Soft Polenta with Wild Mushroom Saute(Ckng Lght, Nov 08, pg 125) 4.0
I was in a conundrum about what to have for the veggie main dish at Christmas Eve dinner. Because I worked Christmas Eve day and would be going directly to the folks house, I needed something that could be made ahead of time or would be super simple to make upon arrival AND the SIL would like. This seemed to be a good choice and was easily made when I got there. I don’t know what she thought of it, but I felt that it turned out very good and was a nice complement to the rest of the meal.
Cranberry Oatmeal Bars (Ckng Lght, Nov 08, pg 142) 3.5
These were easy to make, could be cut into small bars for socializing or smaller portions, and had a nice balance between tangy and sweet. Plus they made a smaller pan so there aren’t so many leftovers to worry about.
Pear Pie with Streusel Topping (Ckng Lght, Nov 08, pg 125) 5.0
Can we say fantastic? The lightness and sweetness had folks thinking it was a apple pie, but they knew something wasn’t quite right with the apple flavor. And this was super simple to make as well, almost easier than an apple. I left the leftovers at the folks place and my pie plate came back empty on Friday. I promised the Husband I would make another for New Years.
Roast Duck with Pineapple Chutney modified (Irish Pub Ckbk, pg 134) 4.5
I note modified because the recipe calls for duck breast and the only duck we are going to get our hands on up here is whole duck. So I consulted Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (if anyone is going to have directions on how to cook a duck, it will be her) and we roasted a whole duck. It turned out superb! We basted it with mixture of butter and brown sugar, baked for about 2 hours at 350*, let rest and carved. From there we picked up with the Irish Pub Ckbk and added a pineapple chutney, which was a combination of butter, brown sugar, pineapple and apples.
Our original intent was to make Irish potato cakes to go along side, but we had some leftover potato dumplings that we sliced up and fried in a bit of butter. I also had some leftover cubed butternut squash that didn’t get baked for Christmas Eve dinner so we baked that as well. Oh, the house smelled lovely! I am fairly certain we’ll be trying duck again.
And last, but hardly least, not wanting to waste said duck carcass, we made stock using a combination of similar instructions: Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and The Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman. Ruhlman is adamant about making stock properly and has blogged about this on several occasions. Figuring the guy might know what he’s talking about, the Husband and I purchased our fresh veggies (carrots, celery and parsley, I had leeks and mushrooms on hand), roasted them and ever so carefully brought our duck carcass, giblets and roasted veggies to 170*. Both Julia and Michael are particular that the stock MUST NOT BOIL. This is where I’ve gone wrong in the past – boiling the hell out of my stock. Ruhlman even goes so far to say not to even simmer the stock water. So for four hours I kept an eagle eye on my temperature, and skimmed and skimmed and skimmed. I think I may be on to something...
It’s cooling on the porch right now. Next step is to remove the last of the fat after it has had time to congeal. How much did this make? Well, I have enough to last for several months, which is pretty neat.
**The three Ckng Lght recipe photos are from Cookinglight.com and I've linked to the recipes as well.
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