Let's talk about Holiday Cooking

[corarose]

What are you cooking for the Holidays?

"Ask the Chef"

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Not entirely sure, but I know one thing: there will be oyster stew!

Thank God!

And I'm sure I can count on a green bean casserole, smoked salmon, mashed potatoes, ham, maybe turkey, some taco dip, and a few other essential midwestern holiday cookeries.

Not sure what I will make - I'm thinking maybe I'll make dried apricots with goat cheese and candied walnuts.

[VelmaD]

2. Goodies...

lots of goodies. Tons and tons of cookies and fudge. I make the best fudge in the whole wide world - at least that's what my momma says. My gingerbread men aren't too shabby either. :-)

[corarose]

14. You gave me an Idea

Truffles and they are almost the same as making fudge.

I have an easy recipe if you want it.

[MissMillie]

34. My Memere's Peanut Butter Fudge

in large saucepan:

1 cup milk
3 cups suger
dash salt

Stir. Cook over medium heat (without stirring) until 1 notch (that's a small notch) beyond "soft ball" stage on your candy thermometer. Remove from heat.

Stir in:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup marshmallow fluff
3 tbs. butter (or margarine)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 chopped nuts (optional--I usually don't add them)


pour into greased 13x9 glass dish. Let set until hardened.

Enjoy!

[supernova]

3. Experimenting

with making my own gravlax. The grocery store had a wonderful sale on salmon yesterday, so I'm taking some of it to make gravlax with. I'll freeze the rest in individual portions.

[Kanary]

4. talking about holiday cooking is a great idea..

...who's going to be doing it?

~~silly grin~~

Kanary, who will wash dishes for anyone who will do the cooking.......

[corarose]

8. Wouldn't it be horrible if there was only ONE chef

In the whole world LOL.

You don't have to go to Culinary College to be a good cook or a Chef.

Let's exchange tips it does us all good to exchange ideas with each other.

[Mr. McD]

5. Roast beef with a Madeira sauce,

Yorkshire pudding, Mashed potatoes and gravy and some veggie. A warm cherry bread pudding for desert.

[corarose]

6. I am going to make a Prime Rib Roast

They have them on sale at Jewel and I love Prime Rib.

I am going to make twice baked potatoes with it and some ginger carrots. I will make fresh Challah Bread and some buttery Croissants to go along with it.

I am British so I have to make a plum pudding and a fruitcake.

I will serve the Prime Rib to myself of course with some Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce and I might be able to drink a glass of Pinot Grigio with it.

[northzax]

16. prime rib? Pinot Grigio?

get thee to a sommelier!

[corarose]

18. I don't drink Red Wine

I don't have to go to a sommelier I know all about wines.

Ask any sommelier and they will tell you that you drink what you like and I like Pinot Grigio.

It's not 20 years ago and times have changed people drink what they like with their meals now.

[grannylib]

7. Soft caramels, poppy seed kolacky, Russian Tea cakes, a chocolate

cake roll with frosting and meringue mushrooms, and pretzels in almond bark and chocolate.
Man I am gonna have to step up my walking schedule to keep the pounds at bay...

[tigereye]

10. I never know exactly what to makd on Christmas Day

ON X-mas eve I make stuffed shells with red sauce due to the whole large family coming over, and my husband improvises with a chicken/red pepper/onion/curry dish that swims in butter..he just guesses and it is usually really good and frighteningly rich. I am not a big fan of ham, though.. so last X-mas day we had a turkey breast. But it might be fun to be more original. Plum pudding sounds interesting. Is it hard to make?

[corarose]

15. I am making Kolacky tonight

I am going to fill them with Apricot, Almond and Prune filling. Yeah yuk for the prune but my Mom use to love them and I make them for her every year even if she has been gone for 10 years now.

[grannylib]

20. Our family is pretty evenly split between the prune and poppyseed

factions; my mother-in-law makes both kinds and I guess I had better start since she is getting too old to do much baking and I am the only daughter-in-law who seems to want to take them on!
Hope you have lots of other happy memories of your Mom to help you through the holidays without her...:hug:

[thom1102]

9. Dutch apple pies, shortbread cookies, sugar cookies

but I need new ideas.

[demnan]

11. I'm making masses of Toll House cookies and

refridgerator roll cookies this weekend. The recipe for the rolled cookies comes from the Joy of Cooking "Rich Roll Cookies" and contains twice the delicious Land o' Lakes butter as your regular roll cookies. My mother is a cookieholic.

