A Great Christmas Menu, Part 1
Like most people, I usually celebrate the holidays twice. Once with Parents, Brother and his family, and Sister if she’s in town. The second time is with the In-laws. And both events this year were full of just amazing food, and lots of it.
For my side of the family, Sister-in-Law was kind enough to host (with Brother, of course) and their three kids. Hosting such an event for 10 people is a lot of work, and I imagine even more work when you’re 7 months pregnant (which she is), but she did a beautiful job and the food and atmosphere were fabulous. She chose pork tenderloin, which is always a good choice. It is very versatile, fairly inexpensive so its good for a group, and it doesn’t take that long to cook. She also made a potato recipe that I made last year, because we knew it was a hit. Amazingly it’s from Cooking Light, and called, Asiago, Potato and Bacon Gratin. This does not, I repeat, does not taste like a light dish. I think it is the reduction of the milk that is added to a casual roux. The mixture thickens and when poured over par-boiled potatoes, forms a rich sauce.
My contribution to the meal was a stuffing. I found the recipe on epicurious.com and chose it beacuse I thought the apples would pair nicely with the pork. It is called Apple Shallot Stuffing, and although a bit of work, well worth it. It was dark for a stuffing, but the currants and walnuts provided some contrast to the apples and bread. I also brought a loaf of flaxseed bread with cranberries and there was a salad served. Mother brought dessert, and I don’t know the exact name, but it was a frozen concoction of pumpkin and ginger snaps. Very festive, and I’ve never been known to turn down anything pumpkin or ginger. Maybe she’ll provide a link in the comments section so we can all know more about it. Its an ideal recipe, because you have to make it ahead.
A happy surprise was the two boxes of chocolate covered pretzel sticks sent by Sister from her husband’s families home town. I will try to take a picture of them if there are any left on Saturday, and dig up some more information. I did test one of each (dark and milk chocolate), just to make sure they were good.
So, more tomorrow, part 2.
Here’s the recipe for the dessert. It’s called Pumpkin Ice Cream Squares.
1 can cooked pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
i cup toasted chopped pecans
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1 12-oz box gingersnaps
Combine pumpkin with sugar, salt, spices and pecans. Stir ice cream to soften; fold in pumpkin mixture. Line bottom of 13X9 pan with half of the gingersnaps. Top with half of the ice cream mixture. Cover with anotehr layer of gingersnaps; add remaining ice cream mixtures. Freeze until firm. Cut into squares and garnish with pecan halves and whipped cream, if desired.