barbara-in-va
Well-known member
I'll raise my glass to that!
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What's on your menu for the holiday? We are having...
- Thread starter charlie
- Start date
mariadnoca
Moderator
Charlie I look forward to seeing yours and everyone's menu each year - thanks for sharing!
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
review--Sagapnak Corn Puccing and Real Ham
Corn "Pudding"!
I left off Sagaponak Corn Pudding from the menu and that was the star of the evening! Well, one of many. Each course and dish turned out so well. I was absolutely thrilled with this dinner. So many times I put all these elaborate dishes together and somehow end up disappointed in one or two or even the whole. This time it was a pleasure from beginning to end.
The Gyoza were a surprising and well received treat for hors d'ouevre. The salad so colorful and Christmassy looking. They were devoured in moans of appreciation.
The "szechwan sweet potatoes" were another unexpected turn on seasonal eating and they were absolutely delicious.
Ina Garten's Sagaponak Corn Pudding is so over the top it meets itself on the other side. This is the most decadent and delcious version of this dish I've ever put in my mouth. It's now the offical "house corn pudding". Don't need to make another one after you've had this one. I did tweak it a bit. My basil was a bit sad in my solarium, so I supplemented it with a tablespoon of Penzey's Green Goddess Salad Dressing Herb Mix (love this and use it in all sorts of dishes). I used cream cheese instead of the ricotta (because I forgot to buy it), but I really liked the flavor the cream cheese added, so i'll keep it that way. Also, we bought some cherry-smoked lamb sausage at the butcher that we had the night before and I used the skillet I cooked them in to saute the onions (and I also added garlic) for the corn pudding. There was quite a bit of fat from the lamb leftover and I used that in place of some of the butter. It added such a wonderful new layer of flavor to the finished dish. I could smell the lamb flavor as it was baking.
The homemade sourdough rye was bread perfection. I had heavenly rises in the pan and in the oven and had big wonderful domed rolls that went so well with the ham.
I started cooking at 8am and was in the kitchen all day making dishes for both Christmas Eve and today, so by the time we ate at 7, I was wiped out. Ugh.
But the ham. My. Everytime I taste a local ham, smoked the old-fashioned way in a smokehouse, not injected with brine and smoke flavored water "product"), and carefully trust up, the natural rind with its fat layer surrounding the ham for continuous basting in the oven, then perfectly finished with a glaze of honey, brown sugar, clove, mustard, and pineapple...it is a thing of ethereal beauty. The ham was so tender it nearly melted in one's mouth. And the natural smoking process lends the meat a grilled sirloin taste that just doesn't seem like the squalid fake hams from the local grocery. And every time I have one of these, I always say, "can someone tell me why I ever buy hams at the supermarket???"
My new year's resolution is to never buy another ham at the supermarket, but to make the special extra effort to order from the 110 year old German butcher. The extra effort and cost are an investment: To assure that the German butcher is there with customers for another 100 years.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/sagaponack-corn-pudding-recipe/index.html
Corn "Pudding"!
I left off Sagaponak Corn Pudding from the menu and that was the star of the evening! Well, one of many. Each course and dish turned out so well. I was absolutely thrilled with this dinner. So many times I put all these elaborate dishes together and somehow end up disappointed in one or two or even the whole. This time it was a pleasure from beginning to end.
The Gyoza were a surprising and well received treat for hors d'ouevre. The salad so colorful and Christmassy looking. They were devoured in moans of appreciation.
The "szechwan sweet potatoes" were another unexpected turn on seasonal eating and they were absolutely delicious.
Ina Garten's Sagaponak Corn Pudding is so over the top it meets itself on the other side. This is the most decadent and delcious version of this dish I've ever put in my mouth. It's now the offical "house corn pudding". Don't need to make another one after you've had this one. I did tweak it a bit. My basil was a bit sad in my solarium, so I supplemented it with a tablespoon of Penzey's Green Goddess Salad Dressing Herb Mix (love this and use it in all sorts of dishes). I used cream cheese instead of the ricotta (because I forgot to buy it), but I really liked the flavor the cream cheese added, so i'll keep it that way. Also, we bought some cherry-smoked lamb sausage at the butcher that we had the night before and I used the skillet I cooked them in to saute the onions (and I also added garlic) for the corn pudding. There was quite a bit of fat from the lamb leftover and I used that in place of some of the butter. It added such a wonderful new layer of flavor to the finished dish. I could smell the lamb flavor as it was baking.
