Sendoff Day Breakfast

Basically more bagels and salmon, plus:

Scrambled eggs with green chile.

Mix one cup of roasted, peeled, chopped green chiles with a dozen eggs, beaten, and half a cup of cheese, season with salt and pepper. Scramble per normal, I like to scramble them slow and keep them soft.

December 27 Leftovers Plus

Well, a lot of this dinner was just what was leftover from an orgy of eating for a couple of days. Two worthy additions:

The leftover ham went in the leftover black eyed peas.

Lis' Green Chile Enchiladas

These are a little different from both Lis' and my own enchiladas. They came out well, though, so might as well post them as they were made. I'll post my standard GCEs next time I make them. As usual, quantities approximate.

Oil a baking pan. Put a layer of corn tortillas on the bottom, then a layer of roasted, peeled and chopped New Mexico green chiles, then a layer of shredded cheese. Repeat for several layers, ending with tortillas and cheese. Next, pour a bottle of beer over to moisten. We used about 3/4 of a bottle as I recall.

Christmas Dinner Roast Beef

One of the nice things about our recent Christmases in Florida has been the availability of really nice fresh oysters. A little place in Saint Augustine has them by the bushel, still covered with the muck they were dug in. You take them across the street to the car wash and hose them down with the power hose. Uncle Curt has become an expert shucker, so pretty much all of the meals you see here are preceded by plentiful oysters on the half shell during cocktail hour, served with horseradish, cocktail sauce (ketchup plus horseradish plus red pepper flakes), lemon and pepper.

That same place had major prime ribs for sale, so we wound up with a beautiful fifteen pounder. I wasn't there to see the guy prepare it, but I think he cut the mean off the ribs, tied the ribs to the bottom of it, and rolled the whole business back up stuffed with garlic, then rubbed it with pepper. Next year I'll get a lesson.

That led to a dilemma about how to cook it. I have been hearing about various low temp, or even oven off methods, but when you look on the internet you also see a bunch of high temp methods. I was too nervous to try the oven off method the first time, so I made some sort of compromise and put the thing in the oven at 300, about three hours before dinner. About two hours later nothing was happening, the meat thermometer still registered cold, it hadn't browned at all.... people were hungry and I was getting nervous. So I kept upping the temp in the oven, it wound up at 425 has three and then three and a half hours passed. I was checking constantly, but I still sort of blew it, before I knew it the whole thing was a little overdone, medium rare at the rarest, and well done on the ends. It happened really fast, I think this is why those oven off methods exist. It was still pretty good though, there was enough almost-rare for the blood loving members of my own family, and fortunately some others from other families actually prefer it a little better done. But still, when I get home I am going to buy a roast beef and try it oven-off. Live and learn.

Anyway, another key part of Christmas Dinner, from my mother by way of her German Jewish mother in law, is "baked dish." I do this one by ear so I can't be too specific. Let's see. Peel and quarter about eight medium size baking potatoes and four yellow onions. Butter a 9 by 13 baking dish, scatter in the potatoes and onions, salt and plenty of black pepper. Then add rice.... the hard part is how much. I add it thinking that I want it to fill the pan once it expands as it cooks. It about covers the bottom of the pan around the potatoes and onions. I would say about 1 1/2 cups, maybe 2. Then fill with boiling water to within a cofortable distance of the rim of the pan. Not too close or you'll never get it in the oven without spilling. Bake at 350, keeping an eye on the liquid as the water is absorbed. If it starts looking dry before the rice is cooked, add a little hot water a cup at a time. The idea is to have another half hour after the rice is done to cook off the last moisture and brown it on the bottom so it gets crispy. Mom could only make that happen about half the time, and I'm not sure I do that well. It's good anyway, kids love it, and it's great with roast beef jus over it.

Finally we had steamed green beans. Trim the beans, put them only wet from the water they were washed in in a microwavable dish, topped with some butter, salt and pepper. Cover with plastic and microwave for... depends on how many beans. About one minute per serving of beans would come pretty close.

Christmas Morning Breakfast

Not much to report here, just smoked salmon, bagels and cream cheese. I think my mother used to make scooped out half oranges which she refilled with the chopped orange, or somehting like that. Perhaps my sisters remember the details. In our adult youth we would have champagne or whiskey sours, but no one is much up to that anymore, sadly.

Christmas Eve Supper

My family has had a traditional Christmas Eve dinner for many years. It was originated by my mother Barbara as a late night supper and drink for parents after the children were in bed and presents were under the tree. My sisters Lis, Rachel and I have kept the tradition alive when we get together annually for Christmas. The menu is as follows:

Smoked turkey. My mother used to order one from a catalog, some years we just buy one at the supermarket, this year Rachel had one smoked at a local barbecue place. The idea, of course, is that it can be served at room termperature without any preparation.

