Holiday dinner an elegant solution to the cooking marathon
The holidays are the perfect time to show off what you can do in the kitchen, but they’re also a perfect storm for home cooks who love the fantasy of an elegant dinner but tend to get tired cranky after spending all day in the kitchen.
Just because you love to cook doesn’t that mean you have to forfeit having fun at your own party.
Lisa Lavagetto, a cooking instructor at Ramekins, routinely feeds a crowd of ?22 loved ones gathered around the holiday table but still manages to keep a smile on her face, now that she has developed a make-ahead game plan.
“All of my kids assume I’m going to make every meal for every holiday,” she told a class at Ramekins last month. “A few years back, I said, ‘OK. I’ve got to figure out how to do this.”
There’s no last-minute fussing when you have a make-ahead menu. In her Make-Ahead Holiday Dinner class, Lavagetto presented am ambitious menu plan for a multicourse feast, with tips for how to start on each dish early, ranging from a few days to a few hours ahead.
At the heart of the dinner, she carved out a special entree: Beef Tenderloin stuffed with Boursin cheese and topped with a rich, wine-glazed Rosemary Pepper Sauce.
“The real trick is the sauce,” she said. “It has lots of red wine … and a veal or a chicken demi-glace.”
The morning of the dinner party, she said, simply stuff and sear off the 6-ounce tenderloins, then put them back into the fridge. An hour before you’re ready to eat, take them out and let them come back to room temperature, then just pop them in the oven for a few minutes.
“In the oven, always cook meat on a rack,” she advised. “And leave a good distance between the steaks.”
You can reduce the sauce the morning of the dinner party, but leave out the butter until just before you’re ready to eat, so it doesn’t start to separate.
Instead of baked potatoes, Lavagetto likes to serve individual Boulangère Potatoes, which are peeled and scored like Hasselback potatoes, then topped with caramelized onions and cooked in beef stock.
“These are super easy,” she said of the dish, which is similar to a potato gratin but without the heavy cheese and cream. Translated as “potatoes from the baker,” the dish originated centuries ago in France when people did not own ovens. Instead, they dropped off their Sunday roast and potatoes at the baker to be cooked while they went to church.
For a starter to the holiday dinner party, Lavagetto offered up a choice of two of her favorites: a rich of a Chilled Tomato and Dill Mousse with Lobster or a seasonal Fall Greens Salad with Roasted Beets, Caramelized Almonds and Goat Cheese.
“You can make the mousse two days ahead of time, and it is so yummy,” she said. “A few years ago, I started using the knuckle and claw meat instead of the lobster tail. It’s cheaper, very flavorful and looks wonderful on top of the mousse.”
The Fall Greens salad, which requires a ring mold (or tuna fish cans with both lids removed) for the goat cheese and beets, can also be started ahead of time, by roasting and dicing the golden and red beets (kept in separate Tupperware), whisking the walnut oil dressing and caramelizing the almonds. (just be sure to make extra nuts, because you are going to want to snack on those as you cook.)
“The morning of, just spray parchment paper and the inside of a ring mold and fill the molds,” she said. You can store the molds in the fridge on a sheet pan.”
Because her husband’s Italian, focaccia is a staple in the Lavagetto home. And there’s nothing like the aroma, the crunchy crust and the tender crumb of this flat, oven-baked bread to make your guests feel pampered.
Since the flavor only expands if you let the dough proof overnight in the fridge, she suggests making it and punching it down the day before. That way, all you need to do is spread it into the pan and cook if off the day of the party.
Using traditional Italian flavors, Lavagetto likes to flavor her dough with fennel seeds, stud it with roasted garlic while it is cooking, then finish it with fresh rosemary and Maldon salt.
“If you like it soft, cook it at 350,” she said. “If you like it crispy, crank it up to 425.”
Since the meal is fairly rich, Lavagetto chose a creamy Lemon Panna Cotta for dessert, which is similar to a crème brulée, only lighter because it doesn’t have eggs.
“You could make this dessert two or three days in advance,” she said. “You need a thermometer to bring it up to temperature, then p ut it in the fridge.”
You don’t need heavy appetizers for this somewhat heavy feast, but a few nibbles would be nice, such as olives and nuts. One of the students in the class said she would use the extra Boursin to make stuffed mushrooms.
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