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Thursday, December 19, 2012    

The year has flown by and here we are with Christmas looming next week. Jim and I are heading to Atlanta to visit family, and we'll do a lot of cooking while we're there. I think the tenderloin with crabmeat described below is certainly on the Christmas Eve dinner menu.

I've been making a slow-braised beefy pasta sauce for my nephews for years, even going so far as to drag frozen blocks of pasta sauce onto airplanes with me so I could feed them while vacationing together without having to spend a day in the kitchen. One year, my husband and I flew in a few days before our beach condo was ready, and I talked the hotel's chef into storing my sauce in his freezer so my nephews wouldn't be disappointed. All I had to do was explain the food tradtion - he got it and tucked it away for me.

I've been reading a lot about holiday food traditions, and two really stand out in completely different ways. First, oysters are big in France, but interestingly enough, amost HALF the yearly oyster harvest is consumed between Christmas and New Year. Should you desire to make like a Frenchman and live on oysters that week yourself, here's a collection of oyster recipes.

Next, it seems that Kentucky Fried Chicken is huge in Japan at Christmas, even though it is not a national holiday in that country. People order "party barrels" in advance, and stand in long lines Christmas day to buy chicken. (Obviously, they've never tried far superior Popeyes fried chicken.)

There's still a small window of time for you to order subscriptions to Louisiana Kitchen & Culture as Christmas gifts. We'll mail out the Collector's Package, and/or postcards notifying recipients of gift subscriptions, through close of business Friday, December 21. Order early, though, to ensure pre-Christmas delivery.

Enjoy this week's recipes, and as always, let us know what's on your mind.

Best-

Susan FOrd                                                              

Susan Ford, President

Our Kitchen & Culture

http://louisiana.kitchenandculture.com

jyl@kitchenandculture.com

susan@kitchenandculture.com

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Crabmeat Gratin

Susan Spicer's Crabmeat Gratin

This recipe combines crabmeat with artichokes and mushrooms; one whiff and you will be immediately transported to New Orleans.

Chef Susan Spicer published Crescent City Cooking in 2007, but it will never go out of date. I am the proud owner of an autographed copy and you can be too: order it via her website.


Tenderloin with Crab and Bearnaise

Tenderloin with Crab and Bearnaise

It doesn't get much more decadent than this. Perfectly seasoned beef tenderloin is cooked to your desired degree of doneness, then topped with gently sauteed jumbo lump crabmeat, and finished with a rich, creamy bearnaise sauce. If that doesn't scream perfect holiday dinner, I don't know what will.

Get the recipe here.


Turn to Rouses for Holiday Help:

rouses holiday help center


Green Bean Casserole

Modern Green Bean Casserole

Surely everyone has been presented at one time or another with a tired casserole of canned green beans and Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, topped with soggy fried onions. Straight from the test kitchens of Cook's Illustrated, this modernized recipe should rejuvenate anyone's taste buds.

I highly recommend stirring in a cup of diced tasso or smoked andouille sausage just before you add the topping, and, if you have a good Asian market nearby, pick up a jar each of fried onions, shallots, and garlic. Use a mixture of the three in place of the canned fried onions they call for.

Get the Recipe Here


Christmas Cranberry Cocktail

Christmas Cranberry Cocktail

Here's a little holiday cheer: thread cranberries on a wooden skewer and top it with something festive for a unique swizzle stick.

For the cocktail, mix up some vodka, cranberry and pomegranite juice, and a squeeze of lime. Delicious!

Get the Recipe Here


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Dec 1, 2012 to Dec 30, 2012

Baton Rouge: Zoolights


Dec 17, 2012 to Dec 31, 2012

DeQuincy: Christmas at the Railroad Museum


Dec 22, 2012

Donaldsonville: Donaldsonville Christmas parade

Plaquemine: Holly Jolly Christmas Festival


Dec 31, 2012

Lafayette: New Year’s Noon Countdown & Carnival

Vinton: WAR - New Years Eve Party!


Dec 31, 2012 to Jan 1, 2013

New Orleans: New Year's Eve in New Orleans


200+ Events Listed Here

 

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