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Christmas and NY Menus


Anastasis

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The wife requested a casual celebration on the Eve of Christ's Mass with the her family.  Less work for me, so I said ok.

I'm making Carnitas (heard good things about Kenji's recipe and will report back) along with a simple ground beef, BiL is bringing barbacoa, and the F&MiL are bringing chicken.  Big ol' pot of queso, homemade salsa, big bowl of guac, the usual taco fixings, and plenty of freshly toasted torts of the corn and flour variety.

Probably will end more "Hey Steel Shank" than "Shit I've Cooked Lately" but should be quite tasty nonetheless.

Edited by Dutch
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21 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

That's what microwave ovens are for.  Knock yourself out, Mom.

I've done smoked beef the last several years - prime rib a couple of times, this year is whole smoked beef tenderloin.  MF'n awesome eats at our house for Christmas.  Along with a nice bottle of wine and some single malt to close it out.

MIL had a MERSA infection years (decades?) ago and the doctor told her to never eat rare meat again.  So we nuke the crap out of whatever meat we prepare in the microwave to make it fit for MIL to consume.  I'm talking five minutes at high in the microwave.  You can't cut it with a chain saw.  Awful.

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Those of you looking for a great Mac n cheese recipe, Ina Garten’s is fantastic. Calls for about 16 oz of gruyere if memory serves, so no messing around here. I get requests for it at most holiday meals. I’ve switched up the noodles, currently using trottole from Target (so not technically Mac n cheese, but whatever).

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Last night we had Shrimp cocktail, beef tenderloin, twice baked potato, creamed spinach. This morning I made a ton of eggs and steamed some tamales we bought from a Hispanic woman that sells them to all the staff at my wife’s school and served with an avocado sour cream sauce I made. No idea what’s on tap for dinner tonight as my cooking responsibilities are over. 

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1 hour ago, Etexhorn13 said:

Last night we had Shrimp cocktail, beef tenderloin, twice baked potato, creamed spinach. This morning I made a ton of eggs and steamed some tamales we bought from a Hispanic woman that sells them to all the staff at my wife’s school and served with an avocado sour cream sauce I made. No idea what’s on tap for dinner tonight as my cooking responsibilities are over. 

Thanks for the pics asshole. 

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On 12/21/2019 at 3:31 PM, AustinMT said:

Christmas Eve tradition is dinner at Fleming’s, will be again this year 

Christmas Day:

Smoked Herb Crusted Prime Rib Roast 

Hasselback Potato Gratin

Charred corn green chili pudding

Gruyere Popovers 

Flourless chocolate ancho torte

 

The results (less the torte, which is chilling for later):

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Dinner tonight:

2  racks of roasted bone in pork

sautéd scallops for an appetizer

Collards

Fried, and raw Va. Rappahanock river oysters

Vidalia onion, and Swiss cheese casserole

stuffing

Honeycrisp apple cobbler

Barboursville Vineyards 2014 Octagon red wine, (friggin' candy)

Bogle Phantasm red wine, and other assorted chardonnays 

Dows 10 year tawny port

Eagle Rare, Blantons, Bulleit bourbons

 

Tomorrow it's:

Lamb lollipops

Vennison loins

10 second a side Seared tuna with a Paul Prudhome seafood magic coating served with a wasabi, soy, worstcestshire (however the fuck you spell it) dipping sauce

Fried and raw Va. Rappahanock river oysters

same wines, and bourbons

 

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On 12/25/2019 at 9:26 AM, Underdog said:

Appreciate it.  It's just another day to us, Semiconductor Industry doesn't close for shit. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.  

I hear ya.  I spent ten years in semiconductors myself (5 at AMD which is where I believe you work?).  At least we always got paid holiday time for it, I hope you do as well.

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On 12/25/2019 at 2:02 PM, Etexhorn13 said:

Last night we had Shrimp cocktail, beef tenderloin, twice baked potato, creamed spinach. This morning I made a ton of eggs and steamed some tamales we bought from a Hispanic woman that sells them to all the staff at my wife’s school and served with an avocado sour cream sauce I made. No idea what’s on tap for dinner tonight as my cooking responsibilities are over. 

