An Alternative Christmas Dinner
Monday, September 6, 2010
Terry Thompson-Anderson

The turkey is always a comfort food traiditon at Thanksgiving, but now what about Christmas Dinner?  Ham is getting a bit timeworn, and not everyone likes duck. How about trying a regal standing rib roast this year for a scintillatingly delicious change.  This month we’re featuring a spectacular  holiday menu built around that magnificent cut of beef.  We’ve included suggested wine pairings, selected from some of our favorite Texas Wines.  Brennan Vineyards in Comanche, Texas, make one of the two best viogniers in Texas.  (If you can’t find it, you may choose the other best viognier from McPherson Cellars.)  Kim McPherson’s big, bold Cabernet Sauvignon is the perfect match to the roast beef.  Alphonse Dotson and his wife Martha, owners of the Certenberg vineyards in Voca,Texas,  have just released the first wine under their Dotson-Certenberg label.  It’s an outstanding muscat canelli dessert wine.  You’ll find it in many wine shops and at Spec’s liquor stores.  It’s a must for the holiday season!  Enjoy!

Menu:

Oyster Bisque with Sage and Ginger
Spinach, Apple and Fennel Salad with Raspberry Poppyseed Dressing
Brennan Vineyards Viognier

Standing Beef Rib Roast
Goat Cheese and Cilantro Mashed Potatoes
Bettie Lee Wilson’s Jalapeño Green Beans
McPherson Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon

Tarte Tatin
Dotson-Cervantes Gatas de Oro

Oyster Bisque with Sage and Ginger

This delicate and delicious bisque is best made the day before serving to allow time for the flavors to really meld.  Make the soup up to point where you have added the cream and pureed the soup. Refrigerate, then when ready to serve, reheat the soup until it is very hot, add the oysters and their liquor and cook until the edges of the oysters begin to curl, about 7 minutes.  Serve hot.

To Serve 6 to 8.

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 large leek, white portion only, thinly sliced
1 large shallot, minced
1/3 cup minced fresh sage
1 heaping tablespoon minced fresh ginger
½ cup all-purpose flour
2-1/2 cups stock made from Knorr Shrimp Bouillon cubes
1 cup whole milk
1-1/2 cups whipping cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pint (16 ounces) shucked oysters and their liquor*
Very thinly sliced green onions tops as garnish

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 6-quart soup pot overmedium heat.  When foaming subsides, add the leek, shallot, sage, and ginger.  Sauté, stirring often, until leek and shallot are wilted and transparent, about 7 minutes.  Add the flour and stir quickly to blend.  Cook, stirring constantly, until a light peanut butter-colored roux is formed, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Add the shrimp stock slowly, stirring it into the roux.  Add the milk and whipping cream and bring to a boil to thicken.  Simmer for 10 minutes, then puree soup in blender** or food processor in bataches until smooth.  Return soup to a clean soup pot and reheat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the oysters and their liquor. Cook, stirring often, just until the edges of the oysters begin to curl and soup is heated through, about 7 minutes.  Ladle into individual soups cups or bowls and garnish with a scattering of the green onion tops.  Serve hot.

*Oyster liquor is liquid gold to chefs and experiences seafood cooks.  It is a marvel addition to seafood soups and sauces.  It has a clear, slightly viscious consistency and a very faintly “marine” taste.  Even if you’re only using the oysters, strain out the liquor and freeze it for future use!

**When blending a hot liquid, never fill the blender container more than one-third full and be sure that the lid is securely in place before turning on the blender on low speed, then gradually increasing to full  puree speed.  Otherwise, the hot liquid can act like a volcano, blowing the top off the blender, with the danger of severe burns, or at the very least, a big mess in your kitchen!

Spinach, Apple and Fennel Salad with Raspberry Poppyseed Dressing

This is one of my favorite fall and winter salads.  It just makes my soul feel good when I eat it.  The flavors are so crisp and clean.  Serve it to guests and one bite will have them asking, “Wow, what is this crunchy stuff with the fronds?”  The crunch comes from fennel, an often overlooked vegetable with a marvelously refreshing, licorice-like flavor.  Florence fennel is the variety used in this salad.  The vegetable, which is also known as finocchio, has a broad, bulbous base, which resembles celery, and thin upper stems with leafy fronds.  I like to use the whole thing, including some of the ferny fronds. Fennel grows well in Texas and I always like to have a bulb or two of it in my spring garden. 

