Candy Cane Chicken:
Festive Christmas Dinner Recipe
Ingredients:6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 oz. fresh baby spinach, chopped
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
8 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp. fresh basil, sliced
8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1 purple onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Slice each chicken breast partway in half with a very sharp knife. Be careful not to cut all the way through. Open chicken breast (sort of like a book) and flatten slightly with a mallet. Meat should be about 1/2 an inch thick.
3. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper to taste.
4. In large frying pan, heat olive oil. Add onion, pepper, and garlic. Saute three to five minutes, then add the mushrooms and sauté until veggies are tender.
5. Stir in chopped spinach and basil. Cover until spinach wilts.
6. Remove from heat. Stir in the feta. Add salt and pepper (to taste).
7. Place one-sixth of cheese mixture on each chicken breast. Neatly roll the breast into a tube. Secure with toothpicks or string (string is generally more secure). Bake (don't allow them to touch) in a greased casserole dish for 20-25 minutes. Slice before serving.
8. Try this recipe pre-sliced as a pretty and festive Christmas buffet main dish (see photo).
A Quackin' Good Christmas Dinner Idea:
Earl Grey Breast of Duck with Citrus and Honey
Click the plus sign to leave or read reviews.
Ingredients:
2 boneless duck breast halves (Muscovy is best) (1 3/4 lbs total)
3/4 C. shallots, chopped
2 1/4 C. chicken broth
1 1/2 C. fresh orange juice
4 1/2 tsp earl grey tea leaves (equivalent of about 5 tea bags)
1 tbsp. honey
3 tbsp. butter, chopped
salt & pepper, to taste
peeled orange segments (garnish)
Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Using fork, pierce duck skin all over (this will allow most of the fat to render while cooking-- you don't want to eat it all). Sprinkle both sides of breast with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Heat large skillet over high heat. Place breasts, skin side down in dry skillet and cook without turning until skin is browned, four minutes.
4. Flip breasts over, cook two minutes more. Remove skillet from heat.
5. Transfer breasts to rack of roasting pan. Roast duck to desired level of doneness. (This will be 20 minutes for medium-rare, which is the best way to eat duck breast. Cook longer if desired, but be careful not to overcook.)
6. While duck bakes, heat remaining duck fat in its skillet on medium heat. Add shallots. Sauté about 5 minutes, until they begin to brown.
7. Remove shallots to a small bowl. Pour drippings from skillet and discard.
8. In same skillet (don't bother to wash it) pour broth, orange juice and tea leaves. Add shallots. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Boil until sauce is reduced to 1 1/4 C. This should take 15-20 minutes.
9. Strain mixture into a bowl using a fine mesh metal strainer. Press with back of spoon to extract more liquid. Discard solids.
10. Return strained sauce to the skillet. Add the honey.
11. Bring sauce to a simmer, then whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
12. Remove duck from oven and thinly slice crosswise.
13. Divide among four plates, fanning slices or placing in a row. Spoon sauce over, around, and/or next to duck. Garnish with orange. This flavorful Christmas dinner party recipe is made to impress!
Christmas Dinner Party Recipe:
Too Easy to be This Good Prosciutto Pork Roast
Ingredients: 1 boneless pork loin roast (2 to 3 pounds)
3 tbsp. butter, softened
3 oz prosciutto or Spanish jamon, finely-chopped
2-3 tbsp. garlic, finely minced
2-3 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp. parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 to 2 C. dry white wine
Instructions: 1. Combine butter, prosciutto or jamon, garlic, parmesan, rosemary, and black pepper. Set aside. (A food processor makes chopping the prosciutto, parmasean, garlic and rosemary a cinch.)
2. Clean roast of most of its visible fat. With a sharp knife, cut LOTS of slits into top and sides of roast (not bottom). Slits should be about an inch long and about half an inch or so deep.
3. Spread prosciutto mixture over and into roast. Use your fingers to get mixture deep into the slits. This will give moisture and flavor to the roast as it cooks.
4. If desired, you can wrap the roast in plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator overnight or up to one day at this point.
