My Scottish Grandma used to make plum pudding for Christmas, which I think is the same as figgy pudding (at least according to this recipe it is). Her version looked a lot like the pic in the linked recipe photo, minus the fake holly garnish. She’d douse it with brandy and light it on fire before serving. She also baked a foil-wrapped dime into it-- the idea being whoever got the dime in their slice was not only $.10 richer, but would have good luck all year.
As a kid I hated it, but one of these Christmases I’ve been meaning to try to make it myself, for nostalgia’s sake at least.
Well, if and when I get around to making a Wellington I will report back here, and challenge you to finally make your own. Though TBH, I’ve been thinking about making a Wellington ‘soon’ for a few years now, myself
Thanks! I’ll add Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon back on the list of things I’m definitely going to get around to attempting someday.
And @Cervaise, I hope you manage to find a brisket.
I cook a lot of spicy, savory dishes (Italian, Mexican, Hungarian, Middle Eastern, Louisianan), but I’d like to give French cuisine more of a shot—duck a l’orange and bouillabaisse to start with.
Two that come to mind are lasagna and smoked pork shoulder or butt, a full one. Neither one scales down and, while I cook a lot, I’ve just never had the right time & place.
I’m confident my smoked pork butt would be good, I’m pretty handy with the charcoal cookers and I do other long cooks . The big porky chunks are very forgiving so I’d concentrate my research on rubs and stuff.
But I’d be hesitant to make any promises on a lasagna. I know a dish like that will have a ton of mistakes to make and proportions to botch and it’s just not within my comfort zone.
Here’s a version that we came up with when we were on an RV trip. We had a leftover chicken breast and a remaining Italian sausage and produced the following. It’s not authentic, by any means, but it’s easy and tasty.
Allow 4 ounces of each of the following per serving:
Hot Italian sausage (I like Johnsonville)
Boneless, skinless chicken breast
Canned diced tomatoes
Canned white beans
Other ingredients:
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh rosemary, several sprigs
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper
French bread, sliced
Olive oil
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil until it shimmers. Add the chicken and brown, then remove from the pan. Remove the casings from the sausages, break into pieces and add to the pan. Brown well. Return the chicken to the pan and add the garlic. Saute for one minute. Add the beans and tomatoes with their juices. Strip the rosemary from the stems and add to the pan. Cover and simmer for about a half hour to an hour. Top with ground pepper and serve with crostini, below.
Heat the broiler or barbeque grill. Brush olive oil on both sides of the bread and toast briefly. Serve with the cassoulet.
Authentic bouillabaisse is impossible to make without fish from the Mediterranean, but it’s not really difficult. You might try cioppino, which is a very good fish stew and not at all difficult.
Goose. I recently made a whole duck and it was fantastic. I have hesitated with goose because it’s really expensive around here (~$80 for a bird) and I’d hate to screw it up. I’ve read that it’s not an easy cook.
I made a duck cassoulet a while back. A chef/friend gave me his recipe, but he just scribbled it on a piece of butcher paper. My gf loved it, I thought it was okay, but I never made it again. Duck is difficult to find, and it is greasier than I like.
ETA: another reason I haven’t made it again, was I borrowed the chef’s individual crocks, and returned them after use.
Both do, however, freeze well. Especially leftover pulled pork!
Been a few happy occasions when I didn’t think I had much to make a sandwich out of for lunch, then I remembered I had some frozen pulled pork left. Two pieces of bread, a bun or a wrap with some pickle, red onion and barbecue sauce, nuke the pork in the microwave for a minute or two, that’s a sandwich
There’s an awful lot of fat as it roasts. You have to keep basting it the whole time it’s in the oven. But it’s worth the effort. I used to make it at Christmas, but I live alone now and don’t make big dinners any more.
Yes, that’s right. Before you put it in the oven, rub it down with a bit of fat and some Chinese five spice. The skin should get nice and crispy as you baste it uncovered.
For us, the main difficulty is in the cheese and charcuterie. We’re pretty avid gardeners, so we usually have tomatoes, herbs, and often garlic growing. Tomatoes are common enough that we’ve got a little passata mill type thing to make puree out of them quickly and easily. Our oregano is basically feral and indestructible, and the basil has gone berserk this year. Only one we don’t have this year is garlic, and that’s because it takes some space and we wanted to grow other stuff that’s not readily available at the grocery.
It’s more the work involved with making some kind of salami/sausage (I could make Italian sausage, come to think of it) and the cheese that’s the part I haven’t done before.
When we’ve done it using the ones you get at the store, it was actually worse than the canned stuff- more watery and less flavorful.
They’re not really hard if you’ve got a good leave-in probe thermometer and are familiar enough with your heat source that you can keep a steady 250-300 degree Fahrenheit temperature. Most people undercook them, so they’re tough and funky. You want to aim for a final temp of about 203- it should be floppy if you lift it, and not kind of stiff as it is when it’s not done.
There’s nothing to it. Talk about forgiving! You should find a good simple recipe and go for it. No-boil noodles are practically essential and are really good; you just need to make sure they’re covered with sauce for them to rehydrate while baking.
I’m not much of a cook, and the only bad lasagna I ever made was the time the cheap-ass Pyrex shattered on the stovetop. If you’re using glassware, just put down a towel and that won’t happen to you.
We always buy pumpkins from the farm market that are specifically “pie pumpkins”. They don’t make good Jack-o-lanterns, but they are great for pumpkin pies, pumpkin bars, pumpkin cookies, etc.
Green Chili Stew
1 jar medium diced Hatch chilis
2 lbs pork shoulder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1⁄2 cup onion finely chopped**
2 minced garlic cloves
6 cups chicken broth
6 ounces beer
1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 bay leaves
1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 large potatoes diced 1/2-inch
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
DIRECTIONS
Cube the meat into two inch chunks, trim off any hard fat, sprinkle with salt & pepper and brown with onions & garlic in oil in a large pot for 5 minutes.
Add broth, half a can of beer, spices. Bring to a simmer.
Let simmer for 1 hour or until meat falls apart.
Add the chilis. Let simmer for 30 minutes, then add the tomatoes & potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are done.
Melt butter in a small skillet & add flour, cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly – add to the pot and stir in. Serve with torts of your choice.
