Christmas Dinner Pics Thread

So a quiet day at home for Christmas started with a '99 Dom Perignon, which while not spectacular was a very nice holiday warmup. I was inspired by Chet Kearn to attempt a version of Lobster with Sauce Vin Jaune as done at L’Arpege. I gilded the lily a bit, but with fantastic results. This is an OMFG type dish that is now on the short list for special dinners. See his thread for the recipe. I added some sauteed mushrooms and a piece of seared Foie Gras and being frugal and not wanting to waste, I added the Foie drippings to the sauce.

Served with a really young but very nice '04 Giradin Meursault Perrieres, no hint of premox.

This was a course that almost induced a coma, so we took a break for a couple hours and enjoyed a really fantastic and refreshing Bordolet Pear Cider.

The final course was duck confit that I cooked all day with a sachet of herbs and some garlic cloves. With this, I made some very simple vegetables, but drawing from Chet’s thread, I tried with some success to make simple perfect pure flavors. I salt crusted and roasted some baby beets, and then blanched some carrots and haricots verts. I then finished them by lightly sauteing them in a butter water emulsification and hit them with a touch of fleur de sel.

Duck Confit:

Salt Crust Beets broken open:

Dinner is served with a '93 Breton Bourgueil that was fantastic- thanks to Franks S for lovingly storing this wine before selling it to me for a song.

The duck was fantastic after I crisped the skin in a skillet, but the vegetables were so perfect. There is a lot to be said for simple pure flavors when you cook something precisely, and it was an eye opener for me. Not that I haven’t had that before at great restaurants, but this was a step forward at home being able to perfect it across the board.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.

Cheers

Wow!! That really looks yummy.

We Did Stuffed shells!!

Cheese

Meat

Nice Bob

Pork Crown Roast with sweet/hot sausage stuffing.

Thanks, Doc Pauly. Good thing it was tender 'cause I’m still struggling with chewing a bit.

Nice work Bob, that is very well cooked piece of cow. Which method did you use?

Mark, awesome, looks like Christmas on a plate! Sausage stuffing is probably my favorite, how did that come out?

Paul, what lurks in those tasty looking shells? Haven;t made that in quite some time, so would love a good recipe, looks great.

The Alton Brown method, sans flower pot.

The stuffing is ridiculously good, my wife cooks the sausage 3/4 done then transfers the juices to a bowl where she puts the cut onions, celery, fresh garlic sit in the juices overnight with the fresh cut bread stuffing. All the sausage flavor gets absorbed that way. Really delicious, I ate way too much of it.

Ken,

These are 4 cheese stuffed shells: Sheep Ricotta, Asiago, Romano or Parmesan ,Mozzarella, Prosciutto, Nutmeg , Parsley , 1 - 2 Egg Whites, White pepper. Now I add a bit of sugar. Check the saltness of your cheeses, the sugar helps balance. I usually don’t add garlic /onions, but you can.

Most of the base filling is the Ricotta, followed by a 1/3 much of the others or what you wish. I bake my Prosciutto to make it crispy, and Mince it, then add to my mix. add pinch of fresh grind nutmeg, white pepper and parsley, bind with egg whites.

Cook your shells all the way and cool and stuff… make your red sauce for bottom of the dish, place shells in sauce top with grated parm.

Cover and bake 325 till all are slightly bubbly… cool and serve.

Paul

I figured something like that. I have been going with the Keller Ad Hoc method which produces a similar result.

Yea, i make sausage stuffing for the turkey every year for Thanksgiving and it is a huge hit. Sounds similar except I hit it with a big bunch of fresh minced sage. Awesome looking roast though.

Cool, that’s about what I figured minus a couple tips I was looking for. I will probably add both lol. Haven’t made this in years, so now it is on the list soon for an upgraded version. Thanks!