A Christmas Eve dilemma and a Farewell

Christmas Eve supper is my time to host a gathering for family. This year, 2013, my daughter, her husband and two boys who live nearby and my son visiting from Maryland will be seated at my table.

The menu varies each year, some years more formal than others. I’ve been trying to decide what to serve this year, thinking on the subject since before Thanksgiving. One minute I have it all planned out, the next I come across a great idea on Pinterest or on any one of my favorite food blogs.

On this Thursday before Christmas, I still have not made up my mind. But, I thought perhaps that sharing my ideas with you—putting them all on paper (computer!)—will help me to make decisions.

My daughter suggested making one of the Christmas ham dinners shown on America’s Test Kitchen (aka CooksCountry.com and CooksIllustrated.com). She swears by their perfected recipes and uses them all the time. If you read my previous blog entry, you know about the baking powder biscuits I made for Thanksgiving, also from America’s Test Kitchen. Hmmm, I may make those biscuits for Christmas Eve.

So, there are numerous great ideas for ham and/or Christmas dinners at America’s Test Kithen, but again it would be a matter of making up my mind.

The Pineapple Mustard Glazed Ham on Cook’s Country sounds like it would be just right. A ham, 2 kinds of mustard, canned pineapple and, of course, brown sugar.

A favorite dessert of mine is Tofu Pumpkin Pie. My grandsons like it but I don’t know if anyone else will eat it.

If I make a pie of any kind, which on first thought seems like a lot of work, I’d use the Perfect Pie Crust recipe from The Pioneer Woman. It’s a winner and really easy! I featured it on Step by Step in the Kitchen when I made a Strawberry Heart Pie in April.

Bacon Wrapped Veggie Bundles with Cider Maple Glaze are delicious. I made them last week and have a few ideas for improving them. First, I would buy the fatter asparagus and cut the other veggies to match the thickness. Second, I would include twice the number of vegetables in each bacon-wrap. Third, I would do the initial 20 minutes on a boiler pan with rack so the bacon grease can drip down into the pan (spraying the rack first). Fourth, before adding the Cider Maple Glaze, I’d move them all to another pan lined with parchment paper. And, last, I would turn down the heat a bit… 425-degrees or even 400. Depends on your oven. Adjust the cooking time, too. Prepping everything early in the day makes this recipe even simpler.

I truly love Brussels sprouts and have been sorely tempted by a recipe for Citrus and Pomegranate Brussels Sprouts. A beautiful dish—simple, simple!

You can probably tell that I’m crazy about vegetables. I even found a great vegetable recipe in a mailing from Bed Bath & Beyond… Audrey’s Ginger and Honey Glazed Carrots. Easy and quick to make.

In that same mailing, BB&B featured a recipe for Orange-Ginger Glazed Ham: ham, orange marmalade, Dijon mustard, fresh ginger (I always have some in the freezer), and cranberry, orange or pomegranate juice.

Holiday dinners typically feature potatoes—mashed, of course. James and Everett’s Colcannon caught my eye. Serious consideration underway.

On the other hand, I may just make plain mashed potatoes… Russets, milk, butter, salt and pepper. On Rachel Ray’s television show recently, she suggested leaving them in the pan, lid on, after mashing and mixing. Place it in a larger pan with simmering water to keep hot for up to several hours.

Back in October I made note of Chicago John’s Blueberry Lemon Slice recipe served with or without a Lemon Cream & Limoncello Syrup. This one is a strong front-runner since everyone in the family likes lemon bars.

My son appreciates a salad with his meals, so that could be a simple add.. mixed greens, dried cranberries and feta cheese with ???? dressing. Oh, dear, another decision. What kind of dressing would go best with these ingredients?

There you have it, my dilemma. As I thought, however, going back through these recipes and seeing them side by side has helped me narrow down my choices. I hope that you are all able to make easy decisions about your holiday meals.


A FAREWELL…


After two years of writing Step by Step in the Kitchen, I’ve decided it’s time for changes in my life. This is my last post on this blog, but I will keep it up on the Internet so you can check back and reread the entries.

Thanks to all of you who have followed me, and to my favorite blogger friends, I’ll still be following your blogs and commenting to stay in touch.

