Christmas Eve - the main course

And, we are finally at Christmas Eve dinner!  My niece's kids stole the show.  They're absolutely wonderful kids and are SO much fun to be around!  

Now, here's a sampler plate of most of the food served:

And, here's the menu:

Beef tenderloin
Blender Bearnaise sauce
Creamed spinach
Carrots with orange
Roasted cauliflower
Potato gratin
Yorkshire pudding
Oatmeal bread
Cranberry Sauce
Persimmon pudding

So, let's dig in with a couple of new recipes:

Creamed Spinach

I'd have sworn that I actually blogged about this.  Truth be told there are probably 100 unfinished blogs and it's undoubtedly in that mell of a hess.  This is one that I don't measure but it's so forgiving that that doesn't matter!  BTW - the persimmon pudding is behind the spinach in the photo

Ingredients:

two packages of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
4 oz cream cheese
couple of grates of nutmeg
handful of grated cheese (I used gruyere but swiss would work just fine)
cream

Directions:

Saute the onion in the olive oil.  Add in the spinach and the cream cheese.  Stir until the cheese has melted in.  Add the grated cheese and stir it in.  Pour in cream and stir until it's reached a consistency that you like.  This is easy to make ahead and reheat.  

Roasted Cauliflower

Another dinner party staple for us.  Super easy to pop in the oven and ignore until you're ready to serve it.  Here's the link:  roasted cauliflower

Carrots with Orange

I used a David Rosengarten recipe.  It was very good but didn't beat others we've made so I'm not going to post the recipe. 


Blender Bearnaise Sauce

If you've never made hollandaise or Bearnaise because your'e worried about how fussy it is to make, you're missing out  The blender version isn't quite as fabulous but it's one heckuva lot better than a mix or a jar!  Here's a link to my mom's:  blender Hollandaise.

Oatmeal Bread

Here, I used a Better Homes and Gardens recipe for my bread machine.  Again, it was good but not as good as other breads we've made so I'll not post the recipe.

Cranberry Sauce

I used a Bon Appetit recipe here.  And, I do believe I'll be going back to my old faithful cranberry sauce recipe.  Which I see I've not yet blogged about.  Ok, I need to rectify that since it is incredible! 


Yorkshire Pudding

This was a failure on my part.  I used a Tyler Florence recipe.  They were like hockey pucks.  Well, maybe not that dense but they certainly didn't rise.  Next time I'll work on figuring out where I went wrong...

Potato Gratin

This, in our opinion, was the star of the sides.  I read about a dozen recipes and narrowed my focus down to a Fine Cooking and a Bon Appetit recipe.  Then, I smooshed the two together and wound up with a recipe I'll make again and again.

Ingredients:

4 large russet potatoes
salt
lemon peel - a couple of strips
4 peppercorns
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T thyme
bay leaf
1 1/2 c cream
2 T butter
1 large shallot, minced
two big handfuls finely grated Gruyere 


Directions:

Mix all the ingredients except for the potatoes, salt and cheese in the cream.  Bring it to boil in a small saucepan.  Remove it from the heat and set it aside for 30 minutes.  

Saute the shallot in the butter and set it aside. 

Peel and slice the potatoes about 1/8" thick.  Put the slices in lemon water for about 15 minutes.  Dry then before using.  I liberally salted them when I had them out on the towel

Shingle the potatoes into a baking dish.  See the photo.  This assures every serving gets some nice, crispy edges.

Fish the bay leaf out of the cream.  Combine the shallots, butter and cream in a blender and blend until the mixture is relatively smooth.  Pour the cream over the potatoes.  Top with the cheese.  Bake them for about 60-70 minutes at 350.

Persimmon Pudding

Last but not least.  This is truly an heirloom recipe.  From my great-grandmother to my grandmother to my mother and now on to me.  It's made to be made with Indiana persimmons.  Here's the link:  
persimmon pudding

Hash Brown Casserole

My niece, Samantha, is getting married soon. 

Samantha - the gorgeous bride-to-be

Of course, a wedding comes with all of the attendant festivities.  Showers, bridesmaids luncheons, rehearsal dinners etc.  Sam is absolutely looking to the future since she's got everything necessary to entertain our whole family on her wish list.  Ok, registration.  Wish list just sounds so much more fun.  Registration is so, ummm, businesslike.  Since I can't (according to Mrs. Manners, aka Mom) do a shower, I volunteered to do the bridesmaid's luncheon. 

Mom aka Mrs Manners or Mrs Grammar Person - take your pick, she's still wonderful!

As long as gifts aren't involved, it's kosher.  Saturdays are spent at the office - most of them meeting with clients who've come in from out of town or who just can't get away from work on a workday.  That leaves Sundays for the festivities.  Now, being the football fan that I am AND hoping my Colts would somehow miraculously recover from a litany of injuries to advance in the playoffs, I asked if it was ok to have the party on January 30th.  And, since I love, love, love brunch, I suggested a brunch.  Deal.

Heres' the menu:
Mimosa's (It would not be a MOPS celebration without Mimosa's)
Fruit platter (gotta have something healthy here)

Ham and cheese quiche

Hashbrown casserole
Grape Pickers casserole (great name, eh? More on this later)
Lemon lavender blueberry muffins

Banana bread

Pumpkin yeast rolls with FARM Bloomington apple butter

Assorted sausages from Klaus' Haus

Sam's colors for the wedding are yellow and grey.  I know, that was my reaction too.  Interesting.  Then, my sister-in-law, Pam, explained the bridesmaid's dresses are a tweed that looks grey.  AHHHH, I get it. 

Pam - lucky me to have such an awesome sister-in-law!!

We got some yellow and some grey ribbon and tied it on the champagne glasses.  Connie did the napkins - grey - in a fleur de lis fold with a spray of yellow flowers tucked in each.  He made sure he was out of the house before it was filled with twelve women - all chattering at the same time, or so it seemed :-)

I kind of hesitated before including the hashbrown casserole in the mix.  It's not your typical ladies who lunch dish.  It's VERY rich.  But, OMG is it ever good.  I have no clue where the recipe came from but it's noted, "Excellent! 7-85."  We had a bit of it leftover with our after theatre dinner tonight and Connie gave it a "Big FAT Five!"  He rarely gives those out.  Now, I've seen the hashbrown casserole recipe with the cream of chicken soup.  But, I've never tried it because this is so daggone good that I don't want to mess with perfection.

Hashbrown Casserole

serves 12-20 depending on the portion size

Ingredients:
16 oz frozen, shredded hashbrowns
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1/2 stick of butter (the original recipe calls for a whole stick.  Believe me, you do NOT need it!)
16 oz Velveeta
2 c mayonnaise (the real stuff, NOT salad dressing)
1/2 - 1 lb bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp (how much depends on how decadent you're feeling)

Directions:
Take the hash browns out of the freezer about 30 minutes before you put this dish together.  Saute the onion in the butter until it's nice and softened.  Add the garlic and the Velveeta.  Stir until the Velveeta melts.  Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the mayonnaise.  Break the hash browns apart and stir them in.  Once the whole deal is nice and gloppy, pour it into a 9x13 baking dish.  Top with the bacon pieces.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until browned.