Christmas 2013 ...and the food!

Earlier today I posted and shared about our Christmas table...and now a little bit about what was served on that table...

Many times for our Christmas Eve or New Year's celebrations we prefer just a meal of appetizers, but for last night's meal, I decided to do something simple, but with enough leftovers that I would not need to cook today...Here is our menu

I did not take photos of the appetizers and the photos I took of the chicken and potatoes did not turn out well at all.

Appetizers:

Smoked Salmon

Sautéed Mushrooms (sliced and sautéed in a bit of butter & fresh thyme)

Goat cheese: ashed and aged Crottin

All three above served on crispy toast points

 

You can click on each photo to make them larger.

 

 

Salad:

Fresh baby spinach, caramelized pecans, and pomegranate seeds.  Homemade liliko'i vinaigrette; freshly juiced passion fruit from our vines, local macadamia nut honey and blood orange infused olive oil.  This was a very refreshing salad and balanced well with the rest of the meal.

 

 

 

Entrée:

Roasted chicken glazed with honey, tangerine marmalade, and Meyer lemon juice - cavity was stuffed with Meyer lemon wedges, and fresh rosemary branches. I inserted two large Meyer lemon slices under the skin on the breast.

 

Homemade fresh Cranberry Relish, cooked with a bit of sugar, orange juice and fresh grated ginger, until liquid was all incorporated and the relish was glossy.

 

Roasted mini multi-colored potatoes.  Garlic infused olive oil, Hawaiian sea salt and chopped fresh rosemary.  Roasted in a Pyrex bowl at 350 F for the last 20 minutes of the chicken's cooking time.

 

 

Dessert:

Crema Catalana.  Custard based dessert...some say that this dessert is just a Spanish version of a French crème brûlée, but I find it denser and thicker than its French counterpart, and it is cooked on top of the stove instead of in the oven.  I did not use the traditional burn sugar topping on this one. I am sharing the original recipe, but I made a couple of changes. See my notes at the end.

 

2 cups whole milk

1 cup cream

1 vanilla bean (split but leave seeds in)

4 strips orange peel

1 cinnamon stick (optional)

8 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup turbinado or raw sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

 

Bring the milk, cream, vanilla, orange rind and cinnamon (if using) to a boil over low heat. 

Remove from the heat and let it cool down. 

Strain the milk and cream mixture to remove the vanilla bean, orange peel strips and cinnamon stick.

 

Mix the egg yolks and ½ cup of regular sugar until you obtain a thick creamy mixture.

Dissolve the cornstarch in 4 tablespoons of milk mixture, the stir it back into the remaining milk.

 

Mix the milk in with the eggs and sugar, place it in a double boiler pan (or in a heat resistant glass bowl in a pan of water baño Maria style) over medium low heat, and stirring consistently until the cream thickens, do not let it boil.

 

Cool the cream and pour into individual ramekins or individual clay cazuelas. Chill for 24 hours or overnight.

 

When ready to serve sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the raw sugar over each ramekin or cazuela, heat the iron and press it against the sugar until it is burnt. You may also use a torch or place it under the broiler in the oven.  Serve immediately.

 

Sonia's notes: I didn't have enough milk on hand for 2 cups, so I used 1-1/2 cup regular milk and 1-1/2 cups cream.  I did not use the cinnamon stick.  I used Meyer lemon peel instead of orange, since that is what I had on hand.  Since I did not do the burnt sugar topping, I did not need the turbinado or raw sugar.

 

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Christmas Morning baked breakfast!

 

 

 

Christmas Morning Breakfast!

I know, I know...most of my foodie friends will be properly horrified, but I made a recipe I found on Facebook that uses prepackaged crescent rolls...so sue me...but boy, oh, boy was this good!  Anthony said they were similar but better than Cinnabons...

 

The person who shared it had just posted the following along with a photo of a serving.

 

Cream Cheese Filled No-Name 

We found this recipe and it had no name... I only know it should be illegal!!!

2 cans Pillsbury butter crescent rolls

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter (melted)
Cinnamon & sugar (I used about 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tbs cinnamon)

Unroll and spread 1 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased pan. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

 

Sonia's notes: for the two of us I used only 1 can of crescent rolls, 1 package of cream cheese, a little less than 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/8th melted butter.  I already had some sugar and cinnamon that I keep in a shaker and used that.

I baked ours in individual enamel oval baking pans that have a nons-stick finish.

 

 

Merry Christmas, Everyone!