Mmmm... Christmas dinner

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The classics are classic for a reason - they're awesome and you never get tired of them. We made pretty much the same stuff for Christmas dinner this year as last year. Recipes can be found here.

A few notes from this year's feast:

1) My sister made some rumblings about deposing Head Chef..... just before she realized she'd put salt instead of sugar in the cranberry sauce. HA! You might get rid of me someday, Sous Chef, but not today.

2) Turkey: Building on the success of brined, grilled chicken in the summer, I decided to brine our turkey this year. The day before you're to cook it, make the brine in a vessel large enough to submerge the turkey. Tip: Don't stick the turkey in first and make the brine around the turkey, because then you won't be able to taste it. Same goes as with the chicken - salt so it tastes like seawater, then add a touch of sugar so you can barely just taste it, and any aromatics you see fit (peppercorns, herb, garlics, etc.). Cover and stick it in the fridge overnight if it will fit, or anywhere else that cool - including the great outdoors - as long as your vessel is well-sealed and secured. Don't forget to take the turkey out of the brine and let it come fully to room temperature before you cook it.

3) Gravy - I usually use the grocery store powdered packets. I don't know what possessed me, but this year I decided to try a newfangled organic brand. Big mistake not getting my usual as a backup - the organic stuff had a seriously funky aftertaste. No worries - gravy is easy enough to make. Melt about two tbsp of butter and toast 2 tbsp of flour in it. You've just made a roux, which can be used to thicken the pan drippings. Milk and/or store-bought chicken stock can help you stretch the gravy to a few more portions, as well as dilute it if the drippings are too salty. I tend not to like apple cider or brandy in my gravy, but feel free to embellish as you please.

Some suggestions for the leftovers:

Christmas Shepherd's Pie - layer turkey, stuffing and brussels sprouts in a microwaveable container. Pour in a little gravy and top with mashed potatoes. Will keep in the fridge for about 3 days. Nuke it for 3-5 minutes to revive.

Turkey Chop Suey Noodles - Sauté some sliced onion until browned. Throw in some shredded turkey meat (and possibly some leftover veggies as well). Toss in some cooked noodles and splash in a little gravy for sauce.

Turkey Broth - Throw the bones into a stock pot with enough water to cover it. Simmer for at least 2 hours and salt to taste. Turkey broth is amazingly flavorful - you'd swear there was MSG in it. It's good straight up, or for making turkey pho. Once you finish the first pot, boil the bones up in a fresh pot of water for stock to freeze. It'll be too watery to drink as soup, but will still give depth to any soup recipe in the place of water. Freeze it in ice cube trays and it'll keep pretty much forever.

Afternoon tea at Hotel Vancouver

Occasion: My Christmas present to my mother - a girls' catch-up over tea (my sister was an extra beneficiary)
Location: Hotel Vancouver on West Georgia St in Vancouver
Edibles: chicken salad on toast; smoked salmon and caviar on toast; a ham, blue cheese and pear croissant; cucumber sandwiches; cinnamon scones; mincemeat pies; gingerbread stars with M&Ms; strawberries and clotted cream; Yule log chocolate cake

(pictured borrowed from Jess Q until I can upload my own)

Musings: It's been more than 10 years since we've had tea together, just the girls. The last time was at the Savoy in London; it was my mom's first time in Europe. Fond memories - we munched on sandwiches and sipped tea for almost four hours, chatting and soaking up the wonderful Englishness of it all.

The Hotel Vancouver's no Savoy, but they put on a nice tea. The room was very festively decorated, and they hired a live harpist to play Christmas carols.

The food was pretty good. I liked most of the savory choices, particularly the ham. The least successful was the cucumber - the bread was pretty dessicated, like they'd made them the day before and failed to keep them properly covered. My sister, a more forgiving soul, suggested they might have done it on purpose to better accompany the tea. My mom's favorite was the salmon. (Incidentally, I discovered that Allie has an absolutely dreadful palate, after she mistook the chicken salad for tuna, and the pear in the ham sandwich for a pickle.)

