Holiday Recipes - Merry Movie Week

Yield: 30 Sugar Plums

DIRECTIONS:

1. Crush toasted seeds in mortar and pestle, or coarsely grind in spice grinder.

2. Pulse almonds, prunes, cherries, apricots, and ground/toasted seeds in food processor until chopped finely and just beginning to stick together.

3. Pour chopped mixture into bowl of stand mixer and beat with paddle while pouring in honey. Continue to mix while sprinkling in powdered sugar.

4. Scoop mixture into ½-ounce portions (~1 tablespoon each), then roll in coarse sugar and serve.

Recipe By Dan Kohler, 10/27/19

DIRECTIONS:

1. Whisk together all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Cook until just starting to bubble.
3. Whisk in the chopped white chocolate and stir until completely melted.
4. Adjust flavors as needed.
5. Pour into mugs and garnish with whipped cream and/or cinnamon stick if desired.

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Roast Christmas Goose

Course:

Dinner

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Chef Sam Marvin of Echo & Rig Steak House Restaurant is making a traditional goose for the holidays.

Directions:

Goose

1. Soak the cleaned and plucked goose overnight, in well-salted water. (If wild goose is not available, commercially raised goose may be substituted.) Rinse and dry the goose, then stuff with the 2 apples and 2 onions. Cut the apples and onions into quarters before stuffing them into the goose

2. Place the goose, breast side up, in a roasting pan. Place two strips of thick-sliced bacon on top of the goose and cover with a lid. (Use foil if lid is not available.) Brown in a 475 degree oven until bacon is crisp. Remove the fat from the drippings in the bottom of the roasting pan, and discard. Also remove bacon and discard.

3. Add to the pan: 1 onion, the carrot, celery, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, chicken stock and red wine. Re-cover the pan and continue roasting in the oven at 375 degrees. Roast for about 2 hours, basting often. The goose is done when the meat easily pulls off the bone.

4. Uncover and brown for 20 minutes at 475 degrees. Remove goose from roaster. Discard apples and onions. Strain the pan drippings into a sauce pan. Over low heat, thicken the mixture with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water. Serve with seasonal vegetable and Apricot Stuffing (recipe below).

Stuffing

1. In a skillet, sauté chopped onions and chopped celery with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook until the vegetables are translucent.

2. In a large bowl, mix sautéed vegetables, chopped garlic, chopped apricots, thyme, parsley, sage and bread. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and the chicken stock, then pour over the stuffing and mix.

3. Pour mixture into a greased casserole dish, and bake at 375 degrees.

4. Cook for 45 minutes or until the center is hot.

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Quinoa and Chicken Stuffed Christmas Peppers

Course:

Dinner

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Brittany Gonzales and Kellan Lutz are making delicious peppers stuffed with chicken and quinoa.

Directions

1. Cut the top of the peppers and take away the seeds.

2. In a pan, add the olive oil, crushed garlic and chopped onions, fry for a minute, add the celery, the minced chicken, salt, pepper, paprika and stir until cooked.

3. Add the cooked quinoa and the chives.

4. Fill up the peppers with the chicken and quinoa, top with feta cheese.

5. Put the peppers on a baking tray, the cherry tomatoes on the side and cook on 400°F (200°C) for around 20-30 min.

Directions:

Fried Smelt
In a heavy bottomed large pot, pour the oil to half full over medium heat. Bring the oil to 375 degrees F.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl add the egg whites and the sparkling water and beat well to combine. Take a handful of smelt and immerse them in the egg white mixture. Remove the fish and roll in the flour. Use a hand strainer or a colander to shake off excess flour.

Make sure your oil is hot. Careful place the coated fish in the oil and fry for about a minute or until lightly golden brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer the fried fish to a paper towel lined sheet pan. Continue to fry all the fish in batches. On the last batch, add the rosemary.

Place the fried smelts on a warm serving platter. Season with salt to taste. Add the fried rosemary and some lemon wedges. Serve immediately.

Tomato 'Nduja Sauce
Makes about 3 cups

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and brown on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes. To avoid splattering, reduce the heat to low and add the tomato puree. Turn up the heat and bring to a simmer. Add the ‘nduja and stir well to combine. Cook until slightly reduced, 10 to 15 minutes. The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat before using.

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Baked Ginger Salt Sea Bass

Course:

Dinner

Cuisine:

Seafood

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Chef Judy Joo is showing you a gorgeous way to prepare and serve fish for the holiday meals.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash the fish well and pat dry with paper towels. Stuff the cavity with the thick slices of ginger and garlic. Rub the outside of the entire fish with vegetable oil.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the salt and egg white. Add a dash of water until the mixture becomes pasty like sand and sticks together.