5. To cook: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place prepared roast in roasting pan (a large casserole dish works, too) and pour wine gently over the top. Roast for approx 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours (depends on size of roast), basting with drippings every 20-30 minutes.
6. Remove roast from oven, move to a carving board, and cover with aluminum foil. Let rest for about 15 minutes. If desired, spoon away extra fat and thicken remaining pan drippings with flour to make a gravy while the meat rests.A suprisingly easy and elegant Christmas dinner party recipe!
Christmas Dinner: English Recipe for a Traditional Main Dish
This recipe is old and English and really wonderful, but if you're looking for something more traditional for Christmas... roast a turkey. A roasted turkey is a big part of an English Christmas dinner. Serves 4.
Somerset Cider & Honey Chicken
Ingredients: 4 joints of chicken (whole leg/thighs)
2 tsp. dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp. salt
black pepper
1/4 pint English cider (the sparkling, alcoholic kind)
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. honey
Instructions: 1. Place joints of chicken in a non-reactive bowl or casserole dish in a single layer.
2. Combine mustard, salt, pepper, cider, oil, and honey. Pour over the chicken and marinate for at least one hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake chicken in large casserole dish or roasting pan about one hour. Baste the chicken with pan drippings occasionally.
4. Skin of chicken will be brown and crisp when done (see photo). Serve hot.
Traditional English Christmas Dinner:
English Recipe for Veggies
Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts
Ingredients: 1 lb. smallish Brussels sprouts1 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
salt (optional)
Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and bring a pot of water to a boil.
2. Wash and trim Brussels sprouts. Trim off bottoms, remove outside leaves, and slice an X across the stem. (This will help the sprouts to cook evenly.)
3. Dump sprouts in the boiling water. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain well.
4. Return sprouts to the pot, then stir in oil, vinegar, black pepper, and salt, if desired.
5. Place Brussels sprouts in a greased shallow roasting pan and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking.
6. Remove sprouts from oven and stir in chopped walnuts.
Bake 5 minutes. Serve hot.
Traditional English Christmas Dinner:
English Recipe for Potatoes
Almost Too-Perfect Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients:
8-10 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
1-2 tbsp. salt, to taste
1-2 tbsp. pepper, to taste
1/4-1/3 C. vegetable oil
Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place peeled and quartered potatoes in a large pot with water and a pinch of salt.
3. Bring water to a boil. Simmer potatoes about 5 to 6 minutes.
4. When potatoes are slightly softened, drain into a strainer. Shake strainer to roughen the edges of the potatoes. This will help them to crisp up properly.
5. Leave potatoes in the strainer for a few minutes to fully dry.
6. Meanwhile, pour 1/4 to 1/3 cups vegetable oil into a large roasting pan. Use enough to completely cover bottom of pan. Place oiled pan in preheated oven for several minutes.
7. Remove pan from oven. Place potatoes in the hot oil and flip them around to coat them evenly with oil. (Potatoes shouldn't be too close together-- if it's too crowded, you may need to use two pans.) Sprinkle potatoes with the salt and pepper, to taste. (Use plenty.) Bake 30 to 60 minutes until golden and crispy.
8. Every 10 minutes or so, baste the potatoes with pan oil (try not to move the potatoes around much in the pan)
9. Halfway through cooking (after about 20 minutes), turn potatoes once (maximum twice). Keep a close eye on them at the end of the cook time-- they'll burn easily.
Traditional English Christmas Dinner:
Note: to make this, you'll need a pudding basin or something similar. A pudding basin is a tall, slim bowl (see photo below) which must be safe to steam. A container for making large flans works, too, but is a little ungainly to steam. English Christmas Plum Pudding Recipe This perfect end to Christmas dinner. This English recipe makes the perfect sweet, fruity dessert. The beer and brandy make it deep and rich-- something the adults will like just as much as the kids. Watch out-- if you don't like fruitcake-like desserts, you may not like this. But you can't get more traditional than a plum pudding!
