Usually only end up on NB when someone somewhere else goes OMG you gotta see the thread over on NB. Usually a less than amicable discussion.
I have thought about picking up a bottle of zwack many a time. Haven’t yet…again, got some other spirits queueing in front of them (calvados, akvavit, maybe a bottle of ouzo again). Anyway, looks like a good, and unique feast…not at all the “usual suspects” of the Christmas dinner table, which is nice.
I’ve got a rib roast I’m semi-dry-aging (actually the dry aging thing is my excuse for holding the beef a week in the refrigerator) and I’ll be doing an apparently stereotypical Christmas roast beef tomorrow, although it’ll be a first for me, my family always did ham and/or brisket. Roasted potatoes and a good nip of tawny port should make for a great dinner, perhaps followed with a sleepy respite into a Wodehouse novel.
BTW, the parents were kind enough to give a very generous gift of some triple-clad stainless cookware for Christmas, I’m going to have to prove myself worthy of these mirror-finished beauties.
Here is more on the story of the Zwack Family. Sounds like it wouyld make a good movie.
Funny that their logo has a swimmer cause the first time I had a couple of these it lowered my inhabitions enough to skinny dip in lake Balaton. I swam out and was very lucky that I was able to swim back in.
Very Nice Dinner Capp!
We had some crab bisque, grilled prime rib loin steaks, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted red peppers, roasted Spanish Onion and steamed asparagas. Sorry, no pics. :-[
I tried an Old Rasputin (Russian Imperial Stout that was exploding with roasted malt goodness. A nice warmer!
Oh and I almost forgot to mention… I made some flatbread too…It’s Indian Roti. I cooked it on a cast iron skillet with a dab of oil per Roti.
You better. ;D
I can’t wait to hear about you cooking adventures with the new cookware. 8)
wow - first run with Raspy?? - that’s a tasty one - one of my faves.
About to go start cooking the rib…yum…
So Bluesman, how did the roti turn out?
I haven’t had much success yet. I can make parathas and chapatis but so far the roti eludes me.
When I make it-it is pretty decent flat bread. Its just not the large stretchy, resilient stuff I know “Buss-up-shut” Trinidadian roti to be.
Here is a video of them making it in a Trinidad stand. See how it is almost crepe like. It is yellow to from the turmeric and spices that are added to the dough. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7-wMOYaRls
There is defiantly a trick to the Trini roti that I havent figured out yet.
So what ya guys doin for New Years dinner? I think I may do a crown roast of pork if I can get enough people over. If not just a smaller rib roast. Oh, and sauerkraut too.
this.
just haven’t decided on sides yet…
Oh, you have to include sauerkraut. It makes for good luck.
Not sure if I will do the crown roast. I was at the butcher today and he told me that it is $75 for a stuffed, Frenched crown roast of pork. :o
To rich for my blood.
You mean one of these bad boys.
For that price…I’ll pass and smoke a shoulder that will be just as good if not better.
The Roti was a first run for me and will be tried again. I use flour, salt, oil and water. I pan cook it on a cast iron skillet over a sprinkle of oil. The key is not to overknead the dough, to roll them as thin as possible and “time and temp”. It wasn’t bad for my first attempt. Next time I will roll them thinner and start out with a hotter skillet.
I can get a beef tenderloin for that money. For a few bucks more I can buy a whole roasted pig!
We usually do lobster tails and pesto pasta. Nothing crazy. But I do have a 1980 bottle of Dom I need to see if it’s still good.
-OCD
Christmas eve was 16 oz. lobster tails, asparagus, green beans, twice baked potatoes, and Poully-Fuisse for drink. Christmas was lamb roast, smoked ham, carrot salad, Amish style potato filling, various other vegetable matter, cheesecake, carrot cake and chocolate cream pie. My birthday was halfshell oystewrs, crabcakes, stuffed oysters, crab imperial, and crab au gratin, twice baked taters (again), coleslaw, broiled scallops, washed down with a couple DFH 60 minute IPAs. I think I gained 7 pounds. :o
yeah, we bailed on the pork roast too - its incredibly expensive this year - I was going to make some pork schnitzel last night and switched to chicken cutlets instead 9.49/lb for boneless pork chops vs. 4.00/lb for chix breast :o
I would be all over the sauerkraut if I were cooking it at my house, but I’m cooking with my M-in-law at her house - my wife’s fam is very, very Italian - I think I’m the first non-paisan ever…
Hmm, Italian. Id like to think I know a little bit about this.
You could make Zampone, very traditional Italian New Years fare. That is stuffed pigs feet. Pigs feet should be much less then the rib roast.
My grandmom did sausage and lentils on New Years. Real good luck with this one as the winds of the new year blow.
For dessert you should do Struffoli. a pyramid stack of honey balls. MMM…nothing says happy new year like a pile of sticky balls.
Pork and Sauerkraut is the food for the new year in my house!
As has been the case for hundreds of years…What do black-eyed peas, sauerkraut, grapes and noodles have in common?
They’re all foods eaten to ring in the new year around the world. Regionally, pork and sauerkraut is the traditional meal prepared to celebrate the first of the year.
And you can get some decent cuts of pork for decent prices these days. 8)
Tell that to blatz!
redbeerman has a good menu, sucks to be in the midwest WRT seafood.
Hell’s bells man! :o I make schnitzel out of whole pork loin, which generally goes for $1.99 a lb, or $1.50 on sale! Likewise $4 a lb is a bit steep for chicken too. Around here boneless/skinless is a bit over $2 a lb, and whole chickens run from 70c to a dollar a lb.
Our traditional New Year’s Day meal is a fresh ham (not smoked), mashed taters w/ dark pork gravy made from the ham (stuff of the gods I tell ya) and black-eyed pea salad (blackeyed peas, carrots, red and green peppers, onions, in a sweet/sour vinaigrette.
What, no seafood? I was thinking you lived on a boat or something. 
We eat seafood 2 or 3 times a week normally. I think I’ve had it everyday since Christmas eve. :P New Years Day is all about fresh pork and black-eyed peas. Don’t forget to burn your bayberry candle down on New Years Eve. ;D