December 24, 2005
Merry Christmas to All!
This will probably be my last post until the 26th. The cooking has begun. Geese will be roasted, cookies baked, soup simmered, traditional Latin midnight mass attended, friends and relatives fed, gifts exchanged. You know the drill. I will probably check emails at EKeilholtz [at or about] aol [period] com a few times, so if you have any dire cooking questions feel free to email me. If you include your phone number, I will TRY my best to call you with advice. On the 25th itself, it might be dicey, but if you really have an emergency, you can call me in Sacramento (my parents are listed, and you can imagine that there are not too many Keilholtzes in the book). Just try to call before 5pm, as I will be in the throes of kitchen chaos by then.
Anyway, for your amusement and inspiration, here is my menu:
Before sitting at the table:
1. Barbecued Beef Brisket in the Texafornian Style
2. Home cured olives
3. Spuma di tonno
4. Queso manchego con membrillo
5. Mushroom quesodillas with tomatillo chipotle salsa
6. Latkes with apple sauce
At table:
1. Roasted Salsify and Jerusalem Artichoke soup
2. Agnelotti with goat cheese and wild mushrooms
3. Palate cleanser of blood orange granita with Sambucca
4. Roasted goose with fennel
5. Fennel braised in milk and gratineed
6. Warm brussels sprout salad with goose pancetta and hazelnuts
7. Roasted beets
8. Grilled cardoni
Then, the thirteen desserts:
1. Biscotti
2. Holly Cookies
3. Chocolate peanut clusters
4. Candied chestnuts
5. Fudge
6. reggiano parmeggiana
7. a semi-soft cheese
8. a soft cheese
9. a Tuscan pecorino
10. a goat cheese
11. Panforte
12. Salame al cioccolato
13. Homemade torrone
When we feast we feast, and I can think of no better occasion than the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior.
Merry Christmas!
Posted by erik at December 24, 2005 12:48 AMI'm sure it went off splendidly. How about an after-action debrief?
Three questions:
1. Do you serve in courses, or is it an "Old English" table with everything out at once?
2. What, in your experience, is the best recipe for Beef Wellington?
3. Could you design a menu for a dinner at which Beef Wellington is the star? The requirements would be, (a) although specialty ingredients like spices or preserved foods can be ordered, no fresh / spoilable ingredient is likely to be absent from the shelves of any large Midwestern supermarket chain; (b) no truffles or any other amazingly-expensive item can be used in the recipes.
I ask because Beef Wellington eaten sometime around Christmas is a family tradition, and I'd like to do my part to keep it alive.
Posted by: SecretAgentMan at December 28, 2005 2:36 PMGood Lord, Erik, how many people were you cooking for? That's incredible!
Oh, and as of yesterday, happy Feast of the Nativity!
Posted by: Patrick at December 26, 2005 11:33 AMMerry Christmas Erik! :-)
Posted by: Julie D. at December 24, 2005 10:33 AMmerry christmas to you.
I don't have quite such and ambitious menu, but then I am only cooking for 4 this year.
I have a free-range organic turkey to roast, (which bethany has agreed to eat) as well as a beautiful standing rib roast of beef. Today I need to get cracking on the buche de noel and put a last spritz of booze on the fruitcake. Never got the plum pudding made, alas.
will probably do traditional vegetable side dishes - carrot coins, steamed broccoli with garlic, mashed red potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, roasted winter squash, yorkshire pudding.
Cheese board somewhere in there - emmenthaler, gourmandise (kirsch and walnut), aged cheddar, brie, a cranberry wensleydale. Random stuff that everyone likes.
Will probably do latkes for Brunch, and I have a 1/2 lb of Nieman Ranch bacon. ANd john is threatening to caramelize a couple of pounds of onions as his favorite side dish.
give amalia kisses from all of us, and tell melanie happy new year from all of us.