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Dean 
Special Collaborator 
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
 Posted: December 28 2007 at 12:01 |
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Having spent many Christmas Eves and Christmas mornings slaving in the kitchen, this year we went low-maintenance.
Starter was the pre-prepared smoked salmon pate (see above). Alex and I were out-voted on our choice this year - we wanted goose but Debs wanted turkey. As a compromise we had a three bird roast of turkey, duck and chicken ballotine with an apricot stuffing, (as prepared by messers Marks and Spencer
 ), served with roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, balsamic braised cabbage, sprouts and pigs in blankets. Debs and I washed this down with a nice crisp Sauvignon blanc Semillon while Alex settled on a hearty Zinfandel red. After whch we were too stuffed to eat any more so we passed on the pudding, which would have been one of Prince Charles's stupidly over-priced Duchy things, that we will probably now eat New Years Day.Even our Christmas cake was bought-in this year - and jolly tasty it is too, though not as tipsy as our homemade ones are.
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Raff
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 29 2005 Location: None Status: Offline Points: 24429 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 18:15 |
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Nothing really festive or special, but I thought I'd share that with you... especially if there are people who think the only way to cook peas is by boiling them
  ! I'm making peas Italian-style, sauteed in a bit of butter, chopped red onion, and real Parma ham - adding some chicken broth for moisture as they cook (though, being frozen, the peas don't really need that so badly).
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Angelo
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: May 07 2006 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 13244 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 18:19 |
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^Not fancy, but it must be tasty.
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ISKC Rock Radio
I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65664 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 18:31 |
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any cheese on that, Raff?
..Dean, that dinner sounds great.. we made a duck, stuffing with prunes, Brussels sprouts |
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 18:31 |
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Peas are an underrated little veg really. I think most of us oldies suffered from those hardened bullets they served at school or those dreadful tins of processed peas. This recipe sounds good, I'll have to try it sometime. I've never understood why people put sugar in peas, they are usually quite sweet as they are.
There was an interesting documentary on tv last night about an 16 century Italian chef called Bartolomeo Scappi who put sugar in everything including ravioli
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/ravioliconpolpodicap_87734.shtml) |
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 18:33 |
cheesy peas? cheesy squeezy peas!
I *love* duck - I've some nice smoked duck in the fridge for New Years Day.
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65664 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 18:36 |
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one great trick is to poke holes in the skin and steam (render) the duck before roasting.. it really helps melt the fat and crisp the skin
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Raff
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 29 2005 Location: None Status: Offline Points: 24429 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 18:37 |
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No cheese at all, unless you're planning to use the peas as a pasta sauce. In that case, you would use cream, ricotta or any other soft cheese as a binder for the peas, and Parmesan on top of that. At Easter I used ricotta mixed with some of the peas, which had been pureed in a blender, to put on fresh egg tagliatelle. The sauce included mushrooms too, sauteed in oil and garlic.
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Angelo
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: May 07 2006 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 13244 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 18:42 |
You should've told that to Heston Blumenthal a while ago. I saw him on BBC television last month, he spent two weeks trying to get the duck's skin as crispy as they made it on Peking Duck he had in China. He tried just about everything, except your suggestion...@Dean: I forgot to mention that: sometimes there's nothing wrong with a buying a pre-cooked diner, as long as it's not the dirty erroneously advertised as "this is the American way" micro wave food. Edited by Angelo - December 28 2007 at 18:44 |
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ISKC Rock Radio
I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65664 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 19:27 |
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yep, that's from Chinese style
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E-Dub
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 24 2006 Location: Elkhorn, WI Status: Offline Points: 7910 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 20:42 |
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For as long as I've been a member of my wife's family, there is one thing my father-in-law, Jim, has always loved--my biscuits and gravy. Whenever they'd come down to visit I always made sure I had sausage and biscuits because I knew Jim just loved and looked forward to them. I preface this by saying that Jim's oldest son is also named Eric (very nice man). Apparently when Jim found out that Laurie and I were coming up early, a very frail Jim goes, "Oh, I sure hope I can get Eric to make biscuits and gravy." Eric (my brother-in-law) goes, "Not a problem, Dad. I'd be glad to," and Jim looks up and goes, "Not you! The other Eric." Everybody just chuckled. Well, I made sure that I prepared the best biscuits and gravy I could. He was asleep when my niece (who also loves my biscuits and gravy, and who rode over with me to be sure to get some) arrived, but the rest of us ate breakfast and I thought, "Man, this could be the best batch I've ever made." Jim woke up and I asked him if he was in the mood for a half a biscuit or a whole one. He told me that he could handle a whole one, so I took it out to him and returned to the kitchen. As ill as he is, I can just hear him in the living room commenting on how good the biscuits and gravy were. He was just so happy to be eating them (especially after the awful hospital food) and you could tell that he was in gravy heaven. Jim passed away from complications of Leukemia the morning after Christmas at his home in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. I'm going to miss making it for him because I know he always enjoyed it. My daughter, Emily, also goes nuts over them and I try to make them for her a few times. I'll definitely always think of Jim every time from now on, though. |
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 20:54 |
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Oh man, that was so moving it choked me up, my Mother passed away a year ago and all we have is memories, thankfully happy ones. My condolences to you and your family on your loss Eric. |
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E-Dub
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 24 2006 Location: Elkhorn, WI Status: Offline Points: 7910 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 20:59 |
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I'll pass that on to my wife. She'll appreciate it. Thank you for your condolences, though. It was very special to make them for him one last time.
E
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micky
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 21:05 |
Please do the same from Raff and I as well Erik  |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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E-Dub
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 24 2006 Location: Elkhorn, WI Status: Offline Points: 7910 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 21:17 |
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Will do, Micky. The world definitely lost a very good man. The word 'integrity' keeps popping up in my head when thinking about Jim. E
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micky
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: December 28 2007 at 21:19 |
there's not enough of that around these days is there... |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Angelo
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: May 07 2006 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 13244 |
Posted: December 29 2007 at 09:43 |
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Eric, my condolences to you and your family - memories are all that will be left, but given your story above, they'll be good memories.
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ISKC Rock Radio
I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |
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E-Dub
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 24 2006 Location: Elkhorn, WI Status: Offline Points: 7910 |
Posted: December 30 2007 at 18:49 |
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OK, we're back and settled in. I think on New Years Day I'm going to make a big batch of Irish Stew with Guinness. The thing is, I can't find the sure fire recipe that I once had. Does anyone have a good Irish Stew recipe? I've a nice hunk of top sirloin that I'll cut up into chunks and the Guinness.
E |
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micky
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: December 30 2007 at 18:53 |
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Raff made an incredible Seafood Risotto today.... in return I treated to burgers at Fudruckers (with Chili cheese fries hahha).... and in return... she is in the kitchen right now making a raspberry chocolate cheesecake
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Angelo
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: May 07 2006 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 13244 |
Posted: December 30 2007 at 19:19 |
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Irish Stew and Seafood risotto - both sound good....
With the Guinness involved I'd expect it to become Beef 'n Guinness rather than Irish Stew though. Haven't got a good recipe on either, unfortunately. Let me know when you get one Eric, I'd love a copy for sure. EDIT: I made my curry for the first time in three months today - and I used green curry mixture instead of regular garam masala. It was just a tiny bit spicier, but a little ginger sirup did wonders for the kids. Edited by Angelo - December 30 2007 at 19:20 |
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ISKC Rock Radio
I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |
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Atavachron wrote: