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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2011 11:33:38 GMT
Tod,those crustaceans in your pics,are those what you are referring to as crayfish??? They look awfully huge!!! I am accustomed to the smaller variety. Where are they from do you know?? My curiosity is super piqued.  |
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Post by tod2 on Dec 25, 2011 11:49:34 GMT
Casimira - Gosh honeybun, I really don't know the true answer about WHERE those humongous crayfish came from, but I suspect they are straight out of the Indian Ocean just off-shore on our Natal coastline. We have numerous rockpools and rocks just off-shore which the fishermen dive down to and retrieve them from their lairs under the rocks.
I say this because the owner of the fish supply in the very large supermarket is in contact with many ski-boat fishermen who supply him with the freshest linefish for his fish counter. I have bought some awesome ocean fish from him but they are not cheap and you have to buy the whole fish!
Crayfish are not allowed to be caught and taken if they are under a certain size. Every single one has to be measured with a specific measuring tool and thrown back if too small - this does not mean that some fishermen actually do! The bigger the crayfish, the tougher the meat so small is best.
Ours were of a medium size and perfect. You get crayfish much much larger, but I would only use that size for a table decoration and most likely curry the tougher flesh.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2011 11:57:44 GMT
Thanks for that Tod. I guess it must be a regional colloquial semantic type thing. I suspect that Bixa may know more about this being the Crawfish Queen that she is.  What I see in the pics is what we would refer to as "rock lobsters". (Not to be confused with the B52's song btw...  ;D). |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 25, 2011 18:00:36 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2011 5:59:56 GMT
Christmas dinner was barbecued chicken wings, a top favourite of the friend who is stuck at my place.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 26, 2011 6:43:52 GMT
I am still in pain from Christmas dinner. It was a fabulous feast, but >>>groan<<<. I had a hefty but not embarrassingly large plate of food -- a traditional roasted turkey meal, but prepared by a fine & imaginative cook, so everything was really good. What did me in was eating the yummy but super-rich & dense trifle afterward -- sheer greediness.
Last night I had an extremely traditional Mexican noche buena -- Christmas Eve -- in the home of my neighbor's parents. It was so kind of them to include me. We had pozole, ponche, & atole, then a while later toasted each other & the season with a token sip of sidra -- alcoholic fizzy cider.
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Post by imec on Dec 26, 2011 19:17:20 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2011 19:23:16 GMT
Looks good, but those Brussels sprouts look a bit naked without having been sautéed in garlic butter with lardons. |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 26, 2011 19:24:29 GMT
Very English looking and immensely desirable, Imec!
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Post by mich64 on Dec 26, 2011 22:04:13 GMT
Very tasty and elegant presentation Imec! I am sure all enjoy this Christmas dinner!
Cheers!
Mich
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Post by mich64 on Dec 26, 2011 22:09:42 GMT
I will start with Christmas Eve where we joined the family at my brother-in-law's home for dinner. This is my sister-in-law, she is Italian and spent her day making dough for three pizzas she made. A BBQ chicken, Vegetarian and a Meat and Mushroom pizza.   |
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Post by mich64 on Dec 26, 2011 22:42:52 GMT
This is Theodore, their Newfie, waiting for the pizza! He gets some crust.  The family loves to play pool!  Some of the desserts. Coconut cheery bars, brownies, almond bark, etc. etc.  My sister-in-law loves to decorate, even the wine!  The family then moves on over to their cousins home for an open house there.  The ping pong table gets a table cloth for the evenings offerings. I took this picture too early, after more and more food came out of the kitchen!  Our Christmas Tree ready for Santa to come!  Next will be food from Christmas day! Cheers! Mich |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2011 22:48:27 GMT
Ping pong tables make great buffets! I love your pictures!
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 26, 2011 22:57:19 GMT
Oh Mich, I'm glad you're letting us rest between installments! I feel full & happy just looking at those wonderful pictures. What a great family you have.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 27, 2011 2:18:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2011 10:10:37 GMT
I think I'm beginning to get heartburn from looking at all of this stuff. Speaking of which, now that Christmas is out of the way, what about New Year's? In France, it is more or less a repeat performance of the same meal. The main difference is that the Christmas meal is for family members and the New Year's meal is more for friends. Frankly, I think the calendar should be shaken up some, because two huge meals just one week apart is wrong! And of course, most Americans have to deal with Thanksgiving as well. It would make more sense to throw these holidays out the window and celebrate the four seasons instead -- a giant feast every 3 months! |
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Post by auntieannie on Dec 27, 2011 10:37:23 GMT
feeling sated and content here too! there is always lots of warmth and love in your pics, Mich!
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Post by lagatta on Dec 27, 2011 14:59:13 GMT
The duck tourtière I made hasn't been eaten yet, so I'm going to freeze it (they freeze well) and serve it to friends next week. I was invited chez des amis last night too, but was very tired - and sated - and turned in at 9:30 pm.
I don't see the roast in imec's series - but I see that there is a photo that hasn't loaded yet, I'll reload them. Yorkshire pud makes me think more that it will be a roast of beef or something similar rather than a turkey.
Everything looks lovely. Here, fish and seafood for le réveillon (Christmas Eve) and traditional turkey for the 25th - I took braised red cabbage (with red onion, apple, garlic, caraway seeds, a shot of red wine and of course lardons, of double smoked bacon from a Hungarian butcher shop here that is particularly good - and not expensive - as well as rapini sautéed in olive oil and garlic.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 27, 2011 15:22:59 GMT
Imec, your Xmas dinner looks absolutely gorgeous! Those Yorkshire puds have risen like they should-how did you get that right? ;D Mich your Italian sister-in-law has definitely got the touch - what beauties! And what a lovely spread all round |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2011 15:49:47 GMT
Imec's food always looks so pretty.
