Christmas Gathering with Friends

Christmas gathering with friends. :) But what to make? This year quite awhile in advance – at least for me (so, y’know, like a few hours ahead of time ;)) – I thought about doing something relatively simple that people would probably like – pasta. But I still wanted a “big” main dish – even though pasta is a main dish for me quite often. So I considered braciola. I think I came up with the perfect combination (at least for me :P) – braciola with red sauce, as you do, pesto, and a gorgonzola sauce. How much more Christmas-y can you get – well at least color wise? And garlic’s automatically included, so what more can I ask for?

I had so much fun preparing dinner. Once again, as with the turkey, I noticed a sense of comfort in preparing the braciola. It surprised me how while I thought I was under a bit of a time crunch, I mostly just felt calm and happy and concentrated on getting it done.

Stuffed and browning in the pan :)

Gettin' all nice and browned, time to add the wine!

The sauces. Oh, the sauces. The red sauce, my great-grandma’s spaghetti sauce, turned out as perfect as I could have hoped for. Usually it doesn’t come out just right, but she must have been there with me that night because, boy, did it remind me of eating spaghetti, sprinkled with Kraft grated Parmesan cheese of course, at her kitchen table for lunch. The pesto. Okay, so the pesto recipe that I think I’ve deemed my favorite is the one my dad makes. It’s a Marcella Hazan recipe. It’s a blender pesto, uses extra-virgin olive oil and butter and two cheeses – one of them is Pecornio Romano, which I adore – and I bet you all can guess as to the other cheese – Parmigiano Reggiano. I just love the ingredient list of this pesto. Anyway, no, you don’t put everything into the blender and spin her around. I’ve done this and it produces quite a yummy pesto, but if you follow the recipe exactly – something I’ll admit I don’t do all too often – it comes out even better. No wonder I always think it turns out better when my dad makes it.  The trick is to stir in the cheeses and butter after the rest of the pesto is blended together. I didn’t think it could make that much of a difference, but oh, yes, it does. Trust me here. I’m usually the one thinking shortcuts aren’t noticeable, especially when I’m in a hurry, but this is definitely worth those extra few seconds – and definitely noticeable. The gorgonzola sauce. I was thinking okay, it’s a cream sauce. Flour, butter, milk or cream, the cheese, and seasonings. Half-and-half, cheese, and salt. That’s it. How easy is that. But so super good. The aromas of the individual ingredients and of the final products were totally satisfying and all the three sauces were incredibly moan-worthy.

Spaghetti sauce bubbling away. :)

Pesto! (Yes, it was that exciting.)

The beautiful gorgonzola.

Parmigiano being stirred into the gorgonzola sauce.

And then dinner was ready – complete with salad prepared by Paloma – very awesome salad, mind you. :D Sadly, I have no photos of the salad.

Sliced braciola, ready for nomming. :) Could have been a little pinker though...

And my plate. Please note the fancy silverware – only the best for my friends! It should also be noted that everyone loved the gnocchi – it was rather tasty! Next endeavor: homemade gnocchi. Okay, well, I have made gnocchi before, but it needs to be done again – mostly because I still have a lot to learn about making gnocchi.

Yes, there were all kinds of yummy, sweet Christmas goodies, but the dessert star of the night was coming courtesy a friend. My friend Katrina brought pumpkin cheesecake. I’ve been hearing about this for the past few years and I had gotten rather irate that I had yet to have any, so she offered to make some for our Christmas gathering. Win. And it totally lived up to its hype, too. Uber win. Katrina’s famous pumpkin cheesecake has an open invitation to my house. And I guess Katrina, too. ;)

Super yummy and festive! :)

I also popped chocolate gingerbread in the oven. It’s been yet another Christmas tradition for me over the past few years. It usually gets made Christmas Eve, in the wee Santa Claus hours of Christmas Eve, and every once in awhile on Christmas Day. So far, though, that’s been all for me in the festive week after Christmas. Christmas baking is so personally beneficial.

Not the best photo, but super tasty. :)

Drink wise, we had two lovely bottles of wine brought by two friends, and we decided to mix champagne with cranberry juice.