Update: dinner at my wife’s grandmothers house was both seafood gumbo and a duck/chicken/sausage gumbo. Just what you expect for a south Louisiana Christmas. I was very gruntling. 

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I was very pleased with the prime rib. It went a little over because it cooked faster than I thought and people weren't ready to come over earlier.  That mostly affected the ends, though, so I was able to serve the medium-well crew from there and save the center good stuff.  Au jus was pretty much off the cuff - reserved juice, red wine, Worcestershire, and water to cut it.  That got plenty of raves too!

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Fucking HEB was out of black eyed peas. WTF.

 

Here is the final NYE menu shaping up, a few items shamelessly lifted from others in the thread. 

Apis steak tartare

Empanadas two ways - Alsatian pork and Argentinian beef fillings

Lamb Kofta with tzatziki

Grilled oysters two ways - chorizo butter and herbed butter

Fried Oyster BLT bites

Feta cheese ball

Dates stuffed with gorgonzola, wrapped in prusciutto

Mozzarella basil tomato skewers

Salads

 

Got a bit of work ahead of me in the morning. 

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NY Day for us is pork loin, blackeyed peas with chow-chow, cabbage seared in bacon grease, and corn bread cooked in a very hot cast-iron skillet.  We like the "This ain't no Yankee cornbread" recipe -- no flour, crispy edges and lots of bacon grease:  https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/aint-no-yankee-cornbread

Happy 2020!

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Fried pork chops, blackeyed peas, greens, and cornbread for NY's menu. I like the cornbread recipe right off the side of the corn meal packaging. Heat a cast iron skillet with a little lard in it, pour the cornbread mix in when hot so it fries the crust, and eat it with anything. 

https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/aunt-jemima-corn-bread/223706

Going with a version of this black eyed pea and greens recipe to try something different.

https://www.budgetbytes.com/slow-simmered-black-eyed-peas-greens/

 

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9 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Need a go to blacked eyed peas recipe gentlemen. Please share. 

 

7 hours ago, 'stache said:

Same. Cornbread too, if ya got em.

I do a slow cooker recipe that calls for country style pork ribs and collard greens in with the black-eyed peas. It's always a hit.

The recipe is from one of the America's Test Kitchen Books, but I found it online as well:

https://www.familycookbookproject.com/recipe/3682713/country-ribsblack-eyed-peas-and-collard-greens--slow-cooker.html  <--The only difference is this recipe calls for 3-4 lbs of boneless pork ribs, original only calls for 2 lbs. 

I will say it's not very soupy - so sometimes I will add in some broth at the end when I add the collards to loosen it up. But it's damn good, and eats even better as leftovers.

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After having a great mix of Texican and Cajun for Christmas, I’m sticking with that theme for our New Years Eve party. I bought roughly 10 lbs of boudin at Best Stop on our way back to Houston from Lafayette, so going to start with that and some sort of Mexican bean dip (think Lupe Tortilla bean dip) as well as a couple other little things. I’m also making a big ass pot of chicken/andouille jambalaya and garlic bread the way my dad makes it which is by far the best garlic bread I’ve ever eaten. I’m not sure how something so simple can be so damn good. 

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I always have a ham bone left over for black-eyed peas.  I use dried beans as opposed to the fresh ones you can find this time of year in the produce section.  The fresh ones have never worked out for me.

Menus:

Tonight - Oysters Rockefeller is the norm, but I'm going to try grilled with chorizo butter this year too.  Caprese salad made with some fancy olive oil and balsamic vinegar the inlaws gave me for Christmas.

Tomorrow - rotissorie leg of lamb, black-eyed peas, sauteed cabbage, and cornbread. 

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7 hours ago, Etexhorn13 said:

After having a great mix of Texican and Cajun for Christmas, I’m sticking with that theme for our New Years Eve party. I bought roughly 10 lbs of boudin at Best Stop on our way back to Houston from Lafayette, so going to start with that and some sort of Mexican bean dip (think Lupe Tortilla bean dip) as well as a couple other little things. I’m also making a big ass pot of chicken/andouille jambalaya and garlic bread the way my dad makes it which is by far the best garlic bread I’ve ever eaten. I’m not sure how something so simple can be so damn good. 

