Holiday: Christmas (10)
This is possibly the best Jalapeño Popper that you will ever eat. Think Jalapeño Poppers on steroids. The cheese filling is a flavorful blend of equal parts of Gorgonzola Cheese (a pungently flavorful Italian Blue Cheese) and Neufchatel Cheese (Cream Cheese with lower milkfat). Each Armadillo Egg is wrapped in bacon. 'Nough said...
Barbacoa (Shredded Beef Roast) is the classic Sunday afternoon family dinner meal. However, roast beef is not always the easiest meal to make. An under-cooked roast won't shred properly, and an overcooked roast will be dry and tasteless. But fear not! With this simple recipe, a consistently perfect shredded Chuck Roast is easy to achieve. Marinade the roast, give it a nice sear, and add it to the Slow Cooker for about 8 hours. Shred the finished beef and add back into the flavorful au jus for the perfect Barbacoa, every time!
Crème Fraîche is a traditional creamy French sauce, made by mixing cultured Buttermilk and Heavy Cream and then incubating the culture to thicken the cream. Crème Fraîche can be a tasty addition to fresh fruit, a thickener for sauces, or even added as a creamy thickener for soups. Because of the high percentage of milk fat, Crème Fraîche can survive high heat, even boiling, without breaking down. This recipe can be easily scaled to produce a larger yield by maintaining a buttermilk/cream ratio of 1:8. Note: Buttermilk that does not have an active culture will fail to incubate properly. The Borden brand "Country Store Bulgarian Cultured Whole Buttermilk" seems to be available most places across the US.
This recipe can be prepared using a Slow Cooker (for about 3 hours) or using a Ceramic-Lined Cast Iron Dutch Oven (for about 30 minutes). The benefit of using the Slow Cooker, is that you can mix the recipe and then start the Slow Cooker before Dinner starts.
The Holidays just aren't the same without a glass of Egg Nog. It is surprisingly easy to make at home, with ingredients that you probably already have. From-scratch G'Nog tastes better than the stuff you buy in the store, and it doesn't have all the high-fructose corn syrup and added thickening agents. Eating raw, unpasteurized eggs can pose a potential health risk of salmonella contamination, but you can easily pasteurize eggs using your Sous Vide.
This is an easy side dish to add some green to your meal. The Lime and Pecorino Cheese will kick your Brussels Sprouts to the next level.
Leftover Mashed Potatoes are often left to sit in the refrigerator for a few weeks until they are eventually discarded. This is an easy, tasty, and fun way to use the leftovers that might ordinarily go to waste. Eat warm or drizzle with leftover gravy.
This sweet and savory sauce is easy to make. This tasty reduction goes well with any white meat. It is a versatile base that can be mixed with a wide range of flavors, including Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Greek Yogurt, Creme Fraiche, and other flavors.
Baked Potato Skins make a great appetizer or snack. While 5 pounds might at first seem like a lot of potatoes, it will never seem like you made enough. Additionally, these can be prepared before-hand and then refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to 7 days. Simply reheat for 10 minutes at 375° to serve warm or serve at room temperature.
Wassail is a festive holiday fruity drink that is typically consumed warm. This drink has the added benefit of making the whole house smell like Christmas exploded in your kitchen. This Wassail can simmer all day long. Just spoon the servings directly into mugs, while the pot continues to simmer.