They provide one extra plate free of charge, so we got an extra of each of those four to share. I think that's a bit stingy as refills go, considering the tea costs some $50 per person. (At the Savoy, you can ask for as many extras as you like. It's not very classy but you can - as we did - skip breakfast and lunch and really tuck in.)

They gave a generous two scones per person, but I could only choke down half of one as they were cinnamon scones and that spice makes me gag. I liked the gingerbread cookie, but found the cake was cloyingly sweet. I was, in general, less enchanted by the sweets than the savories. But then again, I don't have much of a sweet tooth; you might feel differently.

As for the tea, we got two pots of a strawberry tea and it turned out to be a good primary choice - it was very delicate and did not interfere with the flavors of the food. Towards the end, we got a third pot of maple black. The maple was very interesting - it was smelled syrupy, but had no sweetness at all when tasted. Instead, it was dark and smoky.

Merry Christmas, and I hope you're all getting to spend some quality time with your family in the holiday rush!

The Redhead

Occasion: Dinner with Gabrielle and Winnie
Location: The Redhead on 13th St between 1st and 2nd (theredheadnyc.com)
Edibles: sausage flatbread; shrimp and grits; buttermilk fried chicken; homemade tater tots; bacon brussel sprouts; dessert - sticky toffee pudding, apple cobbler, beignets

Musings: Knowledge is power. Or, as G.I. Joe used to say, "Knowing is half the battle." (I always wondered what the other half was. And then I realized: winning.) Gabrielle used to live in this neighborhood, and so knows this place pretty well. She pointed us toward a few things that I wouldn't necessarily have ordered going in blind, and her advice was flawless.

We started with the sausage flatbread. Sounds unremarkable, but it was really crisp and the sausage was really quality stuff. Yum. The shrimp and grits were lovely - the sofrito in the sauce really made this dish, I thought. The tater tots and the brussel sprouts were nice, but didn't really blow me away. I'd skip these on future visits; there's really enough food without having to order extra sides.

That buttermilk fried chicken - in a word, spectacular. I think they brined the chicken. It was really moist and savory. Great crunchy crust. And perfect sides. The spinach and apple salad on the side was particularly addictive, and just the thing to refresh the palate.

I also had a great cocktail (the Ginger Snap - ginger syrup, rum and citrus) and a great dessert (sticky toffee pudding). Thumbs up! Thanks to Winnie and Gabrielle for squeezing this visit in before the end of the year.

Landmarc

Occasion: Catch-up dinner with Jill and Amy
Location: Landmark, on the third floor of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle
Edibles: I had the pork chop with spinach and roasted apples and onions; Jill and Amy, possessing more self-restraint, had salads

Musings: Landmarc straddles the fine line between being appealing to tourists and still acceptable to locals. The décor is a sort of a generic sleek-modern. It's a gigantic space and the benefit is that you rarely have to wait for a table. The view over the renovated Columbus Circle is pretty nice, particularly so at this time of year with all the twinkly lights.

One small minus - it's very expensive to drink here. They don't have any wine by the glass; the smallest unit is the half bottle (so if you normally get two glasses, you will not really be affected). Cocktails are $10-15 and even a draft beer is $8.

Food is similarly priced. I was a little hesitant because it was so expensive, but I was ultimately more than pleased with my main dish. I asked for the chop to be cooked just under medium, and it was perfectly done. Really tender and juicy, with just the hint of blush. Kind of blew my mind, actually. Sigh - bliss is a perfectly-cooked slab of meat.....

The sides were well-chosen, and balanced the richness of the meat and the sauce nicely.

We didn't get it tonight, but their little dessert samplers are fun and tasty. You can also get cotton candy - whimsical! Even if you don't order dessert, you can still have a sweet bite because they give you some homemade caramels with the bill - a classy touch.