Merry Christmas to all my readers. And a Happy New Year!

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My other blog is CORNING NY STEP BY STEP -- a view of the city where I live.

CORNING NY STEP BY STEP is now on Facebook. LIKE it and you’ll see when I post a new entry to that blog, plus there will be extra photos of people, places and things of Corning that didn’t make it into the blog.

Quick and Easy Cream Biscuits (Baking Powder Biscuits)

Thanksgiving is a distant memory and Christmas is looming on the horizon. My, doesn’t that sound fine (and a bit trite). Before we get too close to Christmas, let’s back up and take one more look at Thanksgiving. The recipe I used for that holiday dinner can be pulled out and used again for Christmas, Easter and any other day of the year, holiday or not!

Here’s how Thanksgiving 2013 went in my family. My daughter held the dinner at her country home.

*Her husband roasted the turkey using a recipe in which it’s covered with strips of salt pork.

*My son made the stuffing in a pan.

*My daughter made two apple pies and a pumpkins pie.

*I made QUICK AND EASY CREAM BISCUITS (baking powder biscuits using heavy cream in place of butter or shortening).

The secret to our successes? We used recipes from Americas Test Kitchen, Cooks Country and Cooks Illustrated (all part of Christopher Kimball’s “kingdom”).

The biscuits were my choice after browsing through numerous menu ideas and recipes. It was an Aha! moment when I came across this recipe ‘cause I’ve always loved to make baking powder biscuits and am quite good at it, if I do say so myself.

What I really like about Christopher Kimball’s sites is that most recipes have a video to go with the printed version. Seeing it done, step by step, makes it much easier for me. I did discover, however, that there was a slight variation in some of the quantities between the two sources. I chose to stay with the amounts in the written version.

QUICK AND EASY CREAM BISCUITS

(makes eight 2 ½-inch biscuits)

Ingredients…

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2-teaspoon table salt
1-1/2 cups heavy cream*


Instructions…

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Stir in the cream (*see note) with a wooden spoon until dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.

3. Shape the dough into a 3/4-inch THICK circle. Cut biscuits into rounds (I used a 2-1/2-inch diameter round cookie cutter) or wedges. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet. (The baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.) Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.

(*add most, then more if needed; may need all, or not—consult Cooks Illustrated video for specifics)


My notes (or, What worked for me)…

1. My original plan was to multiply everything X4 and make one big batch. Then I decided follow the original recipe as a test. After all, conditions and equipment in my kitchen won’t be the exact same as in the Cooks Illustrated kithen.

2. First batch went smoothly, but when baked, the biscuits rose so high that they “fell over”. See the middle biscuit in the picture below? Imagine if it was even higher and fell completely over, in an upside-down, fat U-shape.

3. One batch at a time is just enough to mix. Any more and it would wear out my hand.

4. If you ever made bread, you know you don’t beat on it, but you don’t have to be “gentle”. You can be a little forceful with these biscuits. Too light a hand when kneading and they won’t rise to meet your expectations.

5. On my first try, I used an 8-inch round cake pan as recommended. I pat out the dough in the pan then turned it upside down to remove the dough, before cutting shapes. Because of the high-rising results, I decided to use a 9-inch pan on future batches and that seemed to work much better.

6. After changing to a 9-inch pan, I also lowered the oven heat to 425-degrees. Every oven is different, so it’s worth experimenting to find what works for you. Look for a golden finish, and then take one out of the oven to pull apart and test for doneness.

By the time I’d completed my third batch—and tasted all the “rejects” (leftover pieces)—I was well satisfied that this recipe was a winner!

Slather on a pat of butter. Add jelly or jam. I topped mine with a spoonful of Bammer's Jammers which was featured in my last post.

Probably my favorite way to eat baking powder biscuits is the next morning for breakfast, warmed up and topped with butter and maple syrup. No, there’s no photo. I ate them before I thought of it!



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My other blog is CORNING NY STEP BY STEP -- a view of the city where I live.

CORNING NY STEP BY STEP is now on Facebook. LIKE it and you’ll see when I post a new entry to that blog, plus there will be extra photos of people, places and things of Corning that didn’t make it into the blog.