3. On a baking sheet, spread out a layer of salt approximately the size of the fish about a quarter of an inch thick. Place the fish on top, and scoop the rest of the salt over and around the fish. Make a ¼ inch thick “shell” around the fish, creating a tight seal, leaving the tail and the head exposed.

4. Place in oven and bake for about 30 – 40 mins, and let rest for 10 mins. Use a thermometer to check the internal temperature, should read about 145 degrees F.

5. Meanwhile, make the soy ginger sauce. In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, ginger, sesame seeds, garlic and chili flakes. Set aside.

6. When the fish is done. Crack open the crust, and remove the fish, and serve immediately with soy ginger sauce on the side or drizzled on top.

Cook’s notes: The dates can be replaced with figs here to give a different flavour if liked. Don’t over mix the mascarpone or it’ll become grainy.

Cook time: 50 minutes 

Serves: 12

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.

2. Grease and line 2 x 20cm springform cake tins with parchment paper.

3. Place the dates and 300ml water in a pan and place over a medium high heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half and dates have softened. Allow to cool slightly. Blitz until smooth and stir through the bicarbonate of soda.

4. Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand-alone mixer until light and pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition until they’re incorporated followed by the date mixture and vanilla.

5. For the topping, put the brown sugar and butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the cream, stir through and allow to cool. Once cooled, stir in sea salt. Set aside ¼ of the caramel for garnishing.

6. Transfer the rest of the caramel to a stand-alone mixer with a whisk attachment and add the icing sugar. Whisk for 6-8 minutes or until smooth.

7. In a small bowl, mix together the mascarpone, vanilla and icing sugar until smooth.

8. Once the cakes have cooled, spread the mascarpone mix evenly over one half along with a portion of the salted caramel icing. Top with the other sponge.

9. Dollop the rest of the icing on top spreading down the sides to create an even coating around the cake. Using the remaining caramel, spread over the top of the cake and decorate with gold stars.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined
2. Pour the whole milk into a saucepan and stir in the ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg and a pinch of salt
3. Whisk the egg mixture into the milk mixture
4. Heat the mixture over medium heat while stirring constantly. Stirring constantly is very important to prevent the milk from scorching or scrambling the eggs.
5. While the mixture cooks add in the candy thermometer and when the mixture reaches 165° on the candy thermometer remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract
6. Cool slightly before tasting and add more sugar or spices as desired
7. Allow the mixture to cool completely
8. Once cooled placed in a covered container and refrigerate overnight or until thoroughly chilled
9. When you are ready to serve you can either pour the mixture into cups as is or you can place in a blender or vita-mix to make it frothy, an immersion blender can work as well
10. Whip one cup of heavy whipping cream to make fresh whipped cream for the topping
11. If serving in a punch bowl you can fold the fresh whipped cream into the mixture for a traditional look or you can keep it separate and simply use it as a topping for the eggnog (using it just as a topping is my preference)
12. Top each cup with fresh nutmeg and fresh orange zest

MAKES 46 COOKIES

DIRECTIONS:

1. To make the Burnt Sugar Ginger, spray a rimmed baking sheet heavily with nonstick spray and set aside.

2. Add the sugar and ginger to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and use your fingers to massage the ginger into the sugar.

3. Turn the heat to medium high and constantly stir until the sugar liquefies, turns golden brown and no sugar crystals remain.

4. Pour onto the prepared baking sheet and use a spatula to spread evenly until it’s about 1⁄4 to 1⁄8 inch (0.7 to 0.3 cm) thick.

5. Set aside for 1 hour to cool and harden.

6. Once cool, turn out onto a cutting board and cut into shards of 1 inch (2.5 cm) and smaller. Careful, they’re sharp.

7. To make the cookie, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and cover several baking sheets with parchment paper.

8. In an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix for 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add in the eggs, one at a time, taking care that each one is fully blended before adding in the next.

9. Make sure to frequently scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl so that everything is well blended.

10. Add in the molasses and fresh ginger and run the mixer on low for 1 minute more, or until everything is thoroughly combined. Take the bowl out of the mixer and set aside.

11. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, bread flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Add this to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined and you still see streaks of flour. Add in the burnt sugar shards, stirring until evenly distributed throughout the dough.

12. To make the cookie coating, place the sugar in a small, shallow bowl. Roll

13. 2 tablespoons (28 g) of dough into a ball and then roll in the sugar to heavily coat. Place on the baking sheet leaving 2 inches (5 cm) between dough balls.

14. Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 13 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet.