Comments on: Our First Christmas Dinner, 2013 –The Food

By: present tense

present tense — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 09:58:26 +0000

Escoffier has a bread and flour panada – but these are cooked prior to adding to the forcemeat. Nonetheless, thank you for input :)

By: passive.observer

passive.observer — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 07:26:47 +0000

Happy New Year MM and Family! Will definitely try to replicate the brioche appetizer, assuming i find good brioche loaves here in Manila!

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 02:18:43 +0000

present tense, I used what is referred to as a "panade" -- flour, eggs, cream and brandy, see here for a recipe that I used as a basis for the pate de campagne. I used cognac instead of brandy, only because that's what I had. I think the step to beat the meat and panade in a mixer with a paddle is also important to achieve the pate texture one seeks.

By: ami

ami — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:21:03 +0000

Even the fancy restaurants in the metro would not have a line up this good. Advance happy new year MM & family!

By: Natie

Natie — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 13:26:08 +0000

The much awaited chronicle did not disappoint.. Love it! Happy New Year, MM and Family. Thank you for the vicarious moments.. Greetings to all the followers also!

By: present tense

present tense — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 11:00:18 +0000

Happy Holidays and Fond Greetings ! I was just curious about what binding agent you used for the pate campagna – egg ? aspic ? I’ve made embutido several times and have only used egg – but then this was simmered. BTW, I am impressed at your choices ! Cheers !

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 09:23:45 +0000

Thel, the Barolo we drank is too good to cook with… :) Drink that bottle and cook with a lesser priced Barolo. For the egg appetizer, since I haven’t posted details, here is how you do it. Buy or make some brioche loaves, slice them into 3/4 inch slices and using a knife or cookie cutter, cut out what look like small donuts in the bread. Then in a non-stick pan, add some good butter, and brown both sides of the brioche circles, add more butter for the second side of the rings. Then turn your oven to say 350F, add several browned brioche rings to a non-stick pan or a cookie sheet with some parchment paper on it. Put a single egg yolk only (no white) in each hole of the “donut” and place the pan in the oven for a few minutes. I like our yolks really runny so this only took say 3-5 minutes at most. Carefully transfer the rings to a plate and put a small dollop of caviar on the side. You may wish to have a spoonful of creme fraiche on the side to break the salty profile of the caviar. Have a wonderful New Year, and again, on behalf of the many folks in Northern Cebu that you and your family have helped, Salamat!

By: Thel from Florida

Thel from Florida — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 08:52:11 +0000

I am buying some caviar today to make that brioche/egg combo for new year.

I read Rajo Laurel when he was in New York ate prime beef braised in Barolo wine and he said it was really good. I have been wanting to buy Barolo to cook with it but have no idea what brand to get. Today I will order that exact Barolo you had . I just googled it and it only cost around $60.

Thanks a lot for sharing the pics, really very helpful.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 08:11:58 +0000

Marlo, a triple cream brie, a goat’s cheese with cranberry, a roquefort (blue cheese), a Port Salut, an aged Manchego and I think that’s it… so maybe it was just 5 cheeses. We served it with several kinds of grapes (red, black and green)…

By: Marlo

Marlo — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 07:00:57 +0000

Yummy. Would be good to know what type of cheese you served :-) I always associate your blog with Christmas because that’s the time of the year when I discovered it! Merry Christmas and wishing you and your family a great 2014!