One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the sharing of recipes and food. Preparing and eating dishes I know my great granny or friends have made and enjoyed is heart-warming to me. Not quite like having them with me for dinner, but it’s as close as I can get in some cases. So, for your culinary enjoyment, here’s what we did for Christmas dinner 2017.
Roasted chicken- I‘ve made this two different ways. The first requires thawing prior to cooking, roasting for 20 minutes per pound with a marinade of melted butter, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. That’s pretty good. But, I’ve now had 2 comments from trusted tasters who prefer when I roast the chicken frozen. That takes a bit more time.
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Cover frozen chicken with foil and roast for 30 minutes, leaving giblits inside.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and roast uncovered chicken for 20 minutes per pound, and apply butter marinade on the outside of the chicken
- Periodically throughout cooking, spoon drippings over chicken.
- Cut and serve
Mashed potatoes- my mashed potatoes have become something of a legend here. For whatever reason during pregnancy, I struggle with mashed potato consistency (both the literal texture and the consistent recipe) so, I finally wrote down a recipe.
- 5 large Yukon gold potatoes (cubed, not peeled)
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried (or fresh) basil
- Salt, pepper, onion powder to taste
Boil the potatoes until tender leaving skins on (that’s where all the nutrients are anyway!) Strain and mash with cream cheese, butter, salt and pepper, garlic, onion powder, and basil. And done. I’ve memorized my ratios of ingredients by number: 5-4-4-4-1. It may seem silly, but it’s something my brain can retain now.
Green beans- my green beans will never be as good as my mother-in-law’s. I’ve accepted that. It’s too costly and difficult to find gluten-free, corn-free chicken bouillon cubes. So, I just use drippings from the roast chicken, salt, pepper, garlic and 2 Tbsp. butter. Close enough!
Deviled eggs- bring room temperature eggs to boil in a pot of water with 1 Tbsp white vinegar and salt. Once boiling, remove from heat and cover for 14 minutes. Then, submerge in cold water for 1 minute. Peel the eggs, cut them length wise, and separate yolk into a bowl. Mash the yolks until they’re finely crumbled. Stir in 1/4 c mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp. yellow mustard, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, and a dash of paprika. Fill each half of the whites with 1 Tbsp of yolk mixture, and garnish with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. I leave off the cayenne of some eggs for my son- he LOVES eggs, but isn’t crazy about spice.
Boiled pudding- this turned out splendidly. My daughter was the only one who didn’t care for it and it was mostly a texture issue.
We followed the recipe here from Townsends (formerly Jas. Townsend & Sons) and topped it with a pudding sauce made from equal parts brown sugar, butter, and white wine. It was delicious!
What are some of your favorite holiday recipes?
Wholly Holy Living 