This is what I had for Christmas btw.
On Chrismas eve (Main Xmas day in Sweden) - two types of herring (crayfish seasoned and "dream-herring", egg, potatoes and the smoked eel. Joined by a VERY GOOD Swedish stout (brewed by a guy who's an electric engineer and his wife who's a nurse - could you guess) and a shot of Utö ecologic schnapps (elderberry/lemon) and Hochrad 1899 hop vodka.
And of corse real butter on the potatoes.
On Christmas day, the hot stuff intended for Christmas Eve, but I couldn't manage: the small sausages (prince sausages), meatballs (balls??!!
), something called Janssons Frestelse (Jansson's Temptation, a gratin made of potatis, onion and anchovy and cream. Again potatoes and my home made browned cabbage.
Beer is a barrelled stout with Dutch genever and Vodka made from stout.
This is very much traditional Swedish Christmas food, part of our (famous) Swedish Smorgasbored .. board
On Chrismas eve (Main Xmas day in Sweden) - two types of herring (crayfish seasoned and "dream-herring", egg, potatoes and the smoked eel. Joined by a VERY GOOD Swedish stout (brewed by a guy who's an electric engineer and his wife who's a nurse - could you guess) and a shot of Utö ecologic schnapps (elderberry/lemon) and Hochrad 1899 hop vodka.
And of corse real butter on the potatoes.
On Christmas day, the hot stuff intended for Christmas Eve, but I couldn't manage: the small sausages (prince sausages), meatballs (balls??!!
), something called Janssons Frestelse (Jansson's Temptation, a gratin made of potatis, onion and anchovy and cream. Again potatoes and my home made browned cabbage.Beer is a barrelled stout with Dutch genever and Vodka made from stout.
This is very much traditional Swedish Christmas food, part of our (famous) Swedish Smorgasbored .. board
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I made the customary goose with two stuffings (apple and christmas stuffing made from boerewors sausagemeat, dried cranberries soaked in Port and chestnuts), red cabbage, sauteéd sprouts with chestnuts, celery and lemonpeel and roast vegetables, breadsauce and home-made cranberry sauce.
Additionally there were left overs from the preceding two days: Porchetta and Trinidadian Curry goat with channa saag aloo.
No pictures, the table quickly turned into a battlefield.
Additionally there were left overs from the preceding two days: Porchetta and Trinidadian Curry goat with channa saag aloo.
No pictures, the table quickly turned into a battlefield.
My wife always makes cranberry sauce which contains a bit of orange zest, and this year I forgot to huy an extra orange. I remembered that in the fridge I have a jar os strips of Seville orange rind soaking in rye whisky (for Old Fashioneds), so she slivered some of that and put it in the cranberries. That was quite tasty!
In the last few years I have changed the way I cook turkey, and am finally quite happy with the results. First change was brining, I had one disaster but I think it was because the turkey was "seasoned" when packed, though I didn't see that on the label. The result was a very salty turkey. Since then no issues. The second change was spatchcocked turkey, removing the backbone and opening up the bird. Both things make the turkey cook quicker and keep it moist. I roast it on a broiling pan to maximize exposure to hot oven air, and I put an oval piece of parchment under the bird and pile stuffing on that, then drape the bird over the stuffing. The result has been great for both bird and stuffing; before I used the parchment the stuffing would get hard where it touched the metal pan, but now it stays moist and soft.
In the last few years I have changed the way I cook turkey, and am finally quite happy with the results. First change was brining, I had one disaster but I think it was because the turkey was "seasoned" when packed, though I didn't see that on the label. The result was a very salty turkey. Since then no issues. The second change was spatchcocked turkey, removing the backbone and opening up the bird. Both things make the turkey cook quicker and keep it moist. I roast it on a broiling pan to maximize exposure to hot oven air, and I put an oval piece of parchment under the bird and pile stuffing on that, then drape the bird over the stuffing. The result has been great for both bird and stuffing; before I used the parchment the stuffing would get hard where it touched the metal pan, but now it stays moist and soft.
Nothing much better than that, friends and family gathered around a meal has not held up as well as it could in our culture these days.
