Christmas Dinner - one day after

My brother flew in late on Christmas day, and further postponement of present unwrapping was not an option so the official Christmas dinner waited one additional day.  Dinner included a prime rib roast (is there really a choice if you're from a cattle ranching family), mashed potatoes, cheese onions, broccolini, and two types of gravy. 

For the meat, we used the quick cook sear the crap out it for 15 minutes, then cook at 350 approach.  This makes for some damn tasty outer crust.  And by crust, I mean crunchy morsels of spice charred meat fat.  Everyone has their own way of making mashed potatoes, probably all pretty good, especially with gravy. The most important thing, however; is to add at least a whole stick of butter regardless of how many potatoes you're having.  Obviously you could add more, but I'd be hard pressed to understand why less would be a good idea.  Pearl cheese onions are a tradition in my family, not much to them as long as you can convince someone else to peel them.  Peeling them sucks (thanks mom), but definitely worth the effort. 

Gravy -
Not a lot of explanation is needed here, unless for some reason you decided not to make this after cooking a fatty piece of meat.  Why would you ever skip the gravy?  The first gravy was a traditional gravy made with the potato water and thickened.  I also made a Stilton Madera gravy from the link below.  I substituted Madera since I didn't have any port. 

Stilton Gravy Recipe

Big Boss

Always love hitting up a good microbrewery, especially with my mom and bro.  This is from the Big Boss Brewery in Raleigh.  They only had six beers on, and I tried five.  Ended up having the raspberry stout which tasted like a raspberry chocolate mousse.  It was really good, but 8% abv limits how many you can enjoy.  Also tasted their pumpkin beer which was excellent.

Baked Brie

Baked brie is excellent when it's paired with something sweet.  This recipe is simple and only requires a few ingredients but yields a tasty mound of gooey cheese wrapped in flakey puff pastry.  Who wouldn't like that?  I had a 2008 HeartsWork Well Red with it which is an organic California red wine.  The wine was very fruity, although it had a bit of a sour finish.  I'm indifferent to organic vs. non-organic products, but for wine the organic wines have less sulfites than traditional wines, sometimes nearly none.  Sulfur dioxide occurs naturally in the fermentation process, but is also added as a preservative in wines.  Some people have allergic reactions to these and therefore may avoid wine altogether.  For these people organic wine may present some opportunities to enjoy some grape nectar without the nasty side effects. 

Recipe Link

Germany or Denmark?

Great Great grandma's Maryland Cream Waffle recipe from Denmark. The waffles were great especially with tons of butter which is how I like waffles, pancakes, and french toast. What's more interesting, is where does the recipe really come from Germany or Denmark?

Residing in Hamburg, the timing of her residence will determine the country of origin. Hamburg is at the southern tip of the region know as the Jutland Peninsula or Schleswig-Holstein. In 1864, after The Second War of Schleswig, the Danes were unable to defend their peninsula and the regions of Schleswig and Holstein were taken by Prussia and Austria, respectively.

In 1920 after Germany lost the first World War, control over the Schleswig-Holstein region was in dispute once again. This time the control of the region was put to a vote of its citizens. Northern Schleswig voted to return to Danish rule while the southern portion as well as all of Holstein were returned to German rule.

So, if this recipe was around before 1864, and its origin is truely Hamburg it is infact a Danish recipe. However if it came about subsequent to 1864 the waffles are German. (Although they could be referred to as Prussian or Austrian waffles if developed sometime between the Second Schleswig war and prior to WWI.)

Lamb with the Fam

First are the dauphinoise gratin which were made with real Swiss cheese this time. My mom made them, with my supervision or course. The lamb was a lamb loin roast which was pre-cut so it could be sliced into chops if you wanted. I marinated it in rosemary, garlic, and olive oil for about 2 hours. It was browned on all sides for about 3 minutes per side in a oven-safe cast iron pot then finished in the oven at 425 for about 15 minutes. It ended up medium with the ends slightly more done which dad wanted anyhow. It was incredibly tender and with a rich complexity drawn out by the garlic and rosemary. I had the Cono Sur Chilean Pinot Noir with it which was light bodied, but much spicier than I expected with a black pepper finish.