Again, one of the nice things about cooking now isn’t that maybe some of the food tastes better – I don’t really think it does over all – but the confidence of knowing what you’re doing – just having that knowledge from having done it before. Knowing when to improvise, knowing when to follow a recipe (cough, pesto, cough), knowing when you want to improvise as you have in the past. It was overall a good experience. :)

One thing I learned during the Christmas cooking and baking stretch this year is this – burns, paper cuts, and other minor cuts hurt. Especially when you put pressure on them, accidentally hit them against something, stretch them or move them the wrong way, etc. Even typing isn’t free of mild, very mild, pain. Ah, well. That being said, I think they were probably worth it. :)

Christmas Day 2009

Well, clearly, I have to write about Christmas Day, too, as two posts about the holiday aren’t enough. I’ll keep this one short and sweet (and savory). :) Promise – Girl Scout’s honor.

This Christmas, as is usual now, I was requested to bring “the” green beans. In case you are new, “the” green beans are green beans with bacon and garlic. Bacon. Garlic. What more do you need? ;) Oh, well, I guess the green beans, but I could probably just eat the bacon and garlic. The green beans just give the illusion that you’re eating something good for you. ;) Well, “the” green beans are good for you – good for your soul. Maybe just not the arteries so much – which is why they’re special occassion beans. Okay, I digress – as usual. So, we had me on the beans, my grandma was making a pork loin roast stuffed with cloves, yes, cloves, of garlic and roasted potatoes – as usual – and my aunt was making candied yams (sweet potatoes) and a ham, while another aunt was making a salad. My ham and yam aunt also brought some baked beans. O.M.G. were these baked beans yummy. So sweet, savory, and spicy. They had a lovely warmth and smokiness to them. Turns out the smokiness came from chipotle peppers in adobo, no meat. Nice touch. They were, however, just a tad spicy, BUT super, super yummy. She said they were a recipe from the Yard House.

My (not so full anymore) plate. :)

After our main feast, of course, the dessert feast took place. I don’t even know if I can remember everything that was on the table. Yes, we had a whole dessert table. Well, we usually do, so nothing too new about that. I brought the biscotti and fudge, there were more biscotti, a variety of other cookies, a chocolate cake I think, maybe some pie? And one of my aunts, who always brings a cookie platter, did so again. It truly wouldn’t be Christmas without her cookie plate. And for the past few years, she’s been giving out little “goodie bags” filled with her goodies. I LOVE it. Church stained glass windows – chocolate, marshmallows, and coconut, seven layer bars, and these chocolate peanut butter bar things are my favorites. I’ve resolved to learn how to make the first two, and this year I finally did made the church stained glass windows – but that’s another post. :P

My favorite part of Christmas this year – aside, of course, from being with my family :) – was when I asked my aunt who made the wonderful baked beans if I could take the leftovers home and she then asked if she could take my green beans home. Bean exchange = yay! :D She then sent me the recipe – and I wasn’t the only one. I’ve yet to make them, but it will have to happen soon.

More Christmas Foodstuffs & Christmas Eve: Spotlight on Fudge and Biscotti

The Christmas food season started for me this year on the first weekend in December. It was time to make fudge. Fudge is usually the first Christmas culinary treat to come out of the gate. It keeps pretty well, too, so that’s probably helped it move into first place. I excitedly got out my recipe and some, if not all, of the ingredients. I then did what I usually do when making fudge – I jumped the gun a bit and became a little too overconfident. I know I’ve made successful fudge in the past, so sometimes I don’t pay as good attention to it as I should. This year I followed that pattern – and it showed. I let the sugar and marshmallow crème mixture cook a little too long resulting in a more caramely flavor. Not untasty, but not what Christmas fudge is all about either. I could tell it wasn’t right just by its scent. On to Batch #2. This batch I watched like a hawk, kept meticulous track of the time, and constantly stirred – as you’re supposed to do anyway. The second batch turned out as perfect as I could have wanted it. Well, of course, I wasn’t totally sure of that until the next morning and I saw that it had set beautifully, but still.

First batch - what the fudge should look like while cooking.

And the finished product! First successful batch of fudge for Christmas 2009.