To Serve 6 to 8..

Salad:

1 (10-ounce) package fresh spinach, washed dried and
 torn into bite-sized pieces
1 small head fennel, thinly sliced, feathery tops reserved
2 medium Pink Lady apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 small red onion, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced

Raspberry Poppyseed Dressing:

(Makes about 1-1/4 cups.)

½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup raspberry-flavored vinegar
1 (1/2-inch thick) slice of a medium onion, roughly chopped
½ cup canola oil
1-1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Prepare the dressing.  Combine sugar, mustard, salt, vinegar and onion in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade.  Process until smooth.  With machine running, pour the canola oil in a thin, steady stream through the feed tube until all has been added.  Add the poppy seeds and process just to blend.  Transfer dressing to a storage container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To assemble the salad, combine the spinach, sliced fennel, sliced apple and onion in a salad bowl.  Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and toss to moisten all ingredients.  Garnish with some of the reserved ferny fennel tops and serve.

Standing Beef Rib Roast

Roast “Standing” Rib roast is a regal dish.  It is the supreme cut of meat for the serious beef lover.  Roasted to medium-rare perfection and served with a thin, rich broth made from its own meat drippings, it makes a hard act to follow.  Select a standing rib roast of a size appropriate to serve the number of guests. Allow about 14 ounces of meat per person.  When purchasing the roast ask for the small end.  It is the most tender portion which is nearest the short loin and contains a large portion of the tender rib-eye muscle.  It may be a bit more expensive, but the taste will compensate for the small difference in price.  When you have an occasion with a large crowd that calls for a really spectacular creation, buy the whole, lip-on ribeye and roast it, adjusting the quantities in this recipe in relation to weight of the ribeye.

To Serve 6 to 8..

Rub for Roast:

¼ cup granulated garlic
2 tablespoons Lawry’s seasoning salt
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup beef base paste, available in upscale markets
1 tablespoon Kikkoman brand Teriyaki marinade

Rib Roast:

6 pound boneless standing rib roast
1 small onion, quartered
1 large carrot
2 celery stalks, including leafy tops
2 cups rich beef stock
Prepared horseradish

Au Jus:

Strained and de-fatted drippings from roasting pan, combined with enough
 additional beef stock to make 3 cups, if needed
2 garlic cloves, smashed with side of chef’s knife
2 tablespoons dry red wine

Begin by preheating oven to 350 degrees.  Place oven rack in middle position.  Combine all Dry Rub ingredients and whisk into a smooth paste.  Spread the paste evenly over the top fat layer and sides of the roast.  Put the onion, carrot, celery stalks and beef stock in a heavy open roasting pan.  Place a wire rack in the pan and set the roast, fat-side-up on the rack.  Place in hot oven for 1 hour.  Reduce heat to 250 degrees and roast an additional hour and 15 minutes.  An instant-read meat thermometer should read 135 degrees for medium-rare.  (Cooking time is 18 minutes per pound from the time the meat goes in the oven for medium-rare.)

Set the meat aside to rest for 15 minutes.  Prepare the au jus.  Combine the beef drippings and stock, garlic cloves and red wine in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and keep hot.

Slice the roast into 6 to 8 portions.  Serve with the au jus and prepared horseradish.

Goat Cheese and Cilantro Mashed Potatoes

Next time you’re looking for a new twist on an old favorite, try this really yummy version.  Even people who claim to HATE goat cheese really love them.  You may substitute any brand of goat cheese, but Pure Luck Texas is the best!

To serve 4.

1 pound small new potatoes, unpeeled and quartered
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, about ½ cup, cut into tiny dice
4 ounces Pure Luck Texas Goat Cheese, or substitute
another plain goat cheese
1 heaping tablespoon minced cilantro
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¾ teaspoon sea salt

Place potatoes in a heavy 3-quart saucepan.  Add cold water to cover.  Bring to a full, rolling boil over medium-high heat and cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are very soft.

