Well, perhaps I should have called it Holiday Food, but it's too late for that now.
What I was thinking of was the food my family customarily consumes at celebration times, which can include birthdays and anniversaries. Emily whipped up a killer raspberry soup with blueberries floating on top out of the clear blue sky for one of those this year, so it's not that she's not open to innovation.
After all she learned to cook aebleskiver from Lorelei the first.
You can't make this if you don't have the right kind of cast iron pan, a sort of seven half spherical cupped thing that you could easily find at a yard sale and go WTF?
The object is to make little spherical pancakes with a teaspoon of apple sauce at the center.
It's all in the technique-
You fill the cup about halfway up with batter and drop the teaspoon of applesauce in the middle. The batter will brown and rise up, sometimes over the top of the cup. You watch it for the tell tale pancake signs, the bubbles slow and dry.
You don't want to wait too long because you're going to take a fork and stick it in the side of each one and flip them. You're kind of counting on the batter still being runny enough to enclose the applesauce like a dumpling.
It's best to use fairly high heat, although I never recommend "smoking"- who wants to taste burnt? Mom uses Crisco. Lorelei the first used lard. You can't use butter or olive oil because the heat is too high. It's a grinding 45 minute task to crank them out fast enough so that everyone is satisfied and most experienced cooks use 2 or 3 pans depending on demand and grill management skills. Cooking is certainly a good way to avoid eating.
Ideally they're crispy on the outside and the apple sauce is hot. In my opinion they don't hold very well, they tend to get soggy unless you park them at relatively high temperatures and then they dry out. The classic recipe is to dust them with powdered sugar. We used maple syrup.
Now, contemplate the galaxy of variations on that simple concept- Mango Chutney sauce anyone?
We serve this twice or three times a year as brunch along with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, strawberries/melons/blueberries (I hate melon, ruins it for me), toast, jam, coffee and orange juice. Most of the other stuff is not so labor intensive, but it still requires a certain amount of timing to pull off.
As for the meal itself the centerpiece tends to vary with the season. We usually go Turkey though there are other choices- Ham, Lamb, Roast Beef, Pork Tenderloin... It is in any case a hunk of meat, not a casserole.
And we tend to go wild on the sides-
Pre dinner there is a side bar of finger cut vegetables- carrots, celery, scallions, radishes, zucchini and summer squash arranged like an onion leaf with a bowl of Knorr Vegetable Soup mix and sour cream dip in the center.
That's for the health nuts. For the football freaks there are regular chips (Tortilla and Potato) and Knorr Leek Soup mix and sour cream dip.
Accept no substitutes.
Then there's the cheese, sausage (Richard is a sucker for Summer Sausage), and cracker station. Pepperidge Farms mix and Triscuits (there is nothing better than Triscuits). I have to fight my activist brother for the runny cheese, but what's important is to have at least 3 types.
Next to that are the olives (black, green, and Pimento) and the sweet gherkins. More for you.
And nuts. If you have any sense at all the ones with the shell on are for display only.
Now having consumed that you might think we are done, but far from it-
In addition to our hunk of meat we do side dishes, Mashed or Baked Potatoes, Baked Sweet Potatoes and Acorn or Butternut Squash (a concession to me), Cauliflower, Broccoli, French Cut Green Beans with slivered Almonds (for my sister and my mom), Corn (for my dad), Cottage Cheese, Tossed Salad with 3 kinds of Dressing (all bottled), and Jello Salad (love those Bananas and the way it melts into your mashed potatoes).
Did I mention the gravy?
Well it's hard to fit all that on one plate so thank goodness we have the good china with all the proper serving pieces and silverware with three different forks and knives.
For dessert it's usually Pumpkin Pie (my favorite) or Apple. Mom likes Cherry, but I can't stand Cherries.
Now the last time I thought about this I was asked how you serve Cheddar Cheese with Apple Pie and the answer is you shave it in curls like Parmesan. If you're serving it out of your refrigerator you can just cut off a lump since you'll want to nuke your slice warm anyway.
Happy Holidays
Our Current Schedule-
November 15- Translator, Crepes
November 22- MaskedKat, Apples and Fall Desserts
November 29- fireflynw, Low Carb Cooking
December 6- ??? |
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