Once my dad and I finally got our tree we decorated it to A Very Special Christmas, as I’ve insisted upon for the past few years, and looks just like it always does. I also made sure to have a bite of fudge as I was decorating and listening to Christmas music. It’s what you do at a tree-trimming party. As I bit into the fudge, again, I was struck at how tasty it was. Every day I’ve had fudge, it never ceases to amaze me how tasty it is. And I never cease to think of my mama. :) My dad also had all the strudel ingredients sprawled across the counter. It’ just like seeing all the pie ingredients out for Thanksgiving. I’ve still yet to make strudel. One can only hope that will be amended soon. :)

Fast forward to the Tuesday before Christmas. ‘Twas time to make more fudge, as the first batch only had about, oh, a piece or so left of it. I was a little worried I had cooked the sugar and marshmallow mixture too long again, but I was mostly concerned that it was too soft. I tasted it that night and it didn’t taste just right. I had ruined yet another batch of fudge in the meantime – but I was smart and hadn’t added the chocolate because I could tell the sugar and marshmallow mixture was too caramelized. So onto a third batch for two nights. I was more confident in this batch – until I poured into a dish to set up. Did I overcook it again?! Well, the next morning would hold the truth. The next morning came and I decided that that first batch from Tuesday night – a big batch – was, in fact, probably the best of the three and the best of the two that had had the privilege of setting up. So there you have it – that second batch was the winner. And I’ve even gotten into to it today, a few days later, and been just as pleased with it as I was my very first batch. Who’d a thunk?

Then the Wednesday before Christmas was the infamous rostule day. :)

Come Christmas Eve, while I finally had the fudge under control, I had yet to do the biscotti or chocolate gingerbread. And I still kind of wanted to do the cranberry tart like I had last year.

Christmas Eve proved rather busy but productive for me. For one, I had to do my Christmas shopping. :\ Following that, lunch was to be had, and then off to my aunt and uncle’s house with my grandma in tow. This didn’t include the aforementioned cooking or the present-wrapping. As it turned out, come time to get ready for Christmas Eve at my aunt’s and uncle’s the cooking, er, baking wasn’t quite done. Not quite ideal. However, the biscotti were well on their way – they had even gone through their first bake. I feel like maybe I say this too much, but it really isn’t Christmas without…what’s it going to be this time, people? ;) It really isn’t Christmas without the biscotti. Also, fun fact: a 325 degree oven is H-O-T! Burned the top of my middle finger whilst taking the biscotti out of the oven Useful tip: take note of how close the top rack in the oven is to the top of the oven. Just saying is all.

The li'l guys all lined up out of the oven. :)

Making fudge, biscotti, rostule, and watching my dad make apple strudel (and usually bacalar – this year my aunt made it) truly signify the beginning of the season for me. It really just wouldn’t be Christmas without those things. Clearly I’m not giving these Christmas traditions enough of the spotlight. I must stop expecting to be able to cram them all into one post, so look for the true spotlights of each Christmas culinary concoction (Yay for alliteration! It’s late, I’m tired, deal with it. :P)

Christmas is Officially Here

‘Twas the day ‘fore Christmas Eve that Christmas really arrived this year.

So today was, in fact, one of those days. Woke up late and felt like I was running late pretty much the whole day – if anyone wants to get snarky here, hush please. ;) On the menu today was fudge, as I felt last night’s second, yes, second, batch didn’t turn out just right, biscotti, as I was too lazy last night, and rostule at my grandma’s house with two of my cousins. Then a get-together with some “back-in-the-day”people. :) Somewhere in there I also had to go Christmas shopping and just run some general errands.

Well, it was clear that no foodstuffs were getting made before I headed over to my grandma’s as I woke up much later than planned. When I got to my grandma’s one of the first things I noticed was that she had put out the Hershy’s kisses. Christmas was officially here.

Next, I noticed she had all of the equipment and ingredients already laid out and ready to go. Nothing too unusual about that. Once my cousins arrived we were put to work and Grandma was going to leave us to it – or so she said.

We convened to make rostule, also known as hrstule or krostule. It’s basically fried dough with powdered sugar on it. How bad can that be, right? A little more specifically, it’s a Croatian fried pastry. You make a pretty sticky dough and then you’re supposed to roll it out to a paper-thin consistency, cut it into strips – usually with a pretty edge, and then fry the strips in Crisco. Once the rostule are golden brown and have a crispness to them, you take them out of the Crisco and let them cool slightly before dusting them with powdered sugar. They are very tasty, mind you. The first time I attempted them, I think two years ago, I was told they were too thick and not crispy enough – but still tasty. Apparently, it’s best to make them with others and to form a sort of assembly line.

