat  
> counter, goose being more of a special-order item for an actual  
> butcher shop around here, but good ducks are pretty commonly  
> available. I have a nephew who is just getting to the point where  
> he realizes it is possible to care about eating one type of food  
> versus another, and he had expressed an interest in the whole roast- 
> waterfowl meme (yes, we know, it's Christmas _goose_, not duck, but  
> what the hey).
>
> If my niece shows up with her kids on Thursday, I'll throw the duck  
> in the oven, too. Otherwise, I'll make confit Friday evening.
>
> For Christmas dinner, it looks like we've got lined up:
>
> - Croutons and brandade de morue (salt-cod simmered in milk, pureed  
> with garlic and olive oil), possibly a small mesclun salad if the  
> supply boats get in again...
> - Probably mushroom caps stuffed with the stems, minced with  
> carrot, onion, celery, and just enough moist buttered bread crumbs  
> to bind it all...
>
> ...
>
> - Beef rib roast on a bed of roasted vegetables (looks like the  
> usual mirepoix veg plus some little turnips and parsnips, and a few  
> little Yukon Gold potatoes)
> - Jus (pan juices reduced with red wine)
> - If I bother with the duck, I'll figure out some sort of fruit- 
> based accompaniment
> - Yorkshire pudding
> - Grilled asparagus (this is a bit of an experiment; I may make  
> some Bearnaise sauce for those)
> - Leek Gratin To Be Named Later, probably some sort of tian with  
> cream, and/or possibly some Brie I've got kicking around
>
> Shortbread is already baked, mincemeat is made up and ready to be  
> put into a pie, and we may do the standard Lindy's cheesecake if  
> there are enough customers.
>
> On Friday we are attempting to establish an ancient and venerable  
> tradition of Boxing Day dim sum, which is probably all the food  
> we'll need anyway.
>
> Adamantius
>
>
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