The Holiday Recipes, 2013

Let the final menu selection begin!

For Christmas Eve, we're doing muffalettas again, but no remoulade or gumbo, on Christmas Eve.  "Light."

Christmas breakfast, Mama will make a meat feast for everybody (but me), including breakfast sausage, bacon, Taylor pork roll, scrapple, who knows what else, plus eggs.  I will make orange biscuits for me.

In between, we'll have some kind of nuts (two recipes below--gingerbready ones or rosemary ones), crackers, cheese, and all of our Christmas cookies for nibbles.

For our British-inspired Christmas dinner, we'll have roast beef, roasted potatoes, popovers, cauliflower cheese, braised cabbages, cheese and onion pie, maybe green beans or Brussel sprouts, mincemeat pie, and some kind of steamed pudding (plus a store-bought fruitcake.)  There will also be popping crackers!

We've done all of the shopping but the beef, so let the festivities begin!!

(Apologies to Lambeth:  no Brown Windsor Soup.)

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Muffalettas/Muffuletta/Muffalatta (who knows?!)
Very similar to those at Central Grocery, which I remember eating on our trips to New Orleans.
Combine:
1 jar salad olives, drained
1 jar cocktail onions, drained
4 cloves garlic, minced
celery—chopped fine
Bread
meats (cheap lunchmeats--ham, bologna,salami)
mozzarella cheese

Bake at 350°F until brown and cheese melts.

Orange Biscuits

1 can refrigerator biscuits

½ stick oleo

2/3 cup sugar

½ cup orange juice

Melt oleo and sugar; add juice and coat biscuits. Bake at 350°F til brown (15 minutes).

Gommie Hungry

Laura’s Spicy Nuts

1 lb. pecans
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c. brown suar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves

            Mix ingredients together.  Spread on large buttered pan.  Bake in slow oven (275-300°F) for 30 minutes.  Stir often, every 10 minutes so they don't burn.

L.M.

Bar Nuts

For Easter 2002, we used dried rosemary, same amount—it wasn’t as strong but was good enough.

1 ¼ lb unsalted assorted nuts (peanuts, cashews, brazil, pecans, almonds)

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar (or light)

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon melted butter (double to 2 tablespoons)

            Preheat oven to 35O°F.  Toss nuts in a bowl and then spread out evenly on cookie sheet.  Toast until golden brown, about 10 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine rosemary, sugar, cayenne, salt, and butter.  Thoroughly toss nuts with spices.

            Serve warm and enjoy!

L.B.

**This is the one Mama will use:
Paula Deen's Foolproof Standing Rib Roast
1 (5-pound) standing beef rib roast
1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Allow roast to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Rub roast all over with the House Seasoning. Place roast on a rack in a pan with the rib side down and the fatty side up. Roast for 1 hour. Turn off oven. Leave roast in the oven but do not open oven door for another 3 hours. About 1 hour before serving time, turn oven to 375 degrees F to reheat the roast.

Cook's Note: Do not remove roast or re-open the oven door from the time roast is put in until ready to serve.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt

1/4 cup garlic powder

1/4 cup ground black pepper

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Paula Deen

Roast Beef

Marinade:

1 ½ cups flat beer

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons marmalade (good with Seville orange thick cut)

2 minced cloves garlic

            Combine and marinate roast. 

            Put roast in rotisserie at 25 minutes a pound.

            Let rest for 30 minutes before slicing.

Joy of Cooking

Alternate Marinade

Maggi

rice wine

            Combine Maggi and rice wine in a 2:1 ratio in ziploc bag.  Place trimmed roast in bag and leave on counter for about an hour. 

            Preheat rotisserie about 20 minutes.  Remove roast from ziploc, spritz with pam, and rub with kosher salt and black pepper.  Skewer in rotisserie, fat end up. 

            Cook for 25 minutes per pound, or until 140°F.  Rest on platter, covered in a tent of foil for warmth.

