Snow Covered Yule Log

Per Grandson's request, for 2010 Christmas dinner party, we made a snow covered yule log with rice crispie owl friends.

The cake is chiffon coconut cake filled with custard cream with raspberries.  Covered with creme chantilly sprinkled with powdered sugar.  The grandchildren made the rice crispie owls based on the Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga'Hoole.

Sauted Fresh Baby Pumpkin with Mixed Mushrooms

Prepare Mushrooms first
Ingredients
1 C Mushrooms, button and shiitake, chopped
2 Tb clarified butter
1/8 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper
2 Tb Chicken stock
1 Tb extra dry vermouth

Saute mushrooms in the heated butter.  

Add all ingredients. Cook to evaporate liquid from mushrooms. Cook till they are slightly golden brown. Remove from heat. 

Set aside.  (You can always have two saute pan going.)

Sauted Baby Pumpkin Ingredients
1 6" Fresh baby pumpkin off the vine, washed, peeled, Julienned

2 Tb clarified butter 

Pinch of salt

Pinch of white peppper

Julienne pumpkin.

Saute pumpkin in clarified butter for 1 minute. (Taste for tenderness - Check every 15 to 30 seconds.) 

Add less than half of the cooked mushrooms.  Heat through.  Remove from heat.

Arrange on individual serving plate.  Top with mushrooms.

Or, Serve as family style on a platter and top with the mushrooms.

Asparagus Wishing Well

*Prepare sauce first.

Cream Mushroom Sauce Ingredients
1 C Mushrooms, button and Shiitake, chopped
3 Shallots, sliced
2 Tb Butter *clarified butter)
1/8 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper
1/4 C Chicken stock
2 Tb extra dry vermouth
2 Tb heavy cream

Add butter to heated saute pan.  Add shallots and cook till tender, but not browned.  Without removing too much butter out of the saute pan, remove shallots to a small bowl and set aside.  Add mushrooms and saute to evaporate liquid. Add shallots to heat through.  Add rest of the ingredients.  Cook till the sauce is thick and reduced in liquid.

Set aside, keep warm.  When asparagus is ready, spoon the sauce to the center of the Asparagus.

Asparagus Ingredients
1 lb Asparagus, washed, snapped and diagonally cut 2 inch
3 Tb Butter

Heat saute pan, add butter, remove butter scum (basically clarify the butter).  Medium high heat.  Add Asparagus.  Saute 1 min.
Remove from heat.  Arrange an individual size on a serving plate with hollow center for cream mushroom sauce.

Extra sauted asparagus?  serve it on a platter.

ChickMum (Chicken tenders sauted in mushroom sauce)

ChickMum Ingredients
9 Chicken tenders
4 Tb butter

Mushroom Sauce Ingredients
1 C button mushrooms,chopped
1 C fresh Shiitake mushrooms, chopped
Two 1/4 tsp salt each
pinch Black pepper
1/2 C Chicken broth
2 Tb extra dry vermouth
2 Tb heavy cream

Saute chickens in 2 Tb of butter.  Add pinch of black pepper and 1/4  tsp salt.  Turn it over after one side is seared. Set aside.
Saute chopped mushrooms in 2 Tb of butter, 1/4 tsp of salt, pinch of black pepper, 1/2 C chicken broth, 2 Tb extra dry vermouth, 1/4 C  heavy cream.  Simmer to reduce the sauce until it is thick.
Add chickens just to heat through.  Remove from heat.
Arrange chicken tenders - individual servings on a plate.  Arrange some mushroom sauce on top of chicken tenders and dot the plate with mushroom sauce.  Serve.

Holiday Biscotti with Maraschino Cherries

This Biscotti is the same recipe as the other one I posted.  Add 10 well drained and squeezed and chopped maraschino cherries.

Dip in melted chocolate and coat with toasted almond slivers.

Pucker Up - Lemon Cookies

This is lemon cookies.  I call it the Pucker Up.  Add 1 Tb of lemon zest and 1/4 C lemon juice to the basic cookie recipe.  Then, powder up with powder sugar while they are still warm.

Healthy Green Drinks for the holidays

Don't forget to treat yourself to the simple refreshing green drinks.
Ingredients
Put the following ingredients into a blender in the order given
1 Kiwi, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large Golden Delicious Apple or 2 small, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 Cucumber, peeled and cored, cut into chunks
Juice from 1 lemon or Juice from 1 orange    (** remember to zest before squeezing and save them in freezer for the next baking project)
1/2 C Celery, washed and deveined -- Snap off 1 inch at one end and pull off the thread
1 C fresh spinach, washed
Add all ingredients into a blender to puree.
Serve
Enjoy!

MOCHI - SNOWMAN

Ho! Ho! HO! and Great Cheers! and a Greetings.
So, it's more fun time in the kitchen with Grand-kids.  More wishes and ideas cute cakes and cookies.  Here is from Good Ole' Japan's DAIFUKU MOCHI.  What else can this wonderful be presented other than by itself? hmm... and I came up with the Snowman!  Didn't know what to use to decorate it at first and even went a mile off to shop for gumdrops and so forth, but end up with Hershey's Kiss and Life Saver's Gummy Sours.
So follow the regular recipe for the DAIFUKU MOCHI in my blog, except that I used the powder form of DANGO powder that I found.  Much cheaper than the SHIRATAMAKO.
Have fun!
(Click on image for more details)