Leftover Ly's

If you like cheap Vietnamese food, you should try Ly's on High Point Rd. I had the leftovers for breakfast with a fried egg on top. Whenever you reheat fried rice or any rice, be sure to add plenty of water and it's just as good the second time around. Not pictured is the Sriracha Chili Sauce which is pretty much mandatory on all Vietnamese or Thai food.

Hanger Steak

Don't think I'll need to go into a lot of detail on how good this hanger steak from Print Works Bistro was. Hanger steak is one of my favorite steaks due to the awesome flavor which is much different than most steaks and it can be very tender too. The hanger steak is said to get much of its flavor due to its proximity to the kidneys. This steak reminded me of this article I read a few months back about off cuts of meat. Off cuts can be a gem for both flavor and value. In the US, this the hanger steak is often not even separated, but rather ground into hamburger. Hamburger is good, but this thing is way too good to turn into burgers not to mention there is only one per steer. If you have a good butcher, or are at a restaurant with some off cuts give them a try you might be surprised.

King Crab

Not sure why I waited 28 years to try King Crab. Well at least the last 20 or so. It's awesome. These legs were only $10 at Costco and took about 4 minutes to cook. If you haven't tried this yet; seriously, cough up an Alexander Hamilton and mark it off your culinary bucket list. I also had a pine nut couscous with it, but who cares when you have giant pieces of crab meet in butter with some Chardonnay. I thought about saving the ends to make crab soup, but ended up picking out all the meat and eating it right then (o-well, have to get some more).

Breakfast too?

What's better than your friends inviting you over for dinner? Sleeping at their house because "the roads are too bad", and being there for breakfast. Eggs, sausage, and fried potatoes. Coffee with Baileys not pictured.

Beef

Sure does pay to have good friends, especially if they are excellent cooks and they invite you over to their house for dinner. We started with cheese which is a blue cheese and aged Gouda which we drank some smooth French wine with (Chateau De Nages). I love the crystals that form in aged Gouda and some other aged cheeses. The crystals are from a crystallization of the amino acid, tyrosine (be careful using this useless knowledge you could come across as a pretentious cheese head).
Next were some shrimp that got devoured cooked with garlic and dill. You can't go wrong with shrimp, as long as they're not overcooked. If they are pink, take them off the heat, no one likes shrimp jerky. Mark cooked these perfectly and they were nice and tender.
For dinner, it was potatoe (I accidentally wrote that so there you go D.Q.) pancakes, green beans, capellini onions and prime rib. The potato pancakes have butter, cream, cheese, and cream cheese in them so additional explanation is unnecessary and would detract from the taste already developing in your mind. I may be somewhat partial as the grandson of a cattle rancher, but rare beef is pretty much the lion of meets. This roast was seasoned with dry mustard, fennel seeds, salt, and some other spices which I don't remember the names of only the taste. Don't think I got any blood on me, but would have cared about as much as a ravenous lion with a gazelle leg hanging from its mouth. Thanks for dinner guys, it was awesome.

Five spice chicken

This is a Panchpuran (five spice blend) chicken risotto I made. Five spice is an Indian spice blend that includes cumin, fennel, methi, mustard and calonji seeds. I browned the chicken in the pot I used for the risotto and finished it in the oven. The only five spice I used in the risotto was what was leftover from browning the chicken which I deglazed with some red wine. The risotto was awesome, and not to brag but somehow the chicken turned out perfectly cooked. This blend had a great licorice taste from the fennel that really stood out.

I had a bottle of Cruz Alta Malbec with this dish. Some people may prefer a white with the chicken and risotto, but I opened a bottle of red immediately after walking in the door long before dinner evolved.