Lagatta, I believe that in Imec's pics ,the second one is a roast of some kind,perhaps a prime rib roast?
I have never eaten Yorkshire pudding unfortunately. I would be willing to give it a try in a heartbeat after looking at these pics.
Mich,it appears that your SIL really enjoys making her family happy with lots of lovingly prepared foodstuffs.
We will prepare the New Orleans traditional black eyed peas,cabbage and cornbread for the New Year. (referred to as Hoppin' John in other parts of the South although I never heard it called that here in NOLA.)
I was able to secure 2 beautiful ham bones with alot of meat still on them from Christmas dinner to use as seasoning for the black eyed peas.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 27, 2011 16:17:42 GMT
Thank you so much auntieannie. Thanks Tod and Casi, my sister-in-law is an amazing cook and baker, she often brings something to extra special to Sunday dinners at my mother-in-laws.
Casi will we see your black eyed peas and corn bread! I hope so, it must be delicious!
Lagatta you can send me your duck tourtiere!
New Year's Eve, I am having the family here to play games and of course eat. I am still thinking of what to put out...
Imec was that prime rib of beef?
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 27, 2011 16:47:39 GMT
That meat pie looks absolutely perfect, Mich! I agree about holidays needed to be spread out more, Kerouac. I always suspected that was why the US celebrated labor day at the beginning of September, instead of in May like the rest of the world. It still isn't nearly as efficient as simply celebrating the seasons, though. Also, seasonal celebrations would give everyone a reason to participate without emotional or religious ties. re: Yorkshire pudding for those of us not from a Yorkshire pudding culture .......... I learned about it over forty years ago from the wonderful Time-Life Foods of the World series. Lo & behold, the recipe is still available on the internet: therecipereader.com/Yorkshire.htmI always made it in the roasting pan, because I thought that's what you were supposed to do --what did I know?! Imec's individual ones make a lot more sense. |
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Post by imec on Dec 27, 2011 17:27:15 GMT
A wonderful looking feast there mich!
Re: the meat - it's a standing rib roast of beef (it's technically only "prime rib" if the meet is of prime grade - only available to the restaurant trade around here). I prepared it according to a method recently published in Cooks Illustrated - touted as a guaranteed way to produce a steakhouse quality result - it did.
Re: the Yorkshire - you may notice they are ever so slightly overdone... I placed the tins on a rack which I assumed that although high, would still provide plenty of clearance for the Yorkshires to rise. When I did the 25 minute check, I found (to a mixture of horror and delight) that they were pushing on the top element of the oven and in fact got slightly jammed when I tried to pull the tins out!
We had a good laugh as we remembered how my Dad had so much difficulty with his Yorkshires which were often the subject of a lot of good natured dinner table ridicule. Too bad I found this recipe too late to share with him. I'll post it in the recipe section if there's interest. I've used it several times with consistent results.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 27, 2011 18:54:30 GMT
Thank you Imec and Bixa. Imec I was unaware of that prime rib was not available to the general public. Your mea looked so elegant and I love the addition of asparagus and brussel sprouts, yum!
Bixa my mother also slices into the roast and puts cloves of garlic and cooks at a low temperature for a long time... always delicious!
Cheers!
Mich
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 28, 2011 15:35:21 GMT
My daughter is a vegetarian and a superb cook. we had gammon, beef and duck, all perfectly cooked along with roast potatoes, parsnips, spinach, leeks, green beans and brussels cooked just as Kerouac would have liked.
Starters were her version of prawn cocktail and to finish (eventually) we had Christmas pudding cooked the old fashioned way by steaming in a cloth - it was 10 times better than any bought pudding, light and moist.
On New Years day she is cooking venison.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 28, 2011 16:38:16 GMT
That's amazing Mick! A vegetarian that can turn out a meal like that is worth her weight in camels ;D
If she has a husband he should kiss her feet - my daughter-in-law is NOT a vegetarian and only cooks with lots of help, on Xmas eve. I try to remind my son that we can't paint & draw, or play the piano, or take amazing wedding and portrait photos like she can........
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2011 21:05:18 GMT
Actually, I have known a number of cooks who would not eat what they cook "with a ten foot pole." I think that just about every mother is forced to prepare certain intolerable items to make her children happy (often things from school menus or the weird neighbour next door). I remember that my mother was forced to supply a few things I loved while it clearly nauseated her. "Creamed corn" was certainly at the top of the list.
Meanwhile, in the restaurant trade just about anywhere in the world, chefs and other workers have to cook things that they would never dream of eating. In Paris, for example, often a large percentage of the restaurant staff is Muslim, but that does not stop all of the pork dishes from being prepared.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 29, 2011 8:57:21 GMT
She's a slightly lapsed veggie as once in a blue moon she'll fancy and eat a fillet steak. I wish she'd eat it more often as I sometimes think she has a vitamin imbalance.
I must tell my son in law about the feet kissing thing......... ;D
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 9:09:24 GMT
I think that the New Year's eve menu at the Kerouac residence is taking a turn in the direction of stuffed crabs.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 29, 2011 11:53:37 GMT
I think that the New Year's eve menu at the Kerouac residence is taking a turn in the direction of stuffed crabs. In which case I may be going elsewhere... ;D |
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;D).
