Christmas 2009
Potato and Ham Soup
Sausage Canapes
Goat Cheese Tartlets
Artichoke and White Bean Crostini
Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Deviled Eggs
Slow Roasted Prime Rib with Au Jus
Boars Head Ham with Raisin Sauce
Potato Au Gratin
Gnocchi with Pomodoro Sauce
Garden Salad
Tomato, Basil ,Mozzarella Salad
Kris and I have been cooking Christmas dinner for our family's for four years now. I talk to a lot of people who say their holidays get crazy because they have to travel from house to house, visiting their extended family's. The in-laws, the parents, the siblings, the cousins, and so on. We don't have that problem: everyone just comes to our house. We feed 20 people, then entertain around 35-40 throughout the rest of the day and into the night. Dinner will be simple: potato and ham soup, prime rib, bone in ham, gnocchi, potato gratin, and a tomato and mozzarella salad. What can I say, we like meat and potatoes! For me an important part of a meal, or any event, is what everyone will be drinking. If you've been to our house you know you'll never leave thirsty. These beers pictured above will be our 'featured' beers for the day. Unibroue Terrible is the best beer ever and goes with anything and everything. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is a seasonal beer that I look forward to all year long. The Harpoon 100 Barrel Series have been tasting awesome lately. I like the Glacier Harvest better than the Ginger Wheat. But I think the Ginger Wheat pairs real nice with food. It's peppery, and the ginger is present, but not overpowering. Along with those beers we also have a wide variety of others to choose from. On any given day the beer fridge in the downstairs bar will have around 10-15 different varieties of beer. If you're not a beer drinker we have plenty of Jack and Kris makes an awesome Christmas punch. Something for everyone.
I love a good onion ring. To be more specific: I love this kind of onion ring pictured above. The kind that is thin and flaky, salty and crunchy. I'm not a big fan of the oversized, over battered onion rings that you usually get at the local pizza shop. They lose their crispiness so quick and taste mostly like batter. Well, because they're mostly batter. 
It's December 5th, we've had several frosts so far this season. We are expecting about 4 inches of snow tonight here in New England. And I still have parsley! I really wish this stuff was going into a turn in box. Next season can't get here fast enough...
The decision to cook this roast on the rotisserie was actually an easy one. First, Sunday was a beautiful fall day here in New England. And second, meat looks cool when it's spinning. The beef took about 2.5 hours to cook until 128 internally. The above pic is about 1.5 hours into the cook.
Here is the meat right after I took it off the grill. I placed it in the pan of au jus, then wrapped it up tight with foil. I rested the roast for over an hour.
I cut the roast in half so it could fit on to my slicer a little easier. I'm not a big fan of the hole left in the meat from the spit rod. But since I was just slicing it up into a pile of roast beef for sandwiches, I guess it's not a big deal. If I was cooking a prime rib I don't think I would want to use my rotisserie. Even though this beef made a great sandwich, the real star of the day was the homemade onion rings. More on those later.
I woke up this morning with a craving for a hot roast beef sandwich. You know the kind: thin sliced medium rare beef, lightly toasted hamburger bun, shredded lettuce, pickles, mayo, and cheese. Good stuff. So I went to the butcher and picked up a nice 8 pound top round roast and all the other fixings I'll need. I also grabbed some onions, because it would be a shame to eat a hot roast beef sandwich without some homemade onion rings on the side. They just go together perfectly. Then, on the way home, it hits me: how should I cook the beef? Low oven? WSM? Rotisserie? Brendan's FEC100? (It's been at my house since after the Harpoon Helps event, I'm thinking of stealing it, so don't remind him I still have it.) I even thought about taking out the sous vide re circulator again. The only thing that I'm sure of is I'll be using a simple rub of veg oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. The rest, only time will tell.
This is the entry we submitted for both the Jack, and the Royal, in the dessert category. This was all Kris. She conceived it, practiced it, and executed it at both competitions. Although it did not get a call at either event, it got some great scores. It finished 33rd at the Royal with a 173, and finish 14th at the Jack with a 172. (For those of you not familiar with KCBS scoring: a 180 is a perfect score.) At the Royal the top 6 teams got a perfect 180 in the dessert category! At the Jack we missed the top ten, and a call, by .5714 of a point! Anyway, I thought it was great, and our families really enjoyed all the practice runs.
Well, I couldn't wait till tomorrow to try out the rotisserie. When I bought the leg of lamb for Sunday I also picked up a whole chicken. I figured today I would play with fire management and make sure everything worked fine. So far, so good.
