Christmas side dishes
#43
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Jody, I've noticed the same thing about turnips (also in the south) I grew up eating the bulb, raw, thin sliced with salt. At the local produce market here, turnips are sold as "greens", with the turnips still attached! I have grown to like the greens, but still like fresh, raw turnip.
Now, how do you make creme fraiche?
Now, how do you make creme fraiche?
#44
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My Irish family always has cauliflower, too, steamed whole. We serve it sliced down just to the core, with a white sauce over it.
As no one in the entire family wanted turnips yet again on Christmas, we dispensed with them in the mash; however, my mother always served her mash with minced onion in it.
As no one in the entire family wanted turnips yet again on Christmas, we dispensed with them in the mash; however, my mother always served her mash with minced onion in it.
#45
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I usually cook goose for Christmas, if I can find a good fresh one. I stuff it with a stuffing made of rye bread and chopped figs and walnuts and currants and onions and a bit of honey and caraway seed, and salt and pepper to taste.
For side dishes I roast butternut squash that I've peeled and cubed with garlic and olive oil and shallots and nutmeg. You can serve the roasted cubes as is, or mash them into a purée.
I also love a gratin of wild mushrooms, which I make by sautéeing whatever wild mushrooms are looking good at the market with some shallots or spring onions, then making a béchamel sauce laced with goat cheese and covering the mushrooms in it and baking it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350.
For side dishes I roast butternut squash that I've peeled and cubed with garlic and olive oil and shallots and nutmeg. You can serve the roasted cubes as is, or mash them into a purée.
I also love a gratin of wild mushrooms, which I make by sautéeing whatever wild mushrooms are looking good at the market with some shallots or spring onions, then making a béchamel sauce laced with goat cheese and covering the mushrooms in it and baking it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350.
#46
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Heads up chestnut afficionados! I bought a 14 oz. package of frozen whole chestnuts today at Trader Joe's, imported from Italy, no less, for $3.99. If they're acceptable quality for cooking, they'll be a lot more convenient to use than steaming and peeling the fresh ones. I've never seen frozen ones before and bought these as a little experiment. I plan to use them in a soup recipe, Zuppa di Castagne e Cavolo Nero, that I found on Epicurious. Here's the URL:
www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=108875
www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=108875
#48
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MzPossum,
Just use 2 TBS of buttermilk to each cup of heavy cream, put it in a glass jar and shake for about a minute, then set it aside in a warm place for 8-24 hours till it thickens. DON"T stir it after you shake it, just leave it sit quietly. Then refrigerate..it will keep about 2 weeks. You can also do it with 1/2 and 1/2 for a slim version.
The only problem I have with making my own is I have to think about it a day ahead of when I want to use it!
Betsy..let me know how you liked the soup! I made it awhile ago when Whole Foods had Cavolo Nero, which I hardly ever see here.
I don't understand why just about every state in the union EXCEPT Fl has a Trader Joe's. People are always telling about the great goodies they find there. Maybe I 'll write them a letter and beg!
Just use 2 TBS of buttermilk to each cup of heavy cream, put it in a glass jar and shake for about a minute, then set it aside in a warm place for 8-24 hours till it thickens. DON"T stir it after you shake it, just leave it sit quietly. Then refrigerate..it will keep about 2 weeks. You can also do it with 1/2 and 1/2 for a slim version.
The only problem I have with making my own is I have to think about it a day ahead of when I want to use it!
Betsy..let me know how you liked the soup! I made it awhile ago when Whole Foods had Cavolo Nero, which I hardly ever see here.
I don't understand why just about every state in the union EXCEPT Fl has a Trader Joe's. People are always telling about the great goodies they find there. Maybe I 'll write them a letter and beg!
#49
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Thanks, Jody! And, we're the same in LA--no Trader Joe's! They're only on the West coast, I think. I'm also 60 miles away from the nearest Whole Foods!Fortunately, some of our local markets are ok. Sometimes I see chestnut products (usually puree) at TJ Maxx--Williams Sonoma, of course. We can get raw ones here in the winter. I roasted them on the charcoal grill for my step-grandkids when they were here--didn't know I should have cut an "x" in them--one almost put my eye out when it exploded! (that one was roasted to perfection, however.....)
#50
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I love reading about everybody's favorite holiday dishes, especially since I just bought my first fresh chestnuts (such exotic things rarely show up at our small town grocery stores. I saw these at a supermarket in Birmingham Saturday and couldn't resist)
And now I have some idea of how to roast them. The recipe on epicurious.com (November Gourmet Entertains) calls for "roasting" them in a heavy (preferably cast-iron) skillet with a lid on the stovetop.
Have any of you ever used this method?
Byrd
And now I have some idea of how to roast them. The recipe on epicurious.com (November Gourmet Entertains) calls for "roasting" them in a heavy (preferably cast-iron) skillet with a lid on the stovetop.
Have any of you ever used this method?
Byrd
#52
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The microwave works too: Slash chestnuts with a sharp knife, place in shallow dish with a tablespoon or two of water, and cook on high in 30 second increments until you can peel them. You'll see the shell sort of curl a little where you've slashed it.
#53
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Speaking of soup, Betsy, there's an amazing soup served in certain parts of France, including the Lot and Auvergne, that's a cream of cèpes and potimarron (a kind of pumpkin - smaller and more flavorful than the ones we get here). It's absolutely divine. If I could get my hands on a potimarron, I'd make that for Christmas, too.
Also, one of the best soups I ever had in my life was at a restaurant called Henrietta in London, years ago - a cream of chestnut, almond, and garlic. I can still taste it!
God, I'm hungry!
Also, one of the best soups I ever had in my life was at a restaurant called Henrietta in London, years ago - a cream of chestnut, almond, and garlic. I can still taste it!
God, I'm hungry!
#55
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Thank you, mvor and Betsy.
We always have a crowd of friends and family over on Christmas Eve, and I can't wait to surprise them with roasted chestnuts, even if they aren't strictly from the "open fire".
I think I'll put them on the hearth in front of the fire and let everybody draw their own conclusions!
I hope our house will have that wonderful fragrance of the chestnut street stands in Europe. I especially remember the stands in Lucerne along the river.
Thank you again, and happy holidays!
Byrd
We always have a crowd of friends and family over on Christmas Eve, and I can't wait to surprise them with roasted chestnuts, even if they aren't strictly from the "open fire".
I think I'll put them on the hearth in front of the fire and let everybody draw their own conclusions!
I hope our house will have that wonderful fragrance of the chestnut street stands in Europe. I especially remember the stands in Lucerne along the river.
Thank you again, and happy holidays!
Byrd
#56
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To lurch off on a slightly different tack, is anyone familiar with the homemade chocolate-coated, butter-cream filled candies called "jets"? Indigenous to the South, I think. I've made them by the dozens every Christmas since I was about six years old for family and friends.
I was whipping up a double batch this morning when my mixer simply stopped. One second it was working fine and the next second, nothing! So I'm off to Costco to replace it. Bad timing!
I was whipping up a double batch this morning when my mixer simply stopped. One second it was working fine and the next second, nothing! So I'm off to Costco to replace it. Bad timing!
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