Three Christmas parties and I have never had a dish completely finished at each except this simple salad.
Baby arugula, shaved fennel, shaved red bell pepper, and thinly sliced white part of scallions. Dressing simple olive oil and lemon juice vinaigrette with a little Dijon mustard, garlic, and Greek oregano. I put sliced cherry tomatoes and some super feta flown in from Greece (yes George we have a Greek lady that runs a small grocery down the street that you would swear was in Athens) on the side for people to add as they wish.
As I have mentioned here, last month I moved to Montreal. There are a lot of boites and eateries downtown, not chains, with big windows, and as one walks down the streets in the evening one can see tables of people, of all ages, enjoying some wine and some good food, laughing and smiling. There is still a certain joie de vivre in Montreal, a quality of the populace that has always made the city stand out. i wonder sometimes if the 20 year hiatus from development, and even economic contraction, during the PQ years kind of helped to preserve the best of Montreal.
Now development is full on, but largely in gentrifying formerly industrial areas. I do wonder where the hipsters will live as rents increase in the cool neighborhoods, I guess they will colonize the not so cool places and make them cool.
Sounds delicious, simple is good.
Yes they have been soaking since February, so even the rye has a lovely orange flavour now, but of course is bitter so needs a bit of sugar.
Sadly this is something one can't just throw in one's luggage these days, so my marmalade, whiskied orange, and home made Maraschino cherries have to remain in Halifax, which constrains my cocktail adventures in Montreal. Just as well or I would be s**t-faced constantly because I am so lonely there. But that will change and it has been good to lay off the hard stuff for a while, though relapsed while home for the holidays. (Got a bottle of Bowmore 15 year old for xmas, and was making eggnog with 12 year old rum and cognac before the big day!)
Happy New Year to all! We will be eating lobsters tomorrow night, and tarte tatin, and some decent bubbly (a local blanc de noir), then I fly back to Montreal Wednesday night.
We started our own tradition of knockwurst and weisswurst from a local butcher (along with local mustards), served with sauerkraut and mashed yams on New Years Day. As we sons have done a lot of flying back to our respective homes on Jan 1, it's nice that we can bang out the meal in quick order.
Nothing really fancy this year as I was on my own to serve 25.
On new year eve, a large buffet with oysters, various store bought smoked fishes, grey shrimp stuffed tomatoes, cold poached salmon (actually cooked in a steam oven tbh), served with twice baked potatoes and large amounts of sour cream, shallots and chive.
Today, a Chinese hot pot.A lot of knife work but no stress.
On new year eve, a large buffet with oysters, various store bought smoked fishes, grey shrimp stuffed tomatoes, cold poached salmon (actually cooked in a steam oven tbh), served with twice baked potatoes and large amounts of sour cream, shallots and chive.
Today, a Chinese hot pot.A lot of knife work but no stress.
Oh yeah, I forgot. The Pierre Hermé chocolate cake as dessert with some lemon sorbet. This thing is a killer.
- Preheat oven on 180°c
- Melt in the microwave 250gr of very dark chocolate (70% +) and 250gr of salted butter. Let it cool a bit.
- Whisk together 200gr of sugar and 4 large whole eggs until the mix whitens.
- Incorporate the chocolate mix into the eggs and mix.
- Add 70gr of wheat flour, mix again.
- Pour into a pan and bake for 25min.
- Let it rest for a few hours before serving.
I know of a different version of the recipe, where you first mix butter and sugar, add eggs one by one and finally add the melted chocolate. I haven't found a big difference between the two in practice and the one above is easier.
- Preheat oven on 180°c
- Melt in the microwave 250gr of very dark chocolate (70% +) and 250gr of salted butter. Let it cool a bit.
- Whisk together 200gr of sugar and 4 large whole eggs until the mix whitens.
- Incorporate the chocolate mix into the eggs and mix.
- Add 70gr of wheat flour, mix again.
- Pour into a pan and bake for 25min.
- Let it rest for a few hours before serving.
I know of a different version of the recipe, where you first mix butter and sugar, add eggs one by one and finally add the melted chocolate. I haven't found a big difference between the two in practice and the one above is easier.
