Christmas Dinner At Our House

This year we hosted En's family for their Christmas Dinner which is held annually on Boxing Day. The time was drawing close and no one had offered to host, so in the spirit of the holidays to ensure tradition continued, we opened up our home to everyone.

Their family does Christmas in a potluck style which suited me just fine, because I was all cooked out. I tried to take pictures of everything, but as the arrival time of the food was staggered I missed the last few dishes, but they are listed below. This menu is typically representative of their Christmas meal, with the exception of the bird. There was no way in hell I was going to attempt a turkey for the first time completely solo the day after a full week of Christmas visiting and exhaustion.

What you are contributing:appetizers, snacks, desserts, vegetable entrée, meat entrée, carbs (rice/pasta/noodles/potatoes), alcohol*
Tio Rudy/ Tita Encar	Richard/ Sharon	Butch/ Thet	Valerie/ Justin/ Paola	Tito Dodong
Fried Calamari Fried Pork Chop	Portuguese Chicken Portuguese Rice Portuguese Potatoes	Popeye's Chicken	Filipino Spaghetti	Biko (dessert)

 

What you are contributing:appetizers, snacks, desserts, vegetable entrée, meat entrée, carbs (rice/pasta/noodles/potatoes), alcohol*
Caesar/Grace	Ash/Justin	Uncle Boy/ Ante Digna	En/ Mish	Den/ Jev
Korean vegetarian sweet potato noodles Green Beans Dessert Sqares	Rotinni Alfredo with Chicken and Spinach	White Rice Lumpia Filipino Dessert Tray Fruit salad Fried Plantain	Beef Curry Mash Potatoes Dressed Salad H'ors Douvres: Olives, Cheese Salmon Cream Cheese, Sausage, Crackers Pop & Bottled Water MOM: CheeseSandwiches Baked Pasta White Cake	Coffee Almond Ice Cream Torte

 

UNTENSILS	PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING
Dinner plates	En/ Mish
Dessert plates	En/ Mish
Napkins	En/ Mish
Utensils	En/ Mish
Drinks (non-alcoholic)	En/ Mish
Cups	En/ Mish

Portuguese Chicken - courtesy of Sharon & Richard / Popeye's Chicken - courtesy of Butch & Theresa

Rice - courtesy of Ma / Lettuce and Carrot 'Roasted Red Pepper' Dressed Salad - courtesy of me

Pork & Ricotta Conchiglioni - courtesy of Mom / Steamed Garlic Green Beans - courtesy of Grace

Rotini Chicken Alfredo with Spinach - Justin B & Ashley

Vegetarian Glass Noodles - courtesy of Grace

Mash Potatoes - courtesy of me

Beef Curry - courtesy of me

Crab Curry

My favourite curry ever. Hands down.

If I have one pet peeve, it's when a dish is referred to as '...in a curry sauce.' Maybe in asian cuisines this is acceptable, but to me, an authentic curry of any cuisine (and this is an absolute for Caribbean curries) a curry is defined by the meat or vegetable cooked in it. The sauce of a curry is flavoured by that ingredient. You do not make the curry and then add the meat to it; you create the base for the sauce and add the meat, which helps to develop the flavour of the sauce. You cannot slap the sauce from a chicken curry on fish and call it fish curry. If a West Indian tastes the sauce and cannot tell you what kind of curry it comes from, they are not worth their weight.

My rant over, I will say that crab has a flavour that clings well to curry (probably oil soluble?) and is all around hearty while sweet at the same time. My husband doesn't prefer it for all the work required to get at the flesh, but to me, the best tasting foods need some effort put in to reap the delicious rewards.

