So even though I'm finished with culinary school my adventures in cooking have not ended. I'm still thinking of and preparing new recipes, and my husband and I are (somewhat in vain) trying to compose a cookbook. And, we are smack in the middle of my favorite time of year, the Holiday season of November and December. I love cooking all day for tons of people, enjoying the entire cooking and eating experience in all of its glory. Over Thanksgiving, we spent it with my husband's family, where things are a bit different from my family's traditional Thanksgiving. In my family, my mom and I spend the entire day prepping and cooking, just the two of us in the kitchen. In his family, the men take over. It's a great thing to watch, as the boys smoke the turkeys, my husband spending the entire day outside doing who knows what with the huge smoker. The day turned out amazing, tons of food provided by many, and another terrific surprise of my sister-in-law's engagement to a great guy.
However, after a very mild on my part Thanksgiving, I decided that it was necessary to have a holiday party in Austin where I could truly be in the kitchen the entire day. So my friend and I decided to throw a holiday party (at her house, which was awesome) and we set about planning the menu. We decided to leave the meat up to the boys - allowing them to go to Costco and pick out whatever they wanted (with the exception of fajitas). They picked prime rib. After some recipe hunting, discussions and deliberations we decided on this menu:
Butternut Squash Soup with Fried Sage Leaves
Black Pepper Biscuits
Brussel Sprouts with Roasted Shallots
Roasted Cauliflower with Leeks and Onions with Caper Aioli
Stuffed Peppers with Cannellini Beans, Mushrooms and Basil
Sweet Potato Gratin
Prime Rib with Au Jus
Individual Orange Butter Cakes with Creme Anglaise
A couple of these items were old favorites of mine, the brussel sprouts come out every year, as well as the butternut squash soup and cauliflower. However, the stuffed peppers and sweet potato gratin were both recipe Tina had found - and they both turned out delicious. I had never made the cakes before - and after some brief problems finding ramekins - they turned out absolutely fantastic. My husband took care of the prime rib and au jus - which smelled amazing (although I didn't partake). The black pepper biscuits were fantastic and I highly recommend them to anyone (I include the recipe later). We had a slight problem when baking them as the cream applied to the top of the biscuits steamed up the oven and turned the house into slightly like a sauna. BUT, the biscuits turned out perfectly and were quite delicious. (We couldn't stop eating them). The sweet potato gratin was extremely creamy and completely infused with thyme, I'm going to try and make one lactose free next time. I bet I can do it. However, I do have to say that in my book the winner was the Individual Butter Orange Cakes. One of my go-to items is an apple tarte tatin, and this cake was similar in the fact that you bake the cake upside down with the fruit on the bottom and then flip it after baking. Instead of apples and a carmel sauce - this cake called for orange sections and brown sugar. Then a batter infused with tons of orange zest. All baked in individual ramekins. And topped off with a delicious creme anglaise. (I don't make my creme anglaise very sweet - just tons and tons of vanilla.)
The dinner was a success, filled with tons of wine, Liz's amazing punch, great food and great friends. Followed by a rousing game of apples-to-apples and some football. It was a great night in my book.
Here are pictures.
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| Beautiful Table Scape a la Tina |
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| Butter Orange Cakes before being turned over |
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| Liz's Delicious Champange Punch (with apple ice rink!) |
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| Best Black Pepper Biscuits ever. |
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| D carving the prime rib |
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| Prime Rib! |
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| Cheers! |
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| MEAT |
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| Brussel Sprouts and Shallots. |
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| Roasted Cauliflower with Leeks |
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| Meg's veggie plate - with Stuffed Bell Peppers and Sweet Potato Gratin |
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| A meat plate. |
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| Lou's plate. |
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| Happy full friends |
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| Orange Butter Cake with Creme Anglaise |
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| This is what happens when you eat too much. |
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| Full girls. |
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| Full boys. |
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| Too much food. |
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| Haha - unhappy and full Tines. |
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt a bowl - also add a grind or two of black pepper here. Scatter the butter (MUST BE COLD AND CHOPPED) over the top of the flour mixture and mix with hands until mealy. Don't overmix Add the buttermilk and continue to mix - again, don't overmix. Place onto surface and mix together - it's okay if it's still slightly falling apart. Pat out into a thick layer, around 3-5 inches thick depending on how large of biscuits you want. Use a cookie cutter to make biscuits - I recommend using a slightly smaller cutter - little biscuits are the best. Repeat patting out and using the rest of the dough.
Place the biscuits on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper; brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake the biscuits for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter (if desired, it's not really necessary).
