Repasts From The 24th & 25th

I've seen other glowing accounts of Christmas dinners, and I haven't gotten around to posting pics of ours. For some reason I can't seem to shoot a good focused pic lately, so here's a mix of old, new and staged:



I really like this oyster dressing recipe. I first made it when Ellen left us for a week to visit Memphis/Raleigh. We reveled in sushi, horseradish and shellfish. I'd seen this in the December 2007 issue of Food&Wine. This is the one I'll keep and use repeatedly. I understand why people don't care for oysters. They're squishy. I'll usually try anything foodwise, but raw oysters are not on my list. Even cooked, their consistency can be a little off-putting. Actually my favorite way to eat them is deep-fried. But we aren't going into that territory in this house. This dish offers loads of bready crustiness, briny ocean flavor and spiciness. The key is to bake it in a really shallow pan. I used my jelly roll pan when I made it Christmas Eve. I also took the liberty of replacing the green pepper with more festive-looking and in my opinion better-tasting red.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/oyster-dressing-grand-mere

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pecan-crusted-beef-tenderloin-with-juniper-jus

The only drawback is the cost. Fresh oysters are expensive, and you have to ask pretty-please at the seafood counter for them, or look all over to find good quality pre-packaged ones.



I wanted a cream soup for Christmas Eve, so I concocted a smoked seafood soup/stew. It was actually more like a potato-less chowder. I made a mirepoix, then a light roux and used some of our leftover heavy cream and 2% milk left in the house. A can of vegetable stock (didn't have any chicken), and then I loaded it up with canned smoked oysters, smoked mussels and smoked clams.

We also had some crab cakes and shrimp cocktail. Tim made the sauce with more horseradish than ketchup. And a 2006 French Vouvray to go with all this.



Christmas Day, Tim made Pecan-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Juniper Jus. He'd seen it in the same Food&Wine mag that contained the Peanut Butter Stuffed French Toast recipe (December 2004) and got inspired to try it. Damn, was that ever good. I'm thinking the mustard-ketchup-egg yolk-pecan crust would really elevate an ordinary meatloaf to a whole new plane.

To go with that, we had some of our mustard-roasted root vegetables leftover from Sunday (parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots and rutabaga) and a salad of mixed greens, Trader Joe's whole chestnuts, orange segments, and dried cranberries. And a Tapestry McLaren Vale Shiraz.

Needless to say I went to work both nights very well satisfied.