Catching up from Christmas - Part 1 of 6

More like, catching up from the entire month of December. It is no secret how I much I love Christmas, decorating, and entertaining friends and family during the entire month. Needless to say, I was quite busy in the kitchen preparing old favorite recipes as well as exciting new recipes. There is no way I could fit all of the pictures (and flavors!) into one post, so I will divide them into multiple posts over the upcoming days. This post covers the first three dinner gatherings in December. (I would have started earlier in the month, but a bout of the FLU put a damper on most of the first weekend of December!)

December 9

Our first guest of honor in December was a dear friend who lives in Los Angeles and every time I visit, we go to a fantastic Mexican restaurant so I wanted to bring a taste of Mexico to her visit to Maryland. The menu included three dishes, two of which were new to my kitchen.

The main course was Sopa Seca which is a noodle casserole full of Mexican spices and cheese. Noodles are more common in Mexican homes than you would think and Sopa Seca is considered to be comfort food. Ironically enough, Sopa Seca means "dry soup". I saw a recipe which included smoked turkey and that sounded too interesting not to try!

I started by toasting bundles of vermicelli in a hot pan with a touch of vegetable oil. I removed the noodles and then sautéd onions, peppers, and minced garlic in the same pan. Once softened, I added ground cumin, several types of chili powder, ground coriander, dried Mexican oregano (which is NOT the same as traditional oregano), salt, and pepper. I continued to cook until the vegetables had absorbed all of the seasonings. I then added hand crushed canned whole tomatoes, a bit of diced chipotle in adobo (I needed to keep the heat level down), and a bay leaf. When the sauce started to thicken, I added two cups of chicken stock and the toasted vermicelli, breaking it up as it softened.

After cooking the sauce, I added the turkey, removed the bay leaf, and poured the entire mixture into a greased 9x13 baking pan before topping with Mexican cheese blend and grated cotija cheese. I baked it at 375 degrees for about twenty five minutes, until it was bubbly and browned.

I topped it with fresh lime crema, cilantro, and lime slices.

While the Sopa Seca was baking, I whipped up a batch of Mushroom Quesadillas as an appetizer. I melted several tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick skillet and added the mushrooms. I cooked them until they were soft and had released most of their liquid. I then added salt, pepper, diced shallot, and minced garlic and cooked for several minutes longer.

I placed a flour tortilla in a hot dry pan, topped with mushrooms and shredded cheddar/Monterey jack cheese, and placed a second tortilla on top. Several minutes and one flip later, and it was done. I repeated the process several times to end up with this beautiful platter which I served with fresh cilantro, lime wedges, homemade pico* de gallo and sour cream.

*I always make my own pico by combining one can of diced tomatoes with chiles, one half of a small red onion, finely diced, one jalapeño, finely diced and seeds removed, a small handful of chopped cilantro, a pinch of salt, pepper, ground cumin, and the juice of one lime. I let it sit at room temperature and the longer it sits, the better it tastes.

For dessert, I made Mexican Chocolate Souffles which are much easier than you would think. I began by melting Ibarra (Mexican chocolate) disks and butter over a pot of simmering water. Mexican chocolate differs from American chocolate in that it is made with cinnamon and has a grittier texture. It is one of my favorites!

After it had cooled a bit, I added a few tablespoons of the chocolate to several beaten egg yolks to temper, and then added the rest of the chocolate.

Meanwhile, I beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks formed, much like making merengue. I folded it into the chocolate mixture a little at a time, and YES, I was reliving the famous Schitt's Creek scene in my mind the ENTIRE time. (If you have not seen it, do yourself a favor and click the link. Or better yet, watch the entire series. It is the best!)

I divided the batter into buttered ramekins and baked them at 400 degrees until they looked like this! Light, airy, and utterly delicious!

December 10

The very next night, we hosted the second holiday dinner of the season with several dear friends. Everyone contributed to the menu and my personal contributions included Spicy Asian Pork and Kimchi Egg Rolls, Olive and Onion Herbed Focaccia, and Chicken Piccata over Pommes Aligot with Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

These egg rolls are as delicious as they look, but I made them a second time later in December and will be blogging about the recipe in one of the upcoming posts.

For the bread, I made a standard focaccia dough recipe which you can find online anywhere. Before baking I topped it with thinly sliced red onions, sliced castelvetrano olives, fresh herbs, flaky sea salt, black pepper, and lots of olive oil. It made the entire house smell so good!

For the main course, I made Crispy Chicken Piccata over Aligot Style Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts. I made the chicken by dredging thin sliced chicken breasts in seasoned flour, coating in beaten egg, and then dipping into seasoned Panko bread crumbs. I cooked in olive oil and butter until golden brown on both sides. The sauce is made by sautéing lots of fresh garlic in butter, and then adding white wine, lemon zest and juice, capers, salt, and pepper. Once it cooks down, it is ready.

The aligot potatoes, or "Pommes Aligot", are made like traditional mashed potatoes but with lots of roasted garlic, heavy cream and cheese (I used Gruyere and mozzarella) added at the end. It is super creamy and flavorful. I served several roasted Brussels sprouts on the side and garnished with fresh chopped parsley. This was a perfect main course, easy to plate, and beautiful to admire!

December 11

The third dinner of that same weekend was for our family Christmas/Hanukkah party and the menu consisted of my homemade spaghetti and meatballs, but that dish deserves its own blog post so you will see that at some point in 2023, but in the meantime, check out this beautiful Holiday Cookie Pudding Trifle that I made for dessert! Vanilla pudding, a few drops of food coloring, whipped cream, and cookies throughout the trifle!

So if this is just post number 1 of 6, does that tell you how much cooking I did in December? Stay tuned! LOTS more to come!