Christmas Plum Pudding
Ingredients:
2 C. golden raisins1 1/2 C. regular raisins, chopped
1 C. prunes, chopped
1 C. mixed candied fruit
1 lemon, zest
1 orange, zest
1 large carrot, grated
1 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. blanched almonds, chopped
2 C. white breadcrumbs (fresh)
1 C. brown sugar, packed
1 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
4 eggs
1/2 C. whole milk
2 C. Guinness stout
1/4 C. brandy
Instructions: 1. Grease two large pudding (20 cm. or 1.2 liters each) basins with butter.
Pudding Basins
4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together egg, milk, beer, brandy, lemon zest, and orange zest. Add to butter-flour mixture. Combine well using wooden spoon or hands.
5. Spoon batter into pudding basins. Leave room at the top to allow puddings to expand.
6. Cover each pudding basin with parchment paper, then two layers of aluminum foil. Secure coverings tightly with string.
7. Place the pudding basins onto racks in boiling water. The water should reach halfway up the basins. Boil 5 hours, adding new water as it boils away.
8. This can all be done ahead, and the puddings reserved in the refrigerator for several days or even weeks. Before serving a pudding, boil in its basin for one hour, or microwave individual servings before serving.
9. Top with custard, ice cream, or brandied cream. For a truly impressive end to your Christmas dinner, this English recipe is great when flambéed with brandy before serving.
10. One pudding serves one medium-sized family.
Great Meat grilling tips!!
The Better way to great meat grilling!1. Choose your meat wisely: The meat is absolutely the most important part of the process. And knowing what cut you like will open your eyes to endless possibilities. Most people think the filet or tenderloin is the best cut. It is probably the most tender, but “best” is up for debate. Filets sacrifice flavor for tenderness and usually rely on some outside agent to give them a stronger flavor. Rib eyes have killer flavor but tend to be on the fatty side. The New York Strip falls somewhere in between.
So try different cuts to see what works for your taste. I love Rib eyes, but when I can’t shell out the cash, I’ll get a good chuck steak. It has good marbling (fat content) but has enough meat so I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time.
No matter which cut you favor, freshness is the key. If you have a little extra money, buy your meat at a true butcher’s shop. Chain stores like Wal-Mart only carry “case-ready, pre-packaged” meat. This meat, sitting in Styrofoam and covered in cellophane, is far less fresh than meat bought at a shop that actually cuts the meat themselves.
2. Let the flavor of the beef come through: If you are using quality meat then you shouldn’t need anything else as a marinade. Minimalism is the key. Too many flavors and you mask the true beef flavor. This concept applies to BBQ and sauce as well.
Depending on the cut, I use a little olive oil, Kosher Salt, and fresh coarse ground pepper. That’s really all you need.
If you want to kick it up a notch, try a rub or a seasoning mix to give your steak the extra flare that your looking for.
3. Get the fire hot: The more sear you can get on the meat, the more flavor you will lock in. The higher quality the meat, the more time you have before the meat really burns. It should just sizzle and sear, but keep an eye on it so you don’t lose your steak to the flames.
4. Check the temp: There is nothing more destructive to a steak than over cooking it. A good steak should be cooked to medium rare. Anything over medium is pushing it. Cooking it to “well done” is a punishable crime in 39 states and basically ruins the steak. But again that is something that left up to personal taste!
With practice you can tell the “done-ness” of your steak by touch. But most of us aren’t that skilled. Get yourself a good meat thermometer. They are definitely worth the investment if you are doing a lot of cooking. For the regular home chef, you can get a good thermometer for $6-$20 that will do just fine at keeping your meat “in the red.”
Meat Doneness Chart
Rare 120 – 125 degrees
Medium rare 130 – 135 degrees
Medium 140 – 145 degrees
Medium well 150 – 155 degrees
Well done 160 degrees – and above
Medium rare 130 – 135 degrees
Medium 140 – 145 degrees
Medium well 150 – 155 degrees
Well done 160 degrees – and above
5. Let the meat rest: During the cooking process, the meat proteins constrict and essentially squeeze out their juices. Letting meat sit and rest after cooking partially reverses this process. If you let your steak rest for 5 minutes on a separate plate, the liquid should redistribute throughout the meat. The meat ends up retaining more flavor and will be juicier. Cover it with some tin foil to keep it warm.