Two weeks ago, I shared the Freeze Family Christmas menu with you. Everything went perfectly, and I was thrilled by the response. The creamy turnip greens were thought to be spinach by most, and as I predicted, something that creamy and flavorful is just good, no matter the green that’s used. I didn’t have any cornstarch, so I made a white sauce (a Southern casserole’s best friend), adding gruyere and jalapeno jack cheese. The scalloped potatoes were perfect. And I followed the recipe to the letter.
My tenderloin was cooked medium rare in the middle and medium on the ends, so there was something for everyone.
There were few leftovers of vegetables. For some reason, I did find two peeled potatoes in the fridge so I just made potato salad. I overestimated on the beef, and there was a lot of tenderloin left. No way did it go to waste. We had sandwiches, of course, for a few days. I also made delicious really simple tacos by cutting the meat in thick slices and then into strips. I took those and heated them in a mixture of sauteed onions and good salsa spiked with Cajun seasoning and also added the four leftover roasted cherry tomatoes. And I thought no one would eat them. A dab of guacamole (we keep it simple with avocado and lime juice only) on top and a sprinkle of cheese made for a light supper. Another night I cut the meat into thinner strips and made a sauce of sour cream and beef broth. I served this over egg noodles for a quick-fix version of beef stroganoff.
Christmas morning, I made a small breakfast casserole for Terry and me. It was just enough for about four servings, so we had some on the day after as well. Recipes for breakfast casserole are pretty much the same: eggs, milk and bread with the addition of meat, cheese and sauteed vegetables as desired, plus seasoning. Here again, and against my cooking nature, I followed a recipe, and darn if it wasn’t one of the best ever. The recipe is below. I substituted cubed sauteed ham steak for pancetta, but I did manage to find egg-enriched buns which I left out overnight to dry. There was no dry mustard in the pantry, so I used Dijon instead.
All of this sounds like a lot of rich eating. We recognize this and, trust me, I don’t cook this way every day. We also cut out side dishes and unnecessary things like bread and dessert. So it’s mostly just the entree on the plate and maybe a green salad.
This week I’m trying out crock-pot ham. We have to have pork on New Year’s Day, along with Daddy’s Hoppin’ John. I’ll cook some turnip greens as well. We’ll be with family, and I want everyone to have the best of luck for 2017!
DADDY’S HOPPIN’ JOHN
Serves 4-6
3 tablespoons salt pork, small dice.
1/4 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup rice
1 cup chicken broth
1 can black-eyed peas, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
(Anne Freeze: As I said last year, this is not a sophisticated version. Daddy said he got it out of Gourmet magazine, and we always stuck with that story. But it does use canned peas, and he used canned chicken broth.)
HAM AND CHEESE BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
Serves 6-8 (*I cut recipe in half and had plenty for 4 servings)
4 cups loosely packed day-old egg-enriched bread, cut into 3/4″ cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 pound pancetta (thickly sliced), diced (I used ham)
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (I omitted)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
(Source: thekitchn.com)
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