I didn't use a recipe, but below are the basics:

-Brown five spice seasoned chicken breasts in risotto pot with olive oil
-Once browned finish in oven at 350 for about 15 minutes
-Deglaze risotto pot with red wine
-Saute a small onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 Tbs butter, pepper
-Cook risotto as shown on box, but substitute 1/3 of chicken broth for water (otherwise it will be too salty)
-Add 1/4 tsp cayenne
-Top with fresh Parmesan

Racking beer

Racking beer means moving it from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermentation process. You can see all the yummies leftover after the first stage is complete.

Are you a baker or a cook?

Having recently witnessed lots and lots of cookies being made, I'm wondering the difference between baking and cooking and the personalities of those who prefer each of them. Baking seems to take precision with ingredients, and a watchful eye on the oven while cooking takes knowledge of each individual ingredient and a vision for their integration. I'm beginning to think that people who enjoy baking are very precise and excellent at math. A baker as opposed to a cook views the dish in distinct steps that must be completed in a specific order and with precision. Bakers seem to take comfort in their knowledge of the interaction of their ingredients and the predetermined portions required and the outcome they can envision even before adding the first ingredient. Cooks on the other hand are interested in the ability of an ingredient to completely dominate a dish and free styling to find others to compliment or jade the dominant ingredient. Cooks view the dish as a progression that could take several paths along the way with the end unknown until it arrives. A cook may have a good idea of how the different ingredients will interact, but has the luxury of tasting along the way(glasses of wine help) and improvising to add a personal touch. To me it seems like bakers are detailed planners while cooks just want to get started and deal with the problems as they arise. Both can end up with excellent results, but it's interesting that differences in personality types determines which type of food you like to make.

Mellow Mushroom

I love Mellow Mushroom for their excellent beer selection and good pizza. Tonight I had a Bells Pale Ale from Kalamazoo Michigan which was very hoppy for a pale ale, but well balanced. Also had a steak and cheese, which I'll be avoiding from now on. After spending 5 months near Philly, you gotta get the real thing on the steak and cheese and that means cheese wiz, onions and mushrooms or if your were at Pat's in Philly a Wiz wit shrooms. Anyway, the excellent beer selection (probably best in Greensboro) makes up for the steak and cheese.

Cookie day

Saturday was mom's annual Christmas cookie baking day. The snickerdoodles pictured accounted for only a few dozen of the hundred dozen or so cookies that were made. This has been a tradition for going on 20 years now for my mom and two of her friends to make cookies to give away each Christmas. See below for a link of more pictures, watch out this could make you very hungry.

More Pictures

Santa Rita

Nothing special for dinner tonight, just some moderately funky blue cheese and some leftover chicken curry. Blue cheese is great by itself, although the funkier the better. Some people like a big red wine with that, but tonight I had a fairly sweet oaky Chardonnay with it. I really like Chardonnay and blue cheese together. With dinner I had the Santa Rita pictured. It was pretty sweet for a Cabernet which worked great with the extra cayenne I added to the leftover curry. I really like this Santa Rita from Chile, it is super fruity which I'm really starting to like. It has a mild finish, nothing that stays around forever, but enough to remember it. I think it was less than $10, so awesome deal too.

Chicken curry

Chicken curry really should be served as often as spaghetti. This is an easy and cheap dish to make that is even better the second day. This only takes about 30 minutes to make and is super easy. The bread is Indian roti bread that I buy frozen at the oriental store that you just warm up in a frying pan. Any trained eyes may notice that this is not basmati rice. I was forced to substitute since I was out, but if you're planning ahead make sure to get the good stuff. Didn't use a recipe, but here are the basics.

