Christmas Eve Dinner

My mother demanded suggested I host Christmas Eve and invite the family over for dinner. Being super-ambitious, I decided to plan three courses, consisting of six different items. This, just a little, resulted in my flipping out the entire week preceding Christmas Eve, amplified by a massive bug turning up at work that kept me in the office past the grocery store's closing time.

Appetizer
I decided to start the meal with a festive seafood trio - pan seared scallop with roasted green bell pepper sauce, crab rangoon with red sweet and sour sauce, and salmon vol-au-vent with white sauce. I managed to make them all at the same time without destroying any! It did take quite a bit of juggling with the stove top though - luckily we have five burners!

Recipes:
Pan Seared Scallops with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce - I substituted green bell pepper instead and it worked out fine.

Crab Rangoon: Preheat oven to 375F. Mix one 8oz package softened cream cheese with two 6oz cans of drained crab meat, salt and pepper to taste. Put a very small dollop (about 1tsp) on a wonton wrapper. Wet the wrapper around the crab with water and seal - try to squeeze out as much air as possible. Brush with egg wash (optional). Bake at 375F for 15min. For the sweet and sour sauce, saute 1/2 cup of ketchup in 1 Tbsp vegetable oil with sugar to taste (start with 1/4 cup and add until you like the taste).

Salmon Vol-au-vent: Prepare puff pastry vol-au-vent shells according to instructions on package. Salt 3/4lb salmon (cut into small cubes) and let sit for 15min. Melt 2 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Sift in 2 Tbsp flour a little at a time and mix thoroughly. Stir in 1/2 cup milk and (optional) a dash of thyme. Add the salmon and let cook (about 5min). Salt and pepper to taste, then spoon into pastry shells.

Entree
Half my family really like their meat, and the other half really like their seafood, so I decided to be super ambitious and make two main courses. I eventually settled on levying my roommate's stuffed grape leaves recipe for one main dish and making a shrimp fettuccine for the other main dish. Everyone was too busy serving and eating that I forgot to take a decent picture. :( Oh well, just believe me that it looked and tasted pretty good. :) I used whole-grain fettuccine and brown rice for the grape leaves, so it was relatively healthy, too!

Recipe:
Creamy Shrimp and Broccoli Fettuccine - I substituted half-and-half and ended up with a very liquidy sauce. :/ I also added a lot more broccoli because I realized I didn't actually have a vegetable dish. I did add a spinach salad at some point though.

Dessert
For dessert, I thought and I thought and I decided one dessert I really like but haven't yet made was tiramisu. It took me awhile to figure out how to best plate it, but I eventually got it. (I made three friends come over to help eat the trials as I attempted to make it look pretty.)

Recipe:
Simple Tiramisu - I halved the recipe since I wasn't making a whole cake. For the martini glass presentation: cut each ladyfinger in half before soaking in coffee. Put one piece on the bottom of the glass, drizzle some cream over it to cover, sift some cocoa powder on, and repeat twice for a three-layer dessert. It looked excellent - the only complaint I received was that the portion was too small. :D

I remade the tiramisu for my parents' new year's party - and this time I made the entire thing from scratch. A drier, even less sweet cake was requested, so I modified the recipe a bit.

1. For the ladyfingers, I made a sheet cake from a generic ladyfinger recipe: Grease and flour a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350F. Beat 6 egg whites until foamy. Add 1/4 tsp cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form. Slowly beat in 6 tbsp sugar. In a separate bowl, beat 6 egg yolks, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract for 5-6 min, until it's a thick, pale yellow batter. Sift 1 cup flour over egg yolk batter. Fold the egg whites into the yolk and flour. Mix only until incorporated - do NOT overmix. Spread the mixture on the baking sheet and bake for 20-22 min, until the cake is firm and slightly brown.

2. Mix 2 tbsp brandy with about 3/4 cup strong coffee and chill.

3. Beat 1 cup heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Mix 1 lb mascarpone cheese with 1/3 cup sugar, fold into cream.

4. Put one piece of cake in the serving dish. Pour the coffee/brandy over it, until just wet (about 6 tbsp in the dish I used). Cover with 1/2 the cream mixture. Sift unsweetened cocoa powder over it until just covered. Repeat for a second layer.

All-in-all, I like to think this dinner was a success. I even made up menus and everything for each place setting! Mom said she was impressed, and that's all that mattered to me. :)