            Slice and serve.

Roasted Potatoes

Potatoes we fell in love with in England 2002, mainly at the Swan with whatever they were serving.  And so, for Super Bowl Sunday, Ginia made roast beef in a great marinade and these potatoes.  The recipe comes from Jenny Baker’s Kettle Broth to Gooseberry Fool:  A Celebration of Simple English Cooking, a book we found at the Waterstone’s on our last full day in London.  gin’s note:  The entire time is 2 hours, prep to eating. 

2 lbs potatoes

salt

oil (something light—olive or sunflower)

            Heat the oven to 400°F.  Peel the potatoes and cut them into even-sized pieces.  Put them into a saucepan and cover with water.  Add a little salt and bring to a boil.  Simmer for five minutes and drain well.

            While simmering, pour sufficient oil into a roasting pan to cover the base generously.  Heat in the oven for 5 minutes, then add the potatoes and turn them over and over to coat evenly.  Put into the oven and roast for about 1 hour, turning once or twice during this time. 

Jenny Baker’s Kettle Broth to Gooseberry Fool: A Celebration of Simple English Cooking

Popovers

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 ¼ cup milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

            Preheat oven to 450°F.  Grease and flour muffin tin (or ramekins).  Whisk together flour and salt.  In another bowl, combine eggs, milk, and melted butter.  Pour this over flour mixture and fold.  Fill each muffin tin 2/3- ¾ full.  Bake 15 minutes.  Reduce to 350°F another 20 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Martha Stewart website

Cauliflower Cheese
One medium-size cauliflower
1 3/4 oz butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 pint milk
3 1/2 oz grated cheese
1/2 teaspoon mustard
a pinch of nutmeg

Set the oven at 220C.  Grease an ovenproof dish.

Cut the cauliflower into florets, and slice any remaining stalk.  Steam for 5 minutes until barely tender.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1 or 2 minutes.  Add the milk gradually, stirring until thickened and smooth.  Add the grated cheese, mustard and nutmeg, and stir until the cheese has melted.

Put the cauliflower into the dish, pour the sauce over  and bake in the oven until the top is brown and bubbly.

Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, The Good Granny Cookbook: Traditional Favourites for Modern Families 


Cheese and Onion Pie
shortcrust pastry dough made with 3 cups flour and 3/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, peeled and chopped finely
2 1/2 cups good, strong Cheddar, coarsely grated
1/4 lb potatoes, peeled, steamed, and diced
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons heavy cream
a bunch of parsley, chopped
cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
beaten egg for glaze

Preheat oven to 425F  Divide the dough into two balls, keeping one a little larger than the other.  Melt the butter in a pan and gently fry the onion until softened and translucent, then let cool.  Throw the onions into a bowl with the grated cheese, potato, eggs, cream, parsley, and the seasoning, and mix everything together with your fingers.

Roll out the larger ball of pasty and line a shallow greased 9" tart pan.  Tip the cheese and onion mixture into the pie crust.  Moisten the edges of the crust and cover with the rolled out top piece, crimping the edges together carefully.  Brush beaten egg over the top and bake in the oven for 30 minutes until crisp and golden brown.  You can sweat leeks instead of onions, or add buttered apple slices instead of potato.

Tamasin Day-Lewis, Tarts with Tops On, or How to Make the Perfect Pie


Braised Cabbage with Sausage
1 small red cabbage
1 onion, chopped
1 oz butter
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 pint red wine
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons soft brown sugar
4 eating apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
a bay leaf and a strip of orange peel
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
salt and pepper
1 lb kieldbasa

Set oven to 160C.  Cut cabbage into quarters, discarding the white stalk, and shred the rest.  In a fire-proof casserole, soften the onion in the butter.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute.  Add the cabbage and all the other ingredients except the sausages, and stir to mix.  Cut the sausages into chunks and lay them on top of the cabbage. Cover tightly and bake for 2 hours or longer.  After an hour, check and, if all the liquid has been absorbed, add a little more wine or water.  Adjust the seasoning before serving.

