Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

It has been a season full of love, laughter and awesome food.  We returned home yesterday and I have had little time to unpack, let alone cook, so I am offering you a pictorial review of our holiday.  Hope your holiday was as happy an occasion as ours was.

For our Christmas Eve dinner Kristen made Ina Garten’s Short Ribs.  The casserole was assembled with lots of root vegetables.

The short ribs were roasted to brown and then added to the casserole.

Cam Man, looking “oh so cool” and Gampy waiting for dinner.

Rachel and the neighbor kids toasting the holiday with sparkling grape juice.

Gampy reading Rachel a Christmas Eve bedtime story.  What makes it special is that it is one that Gampy wrote himself.  It is called Rachel and the Wizard of Lake Lure.

Michael and Kristen on Christmas day at the family celebration at her sister’s home.

Uncle Jeff’s 19 hour smoked brisket.  This is just a small portion of the 11 pound roast.  Just look at that beautiful smoke ring.  It was unbelieveably delicious.

We spent the New Years weekend in Charleston with our good friends.  On Friday night Johnny and Karen made a low country boil with shrimp, sausages, potatoes and corn.

We had mussels on the side.

Johnny also brought the appetizers.  With that grin he could do a commercial for Cheez-Its.

For New Years Eve we did steaks and baked potatoes.

Barbara made a delicious salad.

The cooks wish all of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is an easy shrimp dish with a New Orleans slant.  We have been traveling so much this holiday season that I have found easy meals, while we are home, the only option.  We got back to Florida yesterday and are heading to Charleston for New Years with our friends tomorrow.

Enjoy the New Year’s celebrations and I will see you back here in 2012.  My blog’s 4th anniversary is approaching and I will be having a giveaway and hopefully a new look.

CAJUN SHRIMP STEW (Gourmet Magazine)

2 tablespoons vegetale oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small celery rib, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped geen bell pepper
1 cup bottled clam juice (8 fl oz)
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/4 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallion greens

Accompaniment: White Rice

Stir together oil and flour in a 10-inch heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron) with a metal or wooden spatula, then cook over moderate heat, scraping back and forth constantly, until roux is the color of light milk chocolate, 10 to 12 minutes.

Add onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook, scraping back and forth occasionally, until bell pepper is softened, about 8 minutes.  Stir in clam juice, water, salt, and cayenne and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is thickened, 8 to 10 minutes.  Stir in shrimp and simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is just cooked through, 3 to 4 mintues.  Stir in scallion greens and salt to taste.

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From our family to yours.  Our Christmas card was designed by Kristen’s stationery company, The Green Kangaroo.  Photographs by Azul Photography.  See you after the holidays.  Hopefully I will have a new blog design to share with you.

This is going to be just a quick post.  We are with our family in North Carolina getting ready for Christmas.  We took Rachel to a huge Mall today.  Santa was there, but she chose not to sit on his lap or talk to him.  She said he already knew what she wanted . . . . I love the mind of a five year old.

This chicken is easy and delicious.  It was one of the quick meals I prepared before we left Florida.  The tropical fruit, lime juice, tequilla and orange juice give it a festive air.  Enjoy the holidays.

MARGARITA-BRAISED CHICKEN THIGHS

1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoon garlic powder
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cooking spray
1 cup thinly sliced onion
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dried tropical fruit
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup tequila
1 lime, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small baking dish.  Sprinkle chicken with salt; dredge chicken in flour mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.  Transfer chicken to an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Add onion to pan; cook 3 minutes.  Add garlic,and saute 1 minute.

Combine fruit, juice, and tequila in a microwave-safe dish, and microwave at HIGH 2 minutes.  Pour fruit mixture into pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.  Cook 1 minute.  Pour onion mixture over chicken; top with lime slices.  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

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The holidays are upon us whether we are ready or not.  This is the first year in a long time that I have remained calm and accepting of all of the myriad tasks left to do.  We will be traveling back to North Carolina to spend Christmas with our family and enjoy the joy of Christmas through children’s eyes.  We have not put up a tree.  Only wreaths adorn our front door.  I have not made cookies and most of my shopping has been done online.  I am taking the Peace and Joy of the season to heart.

But you can’t expect me to totally ignore the wonderful food possibilities for a Christmas meal.  Dried fruits, whether used in fruitcakes or figgy pudding,  are a part of the season.  Pair them with a beautiful pork roast and you have the star of the show for your holiday table.

This simple pork roast is so festive and delicious that I plan to make it every year.  There are a few ingredients that you may not have on hand, but they are worth purchasing.  Cardamom is not a spice that was in my spice cabinet.  When I saw the price of it, I almost turned away, but being the curious cook that I am, I went ahead and bought it.  Cardamom is an Indian spice with a strong flavor.  Very little is needed to impart it’s distinct spicy notes.  It is used in many Indian desserts and is an important ingredient in the Finnish sweet bread, Pulla.  I have seen recipes for cardamom sugar cookies online and think I will make them, just because I can.  Pear nectar is another important ingredient in this recipe.  Because the pork and dried apples and figs are seasoned with spices like cinnamon and cardamom,  a fruity liquid makes perfect sense.  Add port and cream to the finishing sauce and you have a dish that just screams CELEBRATION.

Give this a try.  I will be back next week from North Carolina with more holiday cheer. 

CARDAMOM PORK ROAST WITH APPLES AND FIGS (Cooking Light)

Roast:
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
1 (3-pound) pork loin, trimmed
Cooking spray
2 cups dried figs, halved lengthwise
2 cups dried apples
1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger
3/4 cup pear nectar
1 (14 ounce) can low sodium chicken broth

Sauce:
1/2 cup pear nectar
1/2 cup port
2 tablespoons currant jelly
1/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

To prepare roast, combine first 9 ingredients in a small bowl.  Rub mixture over surface of roast; place in a shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray.

Place figs, apples, and crystallized ginger around roast.  Pour 3/4 cup nectar and broth over fruit.  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees F., stirring fruit frequently.  Remove from oven; place roast on a carving board, and place fruit in a bowl using a slotted spoon.

To prepare sauce, pour any pan juices into a sauce pan.  Add 1/2 cup pear nectar, port, and jelly; bring to a boil.  Cook 4 minutes or until thick enough to lightly coat back of a spoon.  Stir in heavy cream; simmer 2 minutes or until sauce has thickened, stirring occasionally.

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