Don't know what we'll eat Christmas Day but I might make a Saurbrauten that week which is nice during the Holidays.

[commander bunnypants]

12. Spam

on English muffins. Holiday tradition

DDQM

[forgethell]

13. I/m doing

spareribs with my secret barbecue sauce. I will also make a pecan pie. My wife will select and age (as per Alton Brown's instructions) a nice rib roast, and a pork crown roast. Her pies will include egg custard, sweet potato, and coconut custard. Also, we will purchase a German's chocolate cake from a friend of her supervisor.

Numerous vegetables will be offered, these not yet decided.

After all the family has gone home - Bushmill's Black, selected specially for this occassion. Two glasses.

Merry Christmas, or whatever.

[Padraig18]

17. There will be a prime rib, a roast goose and...

... Alaskan King Crab legs, plus all the fixins. *drool* :hi:

[On the Road]

19. My Ex-Wife is an Italian Catholic from Brooklyn

and has a traditional fish feast on the 24th. (I still have Christmas Eve dinners with her and my daughter.)

She usually starts with baked clams and boiled shrimp with pink sauce (ketchup and mayo), followed by something like salmon for the main course. Nothing too involved. Although there is a traditional that at least one dish has to included the dreaded baccala (salt cod).

[On the Road]

22. On Christmas Day,

I'll probably help my parents with the cooking. Maybe contribute a vegetable dish or something.

Day after Christmas, I might repeat my weekend experiment with pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) for the folks. The first batch went surprisingly well. Requires a lot of fussing and preparation, but that's what holidays are for -- working in the kitchen with family. Better than watching football or arguing about politics.

[corarose]

21. What can you substitute for Mango Jelly or Jam?

I can't locate Mango Jelly or Jam around my house and I can't think of a substitute for it.

Any Ideas would be appreciated.

[Shakespeare]

23. apricot is probably the closest substitution (n/t)

[ACK]

24. Beef Wellington and Caramel Nut tart for sweets and

a bunch of other stuff. My wife's mom is british but she went to the Cordon Bleu in London. Great Cook and my wife makes the Caramel Nut tart which is incredible.

[corarose]

25. My kind of place

I wonder where I have heard about that College before let me think.

Hmmmmm!

I got to their branch in Chicago.

Your lucky she must be a very good cook.

[SiobhanClancy]

30. Caramel Nut Tart?

Recipe?:)

[corarose]

31. Do you need it?

I have it.

[SiobhanClancy]

33. I'd like to try it...

it sounds really good and different:)

[corarose]

35. I will look for the recipe and post it

It is a good one.

[SiobhanClancy]

26. Standing Rib Roast,Yorkshire Pudding,Rum cake....

am trying to find a recipe for a date pudding like my granny used to make,if anybody knows of such a thing(cake-like):)

[corarose]

27. I forgot about Yorkshire Pudding

I will have to make the pudding instead of croissants.

[kimchi]

28. I'm supposed to cook?????????????

No idea. I guess I'll let my husband come up with a menu. Right now I'm making ginger, chocolate chip, and thumbrint cookies for the neighbors. Hadn't thought that far ahead...

[corarose]

29. If you take it out of a carton and reheat it that's cooking

Just don't tell your husband and add a pinch of your favorite seasoning to make it your own.

[MissMillie]

32. Standing rib roast (prime rib) is our tradition

but my son wants ham this year.

I imagine there will be mashed spuds (w/ gravy if we're having beef), a green veggie, an orange veggie, a salad.

Mom always bakes the pies.

I make a fabulous peanut butter fudge.

plenty of egg nog

[trackfan]

36. Rib Roast this year, probably with Yorkshire Pudding

and a horseradish sauce. Not sure on the sides yet - we just got done with Thanksgiving, and I wanted to have a few days of rest before thinking too much about the next party. Christmas will be much smaller - probably no more than 8 people. For Xmas Eve at my sister's, I've been asked to make Clams Casino, which was a success last New Year's Eve. This New Year's Eve (back at our house) is still 2 parties away, and I haven't begun to think about that yet.

[corarose]

37. Clams Casino as so good

I had to make them in my Fish & Shellfish class.

Why don't you make peas and pearl onions in a cream sauce to go with your roast.

[trackfan]

38. That's a good suggestion -

I'll mark that down as a possibility.

[corarose]

39. Do you make a sauce to go with your Prime Rib?

If you need one let me know.