Big Pot of Crab Curry for Easter Lunch

Crab Curry

Sri Lankan Sea Crab, or King Crab		2 lbs, on knuckle
Potato		5 large, peeled and cubed (1.5")
Onion		2 med onions, chopped
Garlic		6 cloves, minced
Tomato Paste		2 tbsp (heaped)
Coconut Milk		3/4 cup
Maririri Pepper		4 (depending on your heat preference)
Curry Powder (Sri Lankan)		6 tbsp
Cumin (parched)		3 tbsp (ground)
Turmeric		1 tbsp (ground)
Sea Salt		1 tsp
Canola Oil		2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Wash and clean crab legs in lemon water
2. Pour canola oil into pot on med-high heat
3. Saute onions and garlic until translucent
4. Add tomato paste and stir until mixture is coated and paste begins to sizzle
5. Add curry powder, cumin and turmeric
6. Cook out all moisture until the paste begins to fry
7. Add potatoes and stir to coat
8. Cover and let cook on medium heat until partially cooked
9. Add crab, increase heat to medium high and stir to coat
10. When mixture barely begins to sizzle, add coconut milk
11. Add enough just-boiled water to cover and stir briefly
12. Add whole maririri peppers
13. Partially cover and bring to a boil
14. Reduce heat to medium, stir once, and let cook uncovered for approximately 20-30 minutes.
15. Skim the fat continuously. I've said before: most people don't do this, but in our family we cook flavourful food as healthy as possible.
16. Reduce heat to low for fifteen minutes and continue skimming fat
17. Stir. The liquid will have turned to a thickened sauce. Turn off heat and remain covered until ready to serve. Traditionally, seafood and fish curries are served over rice, not roti.

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Button Mushrooms

Tenderloin is one of the healthiest cuts of meat you can eat. There are many ways to season the tenderloin for a variety of side pairings. I have four seasoning methods which can slightly vary but each are great bases from which to jump off into whatever creation you desire. With all seasonings, the longer it sits in the marinade, the better. This meal below paired well with mushrooms, which is a bonus for time saving, because you can toss it in the oven with the tenderloin and let the oven do the cooking. I'm sure time saving is the priority of every parent who is also responsible for providing a healthy dinner.

Rosemary Garlic Pork Tenderloin

Roasted Button Mushrooms

Provincial Seasoning

Garlic		4 cloves, minced
Rosemary		1 1/2 tbsp
Bay Leaf		1, ground
Sage		1 tsp, rubbed
White Wine Vinegar		2 tbsp
Black Pepper		1 tsp, ground
Sea Salt		1/2 tsp
Canola Oil		1 tbsp

Morrocan Seasoning
(I am aware of the irony in using an Arabic palate on swine)

Garlic		4 cloves, minced
Pomegranate Molasses		1 1/2 tbsp
Lemon Juice		1 lemon
Coriander		1 tbsp
Cloves		1 cloves ground
Cumin		1/2 tsp
Black Pepper		1 tsp, ground
Sea Salt		1/2 tsp
Olive Oil		1 btsp

Cantonese Seasoning

Garlic		4 cloves, minced
Sweet Red Wine Vinegar		2 tbsp
Shallot		2, minced
Star Anise		1, ground
Black Pepper		1 tsp, ground
Soy Sauce		1/2 tsp
Sesame Oil		1 tsp

Greek Seasoning

Garlic		4 cloves, minced
Lemon Juice		1 lemon
Lemon Zest		1 lemon
Plain Yogurt		1/4 cup
Bay Leaf		1, ground
Thyme		2 tbsp
Black Pepper		1 tsp, ground
Sea Salt		1/2 tsp
Olive Oil		1 tbsp

Roasted Button Mushrooms

Mushrooms		4 cups
Garlic		1 clove, minced
Thyme		1tbsp
Black Pepper		1 tsp, ground
Sea Salt		1/4 tsp
Olive Oil		1 tbsp

Tenderloin Preparation:

1. Wash and trim tenderloin of silverskin
2. Stab tenderloin repeatedly on all sides. Great stress reliever. Just don't catch your fingers in your enthusiasm. This step seems counter intuitive, but once the meat is cooked you will not notice the incisions, and making these slits will allow maximum flavour penetration, necessary for such a lean cut of meat.
3. Rub tenderloin with seasoning, massaging in to all the slits
4. Allow to sit in marinade for at least 1 hr (overnight in plastic bag with air removed is best)
5. Allow tenderloin to come to room temperature
6. Place on roasting rack and pour (or pat) remaining marinade on top of the tenderloin
7. Set oven to 330F and roast uncovered for 20-25 minutes
8. Remove from oven and tent for 10 minutes
9. Carve into medallions when ready to serve

Mushroom Preparation:

1. Wash and cut mushrooms into quarters or sixths
2. Toss in remaining ingredients
3. Empty into roasting tray
4. Roast in oven on 330F for 20-25 minutes or until Mushrooms and juices sizzle