Another year, another complex Xmas Eve menu.\u00a0 This year, my 11-yo daughter Mika said she wanted a 13-course dinner.\u00a0 She didn’t know why, that number just came to her head, but she wanted it.\u00a0 I could have argued against it, but I figured with a little bit of creativity I could get there.\u00a0 And Mika didn’t particularly care what the courses were, as long as she had 13.\u00a0 And she did – even though I overcooked one of the courses so it ended up almost inedible.<\/p>\n
The key to cooking and serving a 13-course menu all by yourself is advanced planning AND advanced cooking, as well as flexibility. To make it easier I decided to revisit some of my favorite recipes, which come from all over the world.\u00a0 I did decide on a new one as my main dish,\u00a0 Orecchiette al Ragu di Braciole<\/a>, basically beef rolls stuffed with cheese and cooked in a tomato ragout, but it didn’t work out.\u00a0 I made it the day before the meal, and discovered that the sauce was pretty bland and one-dimensional and the meat rolls were not what I would call attractive.\u00a0 So decided we would just have that for dinner that night, and sent my husband to get a roast.<\/p>\n Roasts are great main dishes because not only because they are simple to put together, but because they look impressive on the table.\u00a0 Sure, they are expensive, but it’s Xmas.\u00a0 On the minus side, a roast requires the use of the oven, which means displacing other dishes.\u00a0 My second and third courses needed to be broiled,\u00a0 but my oven can’t bake at 300 and broil at the same time.\u00a0 I baked them at 300, which wasn’t ideal for either – but I overbaked the shrimp, making them barely edible.<\/p>\n In any case, this is what I came up with.\u00a0 At the end of the night I asked each guest what their favorite part was. There wasn’t a consensus (the soup, the bastilla and the roast were all mentioned), but at least not one said “the cheese”.<\/p>\n I served dinner with a Chateau Souverain Estate Bottled 2003 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\nThese Corsican goat cheese & mint fritters are delicious, but I did discover that they’re best if fried right before they are served.<\/li>\n
\nUnable to either grill or broil these Angolan marinated shrimp, I baked them and almost dessicated them. However, my guests did like the cumin sauce.<\/li>\n
\nThis recipe from Antigua doesn’t actually need a recipe. Take a thick slice of banana, wrap it with half a slice of bacon, secure it with a toothpick and broil it for 3-5′. Baking it at 300F wasn’t a good alternative, as it dried out the outside of the banana without making the bacon crispy enough. But it still tasted good<\/li>\n
\nSorbets are great as palate cleansers, and this store-bought one from Ciao Bella is just delicious.<\/li>\n
\nThis salad is an old favorite, it never disappoints.<\/li>\n
\nAnother old favorite that tastes better if cooked the day before. But make or add the dried mushrooms in advanced. Doing it made them so tough and chewy as to be inedible.<\/li>\n
\nThis Moroccan Chicken Pie was a favorite of several guests, including my daughter. I will admit it came out perfectly. Because it only requires 15 minutes cooking, I was able to put it in the oven after I took out the roast to let it rest.<\/li>\n
\nA 13-course dinner deserves two palate cleanser. My second one was also store-bought, H\u00e4agen-Dazs<\/li>\n
\nPerfection! The roast was perfectly cooked, the Madeira sauce was delicious and gave it an unexpected nutty taste and the potatoes were easy and loved by everyone.<\/li>\n
\nFeaturing Spanish and Italian cheeses.<\/li>\n
\nMy Grandmother’s recipe. It was great! I made it earlier that day, which allowed the mint cream to settle. It looked beautiful and was very tasty.<\/li>\n
\nI thought it was delicious, but nobody else was as fond of it as I \ud83d\ude41<\/li>\n
\nBought frozen at Trader Joe’s and defrosted. Delicious.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n