Christmas Eve Dinner--We were joined by my husband's family for Vegetable Chowder from the Moosewood Cookbook, Butternut Squash Risotto from The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, and bread from Noisette. I don't know if I can gush enough about what a delicious meal this was!
The chowder was a perfect soup for a dark winter evening especially topped with a little parmesan cheese. My husband found the risotto recipe and took on the challenge to make it. It was good to eat the first day and for leftovers for several more days.
Vegetable Chowder (adapted from Moosewood Cookbook)
1 T olive oil
1 onion chopped (Open Oak CSA)
6 cloves garlic minced (Open Oak CSA)
1 t salt
1/2 t thyme
2 t basil
1 medium potato diced (Open Oak CSA)
2 medium carrots, diced
2 c chopped broccoli
2 c chopped cauliflower (Open Oak CSA)
2 c corn
2 c chicken broth
1 c milk (I think I even added heavy cream to the recipe!)
pepper
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil with salt, thyme, and basil until soft. Add vegetables and saute for a few more minutes. Add broth and cook until all vegetables are tender. Add milk and puree part of the soup with an immersion blender.
The delicious food did not stop on Christmas Day either when we had my mom's Poppyseed Roll (it over rose, but still tasted great), a Paula Dean Pumpkin Cheesecake (made with delicata squash--I could live in this), Cornish Game Hens with wild rice dressing (my husband also took on this challenge and created an amazing main course dish for our holiday dinner, and Roasted Vegetables with Green Parsley Dressing (yumm! from my new favorite cookbook--thanks, Jessi!).
Roasted Vegetables with Green Parsley Dressing (from Eating Close to Home)
The green parsley dressing is from my new favorite cookbook about eating locally grown foods seasonally in the Willamette Valley. The color was fantastic on a bed of roasted beets, parsnips, garlic, and fennel from Open Oak CSA.
2 clove garlic Open Oak CSA
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t whole fennel seeds
1/2 t dried taragon
1 c parsley Open Oak CSA
2T lemon juice
1 c olive oil
Blend everything together and serve over salad or roasted vegetables.
Delicata Squash Cheesecake from the Food Network
Graham Cracker Crust
1 3/4 c graham cracker crumbs (I was even able to find a brand without high fructose corn syrup!)
3 T brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 c melted butter
Mix all ingredients together and press into the bottom a springform pan (in this case a brand new pan I purchased on Christmas Eve, just so I could make this dessert).
Filling
3 8-oz package of cream cheese
2 c cooked and squashed delicata squashed (from Open Oak CSA)
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/4 c sour cream
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/8 t cloves
2 T flour
1 t vanilla
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Then add additional ingredients until well combined. Carefully pour into crust. Bake 350F for 1 hour. Remove from and set sit at room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating for 4 hours.
Rich Swedish cream dough with Poppyseeds From Amy Vandegrift collection- a holiday favorite! Nothing from our CSA here, ties with the Christmas Blueberry Roll for my favorite Christmas treats.
You can make this dough in advance and keep it for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. It works best when thoroughly chilled
1 envelope active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 cup heavy cream (have been known to use regular milk)
¼ c evaporated milk
3 eggs yolks, slightly beaten
3 1/3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter or margarine at room temperature (although mine always comes right out of the refrig)
In a small bowl, stir yeast into warm water to dissolve. Allow to grow about 10-15 minutes.
Add and mix well the dissolved yeast cream, milk and egg yolks, and set aside
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt.
Into the flour mixture, cut in ½ cup butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir yeast mixture into flour just to moisten. (a light hand so as not to break down the butter too much)
Spread dough with a light film of butter to prevent drying, place into a buttered bowl. Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate overnight or up to 4 days.
Poppy seed braid roll
One 12.5 oz can of Solo poppy seed cake and pastry filling
In a bowl, stir one egg white into the poppy seed mixture
Roll out dough into a rectangle
Cut on dough the long way in three even parts. I find a pizza cutter works best
Working with one strip at a time
Put 1/3 of the filling down the center
Draw the edges of the dough together over the filling and pinch to seal seam. Sometimes some seeds
escape
Repeat for the other two strips
On a greased cookie sheet carefully place each strip side by side so that you can braid them. I do find
that the dough is long enough to do this on a diagonal of the cookie sheet. Fold under at the top, braid
the strips and fold and pinch the bottom.
Beat the remaining egg white slightly and gently rub a thin layer of egg white over the top of the
roll, (discard the rest). Let the braid rise in a warm place free from drafts until double in bulk ( 50–60
minutes)
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 25 minutes.