Pan fry 3 sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts w/some curry powder
In a separate pot cook the following:
few TB oil
1 onion
3 TB curry powder (adjust this as you like, i also added some cayenne)
1 large can tomatoes w/juice
1 can coconut milk
1 can bamboo shoots
Cooked chicken breast

When I say "cook", that doesn't mean add everything at once. They go in this order, but let them each cook a bit before adding the next thing. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Wine chiller

Something I needed? Nope. Almost feel a little pretentious even admitting that I own it, but pretentious isn't a feeling, it's an adjective so who cares. I can now keep 42 bottles of wine at the perfect temp, and store them for several years. Doubt any will make it that long, but if they do I can pull them out at a moments notice and they will be perfectly preserved and ready to pour. We'll see how filling it up goes.

Brew time

Been a while for brewing, once you have a few beers it all comes back though. Brewed a barley wine and an American pale ale. If all the sugar in the barley wine gets converted, it should be somewhere around 11% alcohol. It's hopped with 4 oz. of Fuggles, and another 2 oz. of Kent Goldings will be added to the fermenter to dry hop it. It's going to have to age for at least 6 months in the bottles, so have to wait until next fall for a report. The pale ale will be about 5%, and fairly dark for a pale ale since we used a little extra malt. It was hopped with an ounce of Centennial and an ounce of Willamette.

Full 5 gallon boil of the barley wine.


Wort chilling

Egg & cheese

Nothing fancy, just an egg & cheese on toast for breakfast Sunday. Accompanied by the Sunday NY Times.

Pork tenderloin and mushroom risotto

This a pork tenderloin prepared by my friends Mark and Ashley. The pork was marinated in a rosemary marinade then pan fried and finished in the oven. It was cooked perfectly, not over cooked. It's Ok to have pork on the medium to medium well side, you don't have to char the damn thing. The risotto was cooked with the mushrooms and onions giving it a distinct mushroom flavor. I like it when risotto is cooked with something the whole time, it can really take on some great flavors. Both were paired with several bottles of red wine starting with a Zinfandel, then Pinot Noir, and a Corvidae Rook. The wine of the night was a Corvidae Rook Cabernet Merlot Syrah. This the third and final wine, (and no that's not the only reason it was the best) was very smooth and rich with a cherry taste.

Lamb chops and twice baked

No i don't eat lamb chops and potatoes every day. The ones I had a week ago were so good I decided on some more, and I'm still working my way through a 20lb Costco bag of potatoes. The lamb chops were marinated in red wine, olive oil, red wine vinegar and pepper. I pan fried them for about four minutes on each side. They could have used about another minute on both sides, they were still bahhhaing a bit. The potato was a baked potato mashed with butter, cream and Parmesan cheese. They were paired with a bottle of Havenscourt Cabernet which was also used for the marinade. The wine was extremely smooth and soft for a Cabernet, but had plenty of fruit and tobacco flavor to complement the lamb.

Lamb chops and Scalloped Potatoes

Here is a dish I made of Lamb chops and scalloped potatoes. I marinated the lamb for about 2 hours in a garlic, rosemary, and olive oil marinade. I cooked them for about 4 minutes on both sides in a nonstick frying pan. My opinion, but lamb chops should be medium rare or medium at most. If you don't like that, eat a pork chop and don't waste baby sheep. The potatoes are a classic Gratin Dauphinois taken directly from Julia Child. I used cheddar cheese as opposed to Swiss because that's what I had. The potatoes and lamb were great, I paired them with a Chilean Carmenare while watching Band of Brothers.

Here are the recipes I used:
Lamb Chops
Gratin Dauphinois - see page 523 of her book

Baked Chicken w/crispy skin

This is a roasted chicken I made a few weeks ago for my friends Mark and Ashley. Inside are diced onions and a garlic clove. I stuffed some butter up under the skin and topped with fresh thyme and salt & pepper. I roasted it in the oven at 350 for about an hour and forty five minutes. The butter made the skin incredibly crunchy and delicious. The meat took a good flavor from the onions and stayed quite moist.