In keeping with tradition, I am posting my Christmas menu. I had my menu all planned until I read a blog post.
My thanks to Jo at Jo on Food, Life and a Scent of Chocolate for posting a recipe for beef Bourguignon. For many years now I have used the Barefoot Contessa recipe and love it. Plus, it can be made ahead of time and reheated, when it always tastes even better. Which means that on Christmas Day I am only reheating and preparing the mushrooms to go into the beef.
One of my sons asked if I was making noodles or mashed potatoes and I decided to make neither. Instead I am making Ina's potato fennel gratin, which can also be made ahead - YAY!!!
Keeping with the make-ahead theme, I am going with the poached shrimp which I have made many times and everyone loves. And even though I always make my own salad dressings, I sprung for a ready made bottle of a creamy mustard vinaigrette.
I did make an alteration to the menu just yesterday. I received a new recipe to test from America's Test Kitchen. I made the caramelized onions and froze what I will need for Christmas. The second part of the test is using them for the Brussels sprouts. I sure hope this recipe works, though in all my years of testing there has been only one complete fail IMO.
In prior years when I have travelled, I have tried to include something from the country I visited. This year is no exception. I will be making Brussels-style Belgian waffles for dessert with various toppings - ice cream, powdered sugar, maple syrup, jam, caramel sauce... And since the batter has to sit overnight, we just have to pour it into the waffle iron after dinner. My only debate is whether I make the batter from scratch, or use the mix I purchased from King Arthur flour. I never liked waffles until I had them in Brussels. Definitely not like Eggo, lol.
Here is the menu:
My thanks to Jo at Jo on Food, Life and a Scent of Chocolate for posting a recipe for beef Bourguignon. For many years now I have used the Barefoot Contessa recipe and love it. Plus, it can be made ahead of time and reheated, when it always tastes even better. Which means that on Christmas Day I am only reheating and preparing the mushrooms to go into the beef.
One of my sons asked if I was making noodles or mashed potatoes and I decided to make neither. Instead I am making Ina's potato fennel gratin, which can also be made ahead - YAY!!!
Keeping with the make-ahead theme, I am going with the poached shrimp which I have made many times and everyone loves. And even though I always make my own salad dressings, I sprung for a ready made bottle of a creamy mustard vinaigrette.
I did make an alteration to the menu just yesterday. I received a new recipe to test from America's Test Kitchen. I made the caramelized onions and froze what I will need for Christmas. The second part of the test is using them for the Brussels sprouts. I sure hope this recipe works, though in all my years of testing there has been only one complete fail IMO.
In prior years when I have travelled, I have tried to include something from the country I visited. This year is no exception. I will be making Brussels-style Belgian waffles for dessert with various toppings - ice cream, powdered sugar, maple syrup, jam, caramel sauce... And since the batter has to sit overnight, we just have to pour it into the waffle iron after dinner. My only debate is whether I make the batter from scratch, or use the mix I purchased from King Arthur flour. I never liked waffles until I had them in Brussels. Definitely not like Eggo, lol.
Here is the menu:
Poached Shrimp
Butter Lettuce w Pears, Walnuts,& Goat Cheese
Boeuf Bourguignon
Potato Fennel Gratin
Pan-roasted Brussels Sprouts w
Caramelized Onions and Bacon
Rolls w Orange Butter
Brussels-style Belgian Waffle Sundaes
Impressive!
ReplyDeleteThat indeed is impressive and I'm sure very delicious!
ReplyDeletebetty
Your menu sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteI've only made one of the recipes Jo posted. A pork tenderloin cooked in the Crock Pot, but it is sooooooo good. I make it all of the time now.
Mouth-watering selections. Happy Holidays and Bon Appetit!
ReplyDeleteYum! What time is dinner?
ReplyDeleteOk...yummy! This sounds great and always nic to not have to make the whole meal on the same day. It pays with clean up too.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting menu. We just repeat Thanksgiving at Christmas. It is what my family loves!!
ReplyDelete