A baked macaroni. I don't really know exactly how my mother did this. This year I prepared two pounds of multicolor rotini. I heated two cups of whole milk in the microwave with four ounces of butter, and added half a cup of bread crumbs. (I made these in a blender from some supermarket Italian bread we had around. You could also do this the tradtional way, making a Bechamel from milk, butter and flower. I didn't have any flour in the vacation house.) Anyway, I added an eight ounce container of one of those spreadable herb and garlic cheeses, like Boursin but that isn't what it was.... I guess I should add that this whole thing was accomplished in a rented vacation condo, so it involved some improvisation. Poured the milk and cheese over the noodles in a nine by 13 baking pan, put some shredded mozzarella on top, and baked it at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Steamed asparagus, room temperature, drizzled with olive oil. Had I been doing this at home I would have topped it with roasted red peppers and shaved parmesan, but I was keeping it simple.

This year I added a Virginia country ham. I had the shank end of a half ham. I soaked it in two changes of water overnight, then put it in a slow (300) oven in a roasting pan with ten cups of water, covered with foil, for about three hours. I took it out and carved off the thick layer of fat all around. I made a glaze of a mixture of prepared mustard and wine, but it didn't really work. I suspect it needed something a little more sugary. Anyway, I put the ham back in the oven just to melt the glaze. The recipes you see at the ham companies encourage you to skip the whole glazing step, as it just dries things out.

Finally, I made black eyed peas. I soaked the beans overnight, then simmered them for an hour or so with plenty of water. When they were done I drained off all enough water to barely cover them, added a quarter cup of ketchup, salt and pepper, a bunch of green onions chopped, and a bunch of parlsey chopped and simmered for another half hour while it thickened.

Power Outage Pork and Cabbage

Power out last night in an ice storm, so we were cooking by candlelight on the stovetop. Browned two thick pork chops in a dutch oven, added a cabbage, cored and cut in eight wedges. Poured a bottle of beer, a can of chicken stock over the top, seasoned with sal, pepper, caraway seed (not too much) and a T of good prepared mustard, covered and simmered for 40 minutes. Removed pork and cabbage and kept warm, while reducing the sauce.... I didn't do this quite as long as I might have liked, because I didn't really have a way to keep everything warm.

Hint: A little squeeze of ketchup is a good way to get a sauce to thicken.

I served this with a box couscous prepared with maybe half a teaspoon of curry powder.... some raisins would have been good in it if you like raisins in your couscous, which I do but my kids don't.

Whole Wheat Pizza with Chicken and Peppers

Pizza dough:

1 cup whole wheat flower
2 cup white flour
1T Olive oil
1/2 t salt
1 t sugar
1 package yeast

Put in bread machine and let her rip. Bread machines are great for pizza dough. Preheat oven to 425. When ready, place on floured board and press out with your finger until large and thin enough, and the right shape for whatever pan you are using. Place in the pan and prebake five minutes.

Topping:

See earlier post for chicken in tomatoes and peppers. I had four thighs left over, I removed the chicken from the bones and chopped. Spread the tomato sauce on the prebaked crust (it's good if it isn't too cold, you could nuke it for a couple of minutes to warm it up) getting as many of the peppers as possible. Put the chopped chicken on top (sliced mushrooms with a little olive oil would be good, also), then cover with grated mozzarella cheese, drizzle with olive oil, and bake for 30 minutes. Let it cool for five minutes before cutting.

Pasta Frittata

For Breakfast:

Take one cup leftover cold pasta, mix with three beaten eggs, salt and black pepper. Fry in nonstick pan with 1T butter. When it is almost set on top, slide in onto a plate and flip it back into the pan, brown briefly on the other side. Slide onto serving platter, cut in wedges and serve. It's good with a little tomato sauce on the side.

Chicken Thighs with Tomatoes and Peppers

Oh, I see. The way a blog works is you actually have to put in the entries. Ever notice when you search for something in a blog about 70% petered out six months ago? Not an easy thing to maintain... Oh well, one more thing to be insufficiently disciplined about.

Anyway, brown 8 chicken thighs in olive oil, remove and reserve. Chop a large yellow onion, a few cloves of garlic, and six small to medium bell peppers (I used a pack of yellow, red and oprange peppers I bought at Sam's Club). I left the peppers in strips. Add to the oil and cook until soft, maybe 10 minutes. Add a large can of crushed tomatoes and a cup of wine, oregano, a bay leaf and a little red pepper flake. Put the chicken back in, cover, and cook for an hour. Serve with pasta and cheese on the side.