Anyway, back to Grandma and cousins. First, Grandma delegated specific tasks to each of us (there were 3 of us today). Then we had to decide if we were going to use bourbon, as we did last year, or anise extract. Grandma was in favor of anise, so anise we used. Then we had her check the dough as we were rolling it out. Strips were too small, should be bigger. Okay. But we were kind of low on dough. Then we had to make sure they were thick enough because, you know, they’re just not as good if they’re too thin. Then once they were all out of the fryer Grandma suggested that maybe we should have cooked them a little longer because they could be a little crispier. Also, it was noted that there weren’t that many of them. Should we make more? We decided not after some deliberation. Finally, it was time to dust them with the powdered sugar. Grandma had a large cardboard box out and lined with wax paper to hold the finished rostule. We thought why not just put them in there and then add the powdered sugar. We thought wrong. If we did that, too much sugar would be at the bottom of the box, so we were told. So we moved to the cutting board. That was more acceptable. We ended our 2009 rostule-making-a-thon by moving them to a smaller container because, again, we didn’t have as many as last year. That’s what we get for making them thicker. Ah, well. Such is life.

After doing the dishes, we all retreated to the living room. And talked about alcohol. Grandma told us about Pink Ladies and Grasshoppers. And we learned that one of her favorites is Malibu and orange juice. One of my other cousins gave her that for the first time. We were all also very much in favor of mojitos. Oh Christmas!

As I left, I noticed you could easily smell the rostule in the air – and on my clothes. Just like last year.

Our effort:

I think I’d be remiss not to mention that Grandma also had a pot of freshly made spaghetti sauce cooling on the stove in one of her oldest pots, and I had some of my aunt’s burek, a meat pita, for lunch. Nice. And two additional batches of fudge were made. As it turns out, last night’s second batch may actually be a good batch… Whoops haha. Biscotti must wait for tomorrow, but it will definitely not be forgotten. It wouldn’t be Christmas without it.

Last night's second batch.

Chocolate for fudge-making today. :)

See, the whole fudge-making process just wasn’t going so well. :\ So then we had to have some eggnog. My recipe book also fell on the floor spilling recipes. :\

There’s eggnog in the mug, I swear! (That rum is also really tasty, at least imho.)

But the day overall was a success. I discovered yesterday’s fudge will more than do, had my first cup of the seasonal and requisite eggnog, my grandma put out the Hershey’s kisses, my clothes smell like rostule, cooking was criticized, lovingly, of course, and I sat around the living room exchanging drink recipes with my family; yes, Christmas is officially here.

Weekend o’ Finals

Yes, you’re right, finals might seem like an odd segue into food. But, really, when you think about it food is an integral part of finals. Just think, where would finals week be without pizza, fast food, chips, sweets, really all kinds of fast food and unhealthy foods, general bingeing and/or random eating habits, and, of course, caffeine? Finals just wouldn’t be the same without these foodstuffs.

So, yes, I did have my Domino’s pizza and cheesy breadsticks (OMFG are those good!), but I also decided to get a little more creative. Hows ’bouts a spaghetti sandwich? I thought about it and that must be one of the ultimate comfort foods. Regular old white bread, butter, and spaghetti with red sauce. I remember my dad telling me of getting these as a kid. Sounds good to me. So I broke out my white bread (sadly no Wonder, or my favorite as a little kiddo, Weber), but white bread nonetheless. And why not put a little garlic powder on those buttered (and toasted as it was a rainy day and I also thought it would help with soaking up the sauced pasta) pieces of bread. Spaghetti and garlic bread – pretty good representation of comfort food me thinks. Nothing too pretty or polished or gourmet, but definitely, and most importantly, super tasty and comforting – and quick; just what finals week requires.

That was Friday afternoon. Come Saturday night I was a bit tired of the Domino’s and I had a random craving for latkes and sour cream – although I’d never had honest-to-goodness latkes – and to cook. This would prove interesting in trying to make them, but make them I did. Or at least the closest thing to good latkes I could do at the time. I expected them to taste more like hash brown cakes, but they did not. That actually made me happy because more often than not I have a weird aversion to breakfast for dinner. I thought they were rather tasty alone and with the sour cream. They also went rather well with ‘Saturday Night Live;’ and in case you’re interested, Taylor Lautner a.k.a. Jacob hosted.

Yes, some of them got a little burned.