Variation:  Instead of sausages, use chunks of smoky bacon.

Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, The Good Granny Cookbook: Traditional Favourites for Modern Families 

Mincemeat Pie

pastry for 2-crust pie (we used store bought)

1-27 oz jar None Such ready to use mincemeat

1 egg yolk, optional

2 tablespoons water, optional

            Place rack in lowest position in oven; preheat oven to 425°F.  Prepare pastry.  Turn mincemeat into pastry-line 9” pie plate.  Cover with to crust; cut slits near center.  Seal and flute.  For a more golden crust, mix egg yolk and water; brush over entire surface of pie.  Bake 30 minutes or until golden.  Serve warm or cool; garnish as desired.

None Such mincemeat jar recipe

Jessie Jackson's Plum Pudding
2 cups self-raising flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large carrot, grated
2 oz mixed peel
1 lb currants
1 lb raisins
8 oz suet
2 eggs beaten
milk or stout to mix

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together in the order given.  Stir in the beaten eggs and sufficient milk or stout to hold everything together.  Put into basins, cover and steam for 3 hours.

On the day, steam for 1 hour

Jenny Baker, Kettle Broth to Gooseberry Fool: A Celebration of Simple English Cooking

Steamed Syrup Sponge

½ lb. butter

½ lb. sugar

4 eggs

12 oz. plain flour (appx. 2 4/5 cups flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

125 ml to a pint of milk

3 tablespoons golden syrup

First of all, put enough water in a large pot to come up the side of the pudding basin ½ to 2/3 of the way.  Also, put a kettle on to boil.

Allow butter to reach room temperature.  Place in a large mixing bowl and add the sugar.  Cream together until smooth.

            Add eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly.  Gradually sieve flour and baking powder into the bowl, folding the ingredients together.  Add enough milk so that the mixture forms a light ribbon.  Line the bottom of a pudding basin with golden syrup (spray Pam on the measuring spoon to prevent sticking).  Pour the sponge mixture into the syrup. 

            Place the covered pudding basin inside the pot, which has reached a full boil.  There is no need to trivet the basin. Steam for approximately one hour or until the sponge springs back to the touch.  Serve with custard.

Porter’s English Restaurant

           

Steamed Treacle Sponge Pudding

1 tablespoon black treacle

3 tablespoons golden syrup

6 oz. (175 g) self-rising flour (appx. 1 ¼ cup flour)

1 rounded teaspoon baking powder

6 oz. (175 g) butter, softened (1 stick + 2 tablespoons)

3 large eggs

6 oz. (175 g) soft light brown sugar (appx. 1 ¼ cup sugar)

You will also need a 2-pint pudding basin with lid, well buttered (or sprayed with Pam), and a large mixing bowl. 

First of all, put enough water in a large pot to come up the side of the pudding basin ½ to 2/3 of the way.  Also, put a kettle on to boil.

Butter the basin (or spray with Pam and wipe with a paper towel), then measure 3 tablespoons of golden syrup into it (it helps to spray the measuring spoons with Pam to keep the syrup from sticking).  Then take a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and baking powder into it, add the softened butter, eggs, sugar, and black treacle.  Beat the mixture for about 2 minutes until it’s thoroughly blended.  Now spoon the mixture into the basin and level the top using the back of the tablespoon.

Place the covered pudding basin inside the pot, which has reached a full boil.  There is no need to trivet the basin.  Now steam the pudding for 2 hours, checking the water repeatedly and refilling it when necessary.

            To serve, loosen the pudding all round using a butter knife, invert it on a warmed plate, and pour an extra 3 tablespoons of syrup over the top.  Served with custard (Bird’s custard powder makes this easier), whipped cream, ice cream, or crème fraiche. 

Delia Smith