Christmas Eve Dinner

First off, Merry Christmas to all. That aside, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts recently. Last Thursday I came home for the holiday, and things have been crazy ever since. I had quite a few food related projects, some of which may or may not show up on this blog. But for now, I would just like to show you the Christmas Eve Dinner I made for my family.

A few days ago, I decided that I would take the responsibility for Christmas Eve Dinner. My mother, being the one who normally cooks for the holidays, was quite receptive towards the idea. So, I came up with a couple small appetizers everyone could snack on, and then came up with a main course.

Above is pictured the first appetizer of the evening: Dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped with Bacon. This was a fantastic dish, being both simple to make and absolutely delicious (of course, bacon is always delicious). To make these, I simply pitted the dates and replaced the pit with a whole almond. Some recipes suggest crushing the almond and mixing it with a cheese (blue?), and using that for the stuffing. Cheese was out of the question, as my father and I are both lactose intolerant (though I am willing to suffer as long as it tastes wonderful). I also decided to go with a whole almond instead of the crushed. The texture is just holds up so much better to the soft date. It provides a little crunch, so as your teeth sink through this treat, they experience the sensations of crispy, softy and crunchy, in that order.

Anyway, after stuffing the dates with almonds, I wrapped half a slice of bacon around each date, pinned it all together with a toothpick, then placed them on a cooling rack which was on top of a pan (so that the bacon fat would drip off into the pan, and the dates wouldn't have to swim in grease). I then placed the pan into a oven which had been preheated to 500 degrees, where I left them for about 10 minutes. Serve them immediately after they come out of the oven, because they are best when still hot, but tread carefully, as they can be a little too hot (I burned the roof of my mouth on the first bite).

Looking back, I will make a few changes if I make these again. I think the sweet to salty ratio was a little off, with the dates almost overpowering the bacon. As a fix, next time I will use thicker bacon, and perhaps smaller dates.

For my next appetizer, I decided to make some mini meatballs. I know, I know, I started with Spanish when I made the dates and bacon, and all of the sudden I'm switching to Italian. It all seems a little eclectic, but I was looking for finger-food, so cut me some slack. Plus, we're in America dammit, the melting pot of cuisine.

The meatballs were also pretty simple to make. We finely chopped a clove and a half of garlic, one small white onion, a big pinch of basil, and a big pinch of parsley. All of this was added to 1.5 pounds of ground pork. I also added about a tablespoon of fennel seed, a tbsp of dried oregano (couldn't find any fresh at the store), some freshly ground black pepper, about a tbsp of salt (you might want to add more, mine definitely needed more salt), a large egg (to hold it all together), and maybe half a cup of bread crumbs. I mixed it all with two forks (to make sure the meat didn't turn to mush), and lightly shaped them into balls about an inch in diameter. I popped them in an oven preheated to 400 degrees, where they stayed for about 30 minutes.

I was having a lot of trouble deciding what kind of sauce to serve them with, and I had run out of time to make something from scratch. I had some currant jam in the fridge, so, taking a cue from Swedish Meatballs (which are normally served with Lingonberry Jam), I popped some of the currant jam in a small bowl and served it with the meatballs. It was delicious.

Pictured above is the main course. Pan Seared Duck Breast with raspberry/wine reduction on a bed of wild rice, with a side of sauteed Broccoli Rabe. I apologize that the Broccoli Rabe looks...less than tasty in this picture, I guarantee you that it tastes better than it looks (perhaps we sauteed it for just a little too long).

This recipe is a little more involved. Recipes for sauteed broccoli rabe and wild rice can all be found elsewhere, so I will devote this space to the recipe for the sauce, which I created by altering and tweaking a plum sauce recipe, and to the duck breast.

This sauce was made the night before, which I recommend you do, as it was fairly involved and will take a good portion of your time, as well as several of your burners.

Ingredients:

Duck Breast (about 1 breast for every two people)
Salt and Pepper

Sauce:
1 pound raspberries
1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon (or port, if you prefer a sweeter sauce. Cabarnet was really all I had on hand.)
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tbsp ground clove
1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp currant jam
1 tsp dijon mustard
Juice from 1/2 blood orange (about 2 tbsp)
3 tbsp sugar (or more to taste. You may not want to add sugar if using port)

Start with a pound of raspberries. For raspberries, fresh is always best, but seeing as it is the middle of winter, raspberries cost a pretty penny, and I am no chump, so I just bought a pound of frozen raspberries (make sure to give them plenty of time to thaw before you start making your sauce). Put the raspberries and wine in a large saucepan, and let them simmer on medium heat, stirring to help break down the raspberries. As the raspberries began to break down, add the cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger (all to taste, you don't want any of them to be to overpowering). As this mixture is simmering, in a small pot, mix the currant jam, mustard and blood orange juice over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally, and let this mixture reduce to a syrupy consistency. Once this mixture has reached that syrupy consistency, mix it into the raspberry and wine. Let everything simmer, burning off the alcohol and letting the sauce thicken. Give it a taste, and add the sugar. Let me reiterate, you may not want to add the sugar if you used port or another sweet red wine instead of the Cabarnet Sauvignon. You want the sauce to have a sweetness to it, but you still want it to have tang from the orange and raspberries, and a nice Christmas aroma and flavor from the spices.

Once the sauce has thickened, take it off the heat and let it cool a little. Once it has cooled down some, run it through a blender, and then pour it through a sieve (or cheesecloth if you don't have a sieve) to get out all the little raspberries seeds. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge, to be warmed up and drizzled over the duck breast the next day. Save any leftover sauce and try it on a sandwich (it would probably make a pretty dandy replacement for cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich).

The next day, when you're ready to make the dinner, put the sauce in a small pot at low heat, and let it simmer, stirring occasionally. While waiting for it to warm up, you can make the duck breast.

Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare each duck breast by scoring the skin side (the fat) with a sharp knife. Slice across the skin at a diagonal, with each slice a quarter inch apart. Take care to only slice the fat, and not to slice the meat underneath. This process is to make sure the duck breast won't buckle as the fat is rendered off and the skin shrinks. Once the duck breast has been scored, lightly season each side with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the breast SKIN SIDE DOWN on a oven safe, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. The skin will start to crackle and spit as the fat renders. Cook it for about 5 minutes, or until the skin has become a nice golden brown, and then flip the breast, searing the meat side for about 2 minutes. Then, take the duck breast off the pan and pour the duck fat into a bowl, to later be strained and saved in the fridge (duck fat is tasty, and it's always good to save). Put the breast back onto the pan, meat side down, and then place the pan in the oven, where the duck will cook for about 6 minutes (possibly less if it is a thin or small duck breast, aim for the meat to medium rare). Once you take the duck out of the oven, take it off the pan and let it sit for a moment so the juices can settle. Then, slice the duck and finish it off by drizzling on the raspberry sauce. Voila, a delicious, rich and Christmasy dinner.

We finished off this tasty meal with an amazing Mississippi Mud Cake with Raspberry Coulis. I cannot comment on how this cake was made, as it was my sister's doing (she is far better at baking and pastry than I am). So, I will attempt to get her to guest blog so she can give you this recipe. For now, all I can tell you is that the cake was mighty delicious. Check back for that recipe/post, as it will be coming soon.