![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
My first Christmas dinner.
Dec. 26th, 2007 11:48 amChristmas dinner turned out pretty well. The steaks, as steaks are wont to do, went from not-quite-done-enough to a-bit-too-done in about two minutes. Carrying on that theme, the crispy leeks (for the "peas with bacon and crispy leeks") got a little too crispy. I think the oil must have been too hot, because the recipe suggested that it would take about ten minutes for them to become golden brown and crispy and in fact they were medium brown and on the verge of burning in less than five minutes.
I still thought the peas were pretty damn good. They were in a sauce made with cream and broth, studded with little bits of crumbled bacon. The wild mushroom saute was excellent - although it wasn't as garlicky as I intended it to be, the mushroom flavor stood up beautifully on its own. For the first time, I used cream instead of milk to make the mashed potatoes and parsnips - there was cream left over after making the pea dish. Wow did it ever make a difference. The potatoes were incredibly good.
I forgot to take pictures until we were ready for dessert, so the quantities pictured are kind of sparse. (For example, there was not a shred of beef left over at that time.)
If I had the meal to do over, I think I'd want to include something tart or sour. I'm not sure I'd serve cranberry sauce with beef, but I think something of similar tartness would've been a great complement to the rich, rich, rich flavors of this meal.
The gingerbread roll? Was amazing. I was genuinely worried, especially about how the cream filling would taste. But it was delicious! It all melded together as it chilled, and the separation/lumpiness of the filling resolved completely. The gingerbread was moist and spicy, the cream was rich and cinnamon-y, and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
minnaleigh brought a big bowl of ginger whipped cream that made the world's most perfect topping.
"So, should we make the gingerbread roll an annual thing?" I asked Michael, who had been there through the stress, anxiety, and vast quantities of dishwashing involved in baking it.
He looked at me blankly. "Why so infrequently?"
I still thought the peas were pretty damn good. They were in a sauce made with cream and broth, studded with little bits of crumbled bacon. The wild mushroom saute was excellent - although it wasn't as garlicky as I intended it to be, the mushroom flavor stood up beautifully on its own. For the first time, I used cream instead of milk to make the mashed potatoes and parsnips - there was cream left over after making the pea dish. Wow did it ever make a difference. The potatoes were incredibly good.
I forgot to take pictures until we were ready for dessert, so the quantities pictured are kind of sparse. (For example, there was not a shred of beef left over at that time.)
If I had the meal to do over, I think I'd want to include something tart or sour. I'm not sure I'd serve cranberry sauce with beef, but I think something of similar tartness would've been a great complement to the rich, rich, rich flavors of this meal.
The gingerbread roll? Was amazing. I was genuinely worried, especially about how the cream filling would taste. But it was delicious! It all melded together as it chilled, and the separation/lumpiness of the filling resolved completely. The gingerbread was moist and spicy, the cream was rich and cinnamon-y, and
minnaleigh brought a big bowl of ginger whipped cream that made the world's most perfect topping."So, should we make the gingerbread roll an annual thing?" I asked Michael, who had been there through the stress, anxiety, and vast quantities of dishwashing involved in baking it.
He looked at me blankly. "Why so infrequently?"