I know. I already made a rotisserie, right? But it wasn't made from stainless steel. And if you know me, you know I have an obsession for all things stainless. Another reason I wanted to make this is that I love attachments. Anything that is useful and fits on something that I already have, is awesome to me. So, this ring goes on and off my Weber without tools, and can be stored real easy. The maiden voyage will be Sunday. I'm thinking leg of lamb, tzatziki, fresh pita bread, and a little feta. It's amazing what I'll do for a good sandwich...
We got home this morning at 5AM after driving straight through from Nashville. Both Kris and I crashed for a few hours. Then we got up and have been cleaning for the rest of the day. I have not uploaded all the pics from this weekend yet, I'll try to do that sometime this week. I just wanted to share this one of Kris and I enjoying our new hardware and our new rocking chairs. They are made from a Jack Daniel's whiskey barrel. I have to say, I never thought I would get too excited about a rocking chair, but these are kinda bad ass.
We are packed and ready to go! Well, actually, we're over-packed and ready to go. But that's okay, better safe than sorry. I was in charge of beer and meat, and Kris was in charge of food, and snacks. I'll be amazed if we finish it all...but, we're gonna try like hell! Please stop by and say hi.
Lamb Chop
Pork Belly
Sea Bass
TomatoSent from my iPhone
As fall settles in here in New England my thoughts start to focus on comfort foods. Soups, stews, mac and cheese, anything that warms the soul. For me, nothing can do that better than fried chicken. Juicy meat, crispy skin, a salty crunchy batter; fried chicken has it all. It just may be the perfect food. It might not be the easiest food to prepare at home, but it's not as difficult as some people think. The biggest tip I can give is to move the operation outside. I do all my deep frying outside on a propane burner (turkey frier), in my cast iron Dutch oven. This way I don't need to worry about hot oil splattering all over my kitchen, or the smell of fried food lingering in my house for the next 3 days. This chicken got a quick marinade in buttermilk and hot sauce. Then a flour, egg wash, flour dredge. Then directly into 350 degree vegetable oil. When golden brown and cooked all the way through, put them on a rack to drain and season with salt. Eat the chicken hot, room temp, cold, the next day for breakfast, it doesn't matter. It will cure what ails you, fix what's broken, and will guarantee a smile on your face.
Last weekend Kris and I competed at The Bar-B-Q Pit at the Oyster Festival in Norwalk, CT. The competition had drawn some controversy in the months preceding it. A lot of teams felt the high entry fee would not be worth it. They were wrong. And, yes, I would have said that even if we had not done well. The entry fee was about $100 more than the 'average' entry fee in this area. All monies collected from entry fees, and then some, went back to the prize pool for the competitors. The prize money was also spread out quite nicely. A lot of teams walked away with some big money. Calls (and money) through 10 place, lobster dinner on Friday, team breakfast both Saturday and Sunday, multiple gift bags, t-shirts, free ice, free oysters, trash removal, and the list goes on and on. Getting in and out of the event was not even a slight issue as most had speculated. Saturday was very busy with a grilling event, a whole hog competition, and chowder competition. Throw in a KCBS comp on Sunday, a peoples choice wing competition, and it made for a very hectic weekend. The organizers said they will learn from their mistakes and try to make it better for next year. Sounds reasonable to me. I just hope they don't change too much, because I liked everything about that weekend.
After two weeks in a pickling brine, these garden fresh cucumbers have made the tasty transformation into pickles. They have a nice balance of dill, garlic, and heat. They will add a nice acidic crunch to any sandwich.
Aebleskivers are a Danish pancake that is spherical in shape. They are light and fluffy and usually contain apple slices on the inside. Kris and I first heard of these wonderful confections on the Food Network Show: The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Aaron Sanchez was raving about aebleskivers from this little dive in New York City. After that show, Kris was on a mission: to find aebleskivers! Much to her dismay, no diner, bakery, or dive in our area made them. So, even better, she was going to make them. I was real excited for two reasons: one, Kris always makes kick ass confections, and two, we were getting a new cast iron pan!
The first step in making aebleskivers is to heavily butter your pan.
Pour the batter into the pan and cook for about 4 minutes, or until the bottom is set and starts turning golden brown.
Carefully flip the pancakes over and cook the other side for a few more minutes. This is traditionally done with a knitting needle, but Kris uses a wooden skewer.
She did several batches. Some with fruit, some without. The ones we liked the best had a small chunk of ripe banana nestled right in the middle batter. She serves them with Vermont maple syrup for dipping. Not traditional, but damn good!
We've been growing hops for the past 4 years. The first year the landscaper weed whacked them, the second year bugs ate them, last year we had a brown harvest, but this year they look great. As you can see from the pics, they are a beautiful green and full. I was surprised they have done so well in this heat that we have had over the past few weeks. Some are starting to dry on the vine so I think I will be harvesting real soon. If all goes right they will end up in a batch of home brew real soon...
