December 21st-23rd: egg nog, mac & cheese, meatballs, wings

This is retrospective #2 on last week's "best of."


Egg Nog
This is a recipe I've had for a billion years, and it is so good, I must share. (No pic because white drink + white mug = bad photos. I need a new camera.) I made this Tuesday night and drank the leftovers Wednesday morning, re-heated.


1 egg yolk*
2 tbsp sugar
2 cups milk**
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
pinch nutmeg


In a saucepan, whisk sugar into egg yolk. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, till hot.


Makes 2 servings.


*perhaps you want to use the egg white to make Candied Pecans?
**the higher the milk fat percentage, the creamier the egg nog; I used 2%


Tangy Maple Meatballs
A keeper, and served at the Christmas Eve eve party. We had 4 meatballs leftover; don't know why. (No picture, oops, that's what happens when you're busy hosting.)


Meatballs
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 egg, whisked
2 tbsp parsley, freshly chopped or dried, optional
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste


Sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup finely diced onion


Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine ground meats, egg, parsley, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Form into 1 1/2" balls. Place in 8" square pan. Bake for 20 minutes.


Meanwhile, combine cornstarch, dry mustard and remaining salt in a small saucepan. Gradually stir in vinegar, maple syrup, water and onion. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat.


Drain fat from meatballs and pour sauce over them. Return to oven and bake 20 minutes longer.


Makes 4 servings.


Beer & 5-Cheese Penne (AKA fancy mac & cheese)
This was a gamble, one of the recipes I made for the party without trying it out in advance. It involves gorgonzola, which had Greg worried, as he is not into blue cheese. It was, however, delicious. The blue cheese gets diluted by all the others involved. Definitely not your waist-friendly mac & cheese, but if you're cooking for a crowd, it's all good! (no pic again)


1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (125 mL) flour
1/2 cup (125 mL) amber beer
2 cups (500 mL) half and half cream
1/2 lb (225 g) brie (remove any rind)
16 oz (500 g) cream cheese
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
2 1/2 cups (625 mL) shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) grated Parmesan cheese, divided
16 oz (500 g) penne pasta, cooked al dente and drained
salt (if necessary) and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup (125 mL) panko or bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a medium, heavy-bottom pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to form a light roux. Slowly whisk in the beer and half and half.

Add the brie and cream cheese to the sauce, stirring until the cheeses are melted and incorporated. Stir in the Gorgonzola, Cheddar and 1 cup (250 mL) Parmesan cheese.

Stir in the pasta, then taste and adjust the seasoning as desired with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Top the mixture by sprinkling over the remaining Parmesan cheese and panko crumbs. Place the dish in the oven and bake until the sauce is bubbly and the toppings are crisp and golden, about 1/2 an hour.

Cool slightly before serving. Makes 12-16 servings.

Frank's Red Hot Wings
The hit of the party, for sure. (These were made late in the night though, when opinions were not the most neutral. However, these really are the best wings I've ever made, and I've made many wings. We make these ones several times a year. Yum.) From the Frank's Red Hot website, with some modifications by moi. If you were to order these in a pub, I believe they would be classified as "medium" heat wings. (no pic)


1 lb split chicken wings, tips removed
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup Frank's original cayenne pepper sauce
1/3 cup salted butter, melted


Preheat oven to 500°F. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large bag or bowl, and toss chicken wings to coat. Shake off any excess flour and place wings on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet.*


Place in oven and reduce heat to 400°F. Bake 45 minutes, turning wings halfway.


Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine Frank's sauce and melted butter. When wings are cooked, toss in sauce and serve.


Sour cream optional. Napkins necessary.


*The more space the wings have between one another, the crispier they will cook up.

December 21st-23rd: the best of Christmas week cooking

If you can imagine, Christmas week has been on the hectic side, and there's been little time for cooking, let alone posting. Rather, there has been night after night of staying up til midnight prepping: painting, cooking (for later) and a bit of wrapping. With the culmination of the preparations over (AKA Christmas Eve eve party), I can now sit back and relax. Or cook some more, which is more likely.


As a retrospective, I'll just touch on some yummies this week:


Lemon Chicken Stew
From In Erika's Kitchen. I made this on Monday night and we ate it on Tuesday night. This is a simple chicken thigh-based stew and it's a slow cook (2 hours on the stove-top), but the meat falls apart with a fork when it is done. Lovely. It's really strong in lemon flavour, a bit more than I would like (and I love lemon!). I didn't add figs though (pure laziness, and note the above busy-ness of the week) and I didn't have as much meat as the recipe called for; those two items may have cut the sourness. The stew also has olives, which are soft and slip right off the pits. Have I mentioned my child's love for olives? She digs strong flavours. Greg gave her all of his.

Candied Pecans
From Cooking With My Kid. I made this for our Christmas Eve eve party, and received several compliments on them. These are really easy, just a slow cook again (1 hour). I didn't know what baker's sugar is, nor could I find it in the grocery store, so I used half icing sugar and half granulated. Worked out just fine.

Granola
From December 2010's Chatelaine. Pecan-Cranberry Granola. I also made this for our Christmas Eve eve party but had some with yogurt for breakfast for a few days in advance of the party. I don't think many people tried it but that's okay because I loved it and will eat it up myself.

People also loved the prosciutto-wrapped dates and Parmesan.

Top row L-R: salami + olives; salami + tomatoes
Middle row: prosciutto + dates + Parmesan
Bottom row: prosciutto + dates + Parmesan; salami + olives

This is not even close to the amount of food I've cooked this week, but why inundate you when I can highlight the best?


Merry Christmas to all. :)