The homemade sourdough rye was bread perfection. I had heavenly rises in the pan and in the oven and had big wonderful domed rolls that went so well with the ham.
I started cooking at 8am and was in the kitchen all day making dishes for both Christmas Eve and today, so by the time we ate at 7, I was wiped out. Ugh.
But the ham. My. Everytime I taste a local ham, smoked the old-fashioned way in a smokehouse, not injected with brine and smoke flavored water "product"), and carefully trust up, the natural rind with its fat layer surrounding the ham for continuous basting in the oven, then perfectly finished with a glaze of honey, brown sugar, clove, mustard, and pineapple...it is a thing of ethereal beauty. The ham was so tender it nearly melted in one's mouth. And the natural smoking process lends the meat a grilled sirloin taste that just doesn't seem like the squalid fake hams from the local grocery. And every time I have one of these, I always say, "can someone tell me why I ever buy hams at the supermarket???"
My new year's resolution is to never buy another ham at the supermarket, but to make the special extra effort to order from the 110 year old German butcher. The extra effort and cost are an investment: To assure that the German butcher is there with customers for another 100 years.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/sagaponack-corn-pudding-recipe/index.html
heather_in_sf
Well-known member
We had pannetone for breakfast, divine when warmed up a bit. Tonight
is a pork loin roast stuffed with apricots, figs and pistachio dressing, rolled in panchetta and 12 starches. Hahaha! Mashed potatoes, yams, rolls and, oh yeah, green beans. My sis is making vanilla custard ice cream and supposedly we are making gingerbread. For lunch today we have shrimp tomato aspic salad, I can't wait for that! There is not a lot under the tree this year, I am lucky enough to get to play Santa for the family, but it hardly matters as we are all here and enjoying each other's company and some nice meals together. So happy to have my family together! Soon I will be looking in our search function here for ideas for leftover pork roast. Merry Christmas to you all!!!!
is a pork loin roast stuffed with apricots, figs and pistachio dressing, rolled in panchetta and 12 starches. Hahaha! Mashed potatoes, yams, rolls and, oh yeah, green beans. My sis is making vanilla custard ice cream and supposedly we are making gingerbread. For lunch today we have shrimp tomato aspic salad, I can't wait for that! There is not a lot under the tree this year, I am lucky enough to get to play Santa for the family, but it hardly matters as we are all here and enjoying each other's company and some nice meals together. So happy to have my family together! Soon I will be looking in our search function here for ideas for leftover pork roast. Merry Christmas to you all!!!!
heather_in_sf
Well-known member
I will Charlie, it was very good!
My Mom's computer died so I will make a copy and post it when I get home (too long to do with the phone). I'm tempted to go get a nibble from the fridge!
My Mom's computer died so I will make a copy and post it when I get home (too long to do with the phone). I'm tempted to go get a nibble from the fridge!
Hi Traca, I'm sorry, I didn't see this until now. It was a lot of fun and except for a little lack
of salt, they came out well. I was happy for my first attempt. My bad, I didn't really taste as I went along and just used the salt listed in the recipe. It wasn't quite enough, in our opinion. Also, I think the masa recipe may have too much lard for the amount of masa. It was a little hard to spread until we refrigerated it to set it up a bit. Further research led me to recipes that didn't have quite as high a ratio of lard to masa. I really wished I had an expert to offer advice.
I did it over the course of 3 days, so it wasn't so hard and I'll definitely do it again.
of salt, they came out well. I was happy for my first attempt. My bad, I didn't really taste as I went along and just used the salt listed in the recipe. It wasn't quite enough, in our opinion. Also, I think the masa recipe may have too much lard for the amount of masa. It was a little hard to spread until we refrigerated it to set it up a bit. Further research led me to recipes that didn't have quite as high a ratio of lard to masa. I really wished I had an expert to offer advice.
I did it over the course of 3 days, so it wasn't so hard and I'll definitely do it again.