I'm rather behind, but I'll work on that in the next few days. Meanwhile, Christmas food catch-up:
I went home for a few days over Christmas and somehow or other managed to more or less make two separate dinners by myself (well, I had some help).
Christmas Eve:
-Rolls (which turned out more like biscuits)
-Roasted Veggies with Balsamic
-Spinach and Butter Lettuce Salad with Bleu Cheese, Caramelized Walnuts, Pomegranate, Pear, and Raspberry-Balsamic Vinaigrette
-Lamb with Mint Sauce
-Ground Lamb with Spices (Rosemary, Cardamom, Cinnamon, maybe something else)
-Baked Potatoes with Various Toppings
-The Cake (Angel Food Cake with Coffee Crunch Topping)
Salad:
-Baby Spinach
-Butter Lettuce
-Red Lettuce (or Arugula which I couldn't find)
-Pomegranate Seeds
-Bleu Cheese (crumbled)
-Pears (peeled and sliced)
For the Dressing:
-4 parts raspberry vinaigrette (Annie's is my favorite) to 1 part Balsamic, mix
Combine everything
Christmas Day:
-Turkey
-Mashed Potatoes
-Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots
-Roasted Veggies
-Stuffing
-Salad (same as above)
-Rolls (they turned out better)
-Gravy
-Pumpkin Pie + Whipped Cream
Turkey:
-my dad brined it the day before and then Christmas day left me to do the rest of it since he wasn't feeling so great. He usually just stuffs it with tangerines and sticks it in the oven for a while, but I decided to go a little fancier and add these weird, tiny apples I found in the fridge along with the tangerines (in the cavity) and then a spice rub under the skin. I was feeling fancy, what can I say! I got the idea for the spice rub in a Cooking Light that I naturally left at home, but it was a mixture of spices: cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, coriander, and maybe something green. Anyway, that was a fun experience/experiment. I thought it tasted pretty darn good, but I'm not sure there was a drastic difference...
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Shallots:
-2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled
-1/2-1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced (into rings)
-Pinch of Brown Sugar (or more to taste)
-Small Sprig of Rosemary (chopped)
-olive oil
-salt and pepper
-a little bit of milk and butter at the end *optional
Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water until tender, drain and put in another bowl. Add some of the cooking water and mash. Add chopped rosemary and mix well.
Heat a pan over medium heat, add the oil. When oil is hot, add the shallots and the brown sugar and cook shallots until soft and tender. Once tender, add to potatoes, mix and serve warm.
