Archive | January, 2012

Christmas Dinner: Potato & Celery Root Mash

9 Jan

Potato & Celery Root Mash

Having had such success at Thanksgiving with Bon Appetit’s Creamy Mashed Potato recipe that I adapted, I was eager to try a recipe for Potato & Celery Root Mash that I found in BA’s December 2011 issue.  The recipe calls for fresh horseradish so I thought the flavor would go well with Mom’s Standing Rib Roast.  You can find BA’s recipe here.  I followed this one pretty closely since I have never worked with celery root or fresh horseradish before.  The recipe as well as some useful info on preparing horseradish and celery root are below.  Enjoy!

Potato & Celery Root Mash
Adapted from Bon Appetit, December 2011
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2″ cubes
1 pound celery root (approx. 2 whole celery roots), peeled, cut into 3/4″ cubes
1 6″ piece of horseradish, peeled, coarsely grated
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 tbsp. Dijon mustard
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Prepare potatoes, celery root and horseradish.  Do NOT peel celery root or horseradish with a vegetable peeler – it isn’t strong enough!  Check out this article for a useful primer on how to peel celery root.  You can use the same technique when peeling the horseradish too.
2. Place potatoes, celery root and horseradish in a large pot.  Add water and cover by 1″.
3. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-high, and simmer until vegetables are tender.  This should take about 25-30 minutes.
4. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid.  Return vegetables to pot; add sour cream, Dijon mustard and butter.
5. Using a potato masher, coarsely mash vegetables.  (Note: This recipe won’t be as creamy as my Creamy Mashed Potato recipe from last month, but it will have a ton of flavor!)  Add reserved cooking liquid if needed (I didn’t need to add anything) if mash is too stiff.  Season with salt & pepper, to taste.

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Christmas Dinner: Hot Toddies

5 Jan

Honey Bourbon Hot Toddy

Don’t get me wrong, hot toddies are great, but I’ve always been more of a spiced cider, egg nog or hot chocolate kind of person.  This recipe from Bon Appetit’s December 2011 issue caught my eye because the picture was SO pretty and I could totally envision my family drinking these while sitting around the fire Christmas afternoon opening presents and relaxing after dinner.  I watered down the BA recipe a LOT because it was really strong.  My adaptation of their recipe is below.

Honey-Bourbon Hot Toddy
Adapted from Bon Appetit, December 2011 Issue
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 tbsp. honey
2 cups water
6 tbsp. bourbon
Lemon juice
Lemon peel, for garnish
Cinnamon stick, for garnish

Directions
1. Heat water on stove until just about to boil.  Take 1 cup of water and mix it with honey.  Stir until honey dissolves.
2. Add bourbon and mix.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice right and mix again.
3.  Divide between 2 mugs or Toddy glasses.  Add remaining water to mugs until you have reached desired strength of drink.  (I filled ours all the way to the top).
4. Add a lemon peel and cinnamon stick to each drink for garnish.  Serve warm.

Honey-Bourbon-Toddy-646

Honey Bourbon Toddy (Photo Courtesy of Bon Appetit, December 2011) - See what I mean about this picture? It's stunning!

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Christmas Dinner: Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Creme Anglaise

3 Jan

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

I found a yummy looking recipe for pumpkin bread pudding on Smitten Kitchen from back in 2007!  Their recipe was adapted from Gourmet magazine and you can find their original post here.  I used more bread than I should have so to make the dessert creamier and less dry, I added creme anglaise sauce on top.  Both recipes are listed below.  The bread pudding calls for almost the exact same ingredients as a traditional pumpkin pie so this recipe is great if you are looking for that pumpkin pie flavor but a different texture dish.  Creme anglaise is a great recipe because it is so versatile – it can be served warm, cold or room temperature.  In addition to serving on top of bread pudding, I also like to eat it with berries in the morning for breakfast.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, October 2007 Issue

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tbsp. bourbon (optional)
5 cups cubed (1″) day-old baguette or crusty bread (I used half a ciabatta loaf and a baguette.)
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 with rack in middle.
2. Mix together dry ingredients (sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves).
3. Slowly add eggs, milk, pumpkin and bourbon until well mixed.
4. Toss bread cubes with melted butter in another bowl and add to 8″x8″ baking pan.  Pour pumpkin mixture on top.  (Note: Only use as much bread as I did if you like thicker bread pudding.  When I make this again, I will probably do at least a cup less bread and cut the pieces smaller, so that you can see the “soupy” pumpkin mixture in the baking pan.)
5. Bake until pudding is set, which should take about 25-30 minutes.

Creme Anglaise
From the Joy of Cooking
Makes 2 Cups

Ingredients
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups hot milk
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp rum, Cognac or other liqueur (I used light rum)

Directions
1. Whisk egg yolks in 2-quart saucepan, adding the sugar by fairly rapid spoonfuls – if it goes in all at once, the yolks can turn grainy.
2. Continue beating 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is pale yellow and thick.  By dribbles, stir in the hot milk – stirring, not beating, because you do not want the sauce to foam.
3. Set the saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring slowly with a wooden spoon and reaching all over the bottom and sides of the pan.  The sauce should gradually come near – but not to – a simmer.  You must be careful not to over heat it as this will scramble the yolks.  Indications that it is almost ready are that the surface bubbles begin to subside, and almost at once you may see a whiff of steam rising.
4. The sauce is done when it coats the wooden spoon with a light creamy layer thick enough to hold when you draw your finger across the back of the spoon.
5. Next beat in the vanilla, butter and run.  Spoon on top of bread pudding.  Sauce can be refrigerated in a covered container for several days.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Creme Anglaise

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