While potatoes are cooking, melt butter in a heavy 8-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and sauté, stirring often, until wilted and transparent, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Drain potatoes in colander and transfer to a medium-sized bowl.  Add the sauteed onions and any residual butter in the skillet, goat cheese, cilantro, salt and pepper. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher, incorporating the other ingredients.  Leave them slightly lumpy. Serve hot.

Bettie Lee Wilson’s Jalapeño Green Beans

Bettie Lee Wilson, is a seasoned food writer and one of my Les Dames d’Escoffier San Antionio Chapter sisters.  We recently had a book event at which each attendee cooked a dish from the book which we read (Secrets of the Tsil Café).  Many of the dishes featured in the novel with recipes had no actual “recipes”, but rather vague descriptions of the dish.  So we all did a lot of innovating.  The dinner was fabulous – tons of food prepared by some of the Hill Country’s most talented chefs, food writers, cookbook authors, restaurateurs, caterers, and other food professionals.  But these beans were one of my favorite dishes.  Bettie Lee was kind enough to share her recipe with me.  It was a hit with my family too.

To Serve 6 to 8.

1 pound haricots verts (French green beans)
2 slices HEB brand thick-sliced maple bacon.
cut into ½-inch dice
2 slices HEB thick-sliced jalapeño bacon,
 cut into ½-inch dice
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1/3 cup hot jalapeño jelly
2/3 cup chicken broth

Bring four quarts of water to a full boil in a heavy-bottomed 6-quart soup pot.  While waiting for the water to boil, fill a large bowl half full of ice cubes, then add cold water; set aside.  When the water has reached a full boil, add the beans and boil for about four minutes, or until crisp-tender.  Drain the beans into a colander, then immediately plunge them into the ice water.  Leave them in the ice water until they are well chilled.  This procedure will stop the cooking process and retain their bright green color. Drain the beans and pat them dry.  Transfer the beans to a casserole dish and set aside.

Place all the diced bacon in a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Cook, stirring often, until bacon is about half cooked.  Add the onions and cook until they are wilted and transparent and bacon is fully cooked, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the jalapeño jelly and chicken broth.  Cook to melt the jelly and reduce the broth by roughly half, about 10 minutes.  Pour the bacon mixture over the beans in the casserole, stirring to blend the bacon pieces into the beans.  Cover dish with plastic wrap and  microwave on high for 3 minutes.  Serve hot.

Tarte Tatin

This classic French dessert is one of my favorites and is fairly easy to prepare.  It should be served warm, but can be made ahead of time and reheated in the oven just until warmed.  When cutting the puff pastry, be sure to use a very sharp knife or cutter with firm strokes that cut completely through the pastry with the first cut.  Don’t crimp the edges of the pastry or it won’t “puff”.  You will need a 12-inch ovenproof skillet to prepare the dish.

To serve 8 to 10.

Homemade or store-bought puff pastry sheet
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced into thin wedges
Sweetened whipped cream, beaten to soft peaks

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll the puff pastry sheet out to ¼-inch thick.  Using a 13-inch round as your guide, cut a circle from the pastry.  Place the circle on a baking sheet and place it in the refrigerator while you prepare the tart base.

Cut the butter into thin slices and arrange the slices in the bottom of the skillet.  Scatter the sugar evenly over the butter.  Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles over the butter and sugar.  The apple slices should completely cover the skillet and should be very tightly packed, with each slice slightly overlapping the other.  Place the skillet directly on burner over medium heat for 150 to 20 minutes, or until a golden caramel is formed.  At first the caramel will be diluted and pale from the apple juice, but keep cooking so that it evaporates and darkens and is absorbed by the apples.  They should be fairly soft.  If they are not cooked enough but the caramel is darkened, transfer the skillet to the bottom shelf of the preheated oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until apples are tender.  Let the apples cool a bit until the steam disappears.  Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and set the circle of dough over the apples so that they completed covered.  Tuck the edge of the pastry down around the side of the pan.  Bake in hot oven for 10 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.  Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 10-15 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp.  Let the tart cool slightly in the skillet, the invert onto a serving platter.  If any apples stick to the bottom of the pan, remove them with a metal spatula and replace on the tart. Cut into wedges and serve warm.  Top each serving with a generous dollop of the sweetened whipped cream.

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