Dyson's Delectables: January 2, 2012

MENU FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 2, 2012

Here is my first menu for the New Year. Actually, it is more of a finishing up the food of the old year. We did the turkey on New Year’s Eve and Warner wanted to follow it up with a gumbo. Plus we had a ham in the freezer that we needed to cook. So, here we go again – casual cooking for two. A 13 pound turkey and an 11 pound ham…. Expect to see ham/turkey leftovers appear in the following weeks. But this should give us our freezer supply of gumbo this gumbo for the winter. (I also like to keep in a store of Emeril’s Kick Butt Gumbo for use on cold winter days)

Yesterday we were at Bill and Ellen’s for an open house for the afternoon. Having feasted on the great spread they put out, Warner still expected a full holiday dinner. Originally we were going to do Julia Child’s fabulous sautéed lobster with Madeira and Cream, but Warner got to the store just after the last lobster was sold. So we got a duck (at least this is a reasonable bird for two)

I did Princess Alexandra Kropotkin’s Braised Duck Moscow. This is a very straight forward and simple dish. The duck is braised in butter and its own fat with mirapoix and bay. The fat us used as the base of the roux and is finished with beef stock and Madeira. I added the duck back to finish braising in the sauce to flavor the meat.

The problem was that the breast meat was done far in advance to the legs. To deal with this, Warner carved off the dark meat, tented the rest of the bird with foil and nuked the legs. This worked very well, although it was not the most elegant of presentations. It is a lovely dish to eat.

In short, we rang in the New Year with some good food for which we will pay at the gym going forward. But what the hell. Life is too short to be bored by dinner.

And with that, I wish all of our friends the best of New Year’s and the wish that you will make the time for some really great food this year!

Mon. AM Sour Cream Pancakes

with Turkey Gravy/Maple Syrup

Home Cured Bacon

Mon. PM Burgundy Braised Ham TGCG

Potatoes Savoyard

Sautéed Cabbage with Caraway
Penfold Shiraz

Tues. AM Pea Soup f/i

Tues. PM Roast Turkey, Pan Gravy

Creole Stuffing

Rice

Sautéed Corn
Wolf Blass Cabernet Shiraz

Weds. AM Udon with Turkey and Leeks

in Ginger Broth FW 10/91 138

(advance peak)

Weds. PM Turkey, Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo GM 1/84 68

Steamed Rice

Tossed Salad
From the Kitchens of North Ridge Road
Rosemount Shiraz

Thurs. PM Braised Ham revisited
Rosemount Shiraz

Fri. AM Gumbo Revisited

Fri. PM Flaked Cod with Zucchini and Tomatoes EP 224

Peasant Bread

Tossed Salad
Noble Pig Pinot Gris 2009

Sat. AM ~~Pasta with White Clam Sauce CCI~~
Split Pea Soup with Gouda Sausage Panini

(And the above is a link to the recipe
We had a ham bone left over, and this fresh chicken stock in the fridge