OK — so share  the garlic bread recipe!

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My black eyed peas are in the slow cooker (recipe in Post 88 above).

I'm also making Paul Prudhomme's Smothered Potatoes, Cabbage, and Andouille - spicy comfort food that also incorporates cabbage for New Year's luck. It's from his cookbook "Fiery Foods that I Love" that is about 25 years old, and I use it so often pages are falling out of the book. 

I can't find the recipe online, so while the black eyed peas are cooking, I have some time to type out the recipe here for you degenerates:

Seasoning Mix:

  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp cayenne
  • 1.5 tsp onion powder
  • 1.5 tsp ground dried ancho chile
  • 1.5 tsp ground dried guajillo chile
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • .75 tsp black pepper

Combine the seasoning mix in a small bowl. This will make more than needed, so keep the excess in an airtight container and use in other dishes you want a spicy, cajun kick. 

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 lb. andouille, diced medium
  • 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced large
  • 1 head of cabbage, diced large (core removed, in case you're too literal and I have to spell it out for you)
  • 2 cups beef stock, divided into 4 one-half cup measurements
  • 3 tbsp of Seasoning Mix

Directions:

  1. Heat vegetable oil in a 4-quart pot or dutch over over high heat until the oil just begins to smoke (about 4 minutes).
  2. Add andouille and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
  3. Add HALF of the potatoes, all of the cabbage (may have to let the cabbage cook down a little before adding the rest), and 3 tablespoons of seasoning mix. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes.
  4. Add half-cup of the beef stock and cook (covered) for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 
  5. Add the remaining potatoes, another half-cup of beef stock and cook (covered) , stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.
  6. Add another half-cup of stock and cook (covered), stirring frequently, for another 10 minutes.
  7. Reduce the heat to medium, add the last half-cup of stock, and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pot frequently, especially towards the end of the cooking time when the starch from the potatoes will thicken the liquid and cause it to stick to the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat when potatoes are cooked through, and serve.

hornian's Notes: 

  • You'll want a big wooden spoon to stir this - at the end it's a big mass of food, and flimsy spoons won't do the job. 
  • This is a dish best served in a bowl and eaten with a  spoon, but it can be eaten as a side as well. 
  • This goes great with the black eyed peas recipe, and some of my friends/family have been known to combine the two in one bowl (ladling the black eyed peas over the smothered potatoes and cabbage).
  • Tradition has it that eating black eyed peas bring luck in the New Year, and eating cabbage brings good fortune. I don't know if that's true, but this a good way to eat cabbage without knowing that you're eating cabbage. 
Edited by hornian
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3 hours ago, AustinMT said:

OK — so share  the garlic bread recipe!

So like I said, it’s very simple but turns out awesome every time. Start off with 1 lb unsalted butter, you’ll want to soften it either by defrost for one minute or letting it sit out for an hour or so. Use 3-4 large cloves of garlic, and one large bunch of parsley with stems discarded. Chop garlic and parsley some, then add it to the food processor with the butter. Salt and pepper to taste and process until it’s smooth. At this point, you can cut into your baguette however you’d like (I like to cut down the middle and spread butter on top and bottom, then cut into slices later... maximum butterfication). Wrap bread in foil and heat for 15 minutes or so. 
 

Pro-tip: use this garlic butter for shrimp scampi - melt and pour over your sautéed shrimp.

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4 minutes ago, DCA_HORN said:

After a week of the traditional stuff, I'm gonna try my hand at Singaporean chili crab tonight that the wife has been craving.

That sounds good. Make sure to make the bread they serve with it for soaking up the sauce.

For me and the wife tonight it will be a small bone in ribeye (couple of lbs) that I will do prime rib style. Split a loaded potato and some creamed spinach. I need to pick a nice bottle of red to go with it and then we will have bubbles later in the evening. 

